Tampa Bay, Florida - Still more tasty treats and epicurian adventures

This is another of a series of interesting and unique places to eat in the Tampa Bay area. As in the last pieces, my criteria have not changed.

First, I must have eaten there and been satisfied; second, the place should not be part of an impersonal chain but reflect the idiosyncrasies of the owners; third, there must be value; and, fourth, they each must be unique enough to warrant a closer look!

In this effort, I go a bit afield and journey outside of Tampa to Tarpon Springs, a delightful neighborhood worth roaming, even if not to eat, and other locales to the west of Tampa.

Hellas restaurant, a Greek experience - food plus culture.

Leaving Tampa, one travels west and north to the City of Tarpon Springs, one of Florida's most fascinating small towns and a fine day trip from Tampa, St. Petersburg, or the beaches. Tarpon Springs calls itself the "Sponge Capital of the World." That's because Greek immigrants from the Dodecanese Islands settled here in the late 19th century to harvest sponges, which grew in abundance offshore. By the 1930s, Tarpon Springs was producing more sponges than any other place in the world. A blight ruined the business in the 1940s, but the descendants of those early immigrants stayed on. Today they compose about a third of the population, making Tarpon Springs a center of transplanted Greek culture.

Although sponges still arrive at the historic Sponge Docks on Dodecanese Boulevard, the town's mainstays today are commercial fishing and tourism. With a lively, carnival-like atmosphere, the docks are a great place to spend an afternoon or early evening, poking your head into shops selling sponges and other souvenirs (what my wife calls "chatzkies") while Greek music comes from the dozen or so family restaurants purveying authentic Aegean cuisine. You can also venture offshore from here, because booths on the docks hawk sightseeing and fishing cruises.

There are different kinds of Greek salads.