Carmel Kitchen & Wine Bar
| Address: | 2548 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater, FL 33761, USA |
| Phone: | +1 727-724-4228 |
| Site: | carmel-kitchen.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–11PM 11:30AM–11PM 10AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
B
B Sab-Dem
Well, I took the wife here anticipating a decent experience based on reviews as well as briefly gazing at the menu a few different times when deciding where to go for dinner. Many times before I had chosen not to dine here due to my general skepticism in trying new places (that werent personally recommended). We get there and I think wow this place is a lot nicer than I expected, so far so good. Even better they are hip with the IPad menus which basically eliminates the need for a server. Fast forward to our server (young attractive female with glasses) who basically decided to be non existent the rest of our dining evening and I kid you not she had no other tables. In fact there were only 3 tables there total including ours and the other 2 had EXCELLENT service from their speedy and precise server who I believe was from a European country based on her lovely accent. Anyway I digress, we order a pumpkin martini that was supposed to use a certain Pumpkin Vodka and