Cigar City Brewpub

This place is great - well worth the trip to Tampa!

I have to say I really do not understand where the low reviews are coming from? Some insight please?

A) This is Cigar City's Brewpub - You know, the guys who make the best beer in Florida? The same place that has like 5 beers in the <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fratebeer.com&s=624294b96534dd9e6b0270792401600510f63ef90ac419f316f36cc1d20e6ce9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://ratebeer.com</a> Top 50!

B) The food is amazing - Yes, I realize they do not make chicken wings or any other battered trash. If you are looking for that kind of place you should just go to Wild Wings and leave us beer snob/foodies alone. Get the grass-fed burger or the smoked swordfish tacos, trust me!

C) They have a very nice, very clean restaurant and bar with an excellent view of the onsite beer making in action! They have a great patio area that welcomes late night cigar smokers like myself. They play decent music, aka not the typical 1980's bar rock. All -n-all what I'm saying is that this place has a very inviting brewery/cigar shop vibe, but in a restaurant atmosphere.

I really don't know how you could go wrong with the Cigar City Brewpub. I loved it, my wife loved it, our friends from Hawaii loved it, hell even our 8 month old loved the servers!

Get the "bar" out of your head before going. Instead think of great beer, a good cigar, and some Cuban-like pub food and you will be very happy!

JG

Fantastic decor and atmosphere, delicious food, I know they have great beer (huge CCB fan), but in good faith...I can't give the Brewpub 3 stars due to the miserable service we received on our first visit.

I arrived for a late lunch around 1:30 on a weekday...appeared to be maybe 1 or 2 tables being served with 2-3 people at the bar. Not busy at all...yet, after approaching the hostess- she walks to the back and then comes to issue a 5 minute wait for us. Totally unacceptable. Instead, you seat us and ask if it is our first time here, if you have tried CCB brews before, would I like something to drink, the server will be with you in a moment, etc. ANYTHING but ask me to wait 5 minutes in an empty restaurant.

Next off, our waitress is quiet as a mouse and you can barely hear anything she says. Honestly, after the whole experience- I can say that waiting tables isn't for her right now. Not only was she quiet and shy, but her movements across the table were finicky and you could just tell she was new at this (or at least, I hope). The waitress handling the OTHER table in the restaurant seemed to be on top of her game, I will say.

That initially soured things for me but luckily the food arrived and it was delicious...I mean, really REALLY good. The yucca fries were the best I have ever had anywhere. The Pan con Bistec was out of this world good.

...then it happened. For the first time in my life as a diner, I had a funny feeling in my mouth. Yep, "that is hair", I tell myself. Now, stuff like that doesn't gross me out and doesn't make me upset with the establishment when I have seen it happen to others before. However, this hair was long and entangled in what I was chewing so (Warning: Gross) when I was trying to get it out...it looked like a scene from The Grudge whenever endless amounts of hair was being pulled from her throat. Yeah, nasty.

I can get over this and I don't need a free meal or need to complain, but I feel it is my duty to let the staff know- especially if a cook isn't wearing a hairnet, etc so it won't happen again. We had a different guy refill our drinks, and I mentioned it to him. He asked if I needed to get a manager and I told him "it probably won't be necessary, I just wanted to make sure the cooks were wearing hairnets." He obliged and in the distance, I saw him relay the information to our waitress.

She came back to our table 2 times and not once mentioned the incident. She brought the bill and I asked "did that other guy tell you about the hair incident in my food?" Her reply was, "yeah, he told me...?" I said "okay, here you go" and handed her my credit card. Now, I didn't want ANYTHING for free. It was the principle. As a waitress who finds out their meal was soured and experience buzzed a bit, you approach them and apologize, ask if you can do anything, offer a free dessert, a free beer, etc...something to mellow the situation. I know it wasn't her fault and I didn't want anything free, but I DID want it to be acknowledged.

Just pitiful on all accounts. Somehow, word got back to the manager and he did approach the table and did comp my meal. I told him I was more concerned with the way it was handled and how service over all was- and I noted that everything else was fantastic, as it was. He said kinks were being worked out and he apologized. Great save, but the damage from his employees was done.

Unfortunately, I can't in good conscience give this restaurant a 3* review or better...and I am not sure I can recommend others. See, I believe the food and atmosphere will bring folks to your restaurant. Good service will bring them BACK.

For the restaurant being in Carrolwood, I don't know that I will make the effort to drive up from South Tampa again until I read things have improved.

I'd really like to see these guys do well.  The beer is outstanding (lots of interesting, premium, draft and cask brews) and we need more places like this in Tampa, especially Carrollwood, which can feel like one big corporate strip mall.  The people in charge down there are definitely paying attention with the locally farmed menu and Tampa Cuban/Cracker/dash of Asian theme, but, like the other reviewers have said, the execution could use some work.  We had the Kim Chi appetizer, which while good, was way too vinegary and spicy to eat as served as a stand-alone item.  It would make a great addition to some other dish, and we just kept it on the table to eat with our entrees.  I has the beet and goat cheese salad as my main course- I was really happy with it, the greens were beautiful, and everything on it was fresh.  My bf had the Ropa Vieja, which I thought was a little bland, but he liked it, so everyone left pretty happy.  We were on the patio and service could have been a little better, but I think the CCB Brewpub is still evolving and they deserve our support!!