Beach Stops
Published: Jul 31, 2007
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The places you can't wait to tell your friends about are special.
Some transport you back to childhood. Others are just kind of quirky. And they all have a way of making you feel welcome, so you can't wait to come back again. And again. With a crowd.
We found six of those places up and down the Gulf beaches, and we wanted to share them. No matter which beach you visit, from Clearwater to Pass-a-Grille, one of these spots is nearby.
Ye Olde Corner Candy Store
Corie Blanchett and Rita Mills of Belleair walk through the door of a candy store that time forgot and shake their heads.
"This is real nostalgic and takes me back to this little store I always went to that was just around the corner," Blanchett says. "It's just like Pedro's in Brooklyn was."
Mills nods. "I know what he means," she says. "It's just like George and Curly's, the mom and pop store with wooden floors I grew up going to in West Seneca, N.Y."
A young boy in a crew cut slugs down an ice cold bottle of Coke as he exits Candy Kitchen in Madeira Beach, and it's the 1960s all over again.
An oldies radio station plays while customers choose from nearly 200 old-school candies, such as Necco wafers, Sugar Babies, rock candy, candy buttons and wax bottles.
There are more than 30 toys from decades past - gyroscopes, balsa-wood gliders, a diving plastic submarine powered by baking soda. Baseball cards from the 1980s are $1 a pack.
"Adults like it even more than kids, because now they can get whatever they want," says Lora Holybee, who has owned the store for a dozen years with her husband and in-laws. "And it hasn't changed much since it opened in 1950."
Folks line up outside the door most nights to wait for their turn at being a kid again.
The store walls are covered with patrons' signatures, and you're welcome to add yours if you can find any white space. The bathroom walls, floor and ceiling are covered with laminated candy boxes. A collection of 700 Pez dispensers takes up one wall.
"It's a one-of-a-kind place," says Yvette Boggs of Tampa, who visited for the first time recently with eight family members and enjoyed a coconut ice-cream cone. "You have to see it to believe it."
The Total Beach Experience
If you really don't want to leave the beach but need some eats or sweets, Kooky Coconut in Indian Rocks Beach is your place. You can phone in your order and pick it up or take a seat at the outdoor and indoor picnic tables, which are covered like thatched huts.
"You can come in wearing a bikini straight from the beach," says Star Quality of Indian Rocks Beach, who did just that. "And it's awesome, with just the best food and great service with great music. I like the chicken salad wraps and Cubans."
"This place matches the beach," says her friend, Fabian Alvarez of Tampa. "I saw the bamboo painted on the outside walls and thought it was real."
Joe Cicmanec bought the shop, which was called the Tacky Turtle, last fall. He changed the name and menu and had two local muralists add the beach touches. The floors inside are painted like a sandy beach, and the ceiling is blue sky with a cartoon sea gull.
Cuban sandwiches made from Ybor City bread and homemade Old Meeting House Ice Cream from Tampa give the place a local feel. And the quarter-pound Vienna Beef hot dogs remind Cicmanec of his hometown, Chicago.
Cicmanec plays his own homemade music tapes, which feature nothing but beach music, with plenty of steel drums and Beach Boys.
There's also a kids playing area, featuring a Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway, and "paw sundaes" featuring soft-serve ice cream and dog biscuits.
Sweet Views
At Paradise Sweets, they have an ice-cream espresso called the Pass-a-ccino, Working Cow Homemade Ice Cream, rows of candy and jelly beans in jars, Hawaiian shave ice, milkshakes and smoothies.
That is attraction enough, but then there's the view this Pass-a-Grille eatery provides. Pull up one of the 10 Adirondack chairs - some with backs made to look like sandals or a row of parrots - and feel your blood pressure drop.
"This is an ideal spot," says Chris Fannin of Ruskin, while downing a vanilla, fudge swirl and peanut butter cup ice-cream shake in an Adirondack shaped like a mermaid. "It has the view, the atmosphere and pretty good ice cream."
Some of the tables have skim-board tops, and the outdoor seating area is covered. But if you'd like a slower melt to your ice cream, there are bistro chairs and tables inside with jazz music playing.
The wooden shelves and coffee bar were made by Mike Janecek, who owns the store with his wife, Rita. Their son, Adam, manages it. And his younger brother, Matthew, is behind the counter.
The family has another Paradise Sweets, managed by daughter Jennifer, on the Outer Banks in Corolla, N.C.
"My parents quit their jobs and opened up these so they could be at the beach all the time," said Adam Janecek, an ex-Marine. "We opened in November, and it's gone over pretty well. People seem to like it, and some just stop to take pictures of the chairs."
Cookie Monster's Delight
Christopher Schmitt, on vacation from Louisville, Ky., had to satisfy his curiosity.
