 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Super grouper hangs out
|
 [Times photos: Boyzell Hosey] The grouper sandwich at Dockside Dave’s in Madeira Beach can’t be caught elsewhere. The bun is dwarfed by this slab of fried grouper; even the tomato garnish is unusually ripe-red and tasty. |
Anyone who cares enough to get tomatoes like that to put on sandwiches for the blue-jeans and ballcap crowd at the bar cares about the main event, too. It's fresh black grouper, cut in half-pound fillets that spill over any bun, and priced with pride, not apologies, at $8.95. Fries and cole slaw cost extra.
Guys at the bar don't complain. They're not tourists; they're locals who know good fish costs good money. Some catch them for sport or a living on the big sportfishing boats docked at the charter boat center behind the place. Dockside Dave's doesn't mind if you catch your own. As long as you clean 'em, they'll cook up a pound of your catch for $6.95.
You can have that grouper five ways in sandwiches. That doesn't count bisque, bites and grouper fritters. That's not frittering away grouper, either. Maybe cakes would be a better name. An order is four big, flat circles of grouper, onions and what all, almost as moist as smoked fish dip, yet fryable. They're only $5.50, but a wiser diner than I could make four meals of them.
Grouper sandwich is the trophy, char-grilled, blackened, batter-fried, country-fried and Cajun-fried. The Nibbler has made it through only two of them so far, and while the blackened has fire, it can't beat the classic batter-fried, with a crackling golden crust. My only complaint is the bun. It took me the first 10 minutes to trim off the overage before I could even try to pick this monster up. Hmmmm, maybe we could steal some of those Kummelweck rolls for the beef on 'weck they serve for homesick Buffalonians.
Get grouper char-grilled if you must, but persuade your conscience to look the other way for a little while so you can try something, anything, from the miracle fryer.
Maybe it's the heat and speed of the fryers, maybe it's the seasoning in the batter. Surely it's the freshness of the seafood, but everything I tried was terrific. I'd say onion rings had the lace of tempura except it would embarrass big guys like these. Waffle fries were so thin and crisp I take back all my sneers. Fried shrimp? You'd better believe that cooking shrimp in thick batter in hot grease doesn't diminish them; their springy texture and delicate sweetness is at its best out of the fryer here.
All is not fried seafood here, although it could be. Burgers are just as monstrous, and meaty sandwiches run from chicken breast through beef on weck and cheese steaks to a pork tenderloin with spinach, mushrooms and melted provolone. (It's still an ooey-gooey sandwich, but you do get that Popeye boost.)
Spend the big money, a tenspot more or less, for an entree, and the choices include chicken and pork with sides from rice pilaf to stir-fried veggies or shrimp Martinique, sauteed with green onion, lemon, mushrooms and bread crumbs over linguine.
The Nibbler watches guys like co-owner Kevin Matheny and fellow cook Walter Gerbase with awe as they juggle this variety at short-order speed. Their tiny back-of-the bar setup of fryers and grills and a line of baskets with lettuce and tomatoes at the ready is as much fun as a gourmet exhibition kitchen. There's a bit of bam as well as slam in their cooking: The veggies are cooked with white wine and Worcestershire, and there's something as sweet as coconut in the cole slaw.
There is only one dessert, and your one guess is correct: Key lime pie, made the old-fashioned way, with that whipped topping you can serve with a trowel. Skip the whip, and the tart authenticity is as bracing as seaspray.
 Linda Hubert serves a hungry lunch crowd at Dockside Dave’s. The wait-staff is efficient, friendly and suitably informal. |
Matheny, a former fisherman from a family of captains, and Carol Bates worked here for most of those years and bought the place last year. They've cleaned it up a bit, but regulars will recognize the faded blue walls, the old taxidermy (and a neat collection of shark jaws), linoleum floors, odd chairs and tile-topped tables for families of varying sizes.
It feels like a homely tourist cabin at the lake your great aunt loved because the breeze blew straight from the back porch dock out through the screen doors. You get her kind of wait-staff too, no uniforms except an occasional "Feed Your Face," T-shirt, lots of hustle and no corporate cutenesss. Service here is quick and honestly friendly, Honey-ed, Sugar-ed and if you're lucky, Darling'ed.
You don't come to Dockside Dave's for ambience, but maybe you should.
Dockside Dave's
- 13203 Gulf Blvd.; Madeira Beach; (727) 392-9399
- HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 12 noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
- RESERVATIONS: No.
- DETAILS: Beer, wine served; Smoking permitted.
- CREDIT CARDS: Cash, check only, ATM on site, no credit cards.
- WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Fair.
- PRICES: $3.95 to $11.45.
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
From the wire
