The Floribbean — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

I wanted to like this place. I tried several times to find something I could work with, as there’s a general lack of any quality Caribbean take out cuisine locally. I really don’t think we can call this food Caribbean though, I know different islands and nationalities have different ways of making the same dish and it’s all “Caribbean” but this stuff here is really just a mess. Everything is tremendously over salted and I’m someone who likes a heavy hand in the sodium dept, if you’re someone that’s sensitive to over-salting than you will not be happy with anything here. The flavors of a lot of the dishes I can’t explain outside of the term “weird”. The beans I ate yesterday had this weird flavor mix of citrus, malt vinegar without the acidity and teriyaki sauce (yoshidas marinade to be exact, exactly like that taste to the point I would absolutely. believe them if they said they used it in the dish). Ontop of the entire bowl tasting like it was salt brined, the weird weird mixes of fermented like favor accents mingling together…, the whole dish had such an overpowering amount of near-raw garlic essence to it to the point that it upset my stomach for hours burping up that heavy garlic gunk. I couldn’t get past 1/4 of the bowl and it sat in my kitchen for only a few hours (covered) and after leaving for the store and coming back my whole house reeked of garlic…for two days after I threw it away! I just don’t understand what they’re putting in this food that’s making it taste and smell so…..weird, and overpowering.

Probably the worst part of the whole experience however is the physical eatery itself. This place isn’t directly rude to your face, but it’s entirely unwelcoming. You feel like you just wandered into a party you weren’t invited to and no one wants you to be there ever time you walk into this restaurant. I don’t expect some grand entrance “hello!!!” nonsense, in fact I hate that overly cheery fake greeting stuff, but damn, over here they’ll either just stare at you silently or try as hard as possible to pretend they never saw you walk in and start standing at the counter to order. I don’t get that…do you want me to be here longer or do you wanna get me out the door here, why do I have to holler at y’all to get you to ask what I’d like to order after standing and waiting for an awkward amount of time. Seconds in there feel like minutes because there’s no AC either, it’s so disturbingly hot inside that place that I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the food sitting there is actually starting to ferment and generate all those weird malt/kimchi like flavors that I’ve never experienced in any island food before.

And I really hate doing this to small businesses that haven’t gone and directly disrespected me or crossed major boundaries….but I just feel like these guys really need to reevaluate almost everything they’re doing as a restaurant because there’s just so much bad here from too many aspects, and if it was super cheap big portions type of place I’d probably just stop ordering and not post a review but they’re charging top market prices for this type of cuisine and their product is so so so inferior that I feel it would be a disservice to the community at large just to be silent on the topic here. I’m not gonna direct readers to a “better” place to go eat cause that’s just not fair, but if this is the genre of food you’re seeking, I’d have to advise anyone to seek it elsewhere until these guys take the time and effort to completely refurbish their brand and service. I’ve been trying to change my mind with this food for three years now and for three years straight I’ve been disappointed with every single dish ordered. The last attempt the other day having the food be the weirdest and worst experience of them all, I just couldn’t tolerate it anymore. I honestly do not believe for a second that whoever owns this establishment could have eaten from the bowl I was given the other day and honestly proclaim that they’re proud of what was made or that it was a plate just decent enough to sell...

This is going to be a very niche review, I want to start by saying the food is absolutely fantastic. This has been in one of my favorite restaurants in St. Pete for a few years. If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, please disregard this review.

That being said, if you have any food, allergies, particularly if you are gluten-free, you’re more than likely know how this place used to be a safe option for gluten allergies. At some point In the last year, they introduced Cubans, but we were assured that the bread was prepped in the back and the gluten stayed in the back. This meant that the line items and the bowls were still safe if you had any allergies to gluten or were sensitive to cross contamination.

Last night, we called several times to confirm if this was still the case before driving up there as we live in Bradenton but were going to Tampa anyway. No one ever picked up the phone. Once we arrived, we made the mistake of paying for parking, but we were just happy to find a parking spot as this area is very hard to find parking. When we went inside, the gentleman was very nice, but the bread was now upfront as was the sandwich prep area, and only upon inquiring multiple times did he share with us that the pork could possibly be contaminated with gluten from the sandwich preparation. He then said to me that the best thing he could say that I should do was to “look around and see if I see any breadcrumbs.” As someone with a severe gluten allergy (Celiac Disease), being told something like that is extremely disheartening/concerning. I am sharing this review in hopes that they tighten up their allergy protocol all around to have the proper knowledge so people can enjoy the food because once again if you don’t have a dietary restriction, it...

So this place gets a 4.8🤔 We were trying to go to 2d cafe but they had no place to sit and not much food in the cases. I can tell you although the reviews say made with fresh ingredients the rice & beans were mushy and crunchy, plantains soggy AF This place is soooo hot The set up is like a cafeteria behind the glass. Not the greatest presentation either Looks like a hot mess minus the hot on the food but def hot in the air I feel this is a very primitive style cafe I did feel like I was in Costa Rica dying of the heat eating inside However food isn't island at all. The closer you are to kitchen doorway the hotter it gets, like a dang sauna. Were Cuban we've def been to quite a few islands although they have island staples (rice/ beans/ plantains & protein) this is no where near the food taste or quality aside from "fresh ingredients" My son said his beans were terrible but the sauce was good (Yardbird) I had (Island Umami) did not care for anything. My husband said his rice was mushy and crunchy at the same time and his beans were also crunchy (build your own) The bill for 3 bowls and 2 drinks with tip $65 Obsurdia. I would never go back EVER. I could've eaten anywhere had a salmon for that price. This was a glorified hippy Moe's at best The gentleman was super nice, friendly and helped with options available. Have absolutely no idea how...