Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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Five Great Places To Eat On A Picnic Bench [It’s Good Wood Food]

Posted Aug 2, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Aug 2, 2011 at 12:01 PM

If there’s one thing this place we call home knows about, it’s casual dining. Even when it’s not supposed to be casual.

Good thing there are still plenty of places that know how to kick back and go all easy with some picnic-table dining:

1. Interbay Meat Market
6110 Interbay Blvd., Tampa
(813) 839-7542

Plan ahead. Budget extra time. There are so many mouth-watering choices, it will take a while for you to decide what delicious food to order from the deli counter at this neighborhood market. First-timers should start with a Cuban sandwich and a devil crab and then go sit outside at the picnic benches on the sidewalk next to the unpicturesque parking lot. One of Interbay’s ridiculously large and sloppy burgers is enough for two to share. Once you’re done, go back in and shop. You’ll feel like you’ve found a delicious secret.

* * *

2. Smokin’ Joe’s B-B-Q
10252 S. County Road 39, Lithia
(813) 737-3010

What good is a barbecue joint if you can’t smell the smoke? That’s not a problem here, where “Smokin’” Joe Shirley is constantly putting oak logs to good use making ribs, pork, beef, brisket, chicken and some of the best smoked sausage you’ll ever eat. This is a paper-towels-on-the-table, mulch-under-your-feet kind of place. Next door, his brother Rick runs a butcher shop and general store where you can buy such delicacies as gator jerky, buffalo and Sun Drop sodas. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to pet Joe’s basset hound, Bertha, the smokin’ dog.

* * *

3. Woody’s Waterfront Café & Beach Bar
7308 Sunset Way. St. Pete Beach
(727) 360-9165

Locals have known for decades about this spot, which claims, “We’re so close to the water, your burger will get wet!” Not only is it a great place to throw down a cold beer and pick through a basket of U-Peel-Um, U-Eat-Um shrimp, it’s a spectacular perch to soak up a sunset after a day at the beach. Bonus attraction: You can watch boaters navigate the tricky shoals of Blind Pass. Occasionally, a rookie sailor in a rent-by-the-hour runabout will run aground and turn the episode into maritime performance art. A word of warning: Don’t feed the seagulls, lest you get special sauce on your Big Woody half-pound hot dog.

* * *

4. The Fish House
1902 W. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin
(813) 641-9451

Unless you live in Ruskin, this roadside shack isn’t on the way to anywhere. Which is a good thing, because it already attracts massive lines of hungry patrons who can’t wait to devour delicately fried seafood, lip-smacking smoked mullet and crispy croquies. The picnic tables, filled during lunch and dinner with customers who drive from as far away as Sarasota and Lakeland, give the place a distinctly Florida feel. Don’t miss the red velvet cake. Or the soft-shell crabs. Say, “Hi,” to Miss Julie for us. She keeps us deep in sweet tea.

* * *

5. Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B-Q
4103 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
(813) 289-9724

So what if it’s indoors? Sitting at the solid oak picnic tables at Jimbo’s screams, “Let’s get our eat on.” During the week, the homey dining room with license plates and a gator hide on the paneled walls is choked with blue-collar, white-collar and no-collar customers who love the chopped pork, rib plates, hamburgers, smoked beef and sweeter-than-pie servers. Try the free pickle bar near the stairs while you wait for your food. And be sure to order extra fritters. They taste like fried love.

Have a favorite of your own? Leave it in the comments section.