This was quite the experience. The food was great and the staff was extremely friendly. Eating outside on the lawn, we were able to enjoy the view and the nice weather. The menu is eclectic (which is nice to see they don't just serve the same old thing as everyone else). Had an enjoyable meal with friends in a vibrant atmosphere. read more

This place is amazing! I had the braised short rib with mashed potatoes and green beans, and it was delicious. I also had the jalapeño bread as an appetizer and it was the perfect starter. We sat outside and the service was good - the server had all the great recommendations. This restaurant is right on the outskirts of Armature Works and next to the Hillsborough river so there are a lot cute opportunities for pictures. Definitely a must visit if you're in the area! read more

Ulele - Menu - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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The food is always solid here and consistent. The chargrilled oysters were amazing a must have when you go. I ordered the "Pallardy" it was very good and my friend ordered the seafood risotto. We had zipporah as a waitress, she was FANTASTIC, she gave all the recommendations and really took her time with us to ensure we ordered the best option. The hostess service wasn't the best but that is typical and unfortunate. It wasn't that busy when we first got there which was nice but the bar area area could have been better kept. The scenery is always nice. read more

Ulele - Menu - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Was in town for a few days and shared a wonderful dinner with some local friends, they suggested Ulele as a good place to meet. The food and service were absolutely fantastic. I'll be back. read more

Delicious food, excellent ambiance, great service! All next to Armature Works. Also, complementary valet parking. 10/10.

Food and service are always great. we went on Fourth of July and had a wonderful view of the fireworks.

I have been wanting to try this restaurant out for some time now and finally was able to. There grilled oysters here are AMAZING!!!!! This was my favorite thing we ordered here. I also really loved my beverage. I cannot remember the name but it was their spicy drink. The seafood risotto I ordered was good, it could have been better though. It needed a bit more salt to it. The appetizers were great as well. Loved the fried tomatoes ! read more

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I had a layover and a friend recommended ūlëlē. It's a Beautiful Outdoor and Indoor space next to Tampa's Riverwalk. I was able to be seated quickly without a reservation on a Saturday afternoon. Plenty of bar seating both indoor and outdoor as well. My server Amber was kind, welcoming, and extremely knowledgeable about the menu, able to confidently recommend drinks, appetizers, main courses, and dessert. I started with a white wine from Spain, the 2022 Melanie Verdejo, Rueda. Light, fruity, a bit on the sweeter side for a white but not overpoweringly so. Next, I had the Aji Amarillo Ceviche. Wow! Fresh, crisp, flavorful and delicious. Then I had the Filet Mignon, 8oz of medium rare amazingness. I added a side of Karson's Jalapeño Corn Beer Muffins and "Fuego" Street Corn. Both flavorful and amazing, see photos. I also had a glass of the Alfonso-Hobbs, Godello, less sweet and more crisp, I loved it! Finally I finished with the Pineapple Upside Down Bread Pudding, with their house made coconut ice cream and dark rum sauce, it's a must have for any bread pudding lover. Ok let's get back to Amber, she needs a raise! When I tell you she quickly and efficiently checked on all of her guests around me myself included after every table delivery, I mean it. Whether it's a glass of wine or your main dish she will quickly ensure everything came out perfect and to your liking. Approachable, caring, attentive and friendly seriously ask for her as your server. Finally, a moment again for the ambiance, picturesque views and amazing family friendly event space. Thanks to Amber and everyone for a wonderful dining experience away from home! read more

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The food was delicious, service was great per usual and as always the setting is so nice. I love to take friends here when they're visiting from out of town! read more

Well needless to say our kids come here all the time and tell us we need to try it out. We finally had a chance to go downtown and WOW are we glad we did! Such a cool vibe, great atmosphere, service, food and drinks. It is pretty dark in there in the evenings so the photos are not great, but the food was! I highly recommend the crab cakes for an appetizer and their Espresso martini for your cocktail. We will definitely be back many times to come! read more

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I sat at the shucking bar which is wear I sat my first time to Ulele's. I started with an expresso martini which tasted great! Then while I decided between 5 different menu items the local girl beside me ordered a native chili to go, which was one of my choices. Alligator, boar, duck and venison and loaded up with red onion, jalapeños and cheese. Great start to a meal. Next I ordered a piece of "Fuego" street corn. It was great. I ended up striking up a conversation with one of the employees who was sitting at the bar, Madison, about life in general. She had been working here for 3 years and spoke very highly of the restaurant, staff and culture. Anthony, who was my server, took great care of me and made great food suggestions. I enjoyed speaking with him and he really had a great insight about the menu. I watched Daniel work tirelessly shucking and preparing oysters my entire meal. We had a great conversation and seems to be a good person. Ulele's never disappoints. I always meet people but this time I feel like Madison, Anthony and Daniel made for a very enjoyable meal and conservation! Thank you! read more

