Bel Mar Saloon — Restaurant in Tampa

With "Saloon" in the name I kind of expected typical bar food. But, they kicked it up a notch by paying attention to ingredients that give them a few degrees of separation from other bars. Their grilled cheese sandwich includes cheddar, gouda, parmesan, and american cheeses, along with bacon. It's served stacked.

I chose the meatball sub which includes a fresh toasted hoagie roll, 3 hand-rolled meatballs, marinara sauce, and grated melted cheese. It was disappointing. The ground meat lacked firmness and flavor. A better ground beef and more prominent spices would liven it up. The marinara sauce was good, but there wasn't enough there to carry the dish. The crinkle cut fries also lacked the flavor of better potatoes, and the Old Bay- type spice that covered them could be replaced. It was a nice day and sitting outside seemed like a good idea. It must have seemed so to the woman who sat close smoking clove cigarettes as well. The patio, while nice, is small. Since it's a bar they do allow smoking outside, so be prepared. Fast and very friendly staff and good beer selection make it...

I heard about this place through a friend and realized that it was only 15ish minutes away from where I live so I decided to pick up some from here. I kind of felt a little uncomfortable when I walked in at first because it seemed like one of those small town restaurants where everyone knows each other. But that was quickly alleviated upon speaking with the staff.

The customer service here is 10/10. The barista was an extremely friendly guy that offered me a drink while I waited for my food. I explained to him that I didn't have my reading glasses to read the drink menu, and he took the time to read off every drink item one by one until I found something I liked. Great guy.

The food is also 10/10. I ordered an Angus burger smoked Gouda cheese burger, Cuban egg rolls, and a meatball sub. All of the food tasted phenomenal!! I can not wait to try the rest...

Reviews say the food was good but it's like actually really good. We had a table of 11 people so we got to taste almost everything. Almost all the appetizers are large portions so ask before ordering. -All the wing flavors were great but I'd pass on the everything wings, it was good but the other flavors were better. -Pesto pizza has so much pesto but it's so damn good. I never knew I loved pesto so much. -Burgers were great and even the bread taste seasoned. -The chicken nacho is huge so dont order additional food with that, it's a lot of nachos but its delicious garlic fries is a large order. I had it with them delicious smoked wings... yum.

The bartender was our waiter, I had to shake his hand. Not only was the food good, he treated us great. If you're in the Tampa area, it's a place worth...