The Bricks – Ybor City

 

Yesterday we headed to Ybor City to grab some lunch.  I had heard great reviews about a restaurant called The Bricks, but hadn’t had the chance to try it out before. 

As expected, it is located in a brick building, with exposed brick walls in the interior.  It is clearly aimed at a young crowd – The Skatepark of Tampa apparently opened it after decades of sending business to other local bars and restaurants. 

When you walk in, the music sounds like you might be in a Pac Sun or Tilly’s.  The TVs had footage of 80’s skateboarding kids and The Disney Channel playing.  They had ads for “The Church of Nintendo” game nights on Mondays, and they featured a chorizo soup called “Chorizard” (for those of you that didn’t grow up as 90’s kids, there was a Pokémon dragon named Charizard…I never even had any Pokémon cards, but I still recognized the name…)  

I was pretty excited to see Cigar City’s Cubano Espresso Brown Ale on the drink menu.  It’s a coffee beer brewed with local coffee beans, and tastes almost more like a Starbucks drink than a beer.   

 

I ordered The Bird and Pig sandwich – with roasted pulled chicken, bacon, apples, brie, and agave served on sweet bread.  From their Yelp reviews, it seems that this is pretty much everyone’s favorite sandwich there.  It was the perfect mix of savory and sweet – and they even served it presented in a heart shape! I had the mixed greens salad as my side, which was tossed in a tangy dressing. 

Lance had The Burrito – with oven roasted pork, black bean-corn relish, cheddar, and avocado cream in a pressed flour tortilla.  I thought the pressed tortilla was much better than the normal cold tortilla you’d get at a typical burrito restaurant. 

Whether you’re a skateboarder or not, I’d highly recommend checking this place out. 

The Bricks is located at 1327 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605  and is open 11am – 1am Monday – Sunday.