Two New Restaurants

As the tenth month of the year is completed, I should be at 43 new restaurants for the year, with only nine left. But in reality, I have 15 left for the year with only 9 weeks remaining. This week, I caught up a little by visiting two new places (from 17 to 15). One was local to Melbourne and one was all the way at the south end of Brevard County in the small town of Micco.

My first stop on Wednesday was at a place called Joey Palermo's Pizzeria & Sports Pub located on US 1 north of Melbourne. It used to be the site of a Florida DMV.  It was kind of weird having a beer in the same building I use to have to take a test to get my driver's license.

Front entrance to Palermo's Pizzeria in Melbourne Florida

The lunch crowd was just finishing up and the bartender/waitress was very friendly and said I could sit anywhere. I choose to sit at the bar. The menu was full of Italian choices but I was really in the mood for some pizza.

Menu cover at Palermo's Pizzeria

The place does not look real big from outside but they have a substantial dining area with booths and tables. I have included a few photos of the decor. BTW, it is a Chicago Pizza place and there was some talk of a team called the Cubs by the workers there.

Looking toward US1 (window to the outside)

Tables & Booths at Palermo's Pizzeria

Sign near entrance to kitchen

I ordered two slices of the New York Style pizza topped with pepperoni. They brought four containers for sprinkling the top of the pizza:  Parmesan, Red Pepper Flakes, Oregano, and Garlic Salt.  The bartender warned me the garlic salt came out quickly so she set it aside from the other three containers.

Two slices topped with pepperoni at Palermo's Pizzeria

The pizza was hot and very tasty. maybe I was just hungry, but it was some of the better pizza I have had in a while. I have not ordered at home any pizza online for almost two years, so any pizza I eat is when I go out. I definitely will be back to this place. It is also just a five-minute ride from my house.  I give the place a 3 (great) and cannot wait to go back and try some lasagna or calzone or stromboli or...

Although it is not a new place, I just want to mention that I have been to Coasters a few times this month for Octoberfest. They have 25 German beers on tap and some german food which I have tried. But this last Friday I wanted to try something different so I ordered the Reggae Shrimp.

• Lightly breaded shrimp tossed in our tropical, zesty curry sauce.

It comes with two sides so I got the cole slaw and the cheesy grits. Feast your eyes....

Reggae Shrimp at Coasters with cheesy grits & cole slaw

I definitely will order that again.

My second stop was on Saturday. I drove down US1 to Micco to stop at a place I saw called the Chubby Mullet.  I liked the name and it is in a large building at a marina where they store boats.

Just look for the large Marina sign to find the Chubby Mullet

The parking spaces are even marked

There are other businesses related to the marina, but the entrance to the Chubby Mullet is well marked...

Windy day at the Cubby Mullet

Sign above entrance to the Chubby Mullet

When I entered, they said I could sit anywhere. I sat at the bar where Sarah was the server. She handed me the regular menu plus a special football season menu.  Since Penn State was on one TV and Michigan on the other, she said I could order from the special menu. She pointed out that pints of Bud Light and Amberbock were only $2.

Chubby Mullet Football Menu

The menu said "Mon, Thurs, Sat or Sun Anytime A College or NFL Game is ON" But I did not know what all these were and they were explained in the regular menu. I will say, if you like conch, which I do, there are plenty of items on the menu with conch in it.  They even have a conch burger that I asked Sarah about. She said it was made more like a crab cake and served on a hamburger bun.

As I was making my decision, I was impressed with the view of the Indian River. It was a cloudy day, but I bet it is great when the sky is blue. I have included a photo...

View from my barstool at the Chubby Mullet

There were quite a few people in there having lunch so I did not take pictures of both sides of the dining areas. The bar is in the middle. I did get a picture to my left and another picture of the bar...

Half of the dining area at the Chubby Mullet

The tap area of a very shiny bar at the Chubby Mullet

Now I had to decide what to eat for lunch.  I ended up ordering off the Football menu. Two items for $10. I selected the Conch Spring Rolls and the Stuffed Chubby Clams.

• Conch Spring Rolls: Ground Conch with Red & Yellow peppers, onions, cilantro & Lime juice. Wrapped and lightly fried. Served with House Made Pink Sauce.
• Stuffed Chubby Clams: Filled with Manchego cheese, Bacon, and Homemade Bread Crumbs.

Lunch at the Chubby Mullet in Micco Florida

There were only three stuffed clams, but they came out hot and delicious. I have only tried manchego cheese once, and never melted it on anything. A big mistake I will rectify in the future. The cheese by itself would have been great but served over the breaded clams with bacon, I was in appetizer heaven.  Then there were only two conch spring rolls, and I wish there were a hundred. They were delicious and the conch was ground up but still identifiable. I definitely will be back for the conch bites, conch fritters, and even the conch burger. And of course, some more conch spring rolls.

Although the place is in a marina, and not very big, I was very impressed. Sarah was a great server and other people were friendly and chatty.  The food was great although I am not sure what the green stuff was (see photo.) I think it was some kind of pickled leeks. I forgot to ask.

I am going to give the place a 3.5 (great to excellent). I definitely will be back. The only downside is it takes about 25 minutes to get there, but I think it may be worth it.