St. Petersburg Times Food Critic Loves Ricky P's!
Laura Reilly, St. Petersburg Times Food Critic, had this to say about Ricky P's: "Indulge in the delicious, authentic flavors of New Orleans at Ricky P's. New Orleans native Rick Parsons serves up the flavors of his hometown at his namesake sandwich shop, Ricky P’s. The po’boys, muffulettas and red beans and rice are among the staples that shine."
ST. PETERSBURG — Wandering the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg early this year I was drawn up short by a beguiling jambalaya, as frustrated folks pushed past my rooted form. It was good. I zipped back over to the Ricky P's booth and asked if they had a restaurant. "Nope, we're resisting that instinct." • Ah, but Rick Parsons couldn't hold out. A New Orleans native with a radio man's itinerant soul, he shored up in Pinellas County some years back and did a little of this, a little of that (broadcasting, print ad sales). A Cajun mother's culinary mojo runs deep and intoxicating, hard to shake if you're an ardent son. In Your Belly Deli became Ricky P's in February. I admit it, it's not my find. A friend of a friend, a New Orleans transplant always on the prowl for a worthy po'boy, led the way.
It's a sandwich joint, not likely to launch a thousand ships, but very likely to provide a doozie of a fried shrimp po'boy ($6.99, top that lovely with a good shake of Crystal "extra hot" — a new product on my horizon).
You can tell that some of the customers are Belly holdovers: turkey sandwich, tuna salad sandwich (all sandwiches $4.99 regular, $6.99 large). Those are fine, but it's the NoLa staples that shine. One day it was a gut-busting trio of that po'boy, a muffuletta (not on the classic round bread, but a nice pillowy hoagie roll) and a third sandwich that was a drippy cochon de lait. This last is a much fabled "pig in milk" dish, usually the results of a party in which a whole suckling pig is roasted and those standing around make it an opportunity for storytelling and merriment. The results: a pulled pork sandwich without the barbecue sauce but with a scoop of sweet-crunchy cole slaw on top.
Another day I hastened back for a simple cup of red beans and rice ($3.99). It had been a long week of eating froufrou meals, so slow-cooked kidney beans shot through with andouille bits and sitting atop fluffy rice seemed like nurturance. And this may sound kooks, but Ricky P's has a great ice machine that yields perfect air-filled curls that, despite all dentists' admonitions, make you chew the cubes along with your icy soda or tea.
No booze, essentially lunch only and the kind of service that's part do-it-yourself and part sass — Ricky P's feels like a delicious little piece of what built the Big Easy's reputation as a culinary treasure trove.
Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at blogs. tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.
The Full Page Restaurant Review was published August 13 in St. Pete Times Weekender section. To view the full article, you can visit the website: http://www.tampabay.com/features/food/restaurants/article1026730.ece
ST. PETERSBURG — Wandering the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg early this year I was drawn up short by a beguiling jambalaya, as frustrated folks pushed past my rooted form. It was good. I zipped back over to the Ricky P's booth and asked if they had a restaurant. "Nope, we're resisting that instinct." • Ah, but Rick Parsons couldn't hold out. A New Orleans native with a radio man's itinerant soul, he shored up in Pinellas County some years back and did a little of this, a little of that (broadcasting, print ad sales). A Cajun mother's culinary mojo runs deep and intoxicating, hard to shake if you're an ardent son. In Your Belly Deli became Ricky P's in February. I admit it, it's not my find. A friend of a friend, a New Orleans transplant always on the prowl for a worthy po'boy, led the way.
It's a sandwich joint, not likely to launch a thousand ships, but very likely to provide a doozie of a fried shrimp po'boy ($6.99, top that lovely with a good shake of Crystal "extra hot" — a new product on my horizon).
You can tell that some of the customers are Belly holdovers: turkey sandwich, tuna salad sandwich (all sandwiches $4.99 regular, $6.99 large). Those are fine, but it's the NoLa staples that shine. One day it was a gut-busting trio of that po'boy, a muffuletta (not on the classic round bread, but a nice pillowy hoagie roll) and a third sandwich that was a drippy cochon de lait. This last is a much fabled "pig in milk" dish, usually the results of a party in which a whole suckling pig is roasted and those standing around make it an opportunity for storytelling and merriment. The results: a pulled pork sandwich without the barbecue sauce but with a scoop of sweet-crunchy cole slaw on top.
Another day I hastened back for a simple cup of red beans and rice ($3.99). It had been a long week of eating froufrou meals, so slow-cooked kidney beans shot through with andouille bits and sitting atop fluffy rice seemed like nurturance. And this may sound kooks, but Ricky P's has a great ice machine that yields perfect air-filled curls that, despite all dentists' admonitions, make you chew the cubes along with your icy soda or tea.
No booze, essentially lunch only and the kind of service that's part do-it-yourself and part sass — Ricky P's feels like a delicious little piece of what built the Big Easy's reputation as a culinary treasure trove.
Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at blogs. tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.
