Fly Bar and Restaurant Fred Quinones THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Fly Bar & Restaurant

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Fly Bar & Restaurant Awards

In a rehabbed 1920s storefront, this Tampa spot is "fly" alright, and the buzz in deafening.
Openings: Dinner nightly

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THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Fly Bar & Restaurant, Tampa, FL


THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS Fly Bar & Restaurant Restaurant Review:


Tampa native Leslie Shirah is the brainchild behind Fly Bar & Restaurant; she honed the concept during a 15-year stint in San Francisco, where she owned three restaurants. And the concept is this: a menu offered until late, late; a share-it-with-friends approach to world-beat small plates; suave cocktails; a little live music; and a minimalist-hip décor. Oh, and did we mention it’s inexpensive? Exposed brick walls with picture-perfect crumbling plaster are the backdrop for local artists' richly colored propaganda mural-style canvases. A brushed concrete floor is dotted with industrial-chic tables on castors and heavy metal garden chairs. Wide sliding glass doors open the whole front of the restaurant out to the sidewalk, where there is another cluster of tables, and a thronged rooftop bar sends enticing drifts of conversation to the sidewalk below. Chef Fred Quinones adopts a fusion approach that seldom commingles odd bedfellows on the same plate. Some dishes are Asian inflected; others hail from South America (or even the U.S. South with the shrimp and grits), and most are generously portioned. Everything is created with foresight, so be sure to ask about dessert.