Daily Eats Mac & Cheese

Daily Eats

Mac & Cheese moniker: Baja Mac

The damage: $4.95 small/$9.95 large

Why it makes us melt: Another option at SoHo’s favorite diner, Daily Eats, is the Baja version of the original. This dish is a combo of some impressively original flavors, including salsa, corn, tortilla strips, cilantro, and house-made cheese blend. You can taste the Jack cheese in the blend, giving it a fun kick. Not your style? Burger, Spicy Buffalo, Broccoli and Bacon, and Chili Mac are also on the menu, and all of them feature the signature Velveeta-style shells of the DE 3-Cheeser.

Lodge Mac N Cheese Pizza

The Lodge

Mac & Cheese moniker: Mac-N-Cheese Pizza

The damage: $6 quarter/$10 half/$14 full

Why it makes us melt: Yes, this is every bit as good as it sounds. The blend of pasta, bread crumbs , and cheeses melt into the brick oven pizza and are layered so generously that some noodles may even fall off. Hint: You can request the pasta on top to be any one of the four varieties from the $5 Mac and Cheese menu, so you can even end up with Hamburger Mac and Cheese on your flatbread.

Lodge BBQ Chicken Mac-N-Cheese

The Lodge

Mac & Cheese moniker: BBQ Chicken Mac-N-Cheese

The damage: $5

Why it makes us melt: Yet another heaping plate of pasta for only one five dollar bill that’s offered at The Lodge, and it is oh-so-delicious. The sweet BBQ chicken blends with the cheese and makes a melty concoction no one could turn away. Bacon and Broccoli and “Just regular” Mac and Cheese are also on the $5 menu.

What would your favorite bar be like without your favorite bartender? You can’t have Cheers without Woody, Sam, Carla or Rebecca, and you certainly can’t have your local watering-hole without those special drink fillers. Knowing this, we’ve decided to feature a different local bartender each week and share who they are with you.

So, grab your glass, fill it up, and let’s toast this week’s bartender of choice:

Roxy, from The Lodge
Hometown: Tampa, FL

How long have you worked at The Lodge?
Since it opened in January

Have you bartended anywhere else?
Yes, at Cicci & Tony

What is the most requested drink?
Grandma Sweet tea aka sweet tea vodka and water

What is your favorite drink to drink?
Skinny Bitch Margarita aka Patron on the Rocks

Where did you learn to bartend?
I learned from the bottom up, server and then bartender and then I enjoyed making drinks. I learned everything hands on.

What’s your biggest pet peeve with bar-goers?
When they ask how much a drink is before they order it. Then they order the cheapest drink on the menu.

What do you like most about bartending?
I love meeting and interacting with so many different people.

Who is that one regular that can always make your day, even when you’re having a bad day?
That would have to be Rick!!!! He comes in every single day and on Fridays he comes in during our happy hours and then comes back to dance the night away. He might walk out without paying his bar tab, but he will always come back the next day and ask for his tab that he forgot to pay. The best thing of all he is never in a bad mood and never complains.

What’s the craziest experience you’ve had while working?
A group of foreigners came in on a Monday when the bar was really slow and got so drunk that they were dancing on our tables. Later on we found out they were from Denmark =)

What do you like to do when you’re not bartending?
I love going to the beach when it’s really nice outside. I rarely go out to night clubs because I am always surrounded by them. I enjoy my free time and do “me things”

What are your plans for the future?
I’m going back to school (USF) and want to get my masters in psychology. I want to get into the mental health and counseling field, because being a bartender you see a lot of people and in a way you becoming their counselor. I become their release point, people will open up to me and tell me everything.

If you could tell customers anything you wanted, what would it be?
“Try this.” I’m a very positive person and I like to give positive feedback. I want to see my customers happy.

What was your first concert?
Debbie Gibson and that was when I was 8 years old.

Any movies you’ve been dying to see?
I just saw the movie I have been dying to see about 3 weeks ago, Dark Knight.

Who is your number 1 preset station in your car?
I rarely listen to radio. I always have my IPod hooked up.

What bars or nightclubs do you like to go out to in Tampa Bay?
Hula Bay, Caddy’s, The Kennedy, and Hyde Park Cafe

Tell Metromix something that not many people know about you?
I have a stripper pole in my house

If you could be in anyone shoes for a day who would it be?
Angelina Jolie. She has made so many changes in her life. She has lived one way and now lives another and being so intrigued with the psychology of the person, I would like to know why she made those changes in her life.

If you are what you eat, what would you be?
String Cheese

Do you have any websites / MySpace / Facebook where we can find you?
You can look me up in Facebook Lodge Lady and add our Facebook for the Lodge under Lodge Tampa.