The Full Page Restaurant Review was published August 13 in St. Pete Times Weekender section. To view the full article, you can visit the website: http://www.tampabay.com/features/food/restaurants/article1026730.ece
duPont Registry - Allstar Guide to Tampa Bay
The Sloppy Roast Beef was highlighted in the August 2009 Issue of the duPont Registry Tampa Bay. It was name one of the best sandwiches of Tampa Bay. The Seafood Gumbo, Jambalaya, CrabCakes and Bread Pudding were honorably mentioned.
To see the full issue, visit:
http://www.dupontregistry.com/TampaBay/TampaBayVMViewer.aspx
To see the full issue, visit:
http://www.dupontregistry.com/TampaBay/TampaBayVMViewer.aspx
Creative Loafing - 3.5 Stars
Ricky P’s Po Boys
3.5 stars
6521 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-525-2023 or rickyps.com
Damn, if Ricky P’s Po’ Boys ($5.99-8.99) doesn’t just look the part. The tiny storefront on N. Fourth Street in St. Pete has barely enough parking to accommodate a lunch rush, a counter that’s so close to the front door you’ll likely be lining up outside, and just enough tables to tease you into thinking you’ll be able to eat your sandwich in comfort. It feels exquisitely cheap.
For a po’ boy joint, Ricky P’s has a fairly expansive selection of non-po’ sandwiches and hot dishes, including better than average gumbo based on a seriously expressive roux, beans and rice spiced by a prodigious amount of cayenne-infused andouille sausage, and the best jambalaya I’ve had in the Bay area. Maybe that’s not saying much, considering the lack of Big Easy eateries around town, but this moist, tomatoey rice would likely compete on equal footing with non-cheap options.
Ricky P’s sloppy roast beef is loaded with salty gravy that’ll soak the bun by the time you get your take-out home, like a Chicago beef dip that’s soaked from the inside out. Get it “ferdi”-style — with added ham and melted cheese — because, well, why not? The muffuletta is slathered in a damn fine spicy olive salad, the Cuban is typical and the cochon de lait — pulled pork topped by “cajun” slaw — is a backyard barbecue treat with almost enough juice to compete with the drippy beef sandwich.
Ricky P’s eponymous traditional po’ boys, although tasty, are actually the least exciting items on the menu. Stacked with lettuce and tomato and slathered in dressing, the fried shrimp or oysters are often cooked a little earlier to be ready for the lunch rush. When the seafood is fresh, hot and crunchy, the sandwiches are excellent. After a short rest in a steam tray, however, the sandwiches are merely good. Still cheap, though.
3.5 stars
6521 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-525-2023 or rickyps.com
Damn, if Ricky P’s Po’ Boys ($5.99-8.99) doesn’t just look the part. The tiny storefront on N. Fourth Street in St. Pete has barely enough parking to accommodate a lunch rush, a counter that’s so close to the front door you’ll likely be lining up outside, and just enough tables to tease you into thinking you’ll be able to eat your sandwich in comfort. It feels exquisitely cheap.
For a po’ boy joint, Ricky P’s has a fairly expansive selection of non-po’ sandwiches and hot dishes, including better than average gumbo based on a seriously expressive roux, beans and rice spiced by a prodigious amount of cayenne-infused andouille sausage, and the best jambalaya I’ve had in the Bay area. Maybe that’s not saying much, considering the lack of Big Easy eateries around town, but this moist, tomatoey rice would likely compete on equal footing with non-cheap options.
Ricky P’s sloppy roast beef is loaded with salty gravy that’ll soak the bun by the time you get your take-out home, like a Chicago beef dip that’s soaked from the inside out. Get it “ferdi”-style — with added ham and melted cheese — because, well, why not? The muffuletta is slathered in a damn fine spicy olive salad, the Cuban is typical and the cochon de lait — pulled pork topped by “cajun” slaw — is a backyard barbecue treat with almost enough juice to compete with the drippy beef sandwich.
Ricky P’s eponymous traditional po’ boys, although tasty, are actually the least exciting items on the menu. Stacked with lettuce and tomato and slathered in dressing, the fried shrimp or oysters are often cooked a little earlier to be ready for the lunch rush. When the seafood is fresh, hot and crunchy, the sandwiches are excellent. After a short rest in a steam tray, however, the sandwiches are merely good. Still cheap, though.
Best Po Boy Shop
Ricky P's was named the best Po Boy Shop in Tampa Bay by the readers of Tampa Bay Magazine. Readers have to send in a ballot - so thank you very much!
Ricky P's on Good Morning Tampa Bay
Fox 13 came out to promote the kick off of the 2009 Crawfish Festival in downtown St. Petersburg. It sure was an early gig, but Ricky P had fun serving up some good food for Charley Belcher, Dave Osterberg, Russell Rhodes and Mayor Rick Baker. There was even a crawfish eating contest that Rick won, as he has for many years at the crawfish eating contest at the festival. Check out the video link: tp://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/good_day/fox_block_crawfish_festival_031309
Ricky P. on Channel 44
Ricky P and Benny & Edwina from the Cajun Connection were featured on CW 44 Bayside News to promote the 2009 Crawfish Festival. Benny & Edwina promoted the festival and music and Ricky P cooked up some crabcakes for the crew to promote Ricky P's!