Lakeland Loft — Restaurant in Lakeland

On entering I thought "this place has all the ingredients of a Snooty private club in Dublin or London" - The sort of place, that heavens forbid you appear without a jacket for lunch, a 'ghost' would appear and whisper he was placing a jacket on the back of your chair for appearance sake. ....I has half correct, it has the appearance, but certainty not the Snooty staff. This beautiful place has Ambience! Creating ambience involves working from a very complex mix of ingredients and getting it 80% right will not give you ambience! The owners here got it correct! The entry, the colours, the lighting and lighting levels, the furniture and furnishings etc, etc. but all could be in vain if the staff were not on board. I was surprised to read a recent review suggesting staff bickering and resultant bad service. 👎. I hope the owners address this. My experience on each visit has been contary to that one review. I have received only smashing attention and service from all staff and never witnessed a "thats not my job" posture. Sadly I only have occasion to travel to Lakeland once a year for about 4/5 days for the air event Sun & Fun, but ever since I discovered the Loft, its my watering hole. I admire the owners, not just for their taste and ability to create ambience but for the courage and foresight to invest what must have been a vast amount of money into the second floor of an old building in a town rather than a major City. Thank goodness you did! I love it and look forward to my next...

Came here with a friend who has been here a few times already and talked the place up as being worthy of a 55 drive from St. Pete. Located in downtown Lakeland on the second floor with views overlooking the park from its balcony.

The Interior is quite elegant with beautiful decor. A handful of private different-sized rooms, also with elegant furniture and a television; although, the only room unoccupied when we visited featured a broken television and a door that simply would not stay closed. It was difficult to hold a conversation while competing with the live jazz band that was playing quite loudly.

As for the service, I was very unimpressed. It was difficult to get the attention of the two bartenders. There did not appear to be anyone serving drinks in the common area or out on the balcony. Perhaps they were short-staffed, but even then you would think that the owner who was walking around greeting folks would jump in and lend a hand. Also not too impressed with the liquor selection. Not really an extensive bourbon selection that I would expect in a place like this. The bar itself and especially what's behind the bar that can be seen from any angle and to me jit ust took away from the elegance all around it.

This place is OK, but that's really about it for me. I wouldn't say it's worth the 55-minute drive from St. Pete but glad I came to check it out. I would certainly visit again if...

Went back for a third time and the owner was sure to take care of us. We had an amazing experience with great service, cigars, and drinks this time! We will be going back and hope for the same experience from here on out! :) Went here for a new feel from the regular bars and they provided just that. It was amazing. Bartender (curly, red hair - can't remember her name) was somewhat friendly when we first got there. I asked what martini she suggested and she told me to just take a look at the menu and let her know what I wanted. Didn't give any suggestions at all. When we went to a room we weren't waited on for over a half hour. We decided to go to the bar to order drinks again, and the bartender refused to take care of us and told us our server would come into our room and get us taken care of. We didn't see our server again and ended up with only one drink for the night. Very disappointed in the service. —————————————————————————— 2 months update and I’m still disappointed with the same red headed, curly haired server. We sat on the balcony with new friends this time and were once again blatantly ignored. Two other couples sat around us and at one point the server talked over us to ask if they were doing okay without asking us if we needed anything. Won’t...