District Tavern — Restaurant in Tampa

I have never, ever been treated so poorly by restaurant management and staff in my life. I live in the neighborhood, and decided to kill two birds with one stone-taking my dog for a walk after work and pick up some takeout, so I placed an order online through door dash.

I am a first time customer, so I wasn’t familiar with the restaurant or their policies. When I arrived, I noticed a sign on the window stating no pets were allowed in. However, I had already walked over 20 minutes to pick up the food and paid for it with no option for a refund since it was already being prepared. So, I picked up my little 3-month old, 10 pound, hypo-allergenic puppy and stepped inside to the bar to see if they wouldn’t mind bringing the food to me outside when it was ready.

As soon as I walked up, a bartender walked straight past me, with no greeting-just a death stare. Then, a woman (who I presume was the manager, but didn’t introduce herself) came up to me and asked me “Can I help you?” in an extremely snarky tone. I explained that I had placed an order through an app and was just trying to pick up the food that I had already paid for. Her response: “well you’re not allowed in here with the dog”.

I then asked the bartender (who had death stared me earlier) if I should just cancel the order, or if it would be possible for them to bring it to me outside. She said “well don’t you want your big order that you placed?”. I said “I didn’t place a big order, just some dinner for myself under the name victoria.” She proceeded to ignore me, walk away, and start pouring drinks for another customer.

When I left, I called the restaurant to inquire about canceling the order and getting a refund since the app wouldn’t give me that option. The same rude bartender answered and told me there was nothing they could do, which was infuriating considering there was something they could have done… simply stepped right outside the front door and handed me the food. A perfectly reasonable solve to help a paying customer.

Truly a shocking experience. I certainly won’t be returning. To whomever owns this establishment, I highly recommend offering a refresher course on customer service skills to your staff. Also, I would greatly...

First of all - I have been rooting for this place since they opened. They have been here for a long time but kept the doors open and kept making an effort to improve through all the ups and downs which I really appreciate. They are the only place in the neighborhood that advertises a late kitchen. I order food to-go and send people here all the time. When I come in person, the drinks are great and bartenders are usually friendly and helpful. Food quality has been a rollercoaster but has gotten a lot better lately. Still hit or miss. I know the service industry is hard and everyone is usually trying their best so I never complained and consistently tip at least 25-30% every time, even when things aren’t 100%. I have been coming here for at least 10 years. Here is why I haven’t been back and why the one star is still up: I called one night to confirm kitchen was open and they said yes. Ran down there with a group to order food in person and was told kitchen “closed early”. This was the third time I brought a group here only to be told the kitchen closed early despite advertising later. The kitchen closes 15 minutes before the advertised time. You guys know that no one else is serving after 11, so people come here expecting food. Closing early from time to time is understandable, but at least update the posted hours if you’re going to stop serving regularly. It’s really inconvenient to returning customers who have basic expectations and are trying to send you more business. When I finally broke down and complained, they got sarcastic with me and said they know where I live - which I guess was meant to intimidate me or make me feel like a Karen??? It was really disappointing and a little unsettling so I...

Came here for brunch at 12:00 pm and ended up staying until after well after 3 pm. My family had to get on the road and eithin those three hours 40 mins was waiting on the check after finally getting our food.

From the beginning, we were warned that the food could take about an hour. However, we waited two hours. And still only received part of the table's orders. We had to ask for the rest of the plates for the other guests (4 people total), and everything came out lukewarm borderline cold. We understand the food taking a moment. However, we expected our food to at least come out hot.

We had to request a refill on bottomless mimosas. Everything we needed we had to ask for. Our waitress, although nice, did not check on us at all. We had to continue to ask for the check just to leave and still waited over 30 minutes for the piece of paper.

After catching the vibe, we knew to go ahead and order our food when she came and took our drink orders at the beginning of the service. Thank goodness we did because it would have been a longer wait for food. Fries were overly salty and left a lot of salty residue on our fingertips. The chicken sandwich was burnt on the outside and was covered in the buffalo sauce to hide it. Very small piece of chicken and too much bread. This experience left a bad taste in my mouth for this establishment. Eggs, fries, spinach, and steak took two hours to get to the table. Again, this is a busy establishment, but one hour is very different from two hours. And waiting for food on top of the mimosas on top of waiting for boxes and the check. It was a very tiring experience.

I was hoping to come back with my partner, but I know this is a trip we will...