Sometimes you want to go out for a burger or pizza, and sometimes you want to stay in, and sometimes you can’t decide what to do. For those times when you want the convenience of a restaurant and the casualness of staying home, Solo’s Pizza is just the right fit.

Solo’s Pizza in Holmes Beach has been in the same location for 10 years this past March, quite an accomplishment for any restaurant, especially one on an Island dependent on seasonal visitors. Solo’s owner Shawn Waters loves his seasonal customers and is rejuvenated every year when he sees familiar faces coming through his door.

In fact, his restaurant is decorated with sports paraphernalia and t-shirts, many of which are gifts from his return customers, including the recently acquired cricket bat, a gift from a customer from Wales. But as much as Waters loves out of town patrons, it’s the local residents who have really made Solo’s what it is today, something that he is very appreciative of.

Solo’s menu has been tweaked through the years, but still has the basic pub food that everyone, including kids, love. It has handmade pizzas in three sizes with a variety of toppings including a white pizza, an all meat pizza, a veggie pizza and, believe it or not, a BLT pizza. Subs and burgers are also a mainstay of Solo’s, ranging from regular burgers to Italian sausage subs, broiled chicken breast sandwich, Philly calzone and Philly cheese Steak sandwich.

There is also a nice choice of finger foods to go with your beer and wine like wings, pig in a blanket, nachos and chili. Beer is available at Solo’s with six drafts, one of which changes with the beer season. Also available is a large wine selection, available both by the glass and bottle, with very affordable prices. You can also order a pizza or sandwich to go.

Solo’s has 10 TV screens one of which is 70 inches and a pool table. Super Bowl is a major event every year and if you buy your seat, you have it for the entire game, including an open bar and unlimited tailgate food. And everyone looks forward to Solo’s Chili Cook Off with prizes, so watch for that date. Also watch for Solo’s 10-year anniversary party on Wednesday, May 29, offering complimentary food.

If you ask Waters what the secret is to keeping his restaurant in business all these years, he says simply hard work and a good staff. He is a very hands on owner who is at the restaurant most days with a positive staff that’s like a family spilling over to their friendly customer service. Most have been with him for many years, including his cook, who has been at Solo’s for 5 years providing the consistency that many small restaurants lack.

Waters told me someone wrote on Trip Advisor that going to Solo’s is like sitting in your living room and having someone waiting on you, which is the exact message he wants to get across. Casual affordable food casual atmosphere and friendly people, who just want to kick back and have a good time, just not at home.

SOLO’S PIZZA

3244 East Bay Drive
Holmes Beach
941-778-8118

Sunday – Saturday
4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Happy hour:
Monday-Friday
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

All major credit cards accepted

 

The title of this article is that of the best-selling book by Dr. John Gray in the 1990s. The book, which attempted to describe the personality and emotional differences between the genders, sold over 50 million copies and remains in print today.

In the realm of investments and the process of giving and receiving investment advice, there are stark differences between males and females that are important for both the client, man or woman, and the advisor, man or woman, to understand to try to avoid miscommunication, or even worse, offending the other party.

Like many parts of our lives, the domination of males in the investment decision process is fading, and in some situations, has disappeared. There are many reasons for this, but the primary factors seem to be the narrowing of the compensation gap between men and women for similar levels of skill and responsibility, along with factors I've cited before including a woman's longer life expectancy and divorce.

Both the client and the advisor need to be aware of the priority differences between men and women. Care should be taken to address the important factors perceived by both the male and female when a married couple is involved or when a single client is working with an advisor, particularly one of the opposite sex. So, what differences do we observe between the sexes when it comes to their views of investing?

Men, being from Mars in general, tend to be much more performance driven and concerned about the very best results, even if it means taking excessive risk. Picking winning investments, which can be bragged about at the club or at cocktail parties, seems to be more important for men. Lower on the priority list are issues like risk control, leaving money to heirs, as well as some of the more qualitative factors like their legacy of how they will be remembered by future generations.

Women (from Venus, of course) tend to be much more concerned about the qualitative factors in the investment process. "Beating the market" is not as much of a concern as long as the performance is acceptable and comes without too much risk. The risk factors tend to be more important to women, likely because they are more concerned about their money lasting them for their lifetime, and hopefully beyond, through inheritance for children and grandchildren. Making sure the story of their life is told and understood by future generations is usually a higher priority for women investors, particularly as they move through the retirement years.

When married couples are working with their investment advisor it is important for both husbands and wives priorities to be heard and understood by the advisor. Clients should be encouraged to ask probing questions of the advisor to make sure the advisor truly understands their priorities and that the investment plan is being designed considering the priorities of both husband and wife.

For singles, working with an advisor may be a bit simpler, but it is still important to make sure that gender based biases aren’t getting in the way of communication when the advisor and client are of the opposite sex.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.