Willa's — Restaurant in Tampa

Super cute ambiance and great service, but the food was seriously lacking in quality and overpriced. We don’t mind spending the amount we spent, but the value was not there; and I’m not talking solely about portion size.

Let’s start with the good:

the cocktails/mocktails were perfect. Great ratios of ingredients, beautiful presentation, garnishes were on point, and not watered down or too sweet. Excellent price points too.

Despite nearly every restaurant being short staffed with mediocre service for the last two years, my husband and I were impressed with the proactiveness, efficiency, and professionalism of the servers and hostess here. Very refreshing.

the ambiance. Great playlist that wasn’t basic top 40s. Good lighting. Chic yet down to earth decor. If anything, they could probably take the music down a few notches. My husband and I are in our early 30s and had to shout to converse; we joked this is what it’s going to be like when we’re an old married couple.

The bad:

every dish fell short of our expectations and the menu description, and nothing really satiated or wowed us. By no means are we expecting Michelin food, however very simple comfort foods really missed the mark.

the cheese plate app was very sad looking. Instead of using a variety of cheeses (usually a cow, sheep, and goat cheese, mixing textures and levels of sharpness will do the trick), the plate consisted of cheap sliced Brie- like the kind you could get from Publix or you’d bring to a casual picnic with friends. I can go to to Whole Foods and whip up a more aesthetically pleasing and flavorful cheese board myself at home, so when we’re dishing out $15 this is not acceptable. Then a small handful of Marcona almonds, two teeny sliced strawberries, and rather than toasting and slicing fresh baguette bread, they included these tiny store bought crunchy crackers- almost like larger croutons. Again, very sad. Definitely not worth $15. Perhaps $4? Crazy margins. The lack of effort and variety in the cheese did not go unnoticed.

the smash burger. The fries seemed like they were previously fried then sat out for a bit then were reheated. They were ultra fried and over salted. Also, most people don’t enjoy eating their burger well done. Well, when you get the smash burger it’s two thin, smashed patties that are smashed and cooked well throughout. So, no delicious medium rare flavor, and the ends were charred crispy.

I get it, this is like an elevated fast food style burger. However, with In-N-Out or shake shack burger vibes (however shake shack burger is way better than the smash burger), no way you can justify $17. This was more like a $10 or max $13 entree.

The tahini Caesar. I know what Tahini is and have been to Israel. I know what Caesar is. Very confusing and deceptive name. I had to ask our server if this meant instead of a Caesar dressing, was it a tahini dressing, or is it a hybrid? Apparently there’s no tahini, it’s just Caesar without the egg yolk. Fine. I tried it with the addition of the 3.5 oz of salmon. Again, so much potential, but it missed the mark. Yes, there’s a lot of cheese on top which is fine. The greens were very fresh and high quality. However it would have been pretty with a little garnish or maybe some sliced tomato. You’ll spend $9 for a 3.5 oz serving of salmon. It’s very hard to continuously justify the insane margins here when I could have whipped that salad together at home for a quarter of the cost and still use wild, fresh salmon.

The pickles were just fine. My husband is from Sweden, so we’ve tried pickled everything. Again, nothing to write home about. Just your average sweet, sliced pickles. Tiny portion.

Anyway, I wish the food presentation and quality was better so we could justify the cost. Next time we agreed we’ll just sit at the bar for a cocktail then head somewhere else for dinner. Maybe Willa’s Provisions next door is better for just basic breakfast/lunch,...

We will not be going back. We were excited to try Wiila's restaurant based on recommendations to go there, plus having read the story of the ownership of the female co-partner. We (hubby & I) arrived at 5:00 on Saturday. Our car and our brother's (&wife) car was the only one in the lot. Parking is in the back. A nondescript dull gray building.We walked around to the front to enter. We entered and were greeted pleasantly. We were sat to the side in a booth facing the bar and not the street. We had the pork belly Disco fries - two orders for two couples. Now THESE where divine !!!! SO very, very delicious ! The drinks were : one iced tea, two sangria's and waters for all. The table next to us was given a water carafe as a refill, we were not. The sangria's were 3/4 full in a wine glass filled with ice. I prefer my sangria chilled and not served over ice in my wine glass. The entrees for the table were : two "chicken" schnitzels, one steak frites and one rotisserie chicken. As you can see by the picture the "chicken" schnitzel only had a salad-esque "garnish". That was the "garnish" on the rotisserie chicken plate as well. The steak did have a handful of delicious -looking fries (the same that were in the pork belly Disco fries, I'm sure). The "chicken" schnitzels were tasty but not outstanding. They arrived at room temperature not hot/fresh off the grill / fryer. Why "chicken" schnitzel, instead of pork schnitzel ?? There was no complimentary bread & butter served at the table with the meals.* Frankly I was still hungry after my schnitzel plate --- which cost * $22 * . We did order a slice of strawberry lemon cake. It was a nice sized slice - but the cake was very dry, the icing was reminiscent of strawberry flavored cooled whip. The center - between the layers of the cake - had strawberry jam in it. There was lemon curd in a dollop on the plate.

