Lona by Chef Richard Sandoval — Restaurant in Tampa

Had a great experience at Lona! They are located inside the JW Marriott in the remodeled space that used to be a sports bar. The restaurant is decorated so authentically and beautifully with so many details to feast your eyes alongside feasting your stomach. Great space for large parties and intimate gatherings alike. They offer valet parking which was validated and a really nice perk for downtown Tampa which has become increasingly expensive to park or even find available parking. We made a reservation for a Tuesday at 5 which was excellent but not needed as the restaurant had plenty of open tables, my favorite time to dine 😁

The happy hour offered a great selection of appetizers, which are smaller than the regular priced appetizers (perfect for a snack for two people) as well as drinks that were on the basic side but if you're looking for an affordable option they do have it.

I truly came here because I had previously dined at Maya in NYC, another restaurant by Chef Richard Sandoval, and I could not stop thinking about the queso fundido. It's a huge portion, so melty and gooey and the bottom is crispy and has to be scraped off the sizzling hot cast iron 🤤 it comes with either corn or flour tortillas as well as a pico and verde salsa. You can also add mushrooms or chorizo but I love it exactly as it is. For cheese lovers like myself this is a MUST HAVE.

The Tuna Tostada was another stand out for me. Big chunks of fresh sushi grade tuna on a crispy corn tortilla with so much flavor, just the right amount of spice and an added freshness from the sliced fresh jalapeno and cilantro but cooled and balanced by the avocado. The sun-dried chili mayo was so delicious and really made the dish

For entrees we shared the crab & shrimp enchiladas and the chicken fajitas. The enchiladas were out of this world and something I usually wouldn't order but so glad I did. The sauce almost tasted like a lobster bisque, and the combination of the corn tortillas and the shrimp/crab flavor were so complimentary, truly divine. The chicken fajitas were also delicious with thick slices of chicken and fresh veggies cooked al dente. In hind sight, even though they were great, I wish I had gone with a more adventurous choice because they clearly know how to execute unique dishes.

So at this point you think I'm wrapping up, right? WRONG. Definitely saved room for a sweet treat at the end and I'm so glad I did. The spiced warm chocolate cake hit all the marks. The cake itself was borderline savory which paired so beautifully with the cinnamon raisin ice cream (and if you're like me and you don't like raisins, have no fear, there weren't any noticeable chunks) that made the cake so balanced I couldn't stop until it was gone. I'm not a huge sweet person so I tend to not be able to finish them, I just like a little bite but this was irresistible.

I'm a tequila lover so for cocktails I was also really excited. At the NYC restaurant I had an incredible tamarind margarita that they unfortunately didn't carry at this restaurant but instead I tried the Passion Picante per my servers recommendation. Definitely got the smokiness of the mezcal with a slight spice on the backend and pleasant fruity and tart notes from the Passion fruit. I also had the El Don Tropical which seemed to me to be a riff on the classic tiki cocktail, the Saturn. I loved it!

Last but not least, the hospitality aspect. The hostess was fantastic and engaging as was my server. He was attentive without being overbearing and in lieu of recommendations (because I had done my menu homework as per usual) was able to provide me with enthusiastic confirmations of my selections which is always a welcome touch.

I'll definitely be back! Thank you team Lona for a wonderful...

I had planned brunch with my friends to celebrate one of our friends leaving Tampa. I recommended Lona as I had been before and my first experience with the bottomless comida and bebida was great. However this time around the service we received was not the best. We arrived and from the time we placed our first order for drinks, we did not see our server Theron again for 20 mins. Our drinks took a long time to come out from the bar that was next to us and some of us didn’t get what we ordered. In the end we all got 3 drinks each due to service delays and the soft drink my friend requested never made it to the table. Lona’s bottomless brunch dishes are brought out to the table following the menu sequence. In my last experience, each dish was explained and we were asked up front if any food preferences. Also, enough food was brought out to serve the table size. This time I felt like we were brought out a dish after dish with little explanation and sometimes only one dish to serve a table of 3. Our server let us know that they only bring out one dish for the table and then we can place additional orders for dishes we wanted more of. This however delayed our brunch, as we had to wait for the kitchen to make additional dishes before moving on to the next dish on the menu. During this time where we sat waiting for 20 minutes, our server only came by when the dishes were ready to drop off at the table and then disappeared. By the time we got our last dish which was one plate of pancakes and one plate of french toast, we sat and waited for the server to come out again and it took another 20 mins before he arrived at the table. At that point, he proceeded to let us know our 2 hour limit was up and we could not order anymore food or drinks. He left once again to get our checks prepared and when he returned I let him know that we had sat there waiting for him to appear at the table and our service felt delayed. He responded by saying “Okay” and walking away from us. For the price tag of $75 each for bottomless, I would expect to receive great service every time and be able to receive enough food for the table without having to put in additional orders. I hope the restaurant improves on being consistent with their customers at each visit as this experience left a bad...

If you enjoy expensive mediocrity, look no further folks! My beau and I made reservations here for a date night as we were excited to partake in what we thought would be elevated Mexican Cuisine. Please see reasons for why this assumption could not have been further from the truth:

1.)We were late to our reservation due to a number of reasons, including the impossible parking situation. As we stepped up to the hosts to check-in there was woman and a man there. We acknowledged being late and the male hostess (dark hair and glasses), took the opportunity to rudely remind us how late we actually were. I get it, late reservations suck. If us being late meant we lost our spot or meant we had to wait, just say that in a professional way. As patrons, I don't expect my first interaction with a restaurant employee to be rude and snarky. I will say the woman hostess (shoulder length, dark brown hair) was apologetic and accommodating.

2. There was a clear lack in the quality of service from the hostess, the waitress, and the food runners. Aside from the host, no one was necessarily rude, but they weren't welcoming either. Very straight to the point. No warm welcomes. It felt like we were there to get the bare minimum customer service so they could get us out. Drop the food and go type of service.

3)Now onto the food. You are better off going to your local neighborhood's mexican restaurant! The food will be cheaper, fresher, and I'm sure you will get friendlier service. Lona gave us complimentary chips and salsa, the chips were hard and stale. We ordered Queso Fundido which was good, but the tortillas that came with it were stale. As we looked over the menu, we began to notice how expensive everything was $22-29 quesadillas, $15-19 tacos, so on and so forth. We were already jaded due to our experience with the poor lack of service and stale food - when it was time to order a main course we decided to just keep it simple and we both ordered a hamburger. BIG mistake. When we ordered it, there wasn't an option for how we would like them cooked (i.e., medium, medium rare). The actual beef was cooked to well done and it was tough, dry, and lacking in flavor. We honestly could have fared better at Five Guys.

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