Welcome back to Dunedin for spring training, Blue Jay fans!

There is a buzz in the air and it’s all thanks to fans of Major League Baseball visiting the area for spring training season. For baseball fans, you couldn’t pick a better place to catch pre-season games, as the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Toronto Blue Jays all call the greater Tampa Bay area home base from late February thru the end of March.

But wait, there’s more! The Atlanta Braves (Lake Buena Vista), Boston Red Sox (Fort Myers), Baltimore Orioles (Sarasota), Houston Astros (Kissimmee), Detroit Tigers (Lakeland), Minnesota Twins (Fort Myers) and the Tampa Bay Rays (Port Charlotte) are all within a two-hour drive from the Tampa Bay area. Wow, talk about baseball heaven!

(Photo Shown Above from Canadian Baseball Network)

Back here in Dunedin, we love having the Toronto Blue Jays in town. In fact, at this point, hosting them is a local tradition since they’ve been coming to Dunedin since 1977! With the Blue Jay’s stadium conveniently located off Douglas Avenue, it’s only a few blocks away from Downtown Dunedin. Making it worth-while to arrive early before the game. Beat traffic, take a stroll around town or stop into one of Dunedin’s great restaurants, like Cafe Alfresco, for a snack or lunch. Why overpay for stadium food when you can get something WAY better?

Speaking of food, we have a few game day favorites of our own. Since most of the games start early in the afternoon, about 1 pm, our favorite pre-game options are from our delicious sandwich menu…

Build a Burger
You can’t go wrong with a classic like a burger and fries! Our delicious burgers are grilled to your liking and topped with your choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. Paired with a side of our famous crispy French fries, this is the perfect meal to start your game day.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Tender chicken breast, grilled to perfection, topped with melted Swiss cheese and our special honey horseradish sauce. Served with lettuce and tomato alongside our house-made potato salad. You’ll be amazed by how tasty a grilled chicken sandwich can be!

Memphis Pulled Pork
Sure, it might be a little messy to eat, but there is nothing more satisfying than our slow -cooked, hand pulled, delicious pork sandwich tossed in a hickory BBQ sauce. We serve ours with a side of fries.

 

Okay, but what about after the game?

It’s Happy Hour!

Celebrate a win or cheer yourself up after a loss with our daily happy hour specials (3 – 6 pm). Enjoy $2.50 domestic bottled beers and $4 specialty beers. If beer isn’t your beverage of choice, well-spirits are only $3.50 and house wines are $4. The best part about happy hour is that all our drink specials pair up nicely with our tasty $5 happy hour appetizer bites.

Shrimp Alfresco

A half-order version of our best-selling Shrimp Alfresco appetizer from our regular menu is perfect for a quick snack or for sharing. Tasty fried shrimp topped with a spicy aioli and served with a side of pineapple slaw.

Crab Cake Sliders

Many of our customers rave about our house made crab cakes. If you haven’t tried them, our happy hour crab cake slider is the perfect opportunity to delight your taste-buds. They’re served on a bun with hot pepper mayo and a side of coleslaw. We’re sure you’ll be hooked, so if you want more, you’ll find our yummy mini crab cake appetizer and our Maryland-style crab cake entrée on the regular menu, too.

Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

You can’t go wrong with anything tossed in Buffalo sauce, right? This happy hour appetizer is battered cauliflower florets dressed in Buffalo sauce and served the true Buffalo way, with blue cheese (not ranch dressing) and a side of celery sticks. Perfect for sharing, our Buffalo cauliflower app is vegetarian-friendly too!

Chef’s Daily Choice

Similar to our daily lunch and dinner specials, our $5 Chef’s Choice appetizer changes daily. What can we say? We like to let our chef get creative! Stop in after each game to try something new.

Mmmm, everything sounds good! It’s hard to decide which is more enjoyable, the food or the games. Just kidding, we’re still pumped about the spring training games, which begin this weekend. After all, one of the greatest perks of spring training is the possibility of seeing an MLB player walking down Main Street Dunedin!