Nitally's Thai-Mex Cuisine, St. Petersburg, FL

Yes...you read correctly.  Thai-Mex Cuisine.  Some Thai, some Mexican and some fusion dishes beautifully converge in this little hole-in-the-wall hotbed of spices.  UD and I met up with my favorite liberal and local blogger (JR, author of the SOG City Oracle) and his lovely wife and fellow foodie, the Belle of Ballast Point (aka She of the Perpetually Gorgeous Mane). As usual, good food and an even better time was had by all.  We knew we were Nitally's kinda people as soon as we walked in the door.  Helloooooo, new friends!

Whatever your beverage of preference, it is here.  A ridiculously extensive non-alcoholic drink menu takes up the wall-sized blackboard...with wine, saki, sangria and a nice beer selection also available for lushes like me.  And trust me, you're gonna need a whistle-wetter of one kind or another (probably in mass quantities), as Nitally's cuisine is unapologetically wicked hot and spicy.

The Thai Chicken Peanut Tortilla wrap appetizer would've been enough to fill up most people in and of itself.  The four of us shared it and everyone loved the tender chicken, fresh veggies, spicy peanut sauce and soft flour tortilla.

The BOBP (SPGM) couldn't resist ordering the Chipotle Pizza.  Smoky chipotle sauce adorned a perfectly thin and crispy crust and was topped with cheese and chicken (I think...but I suffer from "Sometimer's Disease", especially when I'm drinking).  Look how beautiful it was!  In fact, I was very impressed with the presentation of everything placed before us today by our fine young server, Lauren (?).

JR's a little like me in his inability to pass up mussels.  Nitally's did a commendable job with their version of said bivalves, which were steamed in lemon grass, lime leaves and Thai peppers.  Fresh and tasty!

I've been craving Pad Thai since I watched a rerun of Bobby Flay's Pad Thai Throwdown episode a couple of weeks ago, so I zeroed right in on the Shrimp Pad Thai kicked up with Panang Red Thai Curry sauce.  Our sweet server considerately steered me in the "mild" direction after I shared the (not so) secret of my somewhat heat-wimpy palate with her, and thank gawd she did.  Nitally's version of "mild" easily falls into the "medium" category of every other Thai restaurant I've ever enjoyed.  This was a tres delish rendition of mammoth proportions (as were all of the entrees) which managed to make my upper lip bead up and trigger epic hot flashes despite its "gentle" heat level.  The proffered chopsticks indicated that they clearly had no clue that a redneck gurl was in their midst...as if I would ever toil so feverishly to bring to my food to my lips.  No wonder Asian chicks are tiny.

Dogboy ordered his Chorizo Fried Rice at medium temp and paid dearly in sweat, beer consumption and an irrepressible desire to snag sweet bites of grilled pineapple from the plate of BOBP to chill his palate. Tasty and liberally studded with chorizo and fresh veggies, it was still Hades hot. 

BOBP's Pineapple Fried Rice with chicken (mild) had UD bitterly wishing he was her, judging from the copious forkfuls he pilfered over the course of our lunch date.

JR rounded out our world tour by ordering the Thai-Mex Seafood Paella which was also deadly-spicy at medium heat but was a beautiful thing despite a bit of perceived stinginess with the protein of the sea.

No thanks, Satan! 

Nitally's is doing something different and is definitely worth a visit, despite of the fact that the owners seem to go a little cray-cray when they receive any sort of negative feedback online.  I wouldn't recommend complaining about anything while you're there, lest you find yourself on the  business end of a butcher knife (gawd knows what would happen if you expressed displeasure in person).  Be prepared for gargantuan portions and factor in the epic heat level when ordering.

http://nitallys.com/