Bad Golf, Good Food, and Caddyshack Lane.

So Florida is emerging as the golfing capital of the United States (in your face California!) and yet I have not golfed a single game in my life. The opportunity arrived when a recommended restaurant actually is located inside a country club in the extremely tiny San Antonio; Fl. Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club has been open for only a couple years, but boasts an award-winning chef as well as a great professional golf course. Located in the outskirts of the Tampa Bay area, San Antonio boasts a minimal population of just over 900 in an area that has less than 300 homes. If this does not describe a trip into the severely unknown, I don’t know what will.

And boy oh boy was it a trip. City slickers, if you want to see a very rural side of Florida, then take a trip through the edges of Lakeland and Zephyrhills. I have never seen so much open land in my life. The pathway contained hills, curves, and hidden streets (oh my). Right outside I-75 I find the place. The country club is absolutely massive. There are dozens upon dozens of houses wrapping around and within the golf course. At the end of the long roadway inviting you into the property is the main building. Inside, not a lot of people. Then again, with less than 1,000 living in the area, it did not surprise me much.



The restaurant area was even emptier, with just one table with customers and everyone else being workers of the country club. The entire business has gone through a change in management, so the bartender didn’t even know what was in the menu. They changed the website (not working as of today), and fixed up the entire menu. It was me and my two brothers on this trip. Christian orders the chicken strips with fries, which is an appetizer. Michael orders the Fire Pit Bacon Burger, which is a cheeseburger with chipotle sauce, pepper jack cheese, and multiple strips of bacon. I order an item that survived the management switch, which is the Belly Buster Fish Sandwich. This monstrosity is the restaurants’ most popular item: a massive beer-battered Pollock with the usual veggies and tartar sauce.







Interesting tidbit about the restaurant: they claim they have an award-winning chef, yet never revealed the name. Now I say this because: they should. The chicken strips had a very interesting texture. It was fried, but tasted different from your norm. It’s not my favorite batter, but the meat was white and fresh. Michael however fell in love with the burger. His Fire Pit wasn’t as powerfully spicy as the name may suggest, but the burger was juicy, the bacon was thick and crispy, and the sauce took the Fire Pit to a new level of quality. Michael boasts that it’s his favorite burger since…Le Tub (If you are a frequent reader, just accept the fact that Le Tub will be referenced time and time again). In my opinion, it’s definitely one of the better Floridian burgers. Pre-P.S.: We accidentally ordered the hot dog. Also good stuff, some of the best outside the ballpark.




And then there is the Belly Buster Fish Sandwich. I must say, it is the biggest fish sandwich I have ever seen. And this is where the beauty of my blog comes in: sometimes the best and most interesting food can come from the most random of sources. So unless I had the pictures, it would be hard for me to prove that a golf country club full of happy retirees located in an extremely small town contains the biggest fish sandwich I’ve ever eaten, and is easily quite possibly the best. My only gripe was the presentation; in which it looked incomplete. Both buns were underneath the fish, the tartar sauce is inside a small container, and the veggies usually are on the side. It did not look like a sandwich. However after you put it all together, the results are beautiful.


This sandwich is chock full of flavor, from the tartar sauce to the Pollock. The Pollock itself was the main event, as it was plentiful, thick, very hot, and full of fresh flavor. The fish that closest resembles the awesomeness that is Pollock (not a popular fish in terms of eating) is cod—which is the fish usually used for the popular fish n’ chips meal. But unlike your average fish n’ chips, there was much more meat than batter with the Belly Buster. And boy was it good. When that website is up and running again, you better name your chef, because he (or she) carved one of the better sandwiches I’ve ever tasted—once you get past the presentation.


Bottom Line: Sometimes great food comes from unexpected places. A country club located in rural Florida has proven this; by providing some amazing, amazing food. The menu is very diverse (They have a quesadilla with cheeseburger ingredients), so I am sure there’s more great food outside what we had. The environment was nice, the service was very friendly, and the food was quite a delightful surprise. If you are an avid golfer, or just happen to be in the area, you must give this place a shot. The atmosphere, food, ambiance, and entire experience was very nice with the exception of one thing:










My golf score. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone scoring a +90 after 8 holes.

Final Verdict: Recommend

Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club
10641 Old Tampa Bay Drive
San Antonio, FL 33576

P.S. I was not aware that in the golf world, they carry a strict dress code. Apparently collared shirts and shorts are a requirement, not a fashion choice amongst the golfers. I drove two hours to this place unaware of the dress code. So I would like to thank Tim Baker for providing me with a discounted shirt and also helping me out with solving the issue. Thanks solely to him, I was able to golf despite not being “dressed for the occasion.”

P.P.S. One of the streets in the neighborhood is called "Caddyshack Lane." I love the movie reference.

