Bahama Breeze, Tampa

Bahama Breeze is an excellent place to unwind after a long day. Most people in Tampa go for happy hour when they get off work. It is located right by the waterside and they offer indoor and outdoor seating. They have an excellent bar section.

Favorite Dish: I've only had the jerk chicken pasta but it was very good.

Bahama Breeze has the best Pina Coladas in town, and the last time I was there (on a Thursday night) they had a man playing steel drums. The food is good as well, but the drinks are the main attraction in my opinion. I have been there several times and there is always a nice mix of older and younger people. In the afternoons the restaurant seems to be quite popular with business professionals, probably from the nearby Westshore area.

I would recommend this restaurant for a convenient place to stop on your way in or out of town as it is close to the airport, however there is construction going on right now on the causeway that runs in front of the restaurant so the view isn’t so delightful right now. If you’re looking for gorgeous bay views you may, at least temporarily, want consider someplace else.

Favorite Dish: First and foremost are the delicious pina coladas, which come with enough rum in them that the drinks are of a more brownish color than most pina coladas. They also do fried calamari well here with tomatoes and peppers on top.

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Bahama Breeze, on the north side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway next to the Westin and Holiday Inn Express, is located on a strip of land called Rocky Point. The Breeze has a big indoor restaurant with a full menu, then a more casual dining option on the huge deck overlooking a small inlet connected to Tampa Bay. Went went once for drinks, then stopped in a few weeks later for dinner.

We started on the deck, since there was a 30-45 minute wait inside. We found a vacant table quickly, but the service was slow, so we had one drink, then had to send one of our party in to claim the table while I stayed behind to try to find a waiter to pay for the drinks.

Once inside we had a surprisingly good meal. All three of us enjoyed black grouper ($21 each), cooked in different ways--jerk painted, pan seared, and grilled. We also enjoyed a variety of sides including rice, garlic mashed potatoes, and cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes. For drinks we enjoyed Yuengling bottles ($4.40 each), a mohito ($7) and a drink called a "pom paloma" ($8) which includes tequila, passion fruit vodka, grapefruit juice and pomegranate juice topped with Fresca.

Bahama Breeze is a small chain restaurant the began in Orlando, and it claims the market on chain restaurants with a Caribbean theme. It is owned by the Darden Restaurants, which also operates those choice restaurants for old people--Red Lobster and Olive Garden--as well as Longhorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, and the upscale Seasons 52.

This restaurant is right on the water, has a great patio where bands play most nights of the week. In the early evening it tends to be a family restaurant but as the night goes on turns more into a bar than restaurant.

Favorite Dish: The seafood linguini.