The vibes are there 100%. Cocktails were pretty okay,…read morenothing super great or crazy but still a solid drink. Fries were delicious with the herb salt on them and of course the dipping! But go for the ambiance.

I really like this spot overall...Alter Ego has smaller, moody dark vibes that feel super cool,…read morewith good cocktails and great music. It's got that all-around fun, energetic atmosphere that makes it a solid choice for drinks. Not sure how it is during the week, but it would make for a fun date night spot to grab some cocktails. That said, I had a real hang-up the last time I went with my girlfriend around Christmas. They tried to hit us with a $10 cover just to get in, on top of $15-20 cocktails. I don't mind paying for a nice spot, but the cover felt absurd, especially since it wasn't even busy. The bouncer said we could make a reservation to avoid it, so I did...and then he made us stand outside forever before letting us in. At that point, we should've just left, but since my friend had never been, we stuck it out to try the themed Christmas cocktails. Once inside, there was a two-drink minimum per person, which is kind of crazy. It feels like they jip you either way...cover or no cover, minimum spend or not. While waiting outside (for no real reason, since it was empty), we chatted with a party of six who came straight from Ash (the sister restaurant upstairs). They'd just spent over $1,000 on their meal and were still getting charged a cover to enter Alter Ego. That's poor business, don't force extra fees to guarantee money when good music, drinks, and vibes should bring people in naturally and make them want to spend. There's plenty of places on Water Street with great (and I'd say better) cocktails where you're not forced into minimums or covers. The Christmas cocktail menu was disappointing too, poor selections and way too sugary. Love the potential here, but the strict policies really turned me off and made me want to go elsewhere next time.

I love the castle but they kicked us out an hour early on March 8th because of daylight savings…read moretime. We were hoping for a good time just to be kicked out an hour early because of something out of our control. Frustrating experience.

Immediately upon entering the line, a man with a zipper mouth mask walked past us and was pacing…read morethe line. We got in, it was quite empty to start but got crowded quickly. A mix of individuals, some older people (including one man who looked like a ghoul [trench coat, white hair, pocket wayxh]). Nothing wrong with this, in fact quite interesting, until we saw some soldiers (who appeared to be legit Castle security) walk past us, including one in an SS Nazi uniform. The frat men continued to multiply, and were very loud and obnoxious. In the back was some sort of BDSM spanking exhibit with a man in a furry costume doing the spanking. We stood close to this exhibit as loud "industrial noise" music played. I would akin this music to a spoon banging against a pot. There was a man who appeared to clearly be fent folding amidst the dance floor who proceeded to catch a random girl's twerk... And stared at us with beady eyes. Before going downstairs, I accidentally bumped into someone and he hissed at me, which was interesting. Okay guys, stick with me, we're getting to the best part. After all of these events, we go downstairs to the basement (or dungeon). Pleasurably, they were not playing industrial noise. Actual songs with lyrics! Yay. Early 2000s alternative. The dungeon had a bunk bed sort of set up where many different individuals seemed to be having a sensory break, other than the frat boys who were posing on top of it and flipping off of it. As we continued our observations, we noted two older gay men dressed as a cop and a prisoner. One laid down and the other began dancing right in front of him, akin to some sort of ritual. We soon after spotted a shirtless Marshmello across the room, which was quite exciting. Lots of shirtless men parading around, some with the leashes of their skinny asian girlfriends in hand. Before leaving, we finished up our people watching by observing Lisa from Genshin Impact, Sasuke & Sakura from Naruto, and Inosuke from Demon Slayer enter in highly realistic cosplays. In our state, we could not rationalize that these people were not actually from the show as the DJ conveniently decided to play anime OSTs as they entered. We also believe we spotted Shadow the Hedgehog. Not sure of this. Final note-- the people who would come in and greet each other by dancing at each other. Very interesting and something we had never seen before. It was like witnessing a different reality. To sum up The Castle experience, this is like a place a parent would have a nightmare of their child coming to. Would return!

I worked at the Hyde Park Cafe when we first opened in 1995. We built that club from the ground…read moreup, literally. I had so many great experiences there meeting so many people over the years. I hate to see the negative reviews here. I have wonderful memories of great music and fun clients and definitely not the younger crowd back then. Although I haven't been there in 12 years, I hope they are still holding true to the original vibe, since 1995

When I showed up with my friends on friday night the club was closed. I assume they had to shut…read moredown due to the raid a month ago, but the lack of information about the business being closed is very annoying. Don't waste your time driving there for nothing!

This is our spot! Love the sushi at Arts Club. The cocktails are so unique and always done well…read more One is my favorites is called White Lotus. We love the ambiance and DJs in the Red Room. Alex is the best server! Thank you for always being so friendly and making us feel welcome. We love taking friends here and always enjoy nights spent here.

