TAIGA — Restaurant in Florida

Did not know this was a Hookah. Went to eat because it was listed as a patio bar and grill. I asked if there was a table inside for us to eat. I was told we had to pay $20 to sit at a table. We paid! Only to go on and there was no tables. We left and they wouldn't give us our $20 back after they told us a table or booth was available. You would think integrity would be a value of theirs but it certainly is not. We weren't there more than 30 seconds because there were no tables and you can't check. So we went off the word of the host and it turns out they were lying. I've deployed and gave these folks $20 of my hard earned sacrificial money which may seem irrelevant to some, but I may very careful as to what businesses I support. I lost out on this one. Never again!!!!!!!! And to think I was going to ask them to host 75 of my Soldiers as an event here in a few months, this experience has certainly changed my mind. Sad, sad, sad!...........

Response to Rony (Owner)........

Good morning. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Although your door guys are not telling you the truth, here is exactly what was said....

To the security: We have never been here before and we were looking for somewhere to grab a quick a bite with a nice ambiance.

Security: They stop serving food at 9pm.

Me: Really? Well we are going to go somewhere else.

Security: One moment, let me make sure.

(Walks over to door guys, then returns)

Security: Food stops being served at midnight.

Me: Ok. Are there tables inside for us to sit down?

Security: You will have to ask them (door guys)

(I was searched, but noticed the females weren't) - I'm in the military and my responsibility is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - in today's society, women can be and in many cases are very often involved in situations that occur. Yes, discrimination occurs in our military

Me to the door guys: How are you gentlemen? We were wanting to sit down and grab a quick bite. Is that possible?

Door guy (with mustache): Sure, it's $20 to enter.

Me: $20 to enter, we just want to eat. We have to pay $20 just to sit down at a table?

Gentleman with mustache: Yes.

Me: Well, are there any tables inside available? Or a booth?

Gentleman with mustache: Yes. Not many people are inside. You can just grab table.

(I paid the $20 and then entered the building. To my surprise, there were only chairs along the wall available, but no tables or booth where we could sit down and eat and enjoy the ambiance.)

We left, and then approached the Gentleman with the mustache.

Me: There are no tables or booths available.

Gentleman with mustache: Shrugs shoulders.

Me: I paid $20 for a table or booth and there is nothing available. Think we can have our $20 back? We were only inside a matter of seconds.

Gentleman with mustache: Shrugged shoulders again as he shook his head no.

Rather than argue and cause a scene, I decided to just do the respectable thing and just leave.

This is verbatim what happened and...

Update... new residents are complaining to the office about this place. Still turning their music up too loud..

AWFUL. Since Gabe's harassing messages to me via Facebook, and because I refuse to remove my bad reviews, the bass at 12:30, 1:30, etc. has only gotten worse. Gabe promised me the noise would go down. He lied to me then harassed and threatened me when I didn't take his word for it and remove my reviews before the club opened. I don't care how charming he is in person, I will never step foot in the club. If you can't treat your neighbors right, you're not worth my money. See some of the Facebook conversation below. UPDATE 2: GABE- new manager, asked nicely to remove bad reviews, and noise would go away. Noise didn't go away, neither did reviews. He started getting VERY rude on facebook messenger. The conversation is so long it exceeds character limit here. He threatened to sue me for bad reviews, harassed me for not texting him on his personal cell phone number, lied and said the cops told him I called them last night (I did not, but they don't name drop either way!) Threatened to subpoena me, made passive aggressive remarks like, "have it your way." He threatened to press harassment charges if I texted him again (I have never yet sent him a text. Now I'm very glad I did not.) THEN tried to blame it on his child who was in the hospital. I actually posted the entire conversation on their facebook review but they got it removed somehow. Needless to say I am not removing the reviews and will continue to call non emergency HCS every weekend if needed to report noise violation. Below is his very first reply to me (I sent a msg last night at 1am), and it only went downhill from there:

1/3, 4:35pm TAIGA I was off last night but made sure to let them know to keep it low. you need to let me KNOW directly to me cell. 813230** and let me explain something as i was told by owners. taiga been here for 8 years and the cops cant do anything about it. I tried to solve it with you directly but you left your feedbacks all over social media. your are the only person in this whole neighborhood that call about loud music. like I said I just started managing the place and tried to explain to you to start fresh but you obviously did not want 2. unless those feedbacks go down of social media I am out of this you can call the cops everyday

*Another snippet: 1/3 4:55pm TAIGA Ok than goodbye You not gonna manage me I do not work for you I will be more than happy to subpoena you next week and drag you to court cause of your fake reviews Do not text me any more cause I will be more than happy to file harassing charges on our business also

*Another one: 1/3, 5:01pm TAIGA Like I said this will be solved in court Have it your way I manage a club not a middle school We had a deal, I was off last night cause my daughter was in the hospital than I come to work today and I hear you called...

I’ve litertally been going to Taiga for 10 years since I used to work in an office across the street. Back in the day you’d get an all you can drink wristband for $20 and they had an amazing little hidden nightclub upstairs. It was always a great time.

The good ole days can’t last forever. Went with a small group on a Friday night to celebrate a birthday. $20 cover for men, $10 cover for women (cash only). Security folks were real cool and we were inside after a short wait in line (maybe 2-3 minutes).

Once inside the vibes were chill, the music seems catered to an older 40s+ crowd, but I’m knocking on the door of 40 so that was fine for me. What wasn’t fine though is how bad the service is, one of the bartenders must have been on pills or something because she was the slowest I’ve ever dealt with, I’m talking 5 minutes for her to make 2 simple drinks. She also skipped over my group to help someone who walked up that was her friend.

We got our drinks and found a table outside. Spent probably an hour here, the vibes outside were what you expect from most bars like this in Tampa. Very few people dancing or having a good time, most are standing on the wall trying to look cool or scrolling their phones. The DJ wasn’t the problem, the crowd was.

Food was pretty bad as well. They should just hire some food trucks, the wings were...