Visiting Tampa and Charlotte in the spring, even for a quick one or two day business trip, is a great way to start shaking the later winter blahs. While temps can cover a pretty big range, by late March you can count on trees and flowers in bloom, usually warm daytime temps and mild evenings, the occasional spring rain, along with people who have emerged from their winter cocoons walking and enjoying the spring air.
This edition of the blog will focus mainly on food. In Tampa, their are a number of very good to great restaurants. Two of my long time favorites, Bern's for steak and Oystercatchers for seafood are standouts for great food and great service. On this trip I tried a couple of new places as well and was rewarded with more great food and service at Ocean Prime and Charley's. All 4 of these restaurants are at the pricier end of the Tampa dining scene so there are no bargains here, but all of them warrant a try if you're willing to pay for great food and service.
It's hard to describe Bern's if you haven't been there. It has an old world charm along with what has to be one of the most comprehensive wine collections of any restaurant in the world. The food is prepared with painstaking precision. Most of the wait staff have 20, 30, or more years of tenure. You can tour the cellar - only part of the massive wine collection is here, the rest occupies a nearby climate controlled warehouse - the kitchen - where they grow there own watercress under lamps - and finish the meal in the upstairs dessert room. I could write pages about this place - but in the interested of brevity, if you love great steaks, great wine, great service and are willing to pay for them, eat at Bern's on your next trip to Tampa. Located outside of the downtown area in an older neighborhood, you'll swear you're going the wrong way, but follow you GPS and you'll be rewarded with one the best evenings you've ever had.
Oystercatchers, at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, with it's view of the bay and it's offerings of fresh fish
is another must do in the Tampa dining scene. Tucked into the corner of the Hyatt property away from the hotel, Oystercatcher's features an open kitchen and dining area. A very contemporary feel along with attentive wait staff and superbly prepared food are the staples that bring me back to Oystercatchers every
change I get. With a great array of special preparations or your choice of simple grilled, blackened, or pan saute'd, you select from local favorites like yellow-tail snapper, black grouper and others or classic offerings like salmon as well as chicken and steak items. They had not gotten stone crab claws in that day, but the calamari appetizer was top notch, and the blackened yellow-fin was done perfectly. Every member of our party raved about how good their meal was. As a bonus, arrive in time for sunset and you'll be rewarded with great views along with an oustanding meal.
Having eaten at both Oystercatchers and Bern's on a number of occasions, I opted to try a couple of new (at least to me) places this time - Ocean Prime and Charley's.
Ocean Prime is a contemporary, upscale mix between steakhouse and seafood restaurant. With a solid selection of prime steaks and fresh seafood, OP tends to the more casual side of fine dining with a large lounge area and an expansive patio. A solid wine list compliments the menu, servers were attentive and knowledgeable, and the overall experience was very enjoyable. The grilled grouper was outstanding and the caesar salad before lunch was spot on with just the right bite of sardine and garlic while not being overwhelmed by the dressing. While the location near a local shopping area and amidst a number for corporate office buildings doesn't provide quite the greatest ambiance, once inside you'll be happy you gave it a try.
Charley's is another great choice for great steaks and seafood. Sandwiched between a couple of national chain hotels along a relatively busy strip, once inside you'll be reminded of the old style steakhouses that use to dot the american landscape. A bit darker inside, with wood and leather in abundance, this place harkens back to the days of tux clad waiters and business men closing deals over martinis. That said, the crowd is generally much less formal, though a number of folks were still dressed for the occasion. The salt water tank at the back of the lounge area has a nice collection of saltwater tropicals, mostly Indo-Pacific oddly enough.
There was still a 40 minute wait after 8PM mid-week, so make a reservation, but once I had a taste of the bronzed grouper with the cajun/cream sauce I know exactly why it was so busy.
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