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Zippo Ray was the very best!!!!!!! She recommended the Philly cheese and it was wonderful. The fries that went with it were seasoned well and she was sure to refill our drinks without us having to ask. My husband LOVES the meatloaf and although it's a huge portion he was able to eat (almost) the whole thing. We ate outside and it's such a wonderful view right off the Tampa River Walk and they have the nursery rhyme characters which makes it extra fun. We love the history also and will definitely be back. read more

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I think ulele is the best. They have dog dining too. I cannot wait to take my dog there.

Was in Tampa and decided to give this place a try. It's next to Armature Works in Tampa Heights. Lots of people there when we got there at 3 pm. We were seated in about 5 minutes in the upstairs dining area. The menu is large and the prices are high but don't let that stop you from eating here. I ordered the Water Works Meatloaf Ground strip loin, Cabernet garlic demi-glace, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetable. Featured as "Best Thing I Ever Ate" by Food Network celebrity Chef Robert Irvine. Let me say the portions were big and it tasted amazing. The mashed potatoes were out of this world. My wife got the Seafood Risotto Pan-seared shrimp and sea scallops, butter-poached lobster claw, crawfish tail meat, saffron risotto, charred corn cream sauce and seasonal vegetable. The scollops were huge and tasted great and the risotto was cooked perfectly. read more

Ulele - Waterworks meatloaf - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Have visited this place many times. Great service, atmosphere is outstanding for the water views and for children the best! Pet lovers, take your babies. read more

I don't get why people love this place. The food is so mediocre. It's so loud inside. The service is ok. The prices are high for what you get. read more

This restaurant was extremely disappointing. So I always pass by here with the family and after many times of saying we're gonna try it we finally decided to try it. Customer service was great. Very friendly people. Ambiance is lovely and the entire area where the restaurant is situated is so beautiful. However, the food was terrible! Well actually the calamari and Mac n cheese were great! I can't say the same about the main entrees. I got the chefs choice of meat. The server asked me how do you want it done so I said "medium-rare". He proceeds to take everyone's order as well. So, it was freezing. With the wind index, the weather was in the low 50's. I asked the server if he can turn on the heater and finally after maybe around 20 minutes he turns it on! My son and I were both sniffling at this point - I'm still sniffling while writing this review. So the main entrees arrive. I got what appears to be a flank steak and it was no where near being medium rare. It wasn't medium well or well done either. The steak was over cooked and so hard to cut up but I ate it anyways since I was starving. I tried a little bit of everyone's entree in my table and they were all hard except for the braised beef. The veggies and starches were also awful. I paid almost $190 (with Tip) for what has been the worst food of my life. Never coming here again! read more

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Food is fantastic every time! This is one of our favorite places to eat, and hang out. The riverwalk is nice, always something going on and great for the family. Their oysters are the best! Chargrilled perfection with the olive oil drizzle and bread. I really like their chili too. We have eaten prob 60% of their menu and it's all been great food. Definitely stop in and eat. read more

The food..we started off with 2 Hydration Station beers and Shishito peppers, outstanding both My wife had the Water Works meat loaf and it looked like something from Swanson, 2 patties, she was expecting a loaf like homemade but ok. The flavors were there, potatoes needed more gravy but all in all good food I ordered the Mahi Mr Henry, this fish was overwhelmed by the accompaniments, the garlic spinach, corn salsa and green papaya slaw were the stars of the dish. We will go back as we would like to try other dishes and server, Rico, was very attentive and great ambiance, what a place to people watch read more

Came by for drinks and brunch last weekend and had a great time outdoors! Ulele has a complimentary parking lot for guests maybe a five-minute walk from the venue, and the outdoor space at the bar and on the patio was fantastic. (It didn't hurt that it was a perfect, 77-degree day.) Our server, Ivan, was a joy and we had a mix of above-average brunch and lunch fare (along with frose!) throughout the afternoon. Very glad to make your acquaintance, Ulele! read more

You poisoned me (and my entire office Christmas party) with your oysters and then kept serving them after we told you about it.