©2009 Metromix.com

By Brian Ries, Published 04.15.2009

Walk into The Lodge and it’s immediately apparent that the place is easily going to break the curse of this location. It was the sputtering 42nd Street Bistro for a couple of years, then an ill-fated outpost of St. Pete’s Chateau France, then Manny’s Bistro. None of them were able to gain any traction, but then again none of them were imagined by the Ciccio and Tony’s guys.

Jeff Gigante and his crew looked at the space and proceeded to discard all but the barest bones. They didn’t even need to put too much effort into the remodel, just a few decorations and well-chosen pieces of furniture to immediately convey the theme of the restaurant, which is an odd melding of ski lodge and diner. There are gleaming white vinyl booths, tables rimmed by fluted chrome, and servers wearing fuzzy boots to go with their white T-shirts and jeans.

The Lodge has moved in to the oft-used site that has played home to 42nd Street, Chateau France and Manny's Bistro.

It’s not minimalist, but it is restrained, which ends up leaving a hell of a lot of room for the kinds of people who make SoHo what it is. Beautiful and young, or plasticized and middle-aged, the place is packed with the kind of energy that might make a restaurateur forget about the recession.

Of course, the menu makes it easy on the participants. Prices stick strictly to the low side of moderate, with very few dishes even reaching the $15 mark. Better yet, this inexpensive grub is fun.

Appetizers range from familiar favorites like calamari and chicken wings, to déclassé treats like mini-corn dogs, to re-imagined finagling like cheeseburger spring rolls. From the simple to the contrived, it’s all fine and tasty, with tater tots available on the side.

Entrées up the whimsical ante big time. There are essentially three sections to the main course menu: burgers, sushi and TV dinners. Burgers branch out from the basic beef patty into turkey, tuna and pork sliders — along with a list of 15 or so toppings. Here again, the food manages to fulfill expectations without wowing the tastebuds. The sushi, though, is another story.

Drop a slice of rice, nori and stuffings into your mouth and your mind is prepared for a certain experience. The Lodge can do that, with capable tuna, crab and shrimp rolls. But more than half the sushi on the list will have your mouth wondering what the hell you’re feeding it.

Fried chicken and lettuce maki with a spiced blue cheese fondue for dipping. Pulled pork and cole slaw tucked into rice and seaweed. Steak and fried onions, hot dog and sauerkraut, burger and bacon — and somehow, The Lodge’s kitchen manages to make them work. There’s even the occasional flash of brilliance to accompany the off-kilter fun of the experience.

The last type of entrée might be slightly less fun, but it’s also something I want every restaurant in the Bay area to think about. The Lodge’s TV dinners offer a list of main courses ranging from fried chicken to mac and cheese, along with a choice of three sides from an extensive list. You wanna go with a classic? Get Shake-N-Bake pork chops with tater tots, baked beans and fudge brownie. Yep, there are desserts on the list, so you can go all sweet with some mac and cheese laced with chopped hamburger accompanied by chocolate flan, fresh fruit and twinkimisu.

The only big flaw in The Lodge’s TV dinner plan — besides terrible fried chicken — is the way it’s served. No divided trays? What? The main course comes on a plate, with a separate plate for the sides. A glaring error.

The desserts are tasty — although the twinkimisu is not nearly as interesting as it sounds; the servers are attractive and occasionally pay attention to your order, and the scene will make you feel like things out in the world are still alright, especially if you’re on the patio drinking it up with the rest of the SoHo regulars.

Wow. Add The Lodge to recently opened Datz Deli a couple of miles away, and South Tampa is turning into the most interesting spot for new restaurants this year. Say goodbye to top honors, downtown St. Pete.

The Lodge, 516 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, 813-251-5634

©1996-2009 Creative Loafing Media – All Rights Reserved

$2.50 Natty Lights on Friday night, with BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, and Matt Garza….The Tampa Bay Rays (for all you non MLB fans).

Went here on a Friday night around 8:30. The place was jam packed and really loud! Really cool decor…feels like your in a lodge! Love the red chandeliers, the antlers and the white booth seats.

We ordered several of the sliders… tuna, sirloin, and country chicken.  They all were very good… though a bit expense at $3.25 each.

We also had a basket of the sweet potato fries.  They come with maple syrup and powdered sugar.   So good!

Feel free to leave your own coments at Yelp.com.

TAMPA — The Lodge Restaurant & Bar’s food is funny. Not funny “strange.” Funny “ha ha.” • It’s got a wink and a nudge on every one of its menu’s seven pages, and a couple of knee-slappers. • There’s a Twinkimisu ($5), a Twinkie dressed up as tiramisu. Get it? There are “American sushi” rolls that include the following: the Home Run ($6), all-beef hotdog, sauerkraut and crispy toasted bun strips with ketchup and mustard puree. • I repeat: in sushi. • Tater Tots feature heavily (called Tatters, doubtless to fend off the copyright ire of Ore-Ida), and there are kooky spins on TV dinners (pick an entree and three sides, served in fun, sectioned melamine, not the sad, ye-old-timey foil trays).

