Rome + Fig Restaurant — Restaurant in Tampa

I saw so much hype surrounding this restaurant and honestly it was so disappointing. The two main complaints that my party had with the restaurant were the cleanliness and service.

Starting with the cleanliness: The atmosphere in the restaurant was nice. It was a very influencer friendly establishment. The food and drinks were very visually pleasing and tasted well, if anything a bit salty. Our issue was with the water pitchers that are used in the restaurant. Our server left a pitcher of water on the table when we requested refills on water (we will be returning to this later) and when we looked at the bottle closely there was clear and obvious signs of mold on the bottle's silicone stopper. When we saw this we asked for a new bottle, and the bottle we received had the marks as well, just not as clearly.

The service was awful: Our server was Valentina. She did not seem very happy to be serving out table. Almost everyone at the table has worked in food service or is currently working in food service. We all understood that sometimes you have off days, we're all human. With that in mind, we were all appalled by her service. She was slamming thing on the table and on top of our things. She did not return to the table to the point that during most of our time in the restaurant our drinks were empty, and we had to flag her down to get refills on the waters. I do not believe she was supposed to leave the water pitchers on the table, but because she did not want to pour the water she slammed it on our table and walked off and that is when we noticed the mold. She also snatched a menu off the table so hard that silverware and a napkin flew off of it and she just walked away without saying anything. She also did not card anyone at the table ordering alcohol (I promise most of us did not look over 40). When we would look over she was sitting at the host stand on her phone.

We did speak to the manager about these things but it presented more issues. The manager stated that their water pitchers are only sanitized three times a week. That is disgusting. If they are leaving these pitchers at tables with customers they need to be sanitized after each use. At minimum they should be sanitized daily, and that is also extremely generous. As soon as the words left his mouth my stomach dropped. I would expect more from a place charging $30 a plate.

As for our POOR service, he said that it was a good teaching moment for his server. I would say that if she treats people that poorly, there is no teaching someone to be kind at her big age. He also informed us that two of their servers called out, but honestly that was the emptiest dining room ever, there were maybe 25 people in there and at least 6 of those people were seated at the bar.

I love trying new restaurants in the Tampa area and experiencing the city I am a fourth generation resident of. I love to see this city and community thrive by supporting locally owned business. With that being said I don't think I ever want to go back to Rome & Fig and anything with the same owners. I would not recommend this to anyone looking to have an all around pleasant dining experience. If you want to take cutesy pictures for your Instagram, this may be the place for you (but there are so many...

We decided to come to Rome + Fig for a date night because we had visited for brunch a couple of years ago and had such a great experience that we wanted to return for dinner. Unfortunately, while the brunch left a lasting impression, dinner did not live up to our expectations.

Our server was wonderful—friendly, attentive, and truly doing her best—but it was clear she was the only one working the floor, which made the experience feel chaotic. I really felt for her, as she seemed overwhelmed, yet she remained professional and kind throughout the night.

The atmosphere at dinner was drastically different from brunch. Inside, the music was so loud it felt more like a nightclub than a restaurant, so we opted for the patio to have a more comfortable experience.

I started with an Old Fashioned, which took quite a while to arrive. While it wasn’t terrible, it certainly wasn’t great—especially at the price point. Using small ice cubes instead of a single large one meant it melted too quickly, diluting the drink and affecting the experience.

As for food, the appetizers were the highlight of the meal. My partner had the meatballs and enjoyed them, and I ordered the fried green tomatoes, which were flavorful but misleading—they weren’t green tomatoes at all, just regular red ones, making them soft and mushy rather than crisp.

Unfortunately, the entrees were where things really fell apart. While the menu descriptions were enticing, the execution was seriously lacking. The dishes were bland, with salt seemingly the only seasoning used. The proteins were drastically overcooked and disappointingly small for the price. When you’re paying $30+ per entrée, you expect a certain level of quality and portioning, neither of which were delivered.

By the time our plates were cleared, we were so disappointed that, despite normally indulging in dessert, we exchanged a glance and immediately declined when it was offered. The idea of spending more money for what would likely be another letdown just wasn’t worth it.

At the end of the night, our bill came to over $160 for one drink, two appetizers, and two entrees—and for that price, the meal should have been exceptional. Instead, it left us wishing we had chosen another spot. If I had known what to expect, I would have opted for somewhere else rather than spending a premium price for a subpar experience.

While I still have fond memories of our brunch visit, I don’t think we’ll...

My husband took me and our 3-year-old son here for Mother’s Day dinner. The service was warm and attentive—our server was kind and offered thoughtful recommendations, which I really appreciated. The chai old fashioned and the house fig-lavender vodka cocktail were both solid choices!

Unfortunately, the food didn’t quite live up to the experience we hoped for. The Nona meatballs were just okay—flavorful enough, but nothing memorable. They tasted how meatballs should taste, which felt a bit underwhelming, though perhaps Italian isn’t Tampa’s strongest culinary suit. There wasn’t a kids menu, though they offered a grilled cheese that looked more like a last-minute sandwich made with basic sliced bread.

At least five menu items were sold out, which initially seemed like a good sign—until the backup options fell short. The wagyu steak, chosen in place of a sold-out dish, was bland, and the fingerling potatoes were dry. It didn’t match the quality you’d expect for the price. The lobster and shrimp linguine alla vodka was also disappointing: the sauce was dry and the seafood had an overpowering fishy taste, especially the lobster. The server and manager were gracious and offered to replace the dish with a French onion soup, which was decent.

While I appreciated their responsiveness, I was surprised when the manager explained the fishy lobster by saying it’s typical of the claws and a matter of “finding the right balance.” I may not be an expert, but I’m fairly certain seafood shouldn’t taste fishy when it’s fresh.

The atmosphere was warm with laid-back vibes—lively and a bit loud, but we could still hear our table conversation.

I really wanted to love this place. The service was great and the cocktails were enjoyable, but there were just too many misses on the food side to make it a place I’d be...