The Mermaid Tavern – Tampa, FL

Seminole Heights seems to be the emerging foodie scene in the Tampa area – with the Refinery, Rooster & the Till, Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, the Mermaid Tavern, and the Independent.  I’ve been recommend to visit all these places, but so far the only one I had been to before last night was the Refinery (which I highly recommend!)  The rest are on my must-try list.  Last night, Lance and I checked out the Mermaid Tavern. 

From the outside, it doesn’t really look like much – if I hadn’t heard of it before I probably wouldn’t have stopped in.  Inside, it has an eclectic and slightly nautical feel.  There are mismatching artsy chandeliers (including some funky ones that looked like jellyfish) and columns wrapped in rope.  It was dimly lit and a little tattered like a dive bar, but the crowd was mostly young hipsters.

The drink specials were outlined on a large chalkboard behind the bar.  Lance ordered the Two Brothers Hopcentric Double IPA & I got the Saint Somewhere Jasime Saison.  The food is ordered right at the bar – Lance wanted to try the Brisket Poutine, but unfortunately they were out.  Instead, he ordered the New Tavern Burger and I had the O.M.G. Grilled Cheese (O.M.G. stands for Oysters, Mushrooms & Goat cheese!)

It was pretty crowded (it was Saturday night) but we did manage to find ourselves a table.  Lance really loved his IPA – and mine was different than any beer I’ve had before.  Saint Somewhere is a local Tarpon Springs brewery – my beer was fermented with jasmine tea and was slightly tart. 

I enjoyed my sandwich – it was definitely a unique take on a normal grilled cheese.  I like that they took a risk and made it with unusual ingredients – the oysters, mushrooms, and goat cheese were combined with Welsh cheddar and roasted asparagus on thick crispy sourdough bread.  The hand-cut fries were spectacular.  I did see pictures of their truffle fries on Yelp though, and if their normal fries were that good, I’d imagine their truffle fries topped with shaved parmesan would be to-die-for. 

Lance’s burger was good, but not worth $13.  It was a little small, and the pretzel bun tasted more like a normal hamburger bun.  Although I’m sure the grass-fed meat was high quality, it was cooked well-done rather than medium. 

It has better food than most bars, but I’d emphasize going for the drinks.  They had a pretty unique selection (no Bud Light here).  It seems like it’s more of a late-night hangout…we’ll probably try one of the other Seminole Heights restaurants next time and just head here for drinks afterwards. 

The Mermaid Tavern is located at 6719 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa, FL 33604 and is open from 5pm to 3am every day. 

Brick House Tavern + Tap - Tampa, FL

My Grandma Anne moved from Palm Beach to Tampa about a year and a half ago to be closer to her side of the family.  My parents, brother David, and cousin Jenn all live in town, and my aunt and uncle live close by in Orlando. 

Tonight Grandma took all the grandkids out to dinner – it is rare for us all to be free at the same time.  We decided on Brick House Tavern + Tap.  A lot of restaurants besides chains are closed for late night dinner on Sunday nights, but this chain is worth visiting.  It is a higher end sports bar that we had been to a few times in the past. 

There is a wide selection of draft beers and specialty cocktails – David and I both had the “Summerthyme Moonshine” (ole smoky blackberry moonshine, licor 43, citrus thyme puree, lemon, soda & fresh blackberries).  If you like really sweet drinks, I’d recommend it (Grandma didn’t like it…she stuck to wine). 

We started with two different wing appetizers – the Duck Wings (with “man cave sauce”, fresh cilantro, and sriracha ranch) and the Tavern Wings (with garlic parmesan sauce and bleu cheese).  The duck wings were a little spicy – and the Tavern wings were piled up with parmesan. 

Grandma said that she’s been craving ribs for a while – and luckily tonight the special was “Bones & Beans” – a half rack of baby back pork ribs slow cooked with harissa bbq sauce, served with shiner baked white beans, cornbread & black rum butter.  Lance and David ended up copying her and ordering ribs as well.  They are the best ribs I’d had in awhile – the sauce was sweet but had a nice spicy kick to it.  And you could tell that the beans were homemade, not just out of a can. 

Jenn had the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich – spicy buttermilk marinated fried chicken on a brioche roll with fresh arugula and bacon ranch.  The chicken was huge – she ended up taking half her food home. 

