Counter Culture

Came out for a Galentines outing with my girls. Such a great location and a great spot to dine for brunch/dinner. Such great vibes. The staff was so kind, patient, and accommodating with our group. They allowed us to sit at the counter without reservations due to our party being larger than expected, and us not showing up on time to sit at the bar. Megan, the bartender, waited on us and she was so sweet and patient. Gave us lots of great recommendations on cocktails and food. We were given complimentary shrimp and avocado ceviche, which was so delicious and fresh. The Raspberry danish was such a light and fresh start to our day drinking. Lol. Highly recommend. The cocktails are well crafted and delicious. We always have such a great experience at Counter Culture.

Staff: Friendly but slow. We went around 1pm on a Sunday. Seating: NOT ideal for a group of more than 4. We had a group of 10 and they sat us in front of the door by the hostess stand. As people were checking in at the stand or came by to chat with someone in the front, some people bumped into the back of our chairs. Our waitress had a tough time coming around the corner where we were sitting because there was a plant by the front door as well. The picture I am attaching is a view from our table looking directly at the hostess stand and entrance and exit door. Food: Average at best. Half our table stated that their meals tasted very bland and had little to no flavoring. You are paying for the "ambiance" and location and nothing more. Cleanliness: A few of our chairs had crumbs left in it as we sat down. One of the hostess was obviously sick constantly wiping her nose with the same tissue then putting it back in her pocket. I then later saw her grab glasses to help set a table. If you are sick, I would hope you would stay home or avoid touching food and drink/silverware to avoid passing sickness on to others. But maybe that's just my way of thinking. Would I come back again? NO. Others at our table agreed with my sentiments as well.

The entrance to the Resturant is kind of sketchy but once you enter, it's a nice open area. My sister and I had some much needed girl time. I had a "Silk Road" based on our secrets recommendations and it was delish. I ordered the Broiche French Toast and Candied Bacon. The bacon was good, could use some heat. The French toast was decent, somewhat burnt, but decent. My sister has the Chile Roasted...she sent it back. She replaced it with the Tortilla Espanola, it was better than her other dish. Overall, the food was decent, not sure if it was phenomenal.

I gave this place another try for brunch instead of dinner, and it was MUCH better. I still would advise against a dinner here unless planning on heavy apps. The brunch service was great. The weather was perfect for patio seating. We enjoyed aperol spritz as our drink to start. We also had the jalapeño biscuits. We split a couple entrees including the macadamia nut pancakes which were PHENOMENAL- symphony of flavors and textures including that macadamia nut crunch. The eggs Benedict was great, as well. The avocado tostada was TINY- I actually laughed out loud when they brought it to me. However, it tasted delicious. Overall, I still think this place is incredibly overpriced but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavors of their brunch menu and was overall more pleased with the service this time around.

This place is a great place to go for brunch in the Tampa Bay Area! You get some great views, great vibes, but also some great food. The unique thing is you can get a set menu brunch meal, which is not something you see often. I started off with the Pork Belly and Brussels Sprouts starter which was delicious. Tender pieces of pork belly, runny egg yolk, and delicious sauce. For the main, it was a seared branzino with fried polenta cake. Loved the use of the citrus and pistachio dressing. Finally, dessert was a blondie with caramel sauce. Excellent without being overly sweet. All in all, great spot with great food and service. Parking can be tough on a busy weekend, but it is worth coming here :)

Came back this evening for dinner with fond past memories. Unfortunately it didn't hold up. We didn't repeat any dishes to try something new and maybe that was the issue. We had the dates which were amazing! The sourdough which is good but isPathetically small. Two slices of sourdough cut in half. The artichoke which had far too much stuff on it. And the chittara ragu and the crab ravioli. Ravioli was not my fave. I think it was my taste idk. I wasn't a fan it was much heavier than it read. The ragu on the other hand was amazing but I wish it had a bigger pasta. The service was the main issue of the night it was super slow. And so were they. So there weren't really any excuses. I also don't mean just a little slow. There were maybe 10 ppl in the dining room and a private party. Ambiance was great but the chefs were a little loud at times.

Update: the Happening Hour is now available on the weekends too!! This was such a nice change for me and my girlfriend, since she's usually works til 5:30 we can't make it to the happening hour on weekdays. They also brought back the burger and a beer deal for $15 (used to be $10 which just turned it to be TOO good of a deal) but I think it's still a really great deal and fun way to try out different styles of burgers as they change it every month. Super excited for this area (Bayshore Gardens I think it's called?) because of the other restaurants and developments under construction, hoping it brings some well-deserved attention to Counter Culture and becomes a cool area.

Second time back in and I loved it even more. We came around 6pm on a Sunday night and sat at their beautiful bar looking out onto bayshore. Our bartender was incredibly attentive and charismatic. We ordered the burrata toast and figs to start. Delicious burrata and the figs stuffed with pistachio and goat cheese are easily one of the best things I've EVER eaten. For my entree, I ordered the yellowtail snapper and only wish I had more room in my stomach to eat more! I have no clue why this place wasn't jam packed! I can easily say I'll be back soon.

One of my new favorite lunch spots.We decided to celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary here and I'm glad we did. We came on a Thursday at 1 p.m. (it's super easy to make a reservation online. Originally we had it for 12:30 p.m. but then volunteering at my son's school went long so at 12:15 p.m. I moved it to 1 p.m.) The parking lot is small, so I don't know what happens when it's full. I saw valet that wasn't staffed when we arrived, so my hope is if the lot is full then valet will be running.I got the Three Martini Lunch, which is three martinis that equal 2 full size cocktails. It rotates weekly! I should have taken a picture of the menu, because what's there now is different than what I had. I do remember one of the cocktails was a old fashioned. All three were fun, but if I was to do it again I'd order off the menu. I think two full cocktails at lunch is a little too much for me.I also got their La Completa for my entree, which is a five compartment tray lunch. Everything was delicious. My tray had oxtail, which was very good. I don't remember what the salad was, but I do know that I loved it. The only part that I wasn't a huge fan of was the german chocolate cake, because I'm not a huge sweet lover. I think if it was a different dessert, this will be my go to dish. My husband got the steak frites, which came with onion rings instead of fries and he ate all of it. No complaints there.I really like how open and inviting this space is. It's a good size and doesn't feel pretentious at all. The waiter let us know that they give mini donuts when you're celebrating a special occasion, but we passed since I couldn't even finish the cake. Our server was very nice and attentive. There weren't many people there during lunch on a Thursday so we were one of his only tables, but he was great. I will definitely be back.

Walked over to Counter Culture for breakfast. Was told "Realistically the wait will be 1.5hrs". We said ok thanks. Left to find another place, looked online for a reservation and Counter Culture came up with open reservations for right at that time. If there are open available reservations why would you turn away a walk-in?