Another Little Punta Gorda Breakfast Spot - Nino's Bakery on Cooper

Always seeking new spots to have our favorite meal of the day, we  recently decided to check out the bakery on Cooper Street which this past December expanded into a full service restaurant. Now tucked away on the angled street off Cooper near the City's Public Works building, Nino's has long provided Italian breads and baked goods to the public and area restaurants.  In an expanded space in the strip center there, Nino's now delivers a full menu providing another sweet spot for Punta Gordans to enjoy reasonably priced meals.

For this visit we chose a couple of specialties.  The above brioche French toast, which as if it weren't decadent enough, was accompanied by panned fried potatoes.  The luscious bagel sandwiches for most would provide enough substance for the day.

Basic design, friendly service and some unique food choices make this a good spot to frequent for the breaking of the fast. Unfortunately, for us without any will power, it's also hard to resist picking up some Italian bread, biscotti or other treats from the bakery on the way out.

At the dinner slot, Nino's specialty is broaster chicken and on Friday all-day pizza is available.  For full menus click here. 

Ninos is open 7 days a week.
Monday - Friday 7AM to 7PM ♦ Saturday - 7AM to 4PM ♦ Sunday - 7AM to 2PM
You can order  by phone for pickup or to have meals delivered for free (minimum $10 order).

Nino's is located at 3151 Cooper St.  Phone: 941-833-8912

About Having Breakfast in Punta Gorda Florida

Just noticed that I was getting quite a few looks at a very old post I did on breakfast in Punta Gorda now quite out of date.   I've waxed on and on about the joys of going out for breakfast.. so I won't indulge myself or bore you with that.   But I will share some of my latest favorite haunts to enjoy my favorite meal of the day in Punta Gorda.

I'll start with the basics.... our two local diners that if you don't know by now you must not ever go out for breakfast.  Elena's has been an after church and every day favorite in Punta Gorda since Elena first opened the place and long after it's namesake has been gone (she sold the restaurant several years back after Hurricane Charley).   Reliable, huge portions at reasonable prices with fast, friendly service are Elena's hallmarks.  Most of the servers have been there since I've been in Punta Gorda - that anniversary has past the decade mark - and they work smoothly together to deliver food hot and right. With daily specials running from eggs and bacon or sausage with coffee to omelets to pancakes or french toast, Elenas is crowded in season and frequently  in off season as well especially Sundays.

Surprise - Dean's South at 6:30 a.m. for a Punta Gorda Breakfast!

Is there anything as tantalizing as the smell of coffee, fresh toast and above all bacon...... for yards away you can practically taste that smell drawing you in almost in a trance.  As good as the actual taste is, it just can't keep the promise of the smell... no matter ... it's what has drawn me to Breakfast, my favorite meal... enjoyed sometimes at home.. but most often out.

There is a specialness in breakfast in a restaurant.  One is you are not the cook or cleaner upper -- you can get a start to your day without the fuss.  And my latest local favorite is not one of the  usual suspects in town... it's a place one normally would think of later in the day for Mexican or to listen to a local band -- Dean's South of the Border.  And the reason why is largely due to Brenda.  Brenda Ryan used to run the Smokehouse on Rio Villa, which went the way of Charley, and which I still miss.  It was a cozy, real local kind of a place where fishermen headed before going out for the catch and other locals favored.   We lived closed by and loved the feel, but most of all the food and the people.  Post the hurricane, Brenda opened up at the Mason's Lodge at Taylor and Airport Road for breakfast and lunch, which we frequented until she sadly left there.    Thus, when Brenda began serving up breakfast at Dean's we were there.
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I love that Dean's opens early for breakfast before many of the other local places -- 6:30 a.m.  Not that I can or want to make it there this early all the time, but on those days when I need to get an early start or just wake up early for some unbeknownst reason, I know I can go there.  I also love the place -- Dean's -- the old one -- was the first restaurant I went to in Punta Gorda when we were moving here, and even though later in the day it doesn't quite have the feel of that old place somehow at 6:30 in the morning it does.