Ulele did not disappoint! Bella was an amazing server. I have family in town and came for lunch. We ordered the crispy carrots, the trout dish, and the plant-based vegetable dish. All were absolutely amazing! I just love how the restaurant gives you a view of the water and armature works. The food is such high-quality. Overall 10/10! read more

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Dinner for 2. - Ambiance (3*) Some of the sculptures were quite cool, and the outdoors area looked quite fun. The rating is mostly a reflection of the really loud and echoey interior. - Service (4*) Friendly and professional (even the waitress in training). A bit of a lag in getting our food. - Gator Tails, $15 (5*) Breaded delicately. Could actually taste the gator tails. - Native Chili, $10 (4*) While all the different kinds of meat sounded delicious on menu (duck, venison, boar), my suspicion that they would all sort of blend together into the chili came true. Good tasting but muddled. - Florida Pompano Pallardy, $32 (5*) Florida pompano is hard to find, even in Florida. Meaty, dense white meat, but not dry at all. Loved the crawfish tails with great flavor. The crisp carrot ribbons were so, so good... I could eat a whole bowl of those alone. I would eat this all day long if I lived in Tampa. - Value (4*) The gator tails felt a little expensive, but that plate of fish was truly awesome and a good portion of fish. - Final Word Loved, loved, loved the pompano dish. read more

We all had a wonderful time and the food we ordered was very good. Amy took good care of us and we will see you again soon, thank you

Another great dining experience last night at Ulele's. The staff and management are very friendly. Food was excellent as well as our drinks. Our server Esteban rocked. He was the best. Great night! read more

Great service, wonderful atmosphere and fantastic food. The trifecta of dining. Ulele has it all! Always given as an option for drinks and dinner when asked for Tampa recommendations. Definitely a favorite! read more

Ulele - Blackened grouper. - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Always great food and service!! Awesome atmosphere. Definitely one of the best restaurants in the area read more

Ulele - Gouda Grouper Sooo so good!!! - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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This place is more than just a restaurant in the Tampa Heights area near Downtown Tampa. Located on the Tampa Riverwalk, they are open for lunch and dinner. The outdoor riverfront setting offers a very spacious seating area. We were there for lunch on a beautiful day so we sat outside at an open umbrella table with nice views of the zen fish pond and the river. I had the Shrimp Po'Boy $18 with the Cole slaw side. We also had the Carrot Ribbons $6. Everything was delicious. Our server was very friendly and efficient. He validated our complimentary parking ticket for the gated parking lot across the street. read more

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Posted on Nov 30, 2024 Once again, a truly memorable experience We were seated on time and greeted by our waiter within minutes. As usual, the food was great. At our table, we had pork chops, ribeye, and strip steak. Everything was perfectly cooked to our preferences. The fried green tomatoes, as an appetizer may have been the best fried green tomatoes we have ever had Ivan, our waiter was amazing. There when needed, but not intrusive. Definitely will be coming back soon. read more

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When my SO and I arrived in Tampa to visit our friends, the first restaurant we ate at in Tampa was Ulele. It's been many many years since I've been to Tampa so it was basically new to me. And, after interestingly, the folks who own Colombia also own Ulele (I discovered this later). The theme of the restaurant is ingredients inspired by what the natives ate. Still seemed kinda vague but whatever, the place was packed. We unfortunately did not have a reservation so I think it was about an hour wait at 5pm EST on a Sunday. We explored the nearby food market and had some chips and guac and salsa from a food stall (can't remember the name). It was a nice appetizer before we finally got seated at Ulele. The reason we went here is because they had vegan option for the SO and one of our friends. Now after having ceviche in Miami, I really wanted to try it here. So I went with the aji amarillo ceviche. The ceviche was very strong in the citrus and acidity, which is tough for some people to handle, but the flavor was good. I do wish it was toned down a little and had some more seafood, but it was good. I also ordered the fried okra for the table. I was actually surprised when it came out this way and I'm mixed on it. I love fried okra, but having it like this, it wasn't as heavy on the okra as I've had at other places (Smithtown Seafood in Lexington, KY had fried okra on their menu once, I think it was a limited time offering but it was by far the best fried okra I've had). It was fine but I did expect more. As for the entree, I really wasn't sure what to get here by the place seemed to emphasize seafood, so, as suggested by our server, the seafood risotto was what I ended up with. It's one of their signature dishes and a favorite and I agree. It was full of flavor and the ratio of proteins to carbs to veggies was perfect. The broth was definitely very strong with the seafood blend and it was just fantastic. My only gripe, and this is really really minor, was the risotto itself wasn't as thick as I prefer. Maybe it wasn't arborio rice they used, something was a little off with it, but it was still fantastic. If I find myself back here, I'm going to stick with the entrees and skip the apps. read more