The Lodge’s main dining room is “warm in the cool winters and cool in the warm summers,” says co-owner James Lanza.

The Lodge is the newest venture from Jeff Gigante and the Ciccio & Tony’s crew. These are professionals, with many a successful restaurant under their belts (beyond Ciccio’s locations, there are Lime, Water and Daily Eats, all in Tampa). Which is a good thing, because this location has been home to 42nd Street, Chateau SoHo, SoHo Bistro and Manny’s Bistro in the past couple of years.

It’s easy to get spooked with such a Disaster Cafe location, even if it’s across the street from always-mobbed MacDinton’s. But they’ve got a formula: super-attractive servers, a long list of South Tampa well-wishers, and a vibe that, as the evening wears on, leans more on the bar than the restaurant.

The restaurant itself is more attractive than it has been in any of its recent avatars. It’s a wide-open space, deep red, with gorgeous chandeliers and enough mounted antlers and such to hint archly at more traditional lodge motifs. Even the menu font is goofy good fun.

Because Gigante and crew know what they’re doing, the Lodge is funny without being a joke. The price point is modest, servers know the ropes, and much of the food is quite tasty. Very solid hamburgers ($7 to $8.50, with extras 50 cents each) will satisfy, especially the Single Stacked Phaty Melt with its tumble of caramelized onions and provolone, served crisp, panini- style. (On the other hand, the hamburger sushi, $7, left us a little freaked out.) A choice of baked penne dishes provide addictive comfort foods, the best a B and B Penne ($7 small, $13 large), with bacon and broccoli dotting a three-cheese sauce, the whole thing molten in the middle but crispy on top with bread crumbs and bacon bits.

It’s the rare menu that can accommodate edamame ($5) and baby corn dogs with mustard aioli ($4) on the same table. Not a bad combo, really, the salted soy beans adding a healthy gloss to the sweet, corn bread-encased mini dogs.

A number of Asian dishes seem like lifts from other Ciccio menus — seared rare tuna slices with spicy cucumber salad ($8) is a keeper that I’ve seen them do before, and the more traditional rice-paper-rolled sushi (spicy tuna, California roll, $9 and $6) are reminiscent of those at Water. No matter, they’re all competently assembled and pretty.

The wine list provides another strong indication that no one is taking themselves overly seriously at the Lodge: all glasses under $6, with huge-production standbys (Big Yellow cab, Blackstone merlot) and a fair number of misspellings on the menu. Cocktails are a little pricier, with a full complement of sillitinis: Crazy Candy Cane ($9) is Ketel One, peppermint schnapps (shudder) and creme de cacao.

Add live music on the patio some nights, DJs on Fridays and Saturdays, ladies nights and a bathroom attendant on busy nights. So far it’s cheek to jowl at the Lodge in the late evenings, the crowd skewing a little older (30s) than MacDinton’s. It’s too early to say whether Gigante and partner James Lanza have a hit, but it certainly seems like the Lodge suits the times. Not too fussy, not too expensive, and likely to put a smile on your face.

Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at www.blogs.tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.

review

The Lodge Restaurant & Bar

516 S Howard Ave., Tampa

(813) 251-5634;

lodgetampa.com

Cuisine: American

Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (weekday lunches start later in the month); dinner, 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday

Details: V, MC, Amex; reservations recommended; full bar

Prices: $7-$14

Rating out of four stars:

Food: ★★ Service: ★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★

Overall: ★★ 1/2

Tomorrow in Weekend: Some off-the-beaten-path Valentine’s Day dining ideas.

JUSTIN GEORGE
Published November 11, 2005

SOHO – Jeff Gigante thought pizza would pay for his dreams. So the aspiring actor opened a pizzeria in Tallahassee, where he had gone to college.

The business failed, and Gigante moved to New York in 1992 with a little less than he had expected. Like many actors, he began waiting tables.

From right to left, Luis Flores, Jeff Gigante and James Lanza have opened two South Howard restaurants and have plans for two more in the works.

Gigante’s boss was Luis Flores, who had come to the United States from El Salvador in 1985. Flores had ascended to head chef at Coastal after starting out washing dishes and working in construction.

Flores would ask Gigante where he was from. Gigante would say Tampa because he figured Flores wasn’t familiar with St. Petersburg, his actual hometown.

Then he would add: “Someday we’re going to open a restaurant there.”

From dishrags to riches, the prediction came true. Flores, Gigante and Lanza have opened not one but four restaurants in Tampa and St. Petersburg in the past decade, including the adjoining Ciccio & Tony’s and Water restaurants on S Howard Avenue.

