BAR515 — Restaurant in Florida

Imagine a tapas bar with no semblance of tapas (traditional or contemporary) on the menu. Now imagine a place where the chefs have the skill to outcook any restaurant in a 200 mile radius but they're forced to use the lowest quality ingredients and present the food as if it wouldn't even pass muster for serving at a school, prison, or hospital cafeteria. Welcome to BAR515!

Yes, this place is a vexing rollercoaster ride of tragic lows followed by dishes that'd almost make you weep. And, through it all, not the first inkling of a tapas item is ever offered on the menu.

The atmosphere is a hot mess. They have giant, unobstructed windows looking out to a busy side street and a gas station. They have wacky lighting that makes you want to fall asleep rather than drink cocktails and enjoy the night with friends and colleagues. The seating is hard. Tacky, Party City-reminiscent decorations hang from the ceiling. And, to be honest, the wait staff seems more concerned about turning over tables than upselling items/drinks and creating an enjoyable visit.

The caprese salad was an abysmal failure with mealy breaker tomatoes lacking hardly any flavor, flavorless cheese, virtually flavorless micro basil frugally sprinkled about as if it were precious strands of saffron, and a sugary grape juice reduction that they tried to pass off as balsamic vinegar and put on virtually everything. Their alleged ribeye must have been either Select or Commercial grade beef as since it was filled with gristle and less than a half inch thick. Amazingly, it was cooked to perfection by the staff, yet its flavor was masked by a sauce made with the aforementioned "balsamic vinegar." The baked potato was a small Russet wrapped in foil, a pat of butter or margarine in a bowl, and spoonful of sour cream in a lidded plastic container served cafeteria style. Despite being cheap frozen shrimp, the staff did a commendable job of properly cooking a sub-par ingredient. The asparagus were cheap, thin, male plants (again, astonishingly cooked to perfection) with cheap (green bottle, powdered) parmesan cheese acting as some sort of garnish. Indeed, throughout the whole meal, it seemed like the more-than-capable kitchen staff were forced to work with substandard ingredients. The fried goat cheese was a homerun (probably because only a minimal amount of their "balsamic vinegar" topped the fried cheese balls). And, even though it looked like brown slop carelessly dished out and served in an ice-cream bowl, the tiramisu was so good that it'd make you weep. By far, that tiramisu was the best I have ever ate.

Verily, if given proper ingredients, and taught how to properly present the food, the kitchen staff would have people from other states busting through the doors to eat their food...I have that much confidence in them!

A somewhat similar situation appears to happen with the bar. The cocktails are poorly constructed and improperly balanced. The drinks lean heavily to sweet and fruity rather than a more acidic beverage best suited for accompanying a meal. A slight overpouring issue only makes matters worse. However, with some minor tweaking and revisions, customers would be begging for more.

Indeed, this is a case where the staff seems more than capable. A little training, some better ingredients, and a little more care at creating an "experience" would bode this business well. Unlike other restaurants with similar deficiencies, I have rated this place a 4 out of 5 only because the highs of the night were so good that they eclipsed the multitude of lows experienced. The highs were so good that I would be willing to come back one day and give them another try...something I almost never do with a restaurant with such dire problems. I really hope the owners get their act together. Seeing an actual, genuine tapas item on the menu would be a great start. Not skimping on the quality of the ingredients would only propel things along. The rest is just presentation, ambiance, lighting, comfort, mood-setting, procedure, and...

I want to start this review off by saying that there is NO conflict of interest between myself and this restaurant. The owner seems to think that is the way to get her negative reviews removed. I am not a rival business owner, nor a salty ex-employee. I’m simply a patron who has spent YEARS and LOTS of money coming to Bar 515.

Let’s start with the food. It was the best when Jason was still in the kitchen, I said what I said. This is nothing against the guys in the back now, but the food has gone down hill. Anything cooked on the grill/flat top tastes burnt or just extremely charred. Steaks don’t come out the correct temp. And that feta dip? Garlicky as hell. They do have some strong contenders though. The smash burgers are fantastic and same with the chicken gnocchi. The brunch isn’t too shabby either, love the biscuits and gravy! Although, the menu changes the second you find a favorite item (miss you Caesar salad & Mac and cheese).

But, forget the food (even though it’s hard to forget considering how much money you’re spending on it), what I went for were the people. My boyfriend and I went at minimum once a week, but it was common for us to make two or three trips some weeks. We LOVED seeing our people up there. Getting to chit chat with such a personable staff can really keep customers returning. I love to try new drinks and often was indecisive on what I wanted, but Ashley & Danielle always found a way to make the perfect drink for my mood. If the bar was too busy, we loved getting to be served by Taylor because she was always so easy going and made our experience that much better.

As a long time customer, I’m so sad to see that ownership doesn’t know what they had before it was too late. I have even spent the last 3 years bringing in the new year here! I know that I will not be returning after seeing how the staff has been treated and the blatant disregard the owner had for what the patrons truly want. I will also no longer recommend this place to any friends or family. If this review survives the owner trying to take it down and anyone sees this, save yourself the money and try somewhere else like Cosse’s or...

Had wonderful service, considering they were busy with only one server on the floor, she killed it. Even had the time to tell us about specials which we appreciated. I just wanted to talk about a few things on that Mediterranean Chicken plate that we ordered. It was almost perfect, but I have to say that the artichokes and mushrooms marinated in that balsamic reduction was extremely overwhelming. The artichokes already have a slight acidic after taste to them, but with the balsamic reduction it was VERY pungent. Felt like I was swallowing gasoline and I don’t even know what that taste like. Maybe it was a bad batch? I deff thought that a balsamic reduction drizzle over the place with sautéed mushrooms/artichokes would’ve have been one of the most deliciously simple dishes I could ask for at any given day!

The sweet potato fry app was absolutely delicious. I would still pay $10 for it because the honey glaze was that good but still extremely pricey. Truffles fries were the same prize and they seemed scared to put some of that truffle salt on them. The flavor went away as you ate them and tasted like oil and hardly anything else at the end for $10. I’ve never paid that much for just truffle fries.

The New Orlean BBQ Shrimp was omg delicious! So much personality in the shrimp itself and the sauce was out of this world. I was dipping everything in it. The portion was meh for the price. And I’m not even trying to be a stickler, I’ve been around but how much do we really need to profit? Would order again for the experience.

Cocktails need work. No love in the cocktails. It doesn’t have to be presentable, but the taste has to be. We had a martini that tasted like syrup, and a jalapeño margarita that tasted like a margarita. To be fair, they were really busy and understaffed upfront and that needs to be considered reading this review.

My fav of all tho, the artichoke hearts were so damn good!!! The dipping sauces were great and I could literally just eat those all day. The batter was light and refreshing with all the crispy textures you’re...