Tori Bar — Restaurant in Tampa

There's a time limit on the tables. We know this. I'm acknowledging this first, as I have eaten here about a half dozen times by now.

Service was extremely slow. We didn't get to order everything we wanted due to 20-30 minute wait times between ordering and seeing another person again. My party were not bothered by this! We were busy enjoying the ambiance, sharing stories, laughing, gossiping and generally having a really good evening enjoying each other's company at a restaurant that we all mutually have been looking forward to eating at for almost two weeks.

Eventually, we were told that the time was up on our table. To be honest our server was extremely curt, and treated us like we had broken some kind of decorum. The implication is that we overstayed our welcome and that we should have been keeping track of the time?

Our server told us they were going to bring out the drinks that we had already ordered, but we are no longer permitted to order any more food or drinks and would have to close our tabs. But again, it is what it is. So, me and my party waited for our drinks and our bill, just as we had waited patiently for our food and our drinks previously. 40 minutes passed and we still had not received our drinks or our check. Nobody checked in with us. Nobody told us that there was a staffing shortage that was causing longer times for food running and drink making and all of the things that go into a restaurant experience.

So, I want you to consider this. You are told you are no longer welcome and that you must leave, but then you get to sit for another hour without food or drinks or any answer on what's going on knowing that you've overstayed your welcome.

I cannot express what an insulting experience it was. When we spoke to a manager about what happened he explained that there was a time limit on the table and that they were understaffed. Normally they have nine but apparently last night they only had five. We were supposed to understand this and we were apparently supposed to abandon our plans, so that they could disrespect us because they're having a really tough evening because they were short-staffed. He offered no apology. None.

The vibe of the night was pissed off caregivers. Vile.

When we explained how what they had done made us feel, being held captive unable to order food drinks are really enjoy ourselves, the manager said "i need you to understand we have a time limit on the tables".

What's the point was completely lost on our server on the manager on anybody with ears that night, that it's not the time limit that was the issue. It's the insult of being told that you are overstaying your welcome but then you get to sit for an hour well you're ignored.

The server eventually took the drinks that were never brought to the table off the bill but she of course did not give us the opportunity to adjust our tip.

From the time we were told we overstate our welcome to the time that we left it was probably an hour and 20 minutes. No drinks, no more food, and an hour and 20 minutes that we could have spent enjoying each other's company someplace else where we were welcome, gone.

I'm going to tell everybody that I know about the experience, and how terrible it made me feel, because I spent $100 at this restaurant for essentially what was three drinks and a few appetizers to be treated like this.

It's not the money that's the problem. It's not the wait time that's the problem. It's the fundamental disrespect of my time as a customer, and the insult to my intelligence. Thats...

Time to be level-headed during all the hype.

Pros:

1. Atmosphere, can’t beat it. Tori Bar did a great job with decor, lighting, bar vibe.
2. Concept, great idea to do Asian-fusion small plates. It is unique compared to what Tampa currently has to offer.
3. Cocktails, the “Bar” in Tori Bar should really be all capitals, because the cocktails were excellent- better than the food.

Cons:

1. Menu. Complicated, clunky, and all over the place. From Burrata (excellent btw) to chicken gizzards to sushi, it was overwhelming.
2. Food execution. With a menu all over the place, the predictable consequence happened: the food was meh. I’m sorry, it’s just the truth. You can stop reading now if you disagree, but I’ll explain below:

-They clearly use a standard teriyaki sauce across all of their skewers, because they all tasted the same. So if that is the case, execution on the meat needs to be perfect. It wasn’t. Steak, duck, and chicken were very overcooked, and if you don’t order teriyaki, the steak was extremely under seasoned. The wagyu has no teriyaki sauce and there was no seasoning at all and the meat was cold. I get that wagyu should only be lightly seared, but the outside seared part was cold too.

-They excel with non-meat items. Garlic Soy Mushrooms, Burrata, Eggplant skewers, and Crab Rangoons were all the best items we ordered.

-Want great Japanese? Forget it. They missed the mark on every Japanese dish we ordered. The chicken and shrimp gyoza filling was overcooked and dry, the spicy tuna had zero flavor and wasn’t spicy (even just adding some sesame oil and a bit more sriracha would’ve made it good). The spicy scallop was very fishy flavored (not the good kind), actually made me nervous when I ate it. The sushi rice was overcooked and under seasoned, and none of the sushi items we had were very good as a result. Finally, the teriyaki sauce they put on all the “tare” skewers was very very sweet, and it pummeled your taste buds so you had to have a drink before going to the next item. The steak on the steak tatake was cooked to absolute jerky, and it was topped with a wasabi aioli that would rival Afrin in opening up your sinuses during the worst of head colds. I actually considered sending it back. The yellowtail crudo was okay, but the sauce needed more citrus and the jalapeño needs to be deseeded so it doesn’t take over the entire palate and detract from the supposed star of the dish: the yellowtail.

What was the best item? The Chilean Sea Bass skewers. I could eat 100 of them. Cooked perfectly, delicate and buttery, and that same teriyaki that was too much on everything else, doesn’t adhere to the bass flesh as well so you get the flavor of it but not as concentrated.

Service was good, our waitress was very nice, but where she failed was explaining the menu and giving us some basic direction on how to best tackle it. So we just kept firing away with orders all night and it lacked continuity.

Overall, 3.4/5. I get that Tampa craves for new and innovative restaurants, and I wanted so badly for Tori Bar to knock it out of the park, but despite the massive hype it...

It has been exactly one week, and I’ve been contemplating whether to write this review. Tori Bar has been one of my favorite spots in Tampa since its grand opening. I’ve been a loyal customer, returning multiple times, and each visit was better than the last—until recently. Unfortunately, my last couple of visits have been disappointing, and after my most recent experience, I think I might be done with Tori Bar altogether.

After a fun and eventful Galentine’s Day with the girls on Monday, we decided to end our night at Tori Bar, as it has always been a go-to spot for us. We sat at the bar, where the drinks were exceptional as always, the bartenders were friendly and engaging, and the food was delicious. However, the night took an uncomfortable turn when a man named "Mike" approached us. He introduced himself as the owner and generously told us to order whatever we wanted on him. At first, I thought that was a really kind gesture.

Unfortunately, that initial kindness quickly turned into an uncomfortable situation. Mike lingered around us, hovering far too close, despite us making it clear that we were having a girls' night and just wanted to enjoy each other’s company. Instead of respecting our space, he continued to stand near us, making us feel uneasy. At one point, he even brought over some of his friends, which only added to our discomfort. Some of my girlfriends felt so uncomfortable that they decided to leave early.

My other friend and I stepped away to the restroom just to get some space, only to find Mike waiting outside when we came out. At that point, it was beyond uncomfortable—it felt intrusive.

I have always loved this restaurant, but after this experience, I can no longer support a place where the owner himself made my friends and me feel so uneasy. Respect and comfort should be a priority for all guests, and unfortunately, that was...