1500 W. International Speedway Boulevard

Daytona Beach, Florida 32114

(386) 254-2867

www.gatorsbarbqandwings.com

Gator's Storefront

In earshot but not quite sight of the Daytona International Speedway was the sight of a favorite restaurant of mine. In early 2009 I was so sadden to see that they had closed down. The location was soon replaced with Gator’s Bar-B-Q and Wings. It took me almost a full year to decide to stop in and give them a try, and man am I glad I did. When you step into ‘Gator’s’ you can see the set up is like any other sports bar. There is a full liquor bar to the right, dozens of televisions, an outdoor sitting area with high-top tables, and the usual banners of either your favorite team or the beer specials of the day. But this is not just another ordinary sports bar; they have a little something extra.

Bar Area

Sitting there in the dining area adjacent to the bar area, I was a little anxious to have our server finally help us. But, I did give her a little slack as to the fact that she was the only server and had a table that was demanding a lot of her time. She was kind and introduced herself in passing by our table as Melissa. She did stop long enough to take our drink order, and took off to get those while we looked at the menu. Looking at the menu we saw that Gator’s had several appetizers we wanted to try, good thing they have a ‘create your own sampler’. You have the option of any three for $12.99 or any four for $14.99. We settled on the any three, and chose the fried mac n cheese, the corn nuggets, and the fried mushrooms. It did not take long for this huge platter of starters to come out. With the corn nuggets and the fried mac n cheese, we got the usual. If you have had either one of these items anywhere, then you will have the exact item here, nothing special. But the fried mushrooms were fantastic, they were fresh and homemade. When Melissa was near the table again I asked her about the mushrooms and she did confirm that they are homemade and fresh. They use their own batter and never freeze them, thus creating a great fried mushroom.

Sampler Platter

We took a bit of time looking into what our main course would be, and I was torn between the wings and the one pound cheeseburger. After looking deeper into the menu I saw the pulled pork sandwich that is served on a pretzel roll for $7.99. I order this with the thought in mind, if you have Bar-B-Q or Wings in your restaurant name and on the sign outside, go with what they know. For the fact that the place was now virtually empty, I thought it took a little long for the food to come out. Not to sound like it took a long time, but it just took a little bit long than I thought it would. BUT, it was very much worth the wait. While we started to eat the server was cleaning tables from the lunch rush and letting us know about the poker nights, wing and beer specials, and the ladies night that Gator’s has. Back to the Bar-B-Q sandwich, it was moist but not sloppy. Thick and juicy, with a hint of a smokey flavor. The fries that came with it were not to my liking, but my friend said he thought they were great. The fries were not bad, and did seem to be fresh, just not my kind of fry.

Sandwich & Fries

If you are either vacationing at Daytona Beach or there for the races, you should definitely stop by Gator’s Bar-B-Q and Wings. If you use a GPS with this address you will get a Sonny’s B-B-Q instead of Gator’s. The menu is very extensive, with items from pizza, bar-b-q, wings, burgers, gyros, steak, ribs, several different salads and also different sandwiches. Overall the items are a little bit more than other restaurants, however you will not leave hungry and will probably take food home with you…. I did. The menu that I looked at does not have a specific kids section but this is not a place I would recommend to bring a child after lunchtime. For a couple of people you should expect to spend over $25 including tip, this is not with either liquor or beer, but with soda. Hmmm, the race is coming up…. I may be back there sooner than I thought. 

Gator's Porch

Review by Pie, email:  pie@piesplate.com

1061 Mason Avenue

Daytona Beach, Florida 32117

(386)255-2256

Store Front

In my many visits to the Daytona Beach area it is easy to overlook certain shopping centers and various restaurants if they are not on one of the main drags. You see Daytona has a few sections that people go to, such as International Speedway Blvd, or A1A or maybe even US 1. But Mason Avenue is down the street and around the corner from any of the main sites that might bring you to the center of racing (or) the world’s most famous beach. Off of Mason Ave is a restaurant known as Tropical Gourmet and they are tucked away in the corner of the MasoNova Park plaza. This area is depressed and filled with bingo halls and rent you appliance stores. But with having almost 20 years of food service in Daytona Beach, Daniel and the other owners/managers deserve some recognition as having an authentic Caribbean restaurant that will delight your taste buds.

When I stepped into the restaurant/Caribbean market I was overwhelmed but the fact the a/c was not on. Then in consideration I thought to myself, they are Jamaican, and the warmth is not unbearable, so deal with it. Soon after I came in a gentleman named Daniel came out from the kitchen area to greet me. He stood at a counter that was adorned with pictures of Bob Marley, Obama, and various scenes from Jamaica. On the counter was a display case with beef patties in it. Having fallen in love with beef patties years ago, I decided to get one as a starter for me. Daniel notified me of the lunch specials that were still available for the day. Including curried goat, ox tail, and jerk chicken all served with either a salad or steamed cabbage with rice and beans. Not familiar with curried goat I need to stick with what I know, I got the jerk chicken.