Now this place is interesting... located at the Edition Hotel on Water St. it's located at the top…read moreof the curved stairs. It's an intimate, sexy setting. Very velvety and silky. The DJ was the highlight for me. Somehow he mixed urban with techno and it was a little bit of everything for every personality -- I loved it. The food and drinks were my LEAST favorite thing about the place, but I would surprisingly go back on a date or a cute night out with some my boo to enjoy the intimate vibes. This place is EXPENSIVE! $28 for a French 75 -- so correction, the price was my least favorite thing about this place. So along as you have a good budget, you should be good.

Chloe behind the bar is super knowledgeable and very easy on the eyes !…read more Thank you so much for having me and my friends the jukebox lol all that story ! anyhow wonderful place nice place to sit and have a drink and enjoy yourself anytime. Thank you so much for having me in my friends.

Amazing cash only dive bar in Tampa. Love this spot. A friend introduced me to this place and I…read morelove it.

The ambience of this place is wonderful - sort of a dark and velvety speakeasy…read more The cocktails are themed to North America, with different options themed to the US, Mexico, and Canada. We tried a handful of items from all three menus - the standouts were the Jalisco and Ontario. All items were highly inventive. Service was extremely attentive. We were welcomed promptly, offered a (non-alcoholic) welcome drink, and given a walkthrough of the menu with special attention given to items that align with our tastes. This is a fun spot, I'm sure we'll be back.

The punch room is gorgeous!! I love the velvet! Drinks and service are always spot on. This is a…read moregreat pre or post dinner spot. Very romantic.

Very chill vibe. I love the patio area. DJ on Fridays and Saturday with excellent music. Drinks…read moreand service are great as well.

I love coming here! Whenever they have a DJ it gets really packed and the ambience is really fun…read more The Bartenders make the best drinks and they're always so personable!

Dracula's Legacy is one of our favorite spots in the downtown/Ybor area. We enjoyed crisp, cold…read morebeer on tap...available in $30 towers that usually pour about six beers. There's also a great wine selection, and the Mermaid-branded Moscato was well balanced and easy to enjoy. We shared the Bavarian pretzel with mustard and cheese sauce, which was crispy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside. Looking forward to coming back to try the flatbreads and explore more of the wine list.

Will return. It's a…read moreshort walk to Straz with excellent service, yummy food, and a youthful vibe.  We've  - house wine: blend & cab sauv - flatbread Italian - French onion soup - dip trio  The decor is spooky, with earthy lighting, and the wine glasses are large and sturdy, suitable for young crowds. The flatbread is a bit salty, but I love it. The onion soup has lots of bread. For the dip trio, I love the baba ganoush the most. Ah, also love the signs in the bathroom: A good day starts with coffee and ends with wine. Warning: never argue with a woman. If you win, things might get worse. ... among the few others. Thank you!  Well, my day did start with coffee; now I have wine, but it will end with music, or Beethoven to be exact.

Do not go it is not safe and the security are hostile and use excessive force. My friend was pushed…read moreby a drunk guy and she ended up falling into the security gaurds back. She says sorry I got pushed but he is grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back trying to break her arm dragging her to the stairs away from me. A guy sees whats happening and tries to tell the security gaurd to relax your hurting her and another security gaurds come over and pushes the man down the stairs. WTH. Don't go there please go somewhere else. That was extreme for no reason and she was hurt because of it.

So me and family visited Florida from Georgia for the weekend. We bought 2 bottles and VIP section…read moreon top floor. Within 30 mins of entering club a security guard aggressively approached my wife asking her for number and when I stepped in he kick all of us out with no refund. I really hope people read this review because it can really save u from a disastrous night. This is not the first time an issue has an occurred with security and how they handle it's paying customers! We even tried to talk to owner about refund be he declined. Yes we have took legal action but we really push awareness about this establishment!

A cute little rooftop bar with the entrance hidden away in the Bulla Gastrobar Restaurant. It's got…read moresomewhat of a view of Tampa and has relaxed, low-set tables to lounge on while you sip and chat. Can get relatively busy after the 5pm workday, but I do like how they offer happy hour. I ended up getting the Sangria Blanca and the Bougie Palmer this time around. The sangria was light and refreshing, not overly sweet like how other white wine sangrias can be. I like how they added berries in it to add a decorative touch. The palmer was well-balanced and more citrus-y than it was fruity. Also pretty refreshing for a hot day. I've noticed in general that most of the drinks here are mixed well; they don't err on being too sweet or too strong, just well-balanced with the flavors not trying hard to dominate one another in the drinks.

Great, chill rooftop bar on top of Bulla! The bartender made some really great margaritas!read more