Circles Waterfront, Apollo Beach, FL

Beautiful view from the Circles dining patio.

A beachfront town that even us Floridians forget about is Apollo Beach.  This town is located south of Tampa, on the intercoastal waterway, just on the other side of the bay of St. Petersburg.

Circles is located in Apollo Beach.

A wonderful little mom and pop spot with a beautiful ocean view is Circles Waterfront Restaurant. After a long day on the boat, watching the sunset on the dining patio was a great way to end the day.

We decided to try an array of items on the menu.  Our first

selection was the lobster bisque.  It came beautifully displayed with a freshly baked baguette and homemade butter.

Our second selection was the crab cake appetizer.  They were beautifully plated with a fresh orchid.  The lumps of crabmeat were lightly breaded and fried.  They were served with a delicious spicy horseradish sauce.

Crabcakes

Our final selection, the nut-crusted grouper, was divine! The grouper was rolled in mixed nuts, fried, then topped with a

Thai chili beurre blanc. It was served with grilled zucchini and rice pilaf.  The tender fish melted in our mouths with bursts of flavor from the mixed nuts and Thai chili.  Without a doubt, you will want to visit Circles to experience these flavors.

Click here to view their lunch and dinner menu. Hint: Happy Hour starts at 3pm! 

Back patio and tiki bar area at Circles

Circles provides customers with a tiki bar filled with live music and amazing drinks. The tiki bar can be rented out for private events.  You will find live bands playing your favorite tunes on the weekends.  The tiki bar is accessible by either land or sea.

Make sure you take a drive to Apollo Beach to visit Circles!

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Dragonfly Modern Izakaya & Sushi, Gainesville, FL

Sarah and I in downtown Gainesville

It was a memorable evening, a girl's night out to celebrate Sarah's birthday.  Sarah, Katherine and I put on our highest heels and dressiest outfits and headed out to our favorite spot in Gainesville- Dragonfly Modern Izakaya & Sushi.

I have been an avid visitor of Dragonfly since my college days at University of Florida.  Without question, it is the best sushi I have ever had.  The rolls are always loaded with fresh fish.  Dragonfly is so popular, that they now have an additional location in Florida: Orlando.

Cosmo martini at Dragonfly

We started our evening with a round of cosmo martinis. Dragonfly is known for their top-rated themed martini list. A few unique martinis they have are the Fuji Apple-Russian standard, house-made apple liqueur, lemon, yuzu and grenadine, and the Sumo Smash-martin millers gin, ginger, lime, and mint.  Sunday through Thursday they provide customers with the Sensual 6 Happy Hour from 5pm-7pm.  To see the special pricing click here. 

Warm Spinach Salad

Our first entree was a warm spinach salad.  This salad is served with shiitake mushrooms, miso vinaigrette and macadamia nuts.  We were very pleased with this delicious and nutritious beginning.  

Godzilla roll

We ordered two of favorite rolls, the Godzilla roll and the Dragonfly roll. The Godzilla roll provides you with a burst of flavor with smoked eel, krab, cream cheese, cucumber, scallions, avocado, strawberries, and eel sauce.  

Dragonfly roll

The Dragonfly roll is the signature roll.  It is served hot and filled with tuna, albacore, seasonal white fish, scallions, eel sauce and spicy sauce.  We love fruit in our rolls. 

For our last roll we ordered the Mango Tango- smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado, mango, tempura flakes, sweet potato curls, with a peach-apricot reduction.

The night ended with Creme Brulee.  This is a unique dessert infused with a distinct green tea flavor. Make sure you check out the entire Dragonfly menu. 

Sarah- Fashion Stylist

Sarah was recently on the cover of Gainesville Today Magazine. This birthday girl made sure her outfit was top notch with a skin-toned leather skirt, Chanel earrings, and black & white heels.  Be sure to check out her fashion blog- SheChic.net.

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