Quick reviews: Tampa

I ate out way too much while in Tampa for two months. Keep in mind that most of these reviews are based on a single visit and intentionally very brief.

• Acropolis: A Greek restaurant nestled in Tampa’s Cuban neighborhood feels a little too touristy and while the food is good it’s a little overpriced.
• Bar Louie: A superior, ever-shifting selection of beers on tap. Good, somewhat overrefined, bar food.
• Bella’s Italian Cafe: Moderately expensive Italian place with good, classic food — mostly pastas and pizzas — and a good wine list.
• Bungalow Bistro: A cute setting but a tries-too-hard restaurant. Shoots for fancy but just hits above average.
• Cafe Dufrain: Laid back bistro with good food on the waterfront. On a nice day, sit outside.
• Chihuahua Mexican Grill: Adequate Tex-Mex served in a dinning room dressed in kitsch. Chips are served in a dog bowl.
• The Creperia Cafe: Decent crepes, both sweet and savory, served in a cafe setting. Options range from basic to caviar — with prices to match.
• Daily Eats: A greasy spoon with better food and higher prices. Caters to the hipster crowd.
• Fly Bar & Restaurant: Bar with good beer and liquor, restaurant with good small plates of food and lots of tattooed waiters and customers.
• Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Good, greasy burgers and overflowing fries make this simple and delicious.
• Frankies: No matter what the sign say, they serve the worst Philly cheesesteak ever. Good hot dogs, though.
• Loading Dock Sandwich Pub: Lots of sandwiches, each custom built, and special sandwiches everyday.
• Lucky Dill Deli: A few places packed into one, but it gets chaotic at lunch. Cheap Mexican food is served next to New York-style sandwiches.
• Mise En Place: Upscale bistro with a reasonably priced lunch menu. Awesome grilled cheese (including blue and chevre) served with house-made fries and ketchup.
• New World Brewery: Good, simple food (mostly pizza) and a great selection of beers on tap and in bottles.
• NYPD Pizza Delicatessen: Premade crust means pizza that doesn’t live up to what New York-syle pizza should. Plus you have to go to Channelside. Yuck.
• Paninoteca Mediterranean Café: Classy, good and still reasonably priced Mediterranean food, with lots of good sandwiches and lunch fare.
• Samurai Blue: Served in a hipster setting, the sushi was honestly the best I’ve ever had. The specialty rolls offer a variety of flavors and textures.
• SideBern’s: Hip-yet-elegant little brother of the venerable Bern’s Steak House. Great food, but it’ll cost you. (I wrote a full review for The Tribune.)
• Square One Burgers: Perhaps a bit too expensive for what it is, but decent burgers. The fried pickles are delicious and the cupcakes are cute.
• El Taconazo: Better know as the Taco Bus because it serves good, cheap, authentic Mexican food cooked in a bus parked behind the dinning room.
• Tampa Bay Brewing Company: They brew good beer on site and use much of it in the food. The Brewer’s Choice burger with fried onions and blue cheese is good.
• Taqueria Cantina & Burrito Joint: Fairly crappy, overpriced, inauthentic Mexican food, but a wide array of beers. Free chips for correctly answering a trivia question.
• La Teresita: One of three classic Cuban joints in Tampa. The counter is for the younger set, while families eat in the dining room.
• Three Coins Diner: A real greasy spoon with real greasy-spoon prices. You’ve eaten at here before, even if it’s your first visit.
• Twisted Bamboo: Safe, competent-but-not-great Asian-influenced food that can’t figure out what it wants to be. (I wrote a full review for The Tribune.)
• West Tampa Sandwich Shop: Cheap and great Cuban restaurant that serves a mean media noche sandwich and café con leche.