Bucket’s Grill – Tampa, FL

 

We tried to go to Bucket’s Grill about a week ago, but since it’s right down the street from MacDill Air Force Base and the President was in town, it was impossible to drive the couple blocks to get to it.  Tonight it took us barely 2 minutes to get there. 

They opened in July, and all the reviews I’ve read have given them praise.  They only have 2 Yelp reviews so far (both 5’s), but their facebook page has 50 reviews, 43 of them rating it 5 stars, and the rest giving the restaurant 4 stars.  Plus, I read a review on the blog SOG City Oracle (SOG meaning South of Gandy), which called it a “South Tampa Bucket of Goodness”. 

Bucket’s specializes in comfort food and the prices are incredibly reasonable.  Tonight was pretty quiet, with maybe half a dozen other people in the restaurant (it was a rainy weeknight though). 

While there are some healthier options on the menu like grilled fish, a black bean burger, and salads, there is also a "Cardiac Burger" which includes 2 Angus burger patties, bacon, fried egg, and onion rings topped with lots of cheese (with an appropriate price of $9.11 – which may be the phone number called after the heart attack caused by the burger...)

We went for some of the less-healthy options, including Kai’s Mac and Cheese Bites, Q.T.W. Sweet Potato Waffle Fries, and the Jack-N-Jack (flapjacks with Jack Daniel’s whiskey maple syrup served with shredded Cuban pork).  

The Mac and Cheese bites were made with pepper jack so they had a little kick of spice.  The sweet potato fries were some of the best I’ve had – Lance said they reminded him of food at the State Fair.  The brown sugar coating almost made them taste like churros. 

The pancakes were an interesting combination – like a twist on the popular chicken & waffles.  They were very generous with the pork – it was both on top and in between all the flapjack layers.  Although I’ve never had pork with pancakes before, it was a perfect sweet & salty mix once topped with the boozy syrup. 

Our meal including 2 beers only came to $22 after tax.  Nothing fancy, but a very enjoyable meal.  I’m sure we’ll go back again, especially now that we know that they have $0.49 Wing Mondays and $1 Taco Tuesdays. 

Bucket’s Grill is located at 6231 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33611 and is open 11am – 11pm every day.