Sesame — Restaurant in Tampa

It's a new bagel shop in Hyde Park Village that's kind of hidden. You'd never know it was there unless you park in the garage on the Oregon Avenue side. Otherwise, just walk up to the corner where "Ro" (another Three Oaks Hospitality restaurant) is located and turn right. It's just past the new speakeasy called Jekyll. It's kind of bizarre, and maybe a little interesting that the secret door to Jekyll is inside of Sesame. An open sesame, maybe?

There's a lot of mixed reviews for this bagel shop. I thought the service was good. I placed my order, and received it within 10 minutes on a week day morning. There's very limited seating inside. I'd say about 4 tables that are all crammed into one corner of the shop. I think I saw 3 outdoor tables that are uncovered. It was raining, and the tables were wet. It wasn't a deal breaker because the local bagel location that I frequent doesn't have any seating. It ended up being a take away order.

These bagels are advertised as Long Island bagels. Honestly, I don't know the difference between Long Island and New York bagels. All I know is that the whole grain bagel (tasted like rye) was actually very good. I also liked the lox and dill cream cheese. I'd get the same exact bagel and spread again and again. The dill had a fresh taste. I really liked it. The lox was there, but not too overpowering. I thought about getting the Smookler sandwich which has pickled shallots, lox, and a scallion spread. It's about $14 for the sandwich, which I don't think is too terribly bad. It's maybe a few dollars more than my local bagel shop. I just wanted to try the lox and dill spread first before moving on to the sandwich. It was a good decision.

I'll return to try other menu items. The jalapeño cream cheese made with flambéed jalapeños is calling my name. That may have to be a part of...

Just moved here from NY so we have been in search of good bagels. The bagels were ok, really not bad at all for Florida. My problem was service, they had what seemed like just as many people working as they did waiting and it still took forever. The day I was there, the guy in charge of the coffee was either overwhelmed or didn't care, took about 20 minutes for a coffee which, actually didn't matter because the bagels took longer.

The biggest issue, which really is a one off, is the fact that the cashier went to stamp my card for a buy 10 get 1 free and completely missed the card and smashed my finger. My finger actually ended up getting infected and I had to go to urgent care to get it drained (gross). I wouldn't normally bother doing a review like this but I reached out via email to them to see if at the very least they could just cover my co-pay, really out of principle, but no one bothered to get back to me.

I have tried to order again since but even by doing Uber Eats for pickup it took an additional 20 minutes after I was texted that my food was ready. Smashed finger and all I would go back just because there is nowhere else around that has bagels, but not worth the wait. I am admittedly an impatient New Yorker and there is no bagel worth 40ish...

I recently visited Sesame in Hyde Park Village and I am in ❤️ with them. This is the closest I can get to a real NY bagel sandwich without hopping a plane back home to NYC. My favorite so far has been the Reuben. I typically get my sandwiches on an egg bagel. The eggs were fluffy, the dressing tangy, and the pastrami was tasty and moist, not dried out like other pastrami sandwiches I have had at other shops in the area. I would say the pastrami was almost as good if not better than the pastrami I get from Carnegie Deli. The staff was friendly, personable, and prompt when I arrived.

The few times I have gone to the shop it was during the week since I live close to Hyde Park Village. I have seen a lot of people try to go to the shop on the weekend and the shop has been mobbed with lines out the door and around the corner to get in. Just like any new restaurant they are having some growing pains and trying to get their kinks out, which is completely normal. With that being said I really think Sesame is a nice addition to the neighborhood and I look forward to many more tasty breakfasts from them...