Flor Fina — Restaurant in Tampa

Brunch it's what the weekends are made for... am I right!! And Flor Fina is a great place to start. It is located inside the Haya Hotel on 7th in Ybor and because it is a hotel the vibe ranges from causal (Brunch/lunch) to upscale for dinner. It has been opened for about a year and a half and sits on a quite corner in Ybor. We arrived shortly after it opened so it was not busy at all and sat at the high top. My husband loves mimosas so of course he had to order the bottle and it comes with a great selection of juices ($42). He is a creature of habit and stuck OJ and cranberry while I tired the watermelon. If you like watermelon this is a must try... it was fresh watermelon juice not from a bottle and it was delicious! Our friend had the Bloody Mary and said it was good and spicy (he wasn't expecting it to be so spicy). If you don't like spicy make sure to tell them to hold back on the spice :) To start we ordered a couple of appetizers. Being from Louisiana I had to try the the beignets. I admit I was nervous but had to see if they got it right... and they did!! They were fluffy and warm with the right amount of powdered sugar. My only suggestion would be to serve with a side of warm chocolate sauce and/syrup. My husband ordered the empanadas (not pictured) and said they were delicious. I was also curious about the tuna and watermelon combination with Basil. It was good and different but I don't think I would order it again. Just not my favorite flavor combo lol. For our meal, I ordered the eggs Havana with a side of the house made coffee bacon, my husband had the Spanish breakfast and our friend ordered the crab cake Benedict. The eggs Havana were just ok. The yolks are supposed to be runny and half of them were cooked. It also needed to be served with a side of bread. Now the bacon is another story ... it was perfectly cooked just the way I like it .. crispy! And the house made coffee crust was to die for! The guys both loved their dishes. The service was great and we never waited for anything. We valet parked with the hotel. The guys were great and it was only $10 (cheaper than the parking lots). I would love to go back and try their lunch menu. I also hear the hotel rooms themselves are gorgeous so staying the night would be a great option for a weekend ;) The reason I'm giving it only 4 stars is like I said my dish was just ok but the rest was delicious. It is definitely worth checking out for you next Brunch adventure!!

#livinthefoodielife #livinthefoodielife4u Salute.. Pura Vida .....

Beautifully décored restaurant that scores high marks on their handcrafted drinks, tapas/appetizers and desserts, but fails to deliver on their entrees. Service was excellent.

Moscow mule- absolutely delicious! Extra spicy because they use their homemade ginger juice. Does not have a fiz to it. 5/5

Smokey Joe’s- did not have it with the rum so it was pretty much an old fashioned that was beautifully delivered in a wooden smoked box. Delicious!! 5/5

Cakebread Cellars Cabarnet Sauvignon wine- this one was ok, but everyone had different tastes going on with it but it was mutually agreed that their was an aftertaste that was bitter. 3/5

Agua Chili Ceviche- absolutely phenomenal and delicious ceviche that hit the tangy notes while being spicy yet fresh! 5/5

Oxtail Fritters- absolutely the best appetizer that we had that night. Was served on top of bone marrow and everything about this dish was delicious. Crispy outside and a fatty yet meaty sauce inside. 5/5

Sweet Corn fritters- crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and served with a delicious tangy ranch. 4/5

24 oz “Dirty Bone” Tomahawk Ribeye- was sorely disappointed in this steak. Nothing special about it. The crust was excessively salty and the inside was a bit chewy. We got it medium rare. If you want this, order it at the beginning because it takes 20 min to get. This was overly priced. 3/5

Borracho Chicken- chicken was tender but I could barely eat it because the sauce was way too salty. 2/5

Pappardelle Pasta- it was a decent pasta. The papparadelle is too thin and is even thinner than linguine, but the pasta tasted fresh. The sauce did not have much flavour. 3/5

Steak fries- above average fries but the real show stopper was the garlic aioli. So much better than the tomato marmalade. 4/5

Kale with hazelnuts and cranberries- this was great and there was a brown butter that was mixed with it. It was served hot. The toasted hazelnuts made this delicious and the cranberries added a nice sweetness to it.

Shock-alate Parfait- this was sooooo good! It was 3 different levels of chocolate with this really delicious milky foam and a rich vanilla ice cream. I could have had a second one if I wasn’t...

Flor Fina has given me one of the best restaurant experiences I’ve ever had!

I planned a surprise birthday party for my dear friend and coworker and I chose to have it at Flor Fina because the food is excellent, the ambiance is elegant and trendy and the service is outstanding. Of all the restaurants I considered, Flor Fina was the only one that was willing to work with me — I spoke to Cal, the manager and he was accommodating and reassuring. He made me feel like he really cared and wanted to help me give a great birthday party. I really like that!

On the day of the party, I was blown away that they prepared a beautiful place for us — all 15 of us! The birthday girl was thrilled when she saw the beautiful place they had prepared for us! Everything was perfect! They even set up a table for the birthday cakes with small plates. They allowed us to bring flowers for the tables.

I want to thank Cal for all he did for us and for assigning the best servers, especially Mikey!! Mickey was very pleasant and sooo patient with all of us! He took our pictures, dealt with our chaotic ordering, cleaned all our messes, and attentive to all our needs!

Cal and Mikey did a fantastic job with our dining experience. So I really want to thank them by sending this review.

I also want to thank Meghan at the front check-in desk of Hotel Haya. She made my experience at the hotel beautiful. She was so kind to help me “hide” the birthday cakes and flowers until it was time for the restaurant to open. She kept them safe for me until my other friends arrived and they could help me place them at the venue secretly.

All 15 of us were very blessed and happy and grateful for Cal, Mikey and Meghan. And thank you also to all the other servers. I don’t have their names but I’m grateful for them too.

I’m giving Flor Fina, Hotel Haya, and Cafe Quiquiriquiri all double 5-Stars!!! They all went above and beyond. All my friends were impressed and they are all coming back to dine...