Order Up: Calypso Restaurant & Raw Bar

View a slideshow of Calypso Restaurant & Raw Bar here.


This week's review in Dish, we revisit the 21 year-old Pompano staple, Calypso Restaurant & Raw Bar located inside an unremarkable strip mall off Cypress Rd.

Husband and wife owners Chuck and Lora Ternosky, pride themselves as operating a casual fish house for foodies. It has been 10 years since New Times last visited Calypso, and still not much has changed. The same island decor decorates the bar and dining area and a similar menu serving fisherman favorites remains. Forget the rising prices of conch, Calypso still offers it -- get it grilled, cracked, in chowders, salads, and/or fritters. If the fresh fish isn't enough to warm you, the friendly hospitality sure will.

Here's an excerpt from our review.

A waitress nearly put her arm around me as I walked into the crowded

restaurant for a Wednesday lunch. "Is it just you, honey?" she offered

in a soothing tone. "You sit right here with me so I can take care of

you." And she did just that as I enjoyed a lunch special of a crusty

blue crab-cake cutter ($10.95) served with a side of roasted red pepper

tartar sauce and crispy steak fries. The more-crab-than-cake was fried

to a deep golden brown and packed a punch with island seasonings and

bits of peppers. Just a small amount of cracker bound the crab together,

and although the homemade roasted pepper sauce was tasty, this sandwich

didn't need it. If only I'd had a beach chair to sprawl on the

blue-and-white checkered floor, I could have stayed right there all

afternoon instead of returning to the office.