Acqua Alta Ristorante — Restaurant in Safety Harbor

This was our 3rd time trying this restaurant and sadly we were underwhelmed again. It's gotten such good ratings that we decided to try it again this past Sat. night (8/10/19). My husband and I are foodies and eat out almost every night. We've also been to Italy dozens of times and loved it. This review may seem a bit critical but I'm writing w/ the spirit of hoping it can help this restaurant become the excellent place it should be. We had two main issues: 1) The hostess/waitress. 2) The food was good but not great. Re. the hostess/waitress: When we arrived we were asked if we had reservations. We did not but had seen on Open Table that there were plenty of openings. The restaurant was half empty when we showed up. The hostess gave us a disapproving look then spent several minutes trying to figure out where to "fit us in." ?? She ended up being our server and approached us 3 times (while we were actively reading in the menu) asking if we were ready to order. First, it would have been better to ask us first if we wanted some wine. Second, when heads are in menus, it means we are still looking; closed menus mean we're ready to order. Another option would be to approach and ask if we had any questions about what we were reading in the menu. Small things but they stand out from a fine dining experience and we would have been less irritated. Re. the food: I ordered the black ink linguine w/ seafood. It was fresh and the pasta was cooked perfectly but the dish was a bit bland and needed more seasoning (salt helped). My husband ordered a pasta w/ a lemon piccata flavor with chicken (website menu is down and don't remember the name). Flavor was excellent, though it was a heavy dish, but the chicken - which was cut into small pieces - was a bit dry. My husband would have preferred a chicken breast to help it retain some moisture. The salad was excellent and food came out quickly. Very nice male owner - he always comes by with a smile. Last, it would be great if the restaurant added some music and candles to enrich the atmosphere/experience. Hope this is helpful...

went for dinner. on valentines wich should be your best to show a new audience. we got water to start and were given a small bowl of odd bread with our water. not white. not wheat. very dense no butter or oil for the bread. we ordered brushetta as our app. it arrive very fast. same odd bread that is so dense I've never experienced one like it. it is a cold brushetta wich is not unusual. it had unripe tomato. unrelated cheese(wich is unusual because then it's more like a sandwich) and the worst offense DRIED seasoning. anyone who understands cold dishes knows you have to use fresh herbs or they are epretty much pepper, wich was not scares int hw entrees. so my husband eats his one piece and I take one bite and will not wat more. the plate was also garnished with fresh spinach drenched in oil and dried herbs but I'm not sure if you can count that as it may be a garnish. the entrees arrive. my husband had ordered the chefs special as he always does to see the best they have to offer. I am a vegitarian so I order a mushroom cheese cream based entree. keep in mind on the menu they have items marked as vegitarian with scallops wich is not vegitarian so make sure you tell the server you have restrictions as the menue designates. my husband's meal was described as bland with minimal lemon and oil flavor with lots of pepper. my dish has undercooked pasta, NOT ALDENTE UNDERCOOKED,Pata should not be hard even if hand made. at this time the uneTen brushetta was on the table the whole time, we each took one bite of entrees and as the server asked how things were we were honest. all staff was very sweet and attentive. we recieved a check for the brushetta because my husband ate one of the bad brushetta. we were prepared to pay as we did order but we will not cone back. I feel this establishment could do better. don't skimp on fresh ingredients and offer more than 3...

I absolutely adored this place and cannot wait to return. We ordered Chianti wine, tomato caprese, filet minion, grouper special, and an espresso. The grouper special was top notch amazing, so much care put into it and tasty. The steak was also great, had a lot of flavor packed into it and was a really good price. It is more of a thinner cut and pretty rare (but I love rare so that was awesome for me). The portion sizes were good, not too large or small, they are enough to enjoy and if you get an appetizer and a side you can be full (we are not large eaters and had plenty to take home, but I could imagine if you are used to eating large foods that it could seem small.. its just a difference of what is normal portion sizes in the US vs. Europe). I heard the chef was from Venice and there was beautiful art of Venice over the walls and traditional dishes from there. I LOVED the pasta, it was perfect in every way, handmade, and to die for. The service was top notch, two waiters who were both very kind and checked on us often. I think this is a real gem of a place in Tampa, family owned, and so much love was put into this food. You can tell that they really take pride in what they do!

There are some cool photos online of whole fish and I didn't see it on the menu-- so I called ahead and the chef about the dish. He said to call a day ahead of time and let him know we are coming and would like fish and he can pick up fresh fish ahead of time, I hope to do this next time!

The interior was comfy, cozy, clean, and well decorated. There is one men's and one women's restroom. There is parking outside and this place is attached to a larger plaza, had no trouble...