Jackie B. finally took me to her ‘scary Mexican place’ but they were closing up the bus when we drove up. I have found that many of my favorites have been serendipitous finds when Plan A hasn't worked out. Disappointed, but still hopeful, we cast our gaze across Fletcher toward a place I have wanted to try ever since their smoker arrived during the spring semester. I’d pass it going to school and I’ve been looking for a place that offers home cooked Southern food. Gill used to have his portable smoker in the parking lot of one of Fletcher’s gas stations, and his new digs in a recently built strip store are a vast improvement.
As with all the great places, the owner was on the premises. Gill’s family have been in the restaurant business since 1927. Daddy Gill’s has it all – cornbread, sweet potato pie, black eyed peas, smoked fish. The barbequed chicken was terrific which was served on a couple of pieces of white bread smeared with sauce.
The collards and black eyed peas were delicious and full of chunks of salty meat goodness. As my friend Amanda says, “Count on Southerners to make even vegetables unhealthy.” They had a ton of sides. 
Jackie got the mac and cheese which was disappointing - too much mac, not enough cheese. She didn’t like the way her pork reheated, but my veggies made a delicious breakfast the next day. The mild sauce is very mild, even sweet. The spicy sauce, if indeed I received the spicy, was still very mild. Smoked fish is a specialty of theirs and it comes with a side of grits. Next time I’m gonna order the smoked shrimp with a side of grits - now that’s a meal. They also offer real oxtails, chitterlings, and neck bones, but I think I’ll pass. Gill was thrilled Jackie and I came back for dessert. They have a great dessert case with cakes, pastries and pies. We split a sweet potato pie and it was delicious right down to the crust, and I’m not much of a crust person.
It’s a great value; portions are generous and prices are very fair. Nice and close to USF! They have a 25% student discount after 6:00pm. Be sure to check out their website for a buy one get one free dinner coupon!
http://www.daddygills.com/home.nxg
Hillsborough County
2001 East Fletcher Ave.
Tampa, FL 33612
813-435-5156
3 comments:
Please note - the pork (an open faced pork sandwich) was very good! It was only the leftovers which were disappointing. This may have more to do with my habit of sticking things in a microwave with no care and pressing the 1 minute button.
However, if you go for no other reason, go to taste the pie! I have very high standards for sweet potato pie, being raised on ones homemade by my mother. While this one utilizes a different spice it is still very good. Typically I abhor crust and have been trying to convince my mother not to bother with it at all for years. I normally just leave it, but after Jessica said it was good I tried some and it was the best pie crust I remember eating in a long time! Best of all the pie was it's own little miniature pie, not a slice off a larger one. For some reason things in miniature (and whole) make me happy. I'm still partial to my mother's pie but this is the only one I've ever found that could act as a substitute.
This place kind of sucks, the food is OK at best but they don't hold a candle to First Choice BBQ in Brandon. The only good thing about Daddy Gill's is that they are open late but it is so ghetto that you really risk your life (and your car stereo) eating there after dark
Hi Jessica. I'm doing a "best of" poll at Eating Tampa. If you have some time I hope you can drop by and vote.
"best of" poll
Post a Comment