Now let's talk about the food... the breakfast burritos, pancakes, huevos rancheros, .... here's the menu -- it's outrageous -- all this stuff to choose from and reasonably priced.  But Brenda knows I am regular for the spinach omelet, which is by far the best I have ever had, and is served with a variety of sides -- no grief about tomatoes instead of potatoes or grits or extra charges.   One other speciality to note is the french toast, which is actually made of cinnamon rolls.  I like when my partner orders these, so I can have one delectable bite.  Just maybe for a special treat I'll surprise Brenda and order a plate of these for myself.  

The New Cozy Cafe -- a comfy breakfast and lunch spot opens in Punta Gorda

The Cozy Cafe was someone's dream. You can tell that before hearing it from Dena Renta's  lips. You can see it in the care that was taken in designing the new, little restaurant in Toll's plaza  in the sun-toasted colors, the tables arranged to evoke a cozy, yet uncramped feel, the art and quaint sayings, carefully decaled, on the walls, the homey touches in the restrooms.  And, of course, most of all, you can taste it in the fresh goodness of the food and just-ground coffee.  Dina, the Cafe's owner, had thought about this for a long time. This is evident. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"We buy almost everything local from local suppliers, not from the major wholesalers, the proud cafe owner tells us, adding "It's the only way to insure it's fresh and special for our customers."

Only a little over 30-days old and the cafe already has  its regulars -- breakfast clubs, local groups and others who drop in, some almost every day.  Serving breakfast and lunch now, Dina hopes to offer dinner as well but wants to get the earlier-in-the-day  meals right first before embarking on full day service.

The Rentas have been in Punta Gorda awhile.   Aby, who helps out when now on duty with the Charlotte Sheriff's Office was originally from New York, Dina is from New Jersey. They chose Punta Gorda, after deciding to move south, by pointing, eyes-closed, on a map. Once here they knew they had found what they we're looking for.

The restaurant is supported by a top-notch chef, Michael Passaro, who by the way gets fried eggs just right, for instance, eggs that taste farm fresh and when ordered well-done have just the right amount of jelled center with the rest fully cooked - yes!  The blueberry pancakes, light and airy, are among the best we've had in Southwest Florida.. not just Punta Gorda. They also serve up "build-your-own omelets, breakfast burritos, corned beef hash and eggs, egg benedict, scamblers, made-from-scratch muffins and many other early morning favorites.

Lunch fare is equally tasty... My lunch date loved the cheesesteaks and I was also impressed by their version of my old standby, the tuna melt.   Wide choices of sandwiches, burgers, salads, nachos, wings and more round out the luncheon menu.  And, before forgetting, some scary food challenges are also proposed -- perhaps to tempt a certain TV host to the new venture.   One has already been renamed to honor the first person who downed it -- the Tanner.  In addition to an unbelievable 24 oz burger, the Tanner includes hash browns, eggs and a whole list of other items.  If you finish the Tanner or one of the other challenging feasts, they are on the house.   

From left: Michael Passaro (chef), Ferran Passwaters (Server), Aby Renta and Dina Renta

Service is swift, friendly and attentive.  Ferran Passwaters waited our tables both times we ate at the Cafe, and she is a charm.    Earl Welty IV (not pictured) is also part of the Cafe team.    The Rentas also offer catering and delivery service, with Aby planning a DJ business to complement this offering.  

Particulars

Location:   2705 Tamiami Trail #126 in Toll's Plaza

Phone:      941-916-9957

Opening Times:  7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed Mondays)

More Information:  www.thecozycafefl.com

Burnt Store Grill -- Good Value, Service in Punta Gorda

Just a short blog post to note this neighborhood place where everyone knows your name.   This little diner-like restaurant tucked into the shopping center off Burnt Store Rd and 41 near Burnt Store Isles, is a great value with dependable food and service and great prices.

We headed over there for breakfast this morning, for instance, and were able to leave spending only a tad over $10 for two people including tip.   Such a deal.  That's because of a few -- about three per day -- breakfast specials  that are typically under $5 with coffee. My breakfast today, for example:  two eggs, sausage, toast, coffee and a substitute of tomatoes for the home fries, only set us back $3.95.  