They aren’t done yet. The team is reshaping the ever-changing SoHo neighborhood one restaurant at a time. Up next, a Mexican themed restaurant and sports bar in the former Primadonna Trattoria and a diner in the Old Meeting House.

After a failed stint in Carrollwood, the three know where their bread is buttered.

“The neighborhood is what makes us survive,” Lanza said.

* * *

Lanza, 45, has the deep pockets of the three. As Gigante rose up the ranks in Lanza’s New York restaurants – he was a baker at the original Ciccio & Tony’s, named after Lanza’s brother and father – the two grew closer. During his first go-around running a pizza place, Gigante found that Lanza had the business savvy and a good feel for trends.

Gigante wanted another shot at running a restaurant, this time near his home in Tampa. He persuaded Lanza to invest and scout locations.

In 1996, they opened Ciccio & Tony’s at 1015 S Howard. Gigante ran it while Lanza traveled between New York and Tampa, and soon moved to Tampa full time. Both live in South Tampa.

Lanza, the father of two adult sons, grew up in California and New York. He owns a black-rimmed 500 horsepower silver Ford Lightning truck, a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Confederate motorcycle. Full of wit, he’s also a fast talker.

“James is atmosphere and energy,” Gigante said. “I don’t have the flair for design and business that he has.”

Gigante, 37, is a muscular man with a big grin. He’s quality control. He oversees daily operations and is picky about the details.

When the crew remodeling one of the trio’s restaurants wondered whether a forklift was needed to move an ice cream machine, Gigante got the call. He’s the first to point out that Water’s zebra-styled tables are wearing down and unacceptably dirty.

Raised by a single mother, Gigante is more of a realist, who sometimes fights Lanza “all the way.”

“We’re like brothers, honestly,” he said. “We know each other like that. We argue with each other. We laugh with each other.”

Flores, 45, is the father of two children and lives in Carrollwood. He sports a shaved head and chef’s white coat. He is in charge of the menus, which constantly change and fuse new flavors.

Together, the three have opened Water and Ciccio & Tony’s on S Howard, in Tampa Palms and St. Petersburg.

The Carrollwood restaurant on Dale Mabry closed in late 2002, marking Gigante and Lanza’s biggest and most expensive failure. They never expected North Tampa customers to demand free side salads and $6.99 dinners, they said.

Since then, the team has looked to expand in St. Petersburg and double efforts in SoHo, where people don’t mind paying a bit more, they said.

Recently, they were outbid by Chipotle Mexican Grill to take over Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant’s space on S Howard, Lanza said.

But they’re plenty busy without it, transforming the old Primadonna Trattoria, across from Xtreme Total Health & Fitness, into a yet-to-be-named sports bar with Mexican food. Next door, they’re reopening the Old Meeting House as Daily Eats Meeting House, a gourmet diner featuring Kobe beef, organic turkey, lamb, tuna and Greek burgers, among other spiced-up comfort food.

The Meeting House is expected to open as early as mid December. The sports bar is scheduled to open in March.

The team’s faith in S Howard has been rewarded over the past 10 years, and they say they’re not afraid to continue to invest there. They don’t feel they’re saturating the market with their products because each of their restaurants is different.

Despite owning three Ciccio & Tony’s restaurants, they consider themselves the antithesis of a chain.

“We feel that the more independent restaurants and restaurateurs on S Howard will create a synergy and a different energy than the chains on Dale Mabry,” Gigante said.

Becoming a main force on Tampa’s Restaurant Row hasn’t been without struggles.

While many root for the return of a neighborhood diner, at least 10 neighbors oppose the Meeting House’s application for a beer and wine license.

“I’m afraid they’re going to stay open all night long,” said Greta Brooks, 37, a mother of two, who lives on nearby Bristol Avenue.

In response, Lanza said they will restrict alcohol sales to 11 p.m. The issue is scheduled to go before the City Council on Thursday. The Mexican restaurant is set to go to the council Dec. 1.

Lanza understands neighbors’ fears about more bars along Howard.

“The problem is these bars are open till 3 a.m. and the kids come from St. Pete or wherever and leave beer cans all over,” Lanza said.

With four restaurants planned for the strip, their vision for SoHo has a lot of clout.

“I think what Jimmy’s (Lanza) doing is cutting edge, and he’s going to do it well,” said Gordon Davis, owner of two SoHo restaurants and founder and past president of the SoHo Merchants and Residents Association.

The trio is confident SoHo and its customers will respond.

“They accept creativity very well. It fits our niche,” Lanza said. “Our niche: people who appreciate something different.”

- Justin George can be reached at jgeorge@sptimes.com or 813 226-3368.

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