Demetrio’s. A Bradenton classic. I’ve been eating at Demetrio’s since High School – it being a favorite late night snack place after getting off of work at the Seafood Shack right down the road.

People think of it as an Italian restaurant – in fact they advertise as an Italian restaurant. But the original owners are from Greece. The evidence of that is in the Greek salad that’s a must when you eat here. Crisp iceberg lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, and UBER-AMOUNTS of feta. They bring the homemade dressing in a squeeze bottle to the table so you can put as much (me) or as little (the rest of the world) on as you want. As my taste in pizza is a bit different now, I usually go with the spaghetti and meat sauce or meatballs. I remember my dad ordering absolutely everything on the pizza's and them being so heavy you couldn't even pick up a slice. Anyway, after taking some ribbing from my mom about being in a rut by ordering spaghetti and meat sauce EVERY CHANCE I GET (and I do…), last night was no exception. And it didn’t disappoint. In fact, my mom ended up ordering the same thing! Ha! The sauce is a bit on the sweet side so I always add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper. Perfect. It took every once of control I had not to slurp up the entire plate, but, I had announced that I was going to get the full order to have leftovers for lunch. Mark had the lasagna which looked delish, my mum, uncle and aunt had the spaghetti (my uncle says it’s the best he’s ever eaten….I don’t know about that!?! After all, I want to believe that my own sauce is the best ever eaten!), my cousin had salad and chicken orzo soup and her husband had the meatball sub. Good night, good meal, lots of laughs. It’s a great family restaurant!

Now, you must excuse me while get myself some leftover spaghetti (10:30 am! Is it too early for lunch??)