St. Pete Beach resort rehab also polishes up restaurant

Dozens of hotels and motels line the wide beaches here, offering a full range of vacation experiences from "spring break on a budget" to "family resort."

Among them until recently was the well-worn Travelodge, which featured staid cinderblock rooms and low-budget perks that appealed mainly to packs of Harley-Davidson riders looking to tear it up on a weekend.

No more.

The former budget hotel reopened in October as the Postcard Inn on the Beach. It's under new ownership, having undergone a $5 million renovation by New York restaurateur Stephen Hanson that converted it into a 1950s-style, chic-yet-funky beach hotel. Less Milwaukee's Best motif, more Santa Monica surfer retreat.

Attached to the PCI, as it's nicknamed, is a reborn restaurant called Wildwood BBQ & Burger.

Rarely do hotel restaurants amount to more than a decent place to wait until your cab arrives for a ride to dinner elsewhere. That's changing over time as hotel owners aim higher than rubber chicken dinners from a banquet kitchen.

Wildwood furthers that cause, its rustic atmosphere spiked with modern touches and its solid menu of barbecue and comfort food punched up with bold flavors.

For an appetizer, we ordered the grilled jalapeño and bacon-wrapped Spicy Shrimp Diablo. It's hard to argue against bacon, and this dish takes it a step further, mixing the deep and lusciously greasy bacon flavor with the pop of jalapeño. This is not your mother's shrimp cocktail.

Other starters with some kick include Bottle Caps, which are beer-battered, fried jalapeño slices, and super-spicy conch fritters served with a roasted peach dipping sauce.

Among entrees, we chose the Three Little Pigs sampler to gauge what the kitchen had to offer. The menu lists it as spareribs, pulled pork and jalapeño sausage. Oddly, the ribs were almost certainly beef, not pork, but well-done nonetheless.

The pulled pork was fair, but rather soggy, as if it sat in a warming dish for a bit too long. But the jalapeño sausage more than made up for it, with a dynamic range of flavors, rich and spicy, down-home and Southwest.

We took the appetizer cornbread as a side - sadly, however, it was mostly uncooked batter (the inside oozed out) and tasted like pancake mix from a box.

Typically, barbecue restaurants pride themselves on sauces and make their own on-site. Here, fans of very sweet sauces will be happy. That's not exactly our first choice, but sauce is a highly personal preference.

Some barbecue fanatics swear by thin, vinegary Carolina-style sauce. Others won't accept anything but a smoky Texas or thick Kansas City-style sauce. Here all the sauces were thickish and sweet, with a range of flavors from mild to hot.

We also tried the Wildwood Chopped Salad, which serves as a nice, light counterpart to all the pit-barbecue choices, featuring tomato, feta, cucumber, olives, capers, onions, Parmesan - hold on while we catch our breath - pinto beans, roasted red peppers and balsamic vinaigrette, too. Whew.

It's worth knowing the Wildwood also provides a limited menu to the beach bar right on the sand facing the waves - the original shack bar that retains much of the bare wood, license plates and Sharpie autographs of thousands who came to Florida to drink in the sun.

We chuckled as a group of returning guests stared dumbfounded at the hotel's new boutique renovation, and nearly left when the bartender offered them California Pinot Noir in a single-serving box with a straw.

At the bar, we tried the bacon cheeseburger and found it wholly terrific, akin to a backyard burger with a smoky, salty taste.

Also note the Fat Cat, with caramelized onion and American cheese on an English Muffin. Yup, a burger on a muffin. Toto, we're not at Travelodge anymore.

DINING REVIEW

Wildwood BBQ & Burger

WHERE: 6300 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday

CREDIT CARDS: AE/DISC/MC/V

RESERVATIONS: No

CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes

ALCOHOL: Full bar and wine list

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

PRICE: Entrees range from $7.95 to $22.50

CALL: (727) 369-4950