This Bar and Grill dubs itself "The Ultimate Sports Bar." With one week left in the NFL regular season (and one last abysmal Panther's game to struggle through) I decided to drop in and put their quote to the test.
Appearance:
Located off of Kennedy Blvd. in the Channelside district, Garage Bar was pretty easy to find and parking wasn't that big of an issue. There is, of course, the Channelside parking garage but we opted to park in the 2 hour limit street parking. The inside of the establishment was spacious with ample seating and a wide open circular bar. The walls were mostly plain and warmly colored. Conditions were very sanitary as an eating establishment should be. Large concrete pillars and a chain linked liquor cabinet helped add to the garage
motif.
Atmosphere:
The dress code seemed pretty casual as many patrons were wearing sports gear from their favorite teams while watching one of the many flat screens posted up on the walls. There is a bit of a "night life" scene here as described in their website but the Sunday afternoon crowd was pretty laid back as people were stopping in and out the whole time we were there.
Service:
As soon as we walked in, a gentleman dressed in a Bucs polo greeted us and recognized I was sporting my Panthers tee so he ushered us to a table with a good view of the game. That is about where the good service ended. Our server came to get our drink orders after we had already been sitting for 5 minutes. I got a Yuengling which only came in bottles. I also tried a Blue Moon draft that tasted a little flat. As soon as the drinks arrived we put in our appetizer order which came out in a decent amount of time. Our server, who wasn't mean or snooty but seemed somewhat distracted the whole time, took our entree order. Unfortunately this did not come out in an acceptable amount of time. After delivering the food to the wrong table then bringing it back to the kitchen only to have it redelivered to us cold, we decided to eat it anyway. At this point we had not seen our server since she had taken our order and we had drinks that needed refilled. We found another employee and asked for our check. She sincerely obliged and apologized that it was getting "hectic." I am still unsure as to what she meant by "hectic" as there was maybe only 1/3 of the place filled up. She brought our tab and also two free drink vouchers for our next visit. I had originally planned on staying the length of the game but we ended up leaving shortly after half time.
Food:
Menu prices were around $8 to $15 a plate. The appetizer we ordered were crab rangoons. I love Chinese food and I was a little skeptic about ordering them at a sports bar but this is exactly why you do not judge a book by its cover. The crab rangoons came out lightly fried in a golden wonton wrapping but the explosion of taste really occurred when the shredded crab and cream cheese goodness touched my pallet. They came with a sweet and spicy sauce to dip in which added to the rich texture. By far these tasty treats were better than any other rangoon I had ever had. Next up were the wings. What sports bar visit is complete without the wings? They came in quantities of six so I got six sweet and spicy wings and six hot. Other than not being "fresh out of the kitchen" the sauces were decent, the wings were meaty and for once the 'hot' flavor was actually pretty spicy. Lastly we ordered nachos. These were doomed from the start due to their late arrival to our table. The ground beef was a tad over cooked and the cheese was akin to a melted, congealed block of Velveeta cheese. The taste wasn't terrible and there was one bonus as the plate came garnished with black olives, my favorite. As far as good pub fare goes though the nachos were a let down.
Extras:
As I mentioned before there were a fair amount of TV's around the place but as I was taking care of business I happened to notice that there were flat screens at each stand up in the restroom. Indeed this was a neat idea but 15" of screen 3" from your face is somewhat not enjoyable. There was outside seating available and there is a rewards card available for those who frequent the establishment. The menu features a wide variety of foods (quesadillas to burgers) but the most unique part of the food experience would have to be the sushi bar. Check the web site (linked in the Restaurants side section) for hours and daily specials.
So in closing the food was relatively descent but the service was lackadaisical at best. Perhaps the crowd and service would be different during the week and later at night but for my experience I give Garage Bar and Grill 2 out of 5 stars.
Up Next:
The Pub Tampa on Westshore
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