Fifth New Restaurant of 2017

It was Mardi Gras, and even on a fat Tuesday our small group ends up at Lou's Blues for our weekly beers. Jim Austin, born on leap day, was celebrating his 22.25 birthday. Yep, the old man turned 89. He is an ornery Vermonter who still goes to work in his plastic shop on Ellis Road. Beads were given by my friend Ken from Louisiana, and the beers tasted great.

Mac and I sometimes go out to eat after the beers, and tonight we had decided to go to Squidlips. I caught this photo while sitting at the light on A1A.

Moon and planet at sunset from A1A beachside

Well, everyone else in the area had decided Squidlips would be a great place too. There were no parking spaces so I stopped and told Mac we should head up to that new place called the Salty Fox.

Sign out front

They are open but their Grand Opening is on March 11. I saw that they had food when I visited the web page. My friend Shari had recommend I try the place. It is located on the Eau Gallie Causeway in old town Eau Gallie. It use to be a paint store between the Ace hardware and the Intracoastal Brewing.

Sign in Window

We sat at the bar which I saw was completely covered in pennies. We asked how many and were told $250 worth; my quick mathematical mind came up with 25,000 coins.

Bar top made form pennies at Salty Fox

We were given a beer menu by bartender Dominic, and a food menu. I saw that the taps were not working yet, so they only had cans and bottles of beer. Mac and I each ordered one and they did not have either. We each ordered another and this time we got what we wanted, sort of!

I had read that the candied jalapenos were good so we asked for that appetizer. Simple, it was some crackers, a lump of cream cheese, and a bowl of candied jalapenos. They went well with the beer and tasted good. Sweet, but still a little spicy kick.

Appetizer of Candied Jalapenos at Salty Fox (Half eaten)

The menu was small and the sandwiches were all paninis. Mac ordered the Basic B Panini which was a BLT. There was lots of bacon and the chips were kettle chips, very crunchy. Mac said it was great.

Base B Panini with chips at Salty Fox

I had asked what the soup was and it was a Fiesta Chicken. They had a soup & salad for $5.99 so I ordered the soup of the day and a Caesar salad. Ths soup was served with some crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream...

Fiesta chicken soup with tortilla chips and sour cream at Salty Dog

The soup was wonderful. Very tasty and I was not shy about adding the chips and sour cream. Great! The salad was a simple Caesar with the dressing on the side and plenty of croutons...

Caesar salad at Salty Dog

The salad was very fresh and also delicious....Great!

We ordered more beers and I wanted to try another appetizer I saw on the menu. Cucumber boats.

"Shredded chicken, crushed cashews, and shredded carrots, floating in a hand made cucumber boat. Topped with Ginger dressing and Sciracha Ranch."

They had a half order for $4.25 and a full order for $6.25. We went with the full and we got this...

Cucumber boats with Sciracha (left) and Ginger (right) at Salty Fox

They were delicious too. As I went back to the bathroom I told one of the girls from the kitchen we liked the cucumber boats. She replied that "We make the bats with love." I replied that "I ate them with love."

The place is not real big, the front bar holds about15 people. There are TVs, dart boards and a pool table. They also have a juke box. Mac said he has not listen to music since the Limeliters in the 1960s. I played "If I had a Hammer" sung by them on the juke box.

Mac at the bar finishing his panini with bartender Dominic on left.

Front entrance to Salty Fox with pool table and Mac at the bar

The kitchen is small and they have some picnic tables in the back where the bathrooms are located. The bathroom was very clean and modern. The lights have a motion sensor.

Back room of the Salty Fox.

Officially they are not opened. Some mistakes were made but they were very happy to hear what we liked and did not like. I think they have a chance for a trendy crowd. Overflow when downtown has events or, as in our case, Squidlips is packed. Just next door the Intracoastal Brwerey is also expanding. Down town Eau Gallie is becoming a nice place to take a walk.

Since it was a new restaurant for me, #5 for 2017, I decided to rate it. I give the place a 3.0 (Great!). Are you surprised? In the future,  I plan to try some of the paninis, but I am already thinking of making cucumber boats at home.