El Cante — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

According to the promoter, who introduced himself as, Rambo, El Cante is what was known as El Che Latin Underground Lounge.

I arrived around 10:30pm. Street parking was steadily available, and after 10pm the metered parkings are free.

The Latin music could be heard from the street, and it sounded great. The event's promoter, Rambo, graciously welcomed me in at the door. There is a $5.00 cover charge for all. I was not I.D.'d.

The place is rather small, but what it lacks in size is made up for in the energy I feel as soon as I entered. There was a live Latin band with the female singer covering classic, and new, salsas, merengues, and bachatas. The band was excellent! They didn't play more than 2 songs of the same genre at a time. The dance floor is practical the entire place. The crowd was extremely diverse, and everyone danced- no pariguayos at this venue! The ages of patrons ranged from 21-60+. Mostly Latinos, but I observed a lot of other races, as well. Dancers ranged from novice to professional couples burning up the dance floor. ¡Estaba encendió! As crowded as it became, it remained a very chill atmosphere with no beefing. Everyone seemed to maneuver the space well and in an orderly fashion without instruction.

The bartenders were friendly and attentive. You won't have to wait long for their attention, or your drink, which was surprising since the place gets so packed. The female bathroom was clean, well-stocked, and smelled good. A clean bathroom is always a good indicator of good service, (to me anyway).

The only downside were the prices of the drinks; on the higher side, but taking into consideration inflation, and how small this place is, they have to make their money somewhere.

So, as it turned out, the promoter, Rambo, is from Nueva Yol, a native Nuyorican, and Army Vet. I believe this is why the event's energy was so electrifying. As a native New Yorker myself, I was instantly drawn in by the music I heard drifting out into the street, and the silhouettes I peeped dancing about through the small window.

I would definitely drive down from Tampa to visit El Cante again, and...

Proposed to my gf hours before, and we wanted to grab just a plate of hummus to fill up before we explored St Pete.

We didn’t get to because we were there for t w o hours waiting for our check. On a Saturday, they had one waitress working upstairs and downstairs. Multiple guests came to sit and would leave, but us and another table of elderly folks who just got drinks were held there until we were able to finally pay. When the elderly group sent someone up to ask to pay, the older hostess told her to “sit down!” When I tried to pay with her, she said it wasn’t her responsibility to do and we’d have to wait (this was after about an hour and a half.)

After threatening to leave without paying, they finally brought our check. The poor elderly group was still stuck there when we walked by 30 minutes later, and they were still seating new tables!

My gf and I have never written a terrible review of a place but my god, biggest waste of time and food when you could go to the other restaurant 10 feet west and get quicker and less expensive food. Don’t eat here if you value your time, especially on...

I usually love going here, however apparently last night (night of 10/14 going into 10/15) the door girl took the liberty of tipping herself on my card when I paid the $5 cover. There is a charge on my card for $12.96, I did not tip the person 100%+ for simply paying entrance. Matter of fact, this door girl never handed me the terminal to sign. Which is usually what they do. I thought it was weird when she kept the screen to herself, but I didn't think anything of it until I saw more money taken from my account than should have been. It's a shame that some new employee is doing this and ruining the business' reputation. I will use cash here in the future due to this to pay my entrance. I've never had this issue with the bartenders and I enjoy going here to dance in general. The ambiance is great and the crowd loves to dance here. This review will remain posted until I settle this with my bank or the management reaches out to me. (Which hasn't happened and the listed phone number for them hasn't worked for me) The new door girl should be fired for stealing. That is atrocious and...