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Came here on my birthday while visiting the Tampa area. My bf and I were doing like a little food crawl around the area and decided to stop here. The place itself is really big and spacious and looks nice. We decided to sit at the bar and it was cool because it has imprinted shells in the countertop. We ordered half a dozen oysters and the root vegetable succotash to share. The oysters were good but the succotash... omg. We took one bite and could not eat it. It was DROWNED in salt. I'm a salty girl and I don't think you understand. It was like someone dumped an insane amount of salt in it. It was completely inedible. We ended up telling the server, who in turn told a manager and they came up to us apologizing and saying it's not the first time they got this complaint.... of course not!!! I think maybe someone in the kitchen put too much salt by accident and they thought they could still serve it. Either way, we appreciated the manager listening to us and they took it off our check thankfully. When we were leaving I was surprised with a gift for my birthday, it was a box of these beautiful truffles! It was such a nice surprise and very thoughtful. I enjoyed them very much! I would definitely come back here and give them another try! read more

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Restaurant in on river walk tampa bay. A Very busy Restaurant the day we were there. We Expected a long wait. Service. Girls at front deck were very friendly. Food was good . read more

Ulele - Fresh Calamari - New American Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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This was my first trip to Ulele's Restaurant. The vibe is nice, and the staff was great, friendly, and efficient. I had the baby back ribs and they were excellent! But everything else I sampled including a few bites from my granddaughter's plate was just downright unpleasant and inedible. My side item was the cole slaw. I do not understand how you can make cole slaw taste so bad. From my granddaughter's plate, I sampled the mashed potatoes and green beans. Not good, nor did my granddaughter eat them, which she normally loves. I left still hungry and dissatisfied with my meal. Alot of food was wasted because we could not enjoy it. Overpriced and overhyped! read more

We made it back to Ulele (disclaimer: I received a gift card from the manager after my previous review) and this time it was fantastic. My husband and I shared the Brussels sprouts salad. A nice balance of bitter and sweet. He got the pork shank and I got the seafood risotto. Both of us joined the clean plates club. Our kids got the sliders--we ended up taking a slider and some fries home and the fries were so good that I just ate them cold. Dessert was the maple bacon ice cream and the bourbon butter cake. Based on this experience we'd definitely return! read more

From the greeting to the prompt seating to our Server was fabulous. We ordered the Barbacoa Shrimp as suggested by our server (Elsa )? Excellent fresh meaty shrimp spiced perfectly on a parsnip puree with asparagus tips and a few flavor bomb tomatoes heated to almost popping , yum. I had the Mahi Mahi blackened with green papaya slaw placed on top of a bed of fire roasted corn ,with wilted spinach bathed perfectly in a garlic mix best spinach ever!! . My partner had Florida Pompano with sundried tomato cream sauce with crawfish tail meat . Ribbon carrots which I tried and fell in love with and the veg is the day green beans . Everything was fresh , I enjoyed the house brew beer wedding berry lager . Nice slightly sweet . Looking forward to going back again! We dined on the second floor with the view of the statue of Princess Ulele. Art work was placed throughout the restaurant . The building itself was a 1903 pumping station. History art and fabulous food all in one Sorry no pics Next time we will try the desserts read more

Foods great, atmosphere is great, and the homemade ketchup is really good. Found it while walking on the river walk.

Great experience, delicious food. Some unique dishes as well. Tampa favorite. Love taking the kids.

Ulele... So Great! Wow! This place is firing on all cylinders. Beautiful spot, great design... we sat upstairs on the rail, so a great view. The menu is fantastic... so much to like, it's not easy to choose. Need to return for dinner, to try the pork chop. Crab cake, Barbacoa Shrimp, Charbroiled Oysters, Fuego Street Corn... all great. Great Service from Xena T. This place is owned and operated by the Gonzmart family, the same people who own Columbia, now fifth generation restauranteurs. Basically, you can't go wrong with any of their places. They are professionals who aim for the highest quality in everything they do... and they deliver! I love it here! VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED read more

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Zero complaints about ANYTHING in this establishment. The atmosphere was amazing. There were ample enough seating arrangements at the bar and dining room, even outside and upstairs. We were greeted immediately by Sarah at the bar area tonight. She was attentive, friendly, and accurate. she gave great recommendations and had such a great attitude throughout our entire experience. We tried the gator tails, chew broiled oysters, Mac and cheese, seafood risotto, and Filet mignon. EVERYTHING was seasoned perfectly, no salt or pepper needed. 10/10 recommend this restaurant for date night, family's, or even a solo date. read more

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Food is average. Ambiance is superb. Drinks are top notch. Location is amazing. Hospitality is great too.