Captain Tom's

My parents are really good eaters. 

Nobody in my immediate family is picky.  I think we all had maybe 1 food item we did not like and that was about it.  Sweet Potatoes for my dad, lima beans for me, mushrooms for my mom and shrimp for my sister.  Other than that, we are some goooood eaters! 

I have been blessed with a husband who is a really good eater too. 

All of that is to say that I have no problem eating at little "hole-in-the-wall" places because growing up I learned that was where the best food can be found.  And that rule holds true in every country, not just the US. 

One of my favorite little dumpy looking places, that my parents turned me on to, is Captain Tom's.  Now, this place is shaped like a boat, seats maybe 45 people and they only serve seafood.  And it's almost all fried.  (It's the only restaurant where I order fried food.)  And it's all incredibly tasty!

We, R and I, only sit at the inner ring - the seats around the bar / prep area.  We do this for two reasons:

1) It's a lot easier to order from this location (and the wait/bar staff is amazing)
2) That's where the serious Captain Tom's customers / regulars sit.  We have waited over 20 minutes and let countless other customers take other "outer" seats, just waiting for those sacred inner seats.  It's so worth it!

We visited Captain Tom's this past Sunday evening.  I had been craving it for several weeks and we were out running errands, so it was super convenient. 

It was also packed. 

And that's another thing about this place - it's always packed.  And with a wide variety of people - every SES group and ethnicity are always respresented.  It's the strangest thing. 

But I guess that's what tells you a place serves really good food. 

They have some wonderful Oysters on the Half Shell... and here's the best part: you order either 6 or 12, but you always get extras!

Notice the ugly plates and paper red sauce cups.

Strangely though, that's part of the charm.

One character trait I inherited / learned from my dad is that I like to talk to everyone.  Doesn't matter if I know you or not, I'm going to start up a conversation with you. 

Grocery store, DMV, airplanes, Doctor's office, restaurants... it doesn't matter.

R thinks it's weird.

I think I embarrass him sometimes, but I meet a heck of a lot of really interesting people.   

Like the guy sitting next to me at Captain Tom's.  I can't remember how the conversation started, but I learned two really interesting pieces of info:

1) He taught me the real name of what R and I affectionately call "Spicy Beer" - turns out it's called Michelada.   More importantly, he told me what was in the mix and where I could buy some!!!  He also showed me that you could ask for raw oysters to be put in it for that extra zing!!! Yum!!!

This is the "mix" before the beer is added. 

It's hot sauce, worcestershire sauce, a dash of tabasco and lime juice. 

It's like heartburn in a glass.  But so worth it.

We got raw oysters in our "round 2" drinks.

2) Turns out he is a US Marshall.  Talk about an exciting / interesting job... wow.  He told us about the Mexican Drug Cartels, some of the creative ways they catch fugitives here in the US and then also about all of the training that it takes to become a US Marshall.  (I would never make it)

Great food, cold beer and interesting people.  What more could anyone want from a night out?