Three days and two restaurant meals is a limited time frame to prove your city’s food worth to out of towners.  Two meals is even more of a challenge when you have, on more than one occasion, stated that Tampa kicks Dallas’ tail in the food department.  And although this was a challenge incapable of being won, I gave it a darn good try.

Each restaurant was predictably delicious and provided my guests with polar opposite dining experiences.  We went from a coursed meal amongst red velvet at Bern’s Steak House to paper napkins just past the redneck riviera at the Crab Shack.

This was my first Crab Shack experience and let me tell you, it is nothing short of treasure.  Raw Oysters are nine bucks a dozen, king crab legs are 12 bucks a half pound, and our waitress was sweet as pie.

I hope that my full-bellied friends found their trip brag-worthy and will return quickly so I can continue proving that small town dining can, in fact, compete with The Big D.