I had the Sitting Duck Salad – with roasted duck, savory greens, candied bacon lardons, brioche croutons, smoked cheddar, and roasted shallot vinaigrette.  I really enjoyed my salad – sometimes restaurants drown their salads with dressing, but this was a nice light dressing.  The best part were the candied bacon lardons which added a sweet crunch to the savory salad. 

Although we were all full, we still were tempted by the dessert menu.  As our waitress put it, people have a second stomach reserved especially for dessert – even if you are full you always have room to end on something sweet.  We ordered a Chocolate Bourbon Cake and Apple Crumble to share and wiped the plates clean.  You could taste the bourbon soaked in the cake, and the crumble had large chunks of granny smith apples with a caramel foster sauce. 

I can’t remember the last time I went out to eat and had appetizers, entrées, AND desserts.  Needless to say, we were all pretty tired afterwards and will sleep well tonight. 

Brick House Tavern + Tap is located at 1102 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33607 and is open Monday through Thursday 11am – 1am, Friday & Saturday 11am – 2am, and Sundays 11am – 12am. 

The Bait House Tackle and Tavern – Clearwater, FL

Today we spent the afternoon at Sand Key Park on Clearwater Beach.  We saw good reviews on Yelp for the Bait House Tackle and Tavern, so we decided to check it out for lunch. 

We couldn’t find it at first – the entrance was a little wooden shack that was dwarfed by a nearby yacht.  If we hadn’t read about it online, we would have thought it was just a bait shop.

Once you walk through the main shop, there is an outdoor bar and deck with a beautiful view of Clearwater Bay.  It was extremely hot out today – especially after an afternoon of tubing at the beach, so it was nice to cool down with some Sam Adam’s Summer Ales.  They served us our drinks with nice Bait House koozies. 

I ordered the peel & eat shrimp and Lance ordered the grouper sandwich with kettle chips.  The shrimp were gigantic and served over ice so they were nice and chilled.  The grouper sandwich was excellent as well.  We weren’t expecting to have such high quality seafood at this unassuming little restaurant, but I’d recommend it to anybody visiting Clearwater. 

If you spent the day fishing, they will actually prepare your catch for you if you’d like!  They also offer weekly baskets of fresh organic produce through the Caladesi Co-op which supports local farmers – if I lived in the Clearwater area I would love to participate. 

The Bait House Tackle and Tavern is located at 46 Causeway Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33767 and is open Sunday  through Wednesday 7am  - 9pm and Thursday through Saturday 7am – 10pm. 

The Outpost – Tampa, FL

Tonight we tried The Outpost Tap House + Tavern for dinner.  We bought a Creative Loafing deal so that saved us $10 on our meal (we are big supporters of CL Deals/LivingSocial/Groupon to save a bit when we dine out).    

It wasn’t very crowded (but it’s a Sunday night – not the most popular day to go out to eat).  It had a similar atmosphere to the Avenue with exposed ceiling, wood accents, and industrial metal chairs. 

 

We sat at a booth and were helped immediately.  Since it was before 7pm they still had happy hour specials, but all the beers that qualified were pretty lame (Miller, Bud, etc).  I ended up getting a flight ($10 for 4 different beers) and the glasses seemed pretty large for a flight.  I had tried most of the beers before, but the Harpoon UFO was new to me – it tasted a bit like grapefruit which was very refreshing. 

For dinner I got the BeerLT Sandwich (a BLT sandwich on beer battered sourdough bread with a fried egg) and Lance had the Tampa Cheese Steak Sandwich.  They both came with a side of fries – I’m not normally that interested in fries unless they are sweet potato, but these had a lot of spices on them and were nice & crispy. 

I would recommend my sandwich – Lance’s was alright but probably could have used a bit more steak.  Overall a good restaurant – not a very extensive food menu, but a decent sized draft beer selection.  It would be a great sports bar to go catch a football game (although their tv connection was bad tonight...it was raining and kept cutting out, so maybe only on sunny days).  It had a pretty low-key atmosphere, but I’m guessing that’s just because it’s a Sunday.

They have trivia on Mondays and Wednesdays, karaoke on Tuesdays, live music Thursdays, and Ladies’ Night on Fridays, so it seems that the week days are their busy time and probably an entirely different experience. 

The Outpost Tap House + Tavern is located at 909 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606 and open 11am – 3am Monday through Sunday.