Sunday, 12/10/06, 1:45 PM

Jody's favorite meal to eat out is breakfast.  So we frequently get up on Saturday and Sunday mornings and eat breakfast out at some local diner in the Venice area.  I prefer "mom and pop" operations over chain restaurants, and I like exploring.  So I regularly drag Jody and Van Allen to new, local dives to try them out.

My in-laws, Sandy and Gary, like to eat breakfast out, too.  However, they aren't as adventurous.  Sandy has a real problem when a restaurant only has non-dairy creamer for coffee.  I can understand that.  My big thing is when you go to a restaurant and all they have is margarine instead of butter.  Gary just isn't all that comfortable trying new restaurants.  They both can be summed up like this, "Why try something new when you can go to a "tried and true" chain like Cracker Barrel, Mel's, or Peaches where you know what you're going to get?"  There's some logic to that.  Why gamble with your hard-earned money?  Having said all of that, I just like trying new places for no apparent reason.  And I prefer "one of a kind" establishments versus chain restaurants.  Maybe I was born with a defect?

However, we can occassionaly drag Sandy and Gary to a new restaurant if we've already tried it out before they have, and can attest to it being good.  Besides, they like to see their 4-month-old grandson,  Van Allen.  Otherwise, we dine with them if we go to one of the old standards like Peaches (which is definitely an excellent place for breakfast).

This morning (Sunday, 12/10/06), I dragged Jody and Van Allen out Angeles Family Restaurant in north Englewood.  It's located in the building that formerly housed the once revered "Cajun Club" and also the "Tampico Grill" on State Road 776 (a.k.a Indiana Avenue).  Here is the address:

Angeles Family Restaurant
750 North Indiana Avenue
Englewood, FL 34223
941-473-7473

Jody called Sandy and Gary to see if they would join us on our adventure this morning.  The funny thing is that we had the same discussion last weekend, except that I buckled and we joined them at Peaches, instead.  I was hoping that they would cave in this time and join us at Angeles.  Nope!  Jody tried to convince Gary to come, but he replied that they were going to enjoy Peaches, instead.  Oh, well!  Maybe next time!

Today, Angeles was offering free coffee from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM.  That was a big hit with the senior citizens who flocked to the restaurant like when the robins migrate south.  You can hear their bird call, "Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!"  The other tell tale sign that the snow birds have landed was the high ratio of white Buicks and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans in the parking lot.

The parking lot is a little tight, but it's a minor issue.  Even though the parking lot was crowded, the restaurant has a lot of seating and was adequately staffed to handle the load.  We were seated right away, and a waitress immediately served us.  That made my day!  I tend to get a bit antsy waiting a long time, especially in sea of seniors.

Well, the coffee was good.  It wasn't too weak.  And the service was excellent.  My coffee cup never got past half way before another waitress came by and filled it up.  Guess what?  They had real half n' half at the table by default!  That's right, we didn't even have to ask for it!  Sandy would be happy!  This sets Angeles apart from so many of the other restaurants in our area that use some sort of chemical cream substitute.  Jody had the decaf and said it was good, too.

I had biscuits and gravy (2 biscuits).  The sausage gravy was excellent, and the biscuits were light and flakey.  However, you can tell that senior citizens were the main clientele because there was no salt in the gravy (i.e. the food is prepared for those have to watch their sodium intake).  However, I was able to salt the food to my taste.

Jody had two eggs (over easy), wheat toast, sausage links, and home fries.  The sausage links were great.  They were plump and juicy!  I tried half a link, myself!  What a surprise!  So often in our area, sausage links are those little dried twigs that look like they've been on a 7-Eleven hot dog roller for 36 hours.  Kudos on the sausage, Angeles!  The eggs, toast, and home fries were great, too.  Again, there was no detectable salt in the home fries, so Jody had to salt them to her taste.  That says a lot, because Jody isn't a big salt hound like myself.

We also split an order of banana French toast, which the waitress recommended.  She was right!  This was good and rich!  I'm not usually a big fan of banana dishes, but this was great.  By default, they had "whipped spread" on the table.  Somehow the conventional wisdom amongst a significant portion of the population is that margarine is better for you than butter.  No way!  Get me the real stuff!  If it's going to kill me, I want to die from real food clogging my arteries, not some "miracle of science" that's going to do who knows what to my body.  Besides, butter just tastes better, and you know it!  Anyway, we asked if they had real better, and they did, which made the French Toast (and Jody's wheat toast) even yummier! 

At this point, I called Sandy on her cell phone and filled her in.  "Angeles has real butter and real Half 'n Half!  You just might like it!"  Now I know that I have a chance at twisting their arms to join us the next time we go here.

You don't pay at your table.  Instead the waitress drops the check off, and you have to go stand in a line at the cash register (amongst senior citizens, of course)!  This will be a demerit for Angeles, but it's a minor issue.

Our meal was a deal!  All of that food only cost us $12.36.  That's tough to beat.  I'm almost afraid to mention it, because it will only attract more of the senior snow birds!  I tipped an additional $4.64 to make the total $17.00.  Oh, oh!  A couple of geezers just fainted.  Why that's over a 30% tip!  Why tip so high when you can get away with a 5% or 10% tip (or no tip at all if you're a Canadian)?  Hey, the service was excellent!  And I tend to tip a higher percentage on inexpensive bills, to help out the wait staff.

So here's a quick summary:

• There was no waiting to be seated.
• The service was fast and friendly.
• The food was very good.
  • Just make sure you salt it to your taste.
  • Real butter is available.
  • Real Half 'n Half is available.
• The cost was very reasonable.
• Minor Issues
  • You have to pay at the cash register.
  • The parking lot is a little tight.
  • The vast majority of the morning clientele are senior citizens, but that's tough to avoid in our area.

We'll definitely be going there, again!