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Hops is back in Palm Harbor, and it’s good!

 Hops Grill & Brewery is a chain of casual restaurants that also brew their own beers. There is a Hops in Palm Harbor, on the southbound side of US19 between Tampa Road and Nebraska, and we used to eat there quite a bit. They had good steaks that were well-priced, they had an entree called South Beach Chicken that I liked a lot, and they had very good burgers.

Then we got the feeling that Hops sort of lost its way. Their prices went up quite a bit, and they changed their menu. In February of 2004 the chain’s parent company filed for bankruptcy, and about 15 Hops restaurants were closed.

To make matters worse, our local Hops restaurant was struck by lightning a day or two after Christmas, and the resulting fire did about $200,000 worth of damage. The place was closed for weeks, and we wondered if it would ever re-open.

I recently noticed that Hops had re-opened, so last night we gave it a try. And we were plesantly surprised. They were offering a 9-ounce steak for $10.99, and we both ordered it. It was quite good, and more than enough to eat.

We were also glad to see that Key Lime pie was still on the menu. We tried that, too, and found that the Hops key lime pie is still among the best you can find, just like we remembered.

Here is how Hops describes itself on its website: “We are a casual dining microbrewery restaurant that offers fresh, made from scratch menu items in a relaxed atmosphere featuring signature dishes that are created from high-quality, fresh ingredients and prepared in a display style kitchen that allows you to view the cooking process.”

We were pleasantly surprised to see that Hops is open once again, and pleased to note that it has returned to its roots of good food and good prices. Other people must be feeling good about it, too — the place was just about full.

Tags: Palm Harbor, restaurants

The snowblower from hell

The snowblower from hell

If you look back in the archive of this blog you will find a picture of an old snowblower sitting out on the front yard of a Palm Harbor house.

I figured the homeowners had put it out there as a sort of short-term joke and that the snowblower would disappear before long. But it’s still sitting out there and, in fact, the homeowners have dressed it up for Halloween, complete with a real creepy snowblower operator. Also, note the feet sticking out of the snowblower’s maw.
Don’t know if you can read the sign on the wall behind the snowblower, but it says “Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much.” These folks must take that motto seriously, at least the “Laugh Often” part.

Tags: North Pinellas County, Palm Harbor

Cody’s Steak House

Cody’s was on hand with ribs and a number of other offerings. Cody’s is a very good steak house that offers good food at moderate prices — a great place for the family. There are a number of Cody’s locations in the Tampa Bay area, but the closest one to us is in Tarpon Springs, at 39870 U.S. 19 N.

Tags: Palm Harbor, restaurants

Snapper’s Bar and Grille

Another of the restaurants taking part in the Taste of Palm Harbor was Snapper’s Bar & Grill. I had some spicy chicken wings and some great french fries.

Tags: Palm Harbor, restaurants

Palm Harbor Fire Rescue

Because Palm Harbor Fire Rescue was celebrating its 50th anniversary at the same time as the Taste of Palm Harbor festivities, there were plenty of old fire trucks in attendance. This was one of them.

Tags: north pinellas, Palm Harbor

Taste of Palm Harbor

Here’s another view of the crowd that showed up at the taste of Palm Harbor event this afternoon (Sunday, Oct. 1)

Tags: Palm Harbor

J.J. Gandy’s pies

J.J. Gandy’s Pies was on hand, offering up samples of their famous Key Lime pie and other flavors. We tried the chocolate cheesecake pie, and it was great. We’ve written on the website before about J.J. Gandy’s — they are a Palm Harbor company that makes some of the best Key Lime pie anywhere. Many of the best restaurants in the area don’t even try to match J.J. Gandy’s quality — they just buy their pies from J.J. Gandy’s and sell them to their own patrons. You can also buy pies over-the-counter from the J.J. Gandy’s location at 3725 Alt. 19, Palm Harbor. Look for more about J.J. Gandy’s in the “Local Partners” section of my website at www.bethfrederick.com

Tags: j.j. gandy's pies, key lime pie, Palm Harbor

The Melting Pot

Here’s the crew from The Melting Pot — a happy and very helpful bunch. If you’ve never tried The Melting Pot, you definitely should. They offer meat and cheese fondue dishes, as well as out-of-this-world chocolate fondue dessert specialties, to name just a few. The company operates 85 restaurants around the country, but the one that should interest you is at 25822 US19N, on the west side of the road just south of Enterprise.

Counters

Tags: Palm Harbor, restaurants

Taste of Palm Harbor

I mentioned a day or two ago that the annual Taste of Palm Harbor event would be held today (Sunday). Bill and I stopped by, walked around, and sampled some of the food that was made available by a number of local participating restaurants. We had a great time and enjoyed the food.

The above picture looks up Florida Avenue, which usually gets blocked off to traffic whenever events are held in Old Palm Harbor.

Tags: Palm Harbor, restaurants

Palm Harbor is “hub of innovation.” Honest.

Q — If you are an inventor, where are you apt to live?

A — Right here in Palm Harbor.

Why? Beats me.

Late last month the Wall Street Journal ran a story called “The Most Inventive Towns in America”. It was a listing of U.S. towns that are home to the biggest number of inventors. The newspaper looked through new U.S. patents, and arranged them by the ZIP codes of the people who were granted the new patents.

I think everyone was very surprised when our own Palm Harbor, Fla., showed up as #11 on the list. It was the only Florida town to show up at all.

Now, if Palm Harbor was home to Microsoft, or IBM, this wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. But there is no company here that even resembles a big engineering-based outfit. So I’m kind of mystified, along with everyone else in town.

But whatever the reason, Palm Harbor is one of the nation’s 20 top “hubs of innovation,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Counters

Tags: Palm Harbor