The Collective at Escape — Restaurant in Starkey Ranch

Stopped by with some kids to give the collective a try today. At Gallito we tried the shredded beef quesadilla. It consisted of three relatively small triangles of quesadilla with a single tablespoon of salsa made into a “combo” with a side of street corn (very chewy with zero crispness and little flavor, like it was frozen) plus two Jarritos sodas which cost $29. That’s high. The shredded beef had a soapy taste. Not sure what that was about. The gentleman behind the counter was friendly and professional. 1/10 stars. That was absurdly expensive for that little bit of food and chewy corn. The fries at the Jimmy Renner place were so salty it was incredible. The only time I’ve ever seen a basket of fries sit ignored on a table with three kids. It was angrily salty. It burned our tongues and fingertips. I’ve never experienced that level of salty before. We asked if they had any ranch to dip them in to see if that might help. It didn’t. The 1.5 tablespoons of ranch was $0.52 ish. The chicken sandwich was excellent as was the chocolate shake. The bread was perfect, the chicken nicely crisp. Nicely seasoned. The service was ok. 7/10 stars. Not sure if I’d try it again. But those burgers do look excellent. So I probably will. Just talked myself into it. Dang Dude’s chicken wings (orange chicken) were “very good” according to my son. He also ordered a kid’s portion of the noodles which he described as the noodle equivalent of LaCroix… with someone in another room whispering, “nooooodles.” He added soy sauce which they kindly gave at no charge but he ate very little of them. Too bland. Fantastic service from all three gentlemen behind the counter. I’ll probably come back to try the bao. 7/10 Florida Donut Co. We tried glazed, strawberry frosted with sprinkles, and key lime filled. GOAT donuts. The absolute best donuts we’ve ever had. Also enjoyed a dole whip soft serve. The twirly one with pineapple and vanilla. Literally as good as the one we got at Magic Kingdom just yesterday. Service was outstanding. 1000000000000000/10. Will absolutely be back. Only wish they had donut shop hours so I could get them in the morning. We didn’t try the pizza or Ato. We knew going in that the place had only been open a week. I’ve never been anywhere that new without experiencing a few growing pains so we will be back. I’m looking forward to the pizza and a burger and definitely more of those donuts. The service, mostly, was top of the line. You can tell they really stressed this in training. It shows. The concept is great. I think they’ll have the wrinkles ironed...

Oh this us a hot NOO. LITERALLY. I had such high hopes for this. I was so excited. To have such new and trendy places in this area. FIRST THING I WANT TO MENTION, AND THIS REALLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLACE BECAUSE IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT.BUT GETTING THERE IS A HOT NIGHTMARE . Both google and apple will have you driving around in circles. Sigh.... as for the place itself, I can see the outside part of the barmbian trend day and a nice place to hang in the cooler months. How do you build something brand new in florida?And don't properly address the air conditioning,?? They even added some kind of commercial portable air conditioners, and it is still HAF in there. NOTHING about this place is cute, nice or trendy. It's like 5 different holes in a wall. Serving different foods. That's it. It was just sad looking, and dingy due to the horrible lighting. I went to get donuts for a bunch of people and wind up just getting 14 me, because nobody put a five year old would eat all of these donuts. I think it's awesome and super cute. What they do with some of these donuts now, but you should also have regular donuts as well. I think there was a selection of maybe seven. I got the only normal donut traditional chocolate with sprinkles. The frosting had already slid off the donut and onto that paper before it was even in the bag and handed to me. Do you think they would have at least given me a napkin,?? I feel so bad for all of the people that work there. It's so hard. To make a living wage now in that industry and I can't imagine what their day is like working in those conditions. Anyway, brand new place should've been super cute and trendy should have been poppin', but instead it was like ...

Love The Collective at Escape!

Wonderful family friendly place. We needed something like this in Trinity. Well done! We have been a couple times, tonight being one, and will continue to support this local, small business that built from nothing. It amazes me the negative comments about kids, foot traffic, etc... Then don't go! There are plenty of places that will host you without kids being there.

Wasn't as busy tonight as it was when it opened. We never really had to wait more than a few mins to grab a drink from either bar. Food is excellent but it's snacking food. Don't go thinking you're sitting down in a restaurant to have a full meal. We all usually order a bunch of things and share at a table. Apps and drinks. Love that all of our kids can sit outside and be safe playing with others. My kids made so many friends tonight. Playing duck duck goose and just being kids. Too many Karens around these days.

To the owners and employees there, thank you for an awesome hang out in our home town. My family and friends will continue to support your...