Brenda, from the old Brenda's restaurant, on Taylor is now waitressing there in the morning and it is also a pleasure to see her friendly face and experience her top-notch service.  (I still miss Brenda's though.)

More on Burnt Store Grill: http://www.menupal.net/usertabpage.asp?RestCodeforWeb=313

Elena's -- Always Reliable ---Closest to a Jersey Diner in Punta Gorda

When we think breakfast in Punta Gorda there are several good choices these days -- but most often the place that rolls to the top of the list is Elena's.  Elena's, which actually was owned and run by a lovely lady named Elena when we first moved to Punta Gorda is probably as close as you are going to get in this part of Florida to a typical Jersey diner.  While Elena herself is gone... she sold the restaurant several years ago to the current owners, her style of serving abundant amounts of good food at a great price is still there.

In the smallish space, decorated with tiled mirrored walls and poster-style pictures of Greece, the restaurant manages to accommodate a large number of hungry Punta Gordans and visitors...probably because the food comes out of the kitchen so fast that you think the cooks must have envisioned your order when you walked in the door.   During season, while patrons line up outside almost every morning, the wait is still relatively short.  Then come late April when it's  quieter and locals like me return, you can get in and served in a flash.

On any weekday, there is a list of breakfast specials (eggs with ham, bacon or sausage with potatoes and toast; waffles and bacon, e.g.) at around $6 that includes the coffee...and you know how add-ons like coffee can run up a bill.  Omelets is one of the reasons I think Elena's in the morning ...with a long list to choose from including Elena's special feta cheese and spinach, my favorite.  And the delicate pancakes -- not the corn-heavy ones --are the best in town.

Lunch at Elena's is as equally dineresque as breakfast with a long menu of potential sandwiches, salads and plstters.  And dinner specials and early birds are not be missed... lots of choose from under $10.

Always with smiles and cheerful faces, the waitress staff is not of the Jersey diner style...the attitude is missing... the efficiency is not.  Not a beat is missed, as your order is taken with moments of your seating, coffee refilled without your having to go on safari for it, and food almost always arrives as ordered with all the accompanying condiments you need without asking.

Probably everything I am saying here you already know.  Because if you haven't been to Elena's...  I suspect you might never have been to Punta Gorda...

Brenda's in Punta Gorda For Breakfast (Now Closed)

Headed over to the Y this morning, which by the way we discovered was moving off the Edison campus by the end of the year due to the college's expansion.  On the way home, we stopped at Brenda's.  As usual a number of pick-up trucks and vans were parked outside the Mason Lodge on Taylor and Airport, where Brenda's moved after her place on Rio Villa was blown away during Hurricane Charlie.

I've commented on Brenda's before in my Breakfast in Punta Gorda blog post last year.  But I never miss an opportunity to effuse about this local diner-type eatery.  To start with the owner, Brenda is usually there with her two daughters and now granddaughters (they are a bit too young to work there yet--babies) making Brenda's a real family- run place.  Serving the same type food she did in the place she bought in 2000, after 15 years of waitressing there, Brenda enjoys talking to the customers, sharing history, local happenings and great food.  It isn't unusual to find long- time Punta Gordeans there talking about town history, politics,  ranching, fishing and other aspects of their lives in a town that still clings, despite the invasion of 1000s of Northerners, to its southern Floridian traditions.  This is also evidenced by the food.

In addition to the eggs fixed to order, Brenda serves  homemade sausage --- something special,  cornbeef hash, biscuits with homemade gravy, and , of course, grits.  The pancakes and French Toast meet with my husband's approval --- and he is a tough judge.   And prices are reasonable too.

Brenda is open for lunch as well.  She usually has a full board of specials, as well as standards like homemade chili, fried chicken, BBQ beef, a full range of sandwiches including excellent chicken, egg, and tuna salad.  

