St Barts Island House Rstrnt   

Awesome food!!! Friendly service and great music.

I went as the result of the smooth jazz search for things to do while in Tampa .. I am thrilled with the time spent at the Island House! The band that was there that afternoon (Ladyfinger) was excellent! GREAT JAZZ! The service was excellent and the ambiance made for a perfect place to be on a Sunday afternoon for a tourist. The buffett was unbelievable crablegs cooked to perfection, wonderful salads were among the many choices available that afternoon. I plan to make my way back for more of the great music and wonderful atmosphere. St Barts put Tampa / St Pete on my repeat visit list!!!!!

I dined at St Bart's on 8/5/06 with 4 friends. The poor service began upon our arrival when they couldn't find our reservation despite at least 3 calls in the preceding week and that very day, when we changed our reservation from a party of 7 to 5. After 10 minutes of bumbling by the hostess and manager, they found our reservation under a misspelled name. How many reservations did they have for 7 or 5 people? We were led through a mostly empty restaurant to a very large table set for 7. We asked to move to a smaller table nearby already set for 5. The table was not reserved...more bumbling. We made an executive decision and sat at the smaller table. We ordered bottled water, which arrived promptly with no water glasses. We served ourselves using the wine glasses at the table. The water glasses arrived about 5 min later, filled with ice water and later refilled with a mixture of bottled and tap on a inconsistent basis. Our waiter was intrusively chatty and forgetful. New courses arrived before clearing the dirty dishes from the previous. After the main course was delivered, the waiter did not return to inquire if all was satisfactory. My $29 filet was an overdone medium well instead of medium rare. The quality of the other food was OK up to that point. We ordered cappuccinos, decaf coffee and several desserts. The decaf came at least 10 min after the cappuccinos with the wrong dessert; a questionable crème brulee in a coconut shell. We lingered over coffee and dessert at a table cluttered with 15 empty glasses and assorted dirty dishes. The waiter did not return until he presented the check. Thank goodness, the company was excellent! My friends and I will not dine at St. Bart’s again. There are far too many superior restaurants in Tampa Bay. Why subject oneself to such poor service and so-so food?

This is definitely one of Tampa's 5 (or so) best restaurants. We've been there 3 times, twice for full dinners and once for a lighter meal of salad and tapas, and have been delighted each time with the food, the atmosphere and the service. Don't know what happened with "Not so pleasant", who went there in May of 2005 (see previous review). Maybe they just belong at Cracker Barrel. Or, perhaps the problem is that they went there looking for "foo" instead of food!