Mandarin Heights — Restaurant in Tampa

Recently returned to Mandarin heights after talking it up to my roommates. The first time I was here the service, drinks and atmosphere was amazing, this was about 3 months ago. I have wanted to return for a while now and finally I did with my 2 roommates. We walked in and weren’t greeted by anyone which was fine since it we knew it was a bar. We sat down at one of the open tables which didn’t have any menus or any inclination that we wouldn’t receive service at them as we previously were the last time I had visited. We finally got up and went to the bar where a female bartender in a cheetah jacket asked if we were ready to order, we said we needed a menu and asked if there were servers for the tables, she responded by saying “no, we are a bar”. I found this very rude since I previously had a server here when I sat at a table, also I normally can’t order standing at a bar top due to covid so I was a bit confused. Finally we decided on drinks and ordered them at the bar where it took a decently long time to be served at. We sat back down at our table and enjoyed the cocktails, probably the best part of the experience. While we were seated the same bartender got drinks and served them for a table that was right next to us, even though they “didn’t” have servers for the tables because they’re a “bar”. Needless to say we will not be returning no matter how decent their...

The look and location are great. However there are 2 reasons to go to this kind of place. To drink & to chill. They have the chill part down, but anyone who things their drinks are good clearly never reaches up when buying their alcohol. The waitress I had was not knowledgeable about drinks at all. Normally this isn't a big deal but if your not new and you don't even know your own menu that's a problem. But enough about the staff they provide a service and people hate on the service sector to much as it is. The REAL disservice is the drinks. This may seems excessive but I ordered 4 different drinks/types (I really did want to give them every benefit of the doubt). But you know your doing it very wrong when after 4 different drinks the only thought in my head is "god I wish they would have just given me a highball or an old fashioned." - Those are my "well I got nothing else around so might as well" drinks.

Meaning I would have rather been given basic af drinks at $14/drink then these over the top , and even further over priced concoctions that could have only been thought up by a group of 16yr olds that needed to wash the tide pod flavor out of their mouths.

There are plenty of places that have the "chill" part down, I would recommend you take your business...

The crafted cocktails were superb! The flamingo theme and the bathtub out front are really trendy. However, it was a tad confusing to visit for the first time as I did not know what to expect. Do I sit down and get served? There wasn't really a designated place to order a drink at the bar unless you were seated. Inside is very dark and I stood at the bar for 5 minutes without anyone acknowledging me. I finally asked a girl seated at the bar to see her menu. The 2 bartenders were really good at making drinks, but a greeting and a smile could have gone a long way since I'm paying $13 for a drink and had 2. The bus boy was on top of it as he was amazing at hustling picking up empty drinks, restocking the bar and washing dirty glasses. It's unfortunate because I probably won't choose to come here again because of all the work I have to do as a patron with so much other competition in this area now. The overall vibe is great but customer service is...