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Weekend Eats

Life is short;have somefried food

Fried seafood is the main draw in a restaurant that once was a general store and now features delectable oysters with a train rumble on the side.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published July 7, 2006

VALRICO - Willie's seafood restaurant seems like a secret, but by dinnertime on a Thursday night, it's packed by people in the know.

The building, which dates to 1915, is tucked away on a residential street, far from the strip malls

of State Road 60.

Inside, the decor is wood paneling and drop ceilings and green-checked vinyl tablecloths. The waitress brings me water in a plastic cup.

I think about ordering the deep-fried alligator. She heads me off.

"It tastes like chicken," she says, shrugging. "It's chewy. Nothing special."

I decide on the fried oysters, which come in a plastic basket and seem destined to take a year off the end of my life. They're not too breaded, or too oily, but crisp on the outside and voluptuous inside: the good stuff.

Of course, there are things to eat here that are not fried. The restaurant offers broiled seafood, pasta dishes and even an array of salads. But it's the fried seafood that's the main draw.

As I eat, I read the back of the menu. It tells the restaurant's history: built as a general store in the early 1900s, and operated as such until the 1970s, when it was purchased by the Robinson family and became Willie's.

"The idea is to do a few things very well," the menu says.

The story notes that the restaurant was sold in 1998, but reacquired by the Robinsons two years later.

As I read, the table starts to vibrate. It's the train going by outside. I can watch cars marked "ANDHYDROUS AMMONIA - INHALATION HAZARD" roll past the window as I eat.

Dessert? Sure!

Having already shortened my life span with the oysters, I might as well knock off a few more months with a slice of key lime pie. Store-bought, not homemade, but still tart and thick.

A few hours later, I will start to regret it. For now, I'm fat and happy. Thanks, Willie.

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 6, 2006, 19:33:58]