Traveling North while staying South

The state of Florida is what I like to call a “Second-Life State.” In other words, a vast populaton of people spend the latter part of their lives living in Florida, after living elsewhere during their childhood, school days, and early adult life. Now, there is no evidence I have to support this claim, so let’s just call it a theory. But, how else can you explain the influx of Northerners that seem to find their way down south? In sports matches all over Florida, the northern teams have the attendance edge for crying out loud---Celtics, Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, Steelers, Eagles, etc.

And its not just the northerners—we also have a crazy variety of Hispanics and South Americans living in the Orlando, Tampa, and Miami-Dade area. Outside of perhaps California, it’s hard to find a state with a much deeper variety of people as Florida. Unlike your grumpy border states (Arizona, Texas, Arizona, Arizona), Florida is seemingly a lot more accepting of other cultures. Do you see northerners thriving in any other state? We are slightly off-topic, but let me get to the point. Restaurants like Boston’s Fish House exist and flourish because of Florida’s attractive “second-life” ways. Florida is a total escape from the craziness, packed, building-frenzied, tree-lacking northern areas. But, a part of you will always be from New York, or Boston, or Philly or Jersey.

And once again, enter Boston’s Fish House. For over 10 years, Boston’s Fish House has become a local hit and staple in the Orlando-Winter Park area. Why? Because their seafood comes directly (and they claim only) from the Northeast coast. You won’t find Florida seafood or Louisiana seafood; its legit Northern seafood. Now, this type of institution should have had more trouble, because Florida is a state known for its abundance of…um…seafood. Florida’s coastline is longer than the entire Atlantic coastline starting from Georgia up to Maine (Pointless trivia for the day)—which means finding places serving fish is easier than finding stupidity in Fox News.



Boston’s Fish House is also known for its unique way of ordering and serving food. You lineup, order your food, pay the bill and the tip, and then you are seated. Whatever reason this is, I don’t know, but it definitely contributes to the longer lines you’ll usually see in the place. The menu is chock full of seafood; fried, broiled, steamed, etc. While they do offer other things like chicken, why do that in a Fish House? The food items don’t come cheap either sometimes, so be a bit prepared to spend a long dollar. Their prices are indeed justifiable; after all, their seafood travels a lot.


Me, Kyle, and Michael were on this trip. All in all, we ordered: Fish and chips (sides of fries and onion rings), fried shrimp (sides of fries and mac and cheese), Chicken Philly (a massive sandwich…you’ll see later)(Sides of fries and mac and cheese), and a lobster bisque appetizer. Boston’s Fish House entertains you while you wait with loads of memorabilia of up north, from the old-school pictures to new-school photos of their popular sports teams. For some odd reason there was less Patriots stuff….





The lobster bisque was absolutely incredible. Most (good) bisque I’ve had was creamy, hot, and filling. This bisque has all that, except it’s much more flavorful (the lobster smell hits you before you even take your first sip) and there’s even pieces of lobster inside the broth. That was just the icing on the cake. Everyone else loved it too. This is hands-down the top lobster bisque I’ve ever had. The fish and chips were unique, because they are in bite-sized pieces. They do use your usual cod, but it’s not strips of fish, they were like nuggets. Despite the texture differential, these fish and chips were mighty good. It was more fish than batter (always a good sign), and tasted very fresh. They aren’t as filling as other fish and chips I’ve had before though.







The fried shrimp was also fresh, delicious, and tasted much different from the Florida norm. Now, this all goes down to preference, but I love Florida shrimp and its mild sweetness to it (See: This place). But I am sure we’ll have a vast popularity prefer the shrimp here. Not saying either is bad, but, Tampa Bay in my opinion is Good Shrimp Heaven. Kyle’s Chicken Philly I didn’t try, but it looked like an adventure in itself. Chunks of chicken, peppers, mushrooms, melted cheese can be seen overflowing on top and in between the bread. Kyle was in temporary heaven. The sides were all good, with the cheesy and delicious mac and cheese being the pick of the litter.

Bottom Line: Boston’s Fish House is an escape from Florida, and an escape from Florida seafood. The restaurant even smells different from your average Floridian restaurant. So if you are a Northerner or a northeast food lover and live down south, you should make a trip to this place and transport yourself into another part of the country. The mildly high prices and long lines may scare you, but once you look past that, you are going to submerge yourself in a world of good spirits, good seafood, and good variety amongst the food. They feed you plenty, and go the distance in making sure the food is fresh. Every day they are open they actually close in the mid-afternoon to filter the cooking oils. Now, that my friends is impressive from a culinary perspective. So if you want a taste of Boston but don’t have the money to leave the state, take a trip to Winter Park, where a (nice) piece of Boston was shipped down there.

Final Verdict: Recommend...even for you Rays and Yankee fans..

Boston's Fish House
6860 Aloma Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32792-6802
(407) 678-2107