Kissin Cuzzins - St. Petersburg, Florida a 2013 Revisit

KissinCuzzins 2013

951 34th St N
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Neighborhood: Tyrone

(727) 323-3915 

Mon-Fri 7a – 2p  Sat-Sun 7a – 3p

 

On the very first journey to Florida to meet the soon to be in-laws, they just had to take me to one of their favorite places to go for a breakfast out. As they grew older, mother and father in-law cooked and ate in less and ate out more often; often enough that they were known by the serving staff on a first name basis. Back then there were three Kissin Cuzzins, long established casual family eateries. Over the years the neighborhood demographics changed and more and more fast food servers moved into the neighborhood.  One family restaurant, all brand new with shiny chrome, set up shop only two blocks down the street. Such intense competition had severe consequences for Kissin Cuzzins. The two other stores closed some years ago and only the 34^th St store, the flagship store, remained open. In a well thought out move, Cuzzins went lean and mean paring down hours, closing in the midafternoon, concentrating on their forte, breakfast and lunch. Cuzzins has survived and is still here as well as the fast food emporiums that abound all along 34^th Street. However, the upstart that opened just two blocks down the street closed a year or so ago, fenced off and looking forlorn, weeds poking up through the parking lot, it has long been up for sale.

The in-laws have passed on. But in their tradition, that visitors to the Jones house must partake of a breakfast at the Kissin Cuzzins, lives on. After a morning of busy sightseeing activity, I took our California house guest, Jeri, to lunch. The Cuzzins was moderately busy and we had to park in the overflow lot. However, we got immediate seating in a booth on the north side. As is usual for the Cuzzins, the hostess and the servers we quick and courteous.

Sipping on our already arrived beverages, we studied the menu. Jeri chose The Rueben ($7.49 Corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss on grilled rye). I was about to go with my usual standby, the cheeseburger, when the Philly-Style Hoagie ($7.99 Thinly sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and Mozzarella cheese on a toasted sun roll) caught my eye. I had recently had a Philly sub from another restaurant and on impulse I decided to compare the two.
 

Jeri’s sandwich had an attractive plating, the light rye bread toasted to a “pretty as a picture’ golden brown. It was a large sandwich with the corned beef spilling out over the sides of the bread. It came with a dill pickle spear and a small bowl of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was excellent, very tasty. The preparation was well practiced, not too much dressing to make it wet nor too little and make it dry; just right. The bread was crispy toasted on the outside, soft, tender and hot bread spreading a wonderful rye smell. The meat was tender and tasty. In spite of being a large sandwich, she managed to finish her meal. The slaw was of green cabbage, fresh and crisp with a mild, favorable dressing. A thoroughly filling and enjoyable meal.

 

My Philly sub was a plateful. With that kind of sandwich I suppose it is hard to be artistic in plating. However, all the good filling in the sandwiches and the pile of French fries with a dill spear garnish looked very food to me. “The proof…” they say, “is in the eating.” The crinkle cut fries were done to a nice golden brown, fresh out of the fryer, hot and crispy. With a sprinkle of salt, they were excellent. I ate the pickle, it was crisp, but I don’t remember much about it as I was very much preoccupied with the sandwich.  First off, when you make a sandwich like this, cutting through and leaving a bit of crust for a hinge, the bread has to be fresh. If the bread is not fresh it will fall apart on the first bite spilling the contents onto the plate or your lap. In this instance the bread was very fresh, the crust a nice elastic; slightly chewy. The bread folded over the ample filling making a nice easy to eat bundle. There was lots of beef, grilled onions, mushrooms and peppers all slathered with stringy melted Mozzarella cheese. What’s not to like? It was indeed an excellent sandwich and made for a filling meal. I will, in all probability, order the Philly sub  if ever I make it back to Kissin Cuzzins again.