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Restaurant review

Enduring Grill power

Michael's, a Carrollwood original, continues to draw crowds for its careful execution of forthright classics.

By Laura Reiley
Published April 5, 2007

Michael’s Grill has called the Main Street Shopping Center home since Andrea and Michael Reilly opened the restaurant in 2000.
	[Times photo: John Pendygraft]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: John Pendygraft] Michael’s sesame-crusted sea bass on a Polynesian stir-fry with jasmine rice is a delicate balance of flavors. Related story: Meet the new food critic Laura Reiley: Democracy on the dinner plate

TAMPA -- On a Wednesday night, a cluster of motorcyclists rev their engines as they make their way back out to Dale Mabry from the chickee hut at O'Brien's Irish Pub. At the other side of the shopping plaza, a family leaves Barnes & Noble, parents helping the children carry a fat stack of new books. A young couple emerges from Jen's Wine Shop, a brown-papered bottle tucked under the man's arm. And, as on most nights, the heart and soul of Carrollwood's Main Street Shopping Center is found at Michael's.

Michael's Grill opened in December 2000. Since then, Andrea and Michael Reilly's little restaurant has chugged along, refining its menu rather than reinventing itself.

Really, there's no news. They keep doing what they do and regulars keep enjoying it. The place possesses the warmth and connectedness of a neighborhood stalwart, something that's harder to achieve at any of the slick chain outposts or the occasional newer, hipper restaurant along Dale Mabry.

Michael's interior could mostly be called comfortable, its spare, brasserie-style dining room absent of art or a lot of other distractions. Although a bustling open kitchen adds drama to the main dining room, the more coveted seats are beyond a pair of French doors, on a small patio. It always seems to be at this assortment of wrought-iron and teak tables that the most convivial conversations are sparked.

A second small dining room and bar off the main room was annexed 10 months ago, a testament to the steady popularity of this Carrollwood institution.

Most of Michael's short menu is familiar territory, but who needs to reinvent the wheel when you can settle in with a wide, fragrant bowl of French onion soup $6, its rich broth crowded with sweetly caramelized onions and hidden under a modest blanket of molten cheese?

Another fine starter brings a half-dozen baked mushroom caps tucked into a ceramic ramekin ($8.50), each one stuffed with a crab meat and bread crumb mixture and sitting in a shallow pool of buttery Newburg sauce. More crab meat and less filler make up the pair of crisp, pan-fried crab cakes ($12) served with squiggles of herb-spiked mayo.

While almost uniformly well-executed, appetizers may seem redundant, since entrees come with a solid Caesar or a pleasant green salad. The former commingles inner crunchy and outer floppy leaves of romaine, the dressing a lemon-heavy version, all garnished with small crouton cubes and a dusting of Parmesan. Not a lot of anchovy, not a lot of Worcestershire or garlic punch.

Entrees also entail a choice of starch (the garlic mashed potatoes get the nod over twice-baked or the wild rice) and a perfunctory veggie medley (if you ask, they'll sub a pile of skinny steamed asparagus stalks) - in all, the kind of choices increasingly rare in this millennium.

Servers tend to stay put at Michael's, accruing menu knowledge and quiet competence over time. They can be counted upon to help with a wine selection from the short, fairly priced list, and they'll steer you through the menu: The penne Bolognese ($19; spelled a quirky "bolanaise") is big, dotted with rich ricotta and studded with Italian sausage; the house specialty is duck, the archetype l'orange version ($24), its burnished skin shellacked with a sweet marmaladelike orange sauce. They'll applaud your choice when you head for the chicken Marengo ($21; a breast sauteed with olives, mushrooms, tomato and a splash of white wine) or give you an enthusiastic rundown on the thick, wasabi-crusted tuna fillet ($27; drizzled with ginger-amped soy).

In fact, one night our server vigorously urged us to try the evening's apple-raspberry cobbler ($8). She had assisted in its preparation, her pride palpable as she brought a wide terrine of warm pastry capping a delicious jumble of fruit, paired with the requisite scoop of vanilla ice cream. It provided a delicious foil for our other meal-ender of dense flourless chocolate cake ($7) - the kind of straightforward, unadorned pleasure that seems emblematic of an evening at Michael's.

Laura Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The St. Petersburg Times pays all expenses. A restaurant's advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment. Reiley can be reached at (727) 892-2293 or lreiley@sptimes.com.

Michael's Grill
11720 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa
(813) 964-8334
www.michaelsgrill.com
Cuisine: American
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Details: Discover, American Express, MasterCard and Visa; reservations accepted; beer and wine.
Prices: Dinner appetizers $6 to $12, entrees $19 to $30, desserts $7 to $8.

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 20:27:28]