St. Petersburg, Florida 1/31/2008
(review by Katie's grandma)
Tangelo’s Grille is one of my favorite all-time restaurants. I must be a rare bird, though, because the rest of my family doesn’t seem to care for it. My husband will accompany me at times just to be polite. I chose it when my office took me to a birthday lunch, and my boss said, “You chose a CASH BAR?” To sum it up in one word, Tangelo’s is funky. With a Cuban theme, Tangelo’s is completely unassuming (brown paper napkins and silverware fill buckets) and terminal colorful. Wild colors decorate the walls and furniture, and wild pictures and artifacts enliven the walls. An Elvis clock gyrates its pendulum endlessly; commanding most of a wall is a neon-lit adaptation of Hopper’s “Nighthawks” painting with Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Bogey, and, as bartender, Elvis. The service is friendly, and the food is spot-on. (Well, I think it is, anyhow.) The Cuban sandwiches get the most accolades, but I always order black beans over rice (cooked with genuine ham that tastes like my granny’s smokehouse specials) and the steel drum salad, a divine concoction of big chunks of lettuce, tomato, onions, green pepper, shredded cheese, and a dressing that features Worcestershire, fresh ginger, and something sweet like pomegranate juice. This is washed down by a tall cup of cinnamon ice tea (I’m not really a wild person). Bottles of killer hot sauce await the masochist. The bathroom (at least the ladies’ one) is tiny but colorful and graced with a Cuba-themed poster, like peppers and their heatness index. At lunch I never have to wait for seating, though finding a parking space within decent walking distance can be a challenge.
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