Three more Restaurants

Another week has passed and I was able to visit three more new restaurants. I now only have to visit twelve more in the next 8 weeks. That is doable and if I do three per week a couple more times I will be back on track.  I have booked a cruise in December, the Oasis of the Seas, which has restaurants in addition to the traditional main dining room. I guess if I visit any of those, they will count towards my bucket list goal.

The Oasis of the Seas is one of the three largest cruise ships in the world. It's home port for a while will be Port Canaveral (30 minutes from my home). The twin is the Allure of the Seas and the new largest ship is the Harmony of the Seas. I have included a photo of the three taken this last Friday off the Florida Coast.

Harmony of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas

Now, let me tell you about the new three restaurants.  One was in Satellite Beach, one was in Micco and the third was in Grant, all Brevard County towns.  Grant has actually joined with Valkaria and is supposed to be called Grant-Valkaria. But in my mind, they still are separate places.

 Goombays in Satellite Beach 

The first place I stopped is called Goombays and it is located on A1A in Satellite beach.  The place has been there a long tima nad I have been there before so I did not take any pictures. But after sitting down and talking to the bartender, the place had renovated, completely changed the menu, and has new owners. The owner said they had been open a few weeks.

I sat at the new bar thay installed, and I had ample room, but whoever designed the bar did not leave any area for the bartender and waitresses to pass each other.  The whole time I was there they were running into each other and squeezing pass. They could have moved it out six inches and that would have made a big difference. Regardless, I decided I would order some food.

I was not real hungry so I ordered the chicken gumbo and one shrimp taco, spicy.  The gumbo was really good but I was expecting okra which I could see, and I think a gumbo needs okra.  The taco was a little expensive but it was good and I think there were five or six good size shrimp.  The bartender had told me the spicy sauce they use on the taco is Sriracha. I give this place a 2.5 (good to excellent). I think the people are extremely nice but they need some work on there service. After I realized they were newly opened, I penalized them a little less. I usually do not go to a new place in the first month to allow the staff to learn the menu.

 Outriggers Bar & Grill in Micco 

I drove down to Micco to try another place I had seen while driving to Captain Hiram's in Sebastian.  It is called Outriggers Bar & Grill and I will be honest, the clientelle are just local Floridians trying to make a living. No fancy stuff here although they do have outdoor dining and a nice Tiki Bar.

Sign for Outriggers Bar N Grill

Cover of menu

Entrance to Tiki Bar

I sat at the Tiki Bar and was taken care of by the Bartender/waitress. She told me her name, Cindy, and asked me for mine. She was very busy and had lots of customers. I thought it was kind of crowded because it was after one o'clock. I figured the lunch crowd would have been gone but I guess they eat lunch later in Micco.

I decided to order the Fried Oyster basket which came with a choice of fries or slaw. I choose the slaw which was a vinegar based and very tasty. There were nine very large oysters that were cooked perfectly. I had asked for a side of tartar for dipping.

Fried Oysters and Cole Slaw at Outriggers Bar & Grill

Close-up of the fried oysters

Having gobbled down the oysters in no-seconds flat, I was in the mood to try something else on the menu. I saw some other guys at the bar eating wings so I asked to make an order of 6 for $5.95.  I did not realize that they came with fries.

Six smoked wings, fries, and Caribbean Jerk Sauce

Cindy had suggested the smoked wings which was a great choice. I hardly used the jerk sauce since the wings were so tasty by themselves. Cindy was a great bartender who continued to call me by name during my whole stay there. I really like that and I tried to use her name too. She was so busy everyone else was yelling Cincy too.

I give this place a 2.5 (good to excellent). I will be back to try some of the other menu items. The place is located on Main Street. This is the last turn before crossing the St Sebastian river into Indian River County.

 Thirsty Clam in Grant 

The third new place is located on US-1 in Grant. I spied it while driving to Outriggers and Chubby Mullet. It looked small but I was in the mood to try it. I was a Thirsty Clam myself...

Sign over entrance to the Thirsty Clam

As you walk into the place, there is a cooler with a variety of the food they serve.

Cooler with some menu items

They also have a large black board with the specials of the day. There were probably ten items. I decided I would start off with the Lobster Bisque. Heather, my bartender and server, said they were out but that they had a good crawfish bisque. I said I would try that.

Crawfish Bisque with some Vermont crackers

From my seat at the bar, I took a picture of the front dining area...

Front area of the Thirsty Clam

I asked Heather how long they had been open. She said it was just over a year. Some guy was asking the owner if they served whole belly fried clams. He said "No sir, I do not fry anything here because I do not like how it stinks up the restaurant!"  He did say they set up a fryer outside on weekends for football games and other things.  I did see they had a dining area out back and there was a cage of parrots. I took a photo...

Looking toward the outside dining area at Thirsty Clam

After my bisque, I had ordered a Lobster Roll. She said for $12 I would get 3.5 ounces of Lobster, and for $19 I could get 8 ounces. I went with the smaller and got the Sea Slaw as the side.

Lobster Roll and Sea Slaw

The Lobster was not a salad, just plain buttered lobster on a toasted bun. Simple but delicious. Not sure why they called it sea slaw, but it was good. You can see from the photo it is not a fancy place, they only have plastic utensils and the beer comes in a plastic cup.

As I was munching down my lobster, I was watching other people come in and order. I guess Grant is like Micco and everyone eats after 1 PM. The lady next to me got some clam steamers, they looked great. Another couple ordered 8 dirty oysters and two oyster shots, one tequil;a hot and one vodka not hot. They use Bloody Mary mix in these, spicy for hot.

I saw on the blackboard that they had a special of three Oyster Rockefellers for $5. I ordered that and another beer. They took a while but they came out hot and pretty....

Three Oyster Rockefellers at Thirsty Clam

To show that I cleaned my plate, here is an after photo...

Completed Oysters

The Oysters were very plump and were covered with some breading, bacon and spinach.  I think the cheese on top was parmesan and it turned out crunchy. I kind of ate it separately. Delicious!! BTW, a dirty oyster is raw oyster topped with sour cream, scallions, red onion, capers and black caviar. They looked very good!

I give this place a 3.0 (excellent). I enjoyed the meal and Heather was very nice. I told her of my bucket list goal and she said I had to try the Boat House just up the road in Grant...Guess what, I have never been there!