Fried green tomato-y goodness: Boca South Tampa

Not too far away from where I live is a place called Boca. It's a quaint-looking little restaurant on the corner that looks sort of out of place across the street from Americans for Prosperity and the gas station, but inside is a little restaurant that packs quite the tasty punch.

I lived in Nashville for about nine months and Boca reminds me quite a bit of the restaurants there. The whole "locally grown" movement is large in Nashville, as is the farm-to-table movement.

So, drawing on a sense of familiarity from my Nashville experience, I gave Boca a shot.

The menu is served on a little wooden clipboard and there are plenty of fresh options. Flatbreads, salads, sandwiches, chicken, muffins -- there's a pretty vast variety.

Being super obsessed with fried things and fried green tomatoes specifically, I decided to try Boca's fried green tomatoes. They're topped with a tomato "jam" (which is mostly a tomato sauce), pimento cheese, and Boca bacon.

Wow is right. Look at the presentation; it's beautiful. The mixture of flavors was on point too. I've had good fried green tomatoes and I've had bad fried green tomatoes, and Boca's are up there with some of the better variety I've tried. There's a good mixture of cheesy/salty/savory in this appetizer. The tomato slices are very large too, which makes them perfect for sharing.

For my actual meal, I opted for the steak burger. 

Now, I really love burgers a whole lot. I have made it my mission to find the best burger in the Tampa Bay area and this is a strong contender. I don't know what Boca does to this burger specifically, but they season it perfectly and the cheese they put on it is absolutely fantastic. There is so much flavor in this burger it's almost crazy. Savory to the last bite. If you're wondering why I didn't get the bun, I try to adhere to a pretty strict low-carb diet (bread makes me really sleepy), but that in no way detracted from this burger at all. The aioli, cheese and meat are a harmonious combination.  I think I actually heard angels singing when I ate this burger.

The side salad was perfect too. Great vinaigrette dressing, feta cheese and heirloom tomatoes. Awesome side. 

Boca was a wonderful experience and I've been back since, just for the burger. It's one of the better burgers I've ever had in my life. I'm looking forward to trying more dishes from Boca in the future, but so far, so good.

Coming soon will be my review of Datz's new menu! Stay tuned!