While I was sitting there customers were coming in and going straight to the counter to get beef patties to go, the whole time I was there I was the only customer that sat in the dining area. Daniel soon brought me my bowl of steamed cabbage filled with carrots and green beans to my table. So there I sit with my cabbage steaming, a roll that looks like a biscuit, my beef patty, and a Jamaican drink simply known as cola champagne. Daniel tells me that the drink is very refreshing and that he thinks I will like it, well he was right. The cabbage was great; it was so hot that it continued to steam the whole time that I was eating it. He told me that the beef patty was authentic and not frozen; this is one of the signature items that the Tropical Gourmet is known for. Having discovered the Jamaican beef patty over twenty years ago I am a fan of them, but this one was rich with flavor with a not too flaky crust.

While still eating my beef patty and steamed cabbage, Daniel brings me a very large plate of jerk chicken with a side of rice and beans. If you are not familiar with jerk flavoring, you should know that it is typically hot in spice. Some people will just make an item spicy and call it jerk, however if you are looking for a real jerk flavor find a real authentic Jamaican restaurant or chef to serve it. Not only is jerk a spicy hot item it is a fantastic blend of spices that the islands are known for. The Tropical Gourmet not only knows the art of making a good jerk chicken item they also sell various spices on the wall along with certain sweet breads and authentic sodas to take home with you.

In conversation with Daniel I was inquiring about the history of Tropical Gourmet. He let me know that they have been opened in Daytona for almost 20 years and in the current location for almost 10 of those. I asked about the desserts available and on this particular day they had none available. He let me know (only after my asking questions about it) that the economy has hurt them in many ways. For now they are open and operating as a full functioning restaurant, but as he let me know, things have to get better to keep them open. I for one will say that if Tropical Gourmet becomes a casualty of the current recession then Daytona will lose out on one of the best Jamaican restaurants available. If you are in Daytona I highly encourage you to swing into Tropical Gourmet for at least a beef patty to go. The food is very good, very fresh and worth every penny you will spend.

My meal was huge and I got a soda and a beef patty to start with. I only paid 11 bucks. You can easily get in and out of there for under ten dollars, or if you go with the various Jamaican soups with a beef or chicken patty as a side you will spend less than $6 for the soup and about a buck fifty for the patty. As I could see there were customers who stopped in and would by 2 or 3 patties and take them to go for less than $5. They are opened from 10 am till 10 pm Monday through Saturday taking Sunday off. You should give them a try, tell them Moonpie sent you.

Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com

Molly Hatchet's Sub Shop

When visiting Daytona Beach you must remember that every thing you see, visit or eat is either the Worlds Largest, Most Famous, or Voted #1. Molly Hatchet’s Sub Shop on South A1A is no exception. The neon sign on the front of the building tells you they are world famous and menu items tell you that they are number one.

As you walk in to little sandwich store front you will see that it is very small. They did not spend any extra money on comfort in there. The people behind the counter were all very nice and helpful giving suggestions on the menu items available. After I ordered a whole size Chicken Philly Sandwich (of course it too is World Famous). The young girl behind the counter asked me if I would like to have a ‘Boss Sauce’ cooked into the sandwich. Unsure of this Boss Sauce that she mentioned I told her no. She then suggested having me try it in a li’l sauce cup first. So she fetched me a sample. After a li’l taste I said to cook it in with the meat. It was a spicy sauce with a medium flavor of spices.

So I sat in the little room that consisted of a tiny bar, 4 stools, a kitchen and a counter to order at. I was feeling a little bit cramped as customers came in to get their orders they had called in from the local beachfront hotels and businesses. Watching the cars pass by on the main drag known as A1A just yards away from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. If it had not been for a high rise and a fast food restaurant you could see the beach from the front window of Molly’s. Enjoying my time sitting in there listening to classic rock I heard ZZ Top, Van Halen and Ted Nugent and realized that it was taking them a little while longer than I was expecting to get my food. Finally I stood up and went to the little counter and decided to wait there. From there I could see a sandwich sitting in the window. Finally the cook saw me and looked at the girl at the counter and said ‘Oops, order up’. She looked at me, grabbed me a Jones Root Beer, apologized and gave me my food and told me to enjoy.

Having the majority of the seating being on picnic tables outside and my fear of seagulls; I decided to stay indoors at the li’l counter. One of the first things I noticed about the sandwich was the bread. If this makes any sense it was very bready… What I mean by that is that it seemed to be too much bread. If you have too much bread, then the sandwich will lose some of the flavors intended. However this sandwich was huge and the juices just soaked up into the bread. My personal preference would have been a little more cheese on sub. As far as chicken subs go this was one of the best I have ever had.

Outside Dining

This is one of those places where if you are looking for a good sub, you have to visit. My only regret to this stop is that I only got the sub. I was not paying attention to the size options and the appetizers that are available. Such as Mozzarella Sticks, Clam Strips, Onion Rings, Pizza Bites, Fried Mushrooms and various other fried items. Looking at the menu there are many other items that I would love to try the next time that I find myself in Daytona. Maybe the next time I am there I will get the cheeseburger or the shrimp dinner. I don’t know what I will get the next time that I am there, but there will be a next time.

Review by Pie, email:  pie@piesplate.com