"We were attracted by the sign out front that says you have half-pound cookies," Schmitt admits, shaking his head and smiling as he views the giant cookies. "Wow! Those look so good."
The Serious Cookie Company, a 30-second walk from the Outback Steak House on Clearwater Beach, is perhaps the only place where one cookie fills you up. But just in case that isn't enough of a dessert, store worker Eric Flament suggests a couple of scoops of Working Cow Homemade Ice Cream on top.
Now we're talking decadent.
The chocolate chip, chocolate chip with pecans or macadamia nuts, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, white chocolate, macadamia nut and double fudge brownie cookies are what owner Harry Fox hangs his hat on.
But the store also has ice cream, smoothies, tea, coffee, cappuccino, fudge, saltwater taffy and 120 candies.
"But what sets us apart are the cookies," says Flament, who bakes them fresh daily. "We get calls to ship them on birthdays, and there is a local orthodontist who bought 30 or 40 to take to a convention for clients."
There are four outdoor concrete picnic tables and several chairs and stools inside for those who can't wait for a feast fit for Cookie Monster.
Momma's Place
The name is a bit deceiving. While Ryan's Yogurt in Clearwater does have yogurt, it's actually an all-around eatery, serving lunch and a variety of desserts, such as gourmet ice cream, sorbet, shakes, smoothies, cakes and pies.
The eats are tasty, but the service, family atmosphere and stunning views around the corner are what make it stand out.
Carmela Norton, who owns the place with her husband, David, pops out from behind the counter to open the door for a customer using a walker.
"The food is delicious," says Marita Fratus , who had butter pecan ice cream after a bowl of homemade lentil soup. "The service is so excellent."
"And it's quaint," adds her husband of 49 years, Dick.
Carmela has photos of her mother, Angela Iaccarino, and her native Naples, Italy, on the wall.
"Look at my Momma!" she says. "I lost her last year; she was 85. Look at her smile."
Momma loved the vanilla soft-serve yogurt and espresso cappuccino at her daughter's place, which also serves homemade egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches, BLTs, grilled chicken and hot dogs.
There are two tables inside with ceiling fans, but venture out the door to your right and enjoy a seat on a boardwalk bench overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. A large ray swimming by drew a crowd on a recent day.
Whole Lotta Shakin'
Shake Shop in Treasure Island has developed its share of regulars over the years. Some are Floridians; many are European. Folks keep coming back for the 15 flavors of shakes, parfaits and other soft-serve ice-cream treats served by owner Patty Nicholson.
You can order a pineapple, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip, peanut butter, coconut, chocolate chip mint, lime, orange, cookie, banana, coffee, mocha or cherry shake. Or ask for her signature parfait - the Vienetta , made of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, waffle crunches, chocolate dip and whipped cream.
"I'll mix and match things for you, too," Nicholson says. "Chocolate and peanut butter are good. So is coconut and pineapple. Hey, banana and strawberry is out of this world!"
And occasionally out of this continent.
"People from Europe come here and say, 'My friends told me I had to come here.' They visit mostly from England and Germany and go home telling people about the Shake Shop," Nicholson says. "It's kind of neat. And a lot of tourists who are here for a week come every day."
John and Patty Nida of Lake Mary near Orlando fit that description. They were vacationing with their daughters at a beach condo and walked over daily for shakes and soft -serve cones.
"I like the shop, and I like its name," John Nida says. "My first couple jobs were at mom and pop shops. I like those places and like to spend my money there."
Nicholson, born in Italy and raised in New York, opened the Shake Shop not long after moving here 12 years ago.
She said the shop had to be built elevated with eight steps to reach the order window because of building codes on the beach side of the road. It has an electrical lift for those with wheelchairs.
Shore Things
The places you visit and just have to tell friends about are special. We found six of them along the beach from Clearwater to Pass-A-Grille.
The Serious Cookie Co.
483 Mandalay Ave. Suite 114
Clearwater Beach.
Open noon to 10:30 p.m. Sunday - Thursday, noon - 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (727) 444-4555.
Ryan's Yogurt
1261 Gulf Blvd. Suite 118
Sand Key.
Open 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily (727) 596-0006
Kooky Coconut
760 Gulf Blvd.
Indian Rocks Beach
Open daily 11 a.m. "until the sunset crowd leaves." (727) 517-1300
Candy Kitchen
13711 Gulf Blvd.
Madeira Beach
Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (727) 392-6803
Shake Shop
11920 Gulf Blvd.
Treasure Island
Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily (727) 647-8754
Paradise Sweets
709 Gulf Way Suite 100
Pass-A-Grille
Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday - Sunday (727) 360-5830
Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.
