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Entertainment

West-side smorgasbord

If your stomach is growling, discover some home-style gems serving scrumptious basics.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published December 30, 2005

West Citrus offers many fine mom-and-pop-style diners, where home cooking is the special of the day and many dishes are made from scratch. The locals know these, but in case you haven't yet discovered them, here's a partial list.

OYSTERS RESTAURANT, 606 U.S. 19, Crystal River. Oysters is where seafood and home cooking meet. One of the restaurant's highlights is the Friday night fish fry, which starts at 5 p.m. The restaurant, where owner William Bunch also works as a chef, is heavy on home cooking. Try the homemade gumbo and soups. These include a spicy seafood gumbo, baked French onion soup and New England style clam chowder, all made from fresh ingredients daily. Another local offering is mullet, served as a mullet dip appetizer or as an entree, prepared five different ways.

The restaurant, which has been open for nine years, is also known for its homemade desserts. Among these are key lime pie, cheesecake and bonofee pie, all made fresh in the kitchen.

One of the chef's specialties is a grouper Reuben sandwich, which Bunch says is a local recipe that was handed down to him. During grouper season the fish is fresh, but when the season closes, Oysters relies on frozen fillets, just like other restaurants.

Other home-cooked creations include coconut shrimp, homemade crab cakes, and of course, oysters offered either in the raw, "after a sauna," under cover (Rockefeller), fried or in a stew.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and also a Sunday brunch with items ranging from bacon and eggs to fried chicken and pasta.

Oysters is also offering deliveries for lunch. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call 795-2633.

GRANNIE'S COUNTRY COOKIN', 1712 U.S. 19, Crystal River. A mouth watering display of daily specials is written on the chalkboard, and that's where you want to look for the home-cooked specialties.

Among them is meatloaf, which is sliced 2 inches thick and served on a platter with a choice of two seasonal vegetables. The meatloaf was only offered once a week or so, but customers demanded that it become a daily offering.

Other daily specials on a recent visit included smoked sauerkraut, chicken and dumplings and ham and cabbage. Where else could one find ham and cabbage on a menu? Other home-cooked vegetables were lima beans and spinach.

Grannie's makes its own desserts, such as apple cobbler and bread pudding. And its biscuits come alone or paired with ham, cheese and eggs, or a strawberry biscuit or the popular biscuits and gravy.

Grannie's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 795-8884.

CRYSTAL PALACE, 508 Citrus Ave., Crystal River. With its dark wood high-backed chairs, the atmosphere makes a diner think they're eating at their own home. Open for 17 years, Crystal Palace is well-known for its home cooking, notably its desserts. Among them are homemade bread puddings, pumpkin and pecan pies and cheesecake.

The kitchen staff also prepares its prime rib and standing roasts in a home-cooking fashion, meaning they are flavorful with plenty of juices.

For breakfast, be sure to try the pancakes. No premixed batter here, the pancake batter is made fresh daily. Lunch favorites are stuffed peppers and the open face roast beef and turkey sandwiches.

Hours are 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday. Call 563-2620.

JONES RESTAURANT, 200 U.S. 19, Crystal River. The restaurant has served Crystal River for many decades and features hand-cut steaks, meatloaf and fried catfish as its most popular entrees. Hours are 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Call 795-3686.

AMERICA GROCERIES & DELI, 3030 W Gulf to Lake Highway (State Road 44), just a short distance east of County Road 491. If you grew up in Cuba and South Florida, as I did, then home cooking means something entirely different. This restaurant has been serving traditional Cuban and Mexican foods to a hungry audience for about nine years. The Cuban sandwiches here rival anything you'll find in Havana, Miami or Tampa. I should know, because I've had them in all those places.

The America Groceries & Deli has been serving up hearty lunches of traditional Spanish-American fare such as lechon asado (roast pork), picadillo (spiced ground beef) and platanos maduros (fried ripe plantains) since it opened in 1996.

The grocery has the county's most extensive array of peppers, in fresh, dried and canned forms. Mojo criollo comes in handy, gallon containers. The freezers are stocked with empanadillas, tamales and frozen fruit pulp of mango and coconut. There are all types of spices, syrups, nectars and crackers.

My favorite dessert, the ultrasweet nougat called turron, can only be found there. I recommend either the egg cream or almond.

Hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Fridays; 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Call 746-7882.

Jorge Sanchez covers arts and entertainment in Citrus County. Call 860-7313 or e-mail sanchez@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 30, 2005, 01:21:02]