I had a rare treat today – my husband took me on a lunch date! Our destination?
The Bridgetown Delicatessen on Venice Avenue – our town’s mainstreet. I love this little stretch of shops and restaurants. I actually worked at a little children’s boutique on Venice Ave all through high school and loved every minute of it!
Bridgetown is very new to the Avenue – it actually just opened earlier this month!
We’ve heard rave reviews and Nate and I couldn’t wait to check it out.
The biggest reason we wanted to go? The owners are my husband’s friend Anthony and his brother Peter. Anthony and Nate played football together at our high school – state champions, I might add. We love supporting local restaurants – especially ones owned by great people like Anthony!
They had a great menu – a nice combination of salads, wraps and sandwiches.
I noticed they have breakfast too and I have a feeling we’ll be visiting on a Saturday morning sometime soon! Anthony is originally from New York so you know their bagels are going to be good.
Nate immediately zeroed in on the Bridgetown “33″ – named after Anthony’s high school football number. It’s a classic BLT with a little twist with avocado-mayo.
Nate, however, prefers the classic edition and ordered regular mayo on his. The sandwich did not disappoint. When they said “plenty of crispy bacon”, they meant it!
I went for the “Farmer’s Daughter” – Bridgetown’s waldorf chicken salad and oohhh it was delicious. They made it just how I like it with crispy apples and crunchy walnuts – and light on the mayo. The original comes on a croissant, but I traded that out for a wrap. I really should have stopped after eating one half (it was so filling!) but it tasted too good. I couldn’t resist finishing the whole thing, even though I told Nate he might have to roll me out the door.
I will definitely be ordering this again and Bridgetown has quickly become one of my favorite local restaurants. If you happen to live in the Venice area, be sure to check it out – and tell Anthony I sent you!
Nate and I loved our local spots up in St. Petersburg and we’re hoping to find more favorites here in Venice. I’ll let you know what I find!
What is your favorite local restaurant?
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I’m with you and absolutely love local deli’s and sandwich shops. There’s a little Italian deli near where I work and I treat myself to one of their Dutch Crunch turkey and bacon sandwiches every few weeks. Its incredible. It’s one of those “not much to look at” and unpretentious places, but the line is always out the door. My favorite
And I’m like you. I always want to try and just stick with a half and eat the other half later, but its too good to not finish up right away! Life is short!
Ooohhh… I’m excited to try this place! One of my favorites is Robbi’s Reef… yum!
Someone else just told me about Robbi’s Reef – I’ll have to check it out!
Yum! That looks good.
ooh i love to go to delis, and those sandwiches and wraps look yummy. my fave local place is this great little sandwich shop called Fozzie’s. They have a great variety of interesting sandwiches and unique shake flavors. everything is so fresh and delicious.
Luna’s in Venice & on the island is really good!! Their portion sizes are HUGE!! In Sarasota, there’s a place called the Broken Egg. There are 3 locations: Siesta Key, Clark Rd., & Lakewood Ranch. I go to the Clark Rd. one for lunch at least once a week. They’re only open for breakfast & lunch. Soooo good!!
We love Luna’s! Their calzone is one of my absolute favorite foods – but I haven’t had it in a long while. I might be feeling a pregnancy-induced calzone craving coming on.