The menu was *very, very limited" with not many options to choose from. Needs more variety for sure !!!!

As for the atmosphere, it looked Norwegian chic. The walls were lacking in decoration. Most of the decoration on our where the booths were, or herons on the wall (??). The main wall (by the table and chairs) had a very simplistic art drawing covering over the complete wall that was reminiscent of a picnic by a lake. The people were very simply drawn on, the coloration was very pale and not real inviting or memorable. Other places of the walls - by the booths were unfinished and raw. But not in an attractive way.

Like I said we were two couples, each having one appetizer, two entrees each, one dessert to split each, and one sangria per couple. The bill was $80. Expensive !!!

I would have added a little bit to this and definitely have enjoyed a three/four-course meal at Berns for $100 or so dollars -- with leftovers to bring home.

Disappointed. We will not be back. Sorry, M. Jenkins. BTW, when we left at 7:00 p.m. there were only three more cars in the parking lot other than ours. That does speak volumes to me.

Addendum to "Willa's response" : I would be most happy to meet with you. I'll touch base with you at the email address below and we can plan a time to meet. Thanks you for...

DO NOT SKIP BRUNCH!! The food is an edible masterpiece.

While in Tampa with my daughters, we just wanted breakfast. Just a normal breakfast. We were not mentally prepared for this Master Class in culinary art.

Nate's Breakfast was brilliant. Eggs scrambled perfectly. Latkes were thicker than I've normally had them (maybe 10mm thick) with a perfectly crunchy outside, and creamy in the inside. The salmon was good, as were the onions, and the avocado was ripe. The garlic aoli was wonderful, and had an extra herb-y flavor that I couldn't place. Tasting everything by itself was great, but combining it all into one bite made fireworks in my mouth. Brilliant.

The Breakfast Plate came with 2 of the most perfect over-medium eggs I've ever seen. The toast was, this is going to sound ridiculous, the toastiest toast I've ever eaten. Like someone stood over an open flame just slowly toasting it to perfection. And it had a hint of sweetness. And the bacon. Thick bacon. Almost like someone made a mistake. Like 3 average slices of bacon in one. And how did they get such thick bacon to be firm, but not burnt, I'll never know. Fabulous dish.

The Avocado Toast consisted of a fairly thick slice of toast, with at least one whole avocado spread over it's entirety, and eggs Sunny Side Up. This bite is everything you'd imagine: creamy, crunchy, and just a little bit messy. :) But absolutely worth it!! Incredible.

Sourdough French Toast. I have never in my life had a culmination of exquisite independent flavors as was in one bite with these ingredients. The French Toast itself had a crunchy exterior, with a twinge of sourdough that one would anticipate, but then a split second later a sweetness that supported, but not overwhelmed, the bite. And that was just the bread. It is served with ricotta, but a bitey, creamy ricotta. And the lemon curd puts all other lemon flavored things to shame. Texture was that of a lemon pudding. Sour. Lemon up front. No doubting it's ingredient. And berries. :). So, if you've been paying attention, a bite with all of these was powerful: crunchy French Toast with a punch of lemon, subtly calmed with a creamy ricotta, then finished with a slight sweetness. There should be a movie based on a book about this Sourdough French Toast. Magnificent.

The staff was incredibly kind and delightful. I am pretty sure I talked to everyone working the floor. :)

The interior gave an "elegance in a warehouse" vibe, much like the prom in a barn that I grew up with. And the bathrooms were eclectic and clean.

Do not miss an opportunity to experience this restaurant. It WILL be an experience. You can thank...