Still Crazy after all these years

By Joan Kelly

REMEMBER WHEN you could order a burger and it tasted like meat? Remember the old Florida restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating? Well, Marco Island has its own old Florida restaurant, The Crazy Flamingo.

CRAZY’S, as it is fondly called, has exactly the same BASIC menu as it had 22 (WOW!) years ago. Owner Tony left a cook book the staff calls the “bible” Everyone COOKS by the BOOK measuring each dish to provide CONSISTENCY.

In addition, they strive to have the BE$T PRICE$. This IS done in several ways. Customers SELF ORDER at the bar and pay at the same location. Food is

delivered to the table when they can. Plastic service, paper towel napkins, Condiments on the table saves money to put into QUALITY ingredients. PLUS+ they know many people like smaller portions so there’s NO charge to SHARE a dish.

MENU includes all of the old favorites from the award winning burger, to raw bar and sushi bar to Italian dishes and seafood to salads and specials. Fresh fish specials offered daily!

Play here: pool table, games, new games coming and bands in the evening on stage. Happy hour for summer is HUGE 11 to 6 with $1 drafts and $2 bottles, wings and snack specials. EAT

here: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, Sushi 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. except Sundays. Get here by traveling inside the Town Center mall close Bald Eagle.

CRAZY’s is CRAZY about celebrations. As local residents the staff plans local parties that fit with Island culture. Coming up the CRAZY 22nd birthday party is August 6th. (Expect something crazy and fun) Contact by phone 239-398 9600 or view information at www.thecrazyflamingo.com, managers are Danny Dawber and Rose Kriberscheck.

Joan enjoys dining out and after working in the restaurant industry for awhile, she learned she liked writing about what she finds.  Since then, she has become a regular freelance newspaper columnist.