Location:  24349 Airport Road, Punta Gorda   941-637-7719

Our Rating:  Food: ***1/2   Experience: **** 

BEEN TO BRENDA'S LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE, COMMENT BELOW:

Breakfast in Punta Gorda

As long as I can remember breakfast has been my favorite meal. This leaning I think goes back to the early Sunday mornings of my childhood when after church we headed for the bakery to pick out cinnamon buns oozing with gooey, sugary glaze and cinnamon swirling throughout, luscious buttercakes dripping with yellow gold, and, of course, the soft Sunday-only snowflake rolls dusted with a light covering of soft flour hence their name. Promising smells came beckoning under the bakery door and then hit you with all the goodness of the cakes and cookies lining the glass enclosed shelves -- surely these wonderful things couldn't be bad for you.

Then, of course, after the trip to the bakery and as we were disposing of our Sunday finery, the first whiffs of bacon reached our nostrils. Was it the association of that smell with the greasy delectable taste that made that gust of odor so alluring or was it the essence of the smell itself? Who knows but those mornings when my Dad did the cooking and the fried eggs were made perfectly over, not runny, and not too hard, and the bacon was just slightly crisp, and accompanied by snowflake rolls to be followed by exquisite bakery treats all was right with the world.

Given my obvious passion for the meal and the ability to enjoy a reasonably priced dining out experience, Gene and I frequently head for one of the local eateries for breakfast, each of which has its ups and downs, thankfully mostly up. Our favorites come and go, but generally because of their proximity to where we live and direct path from the Y, we most often frequent the Brenda's at the Masonic Lodge on Taylor Road (as of 2011 closed-- see blog on Dean's) and the Burnt Store Grille, both are very dependable. The decision of which depends on a couple of factors but mostly on something that I was once told was the strongest determinant of why most people chose a particular restaurant for a particular meal ---- the dish they wanted and which establishment made it the way they wanted it. So if we're in the mood for Oatmeal and toast, Brenda wins hands down -- great Oatmeal served with brown sugar and raisins. Brenda also usually wins if we want eggs (though not always). I can rely on the cooks there to turn out eggs the way I like them over, not quite hard, no ooze -- nothing as changed much, you see. But if we want good scrambled eggs and or pancakes or we can't quite make up our minds, we will go the the Grille or sometimes Elena's. While on occasion Elena's has served up the very best pancakes in Punta Gorda, unfortunately, this hasn't been consistent. Elena's menu though is very large --- and is fairly dependable for omelets. Speaking of omelets and pancakes, we got hooked on IHop in California for both. I personally love their "Senior Omelet" which is still too large for me for one meal (so I get 2 meals out of it). The touch of pancake battery in the omelet mixture is their secret.

For the truly great Sunday morning breakfast experience, every other Sunday, the Punta Gorda Elks Lodge serves a breakfast for $6 which includes coffee and juice. For this you can either have the traditional sit down service with eggs and or pancakes, toast and breakfast meat or have an outstanding omelet made for you at the omelet station manned by volunteer Elks. Nothing like having this incredible breakfast on the Peace River for a bargain price. Of course, you have to be an Elk first, but if you live in Punta Gorda or Port Charlotte and aren't taking advantage of this incredible lodge, you are truly missing out.

Another place that serves up a good solid breakfast is the Smoke House on Taylor. Like Brenda's this is the place for good home-cooking especially their sausage and I'm told their biscuits and gravy. For a change of pace, the restaurant at Charlotte County Airport is a winner. Dependable eggs and pancakes, french toast which has been coated with Oatmeal (sounds weird, but believe me this is terrific), and they serve in my opinion the best hash browns with scrambled eggs and toast (real rye toast).

What I would like to see in Punta Gorda is a more upscale full-service breakfast place. I doubt that I would frequent it more than once or twice a month -- but would truly like it there for when we are in the mood for a special treat or when we have out-of-town visitors. Perhaps the new SunLoft center will accommodate us here--I hear rumors that may be the case.

Nonetheless, that would be the cherry on the cake --- because compared to other communities in Southwest Florida we have some of the best dining-out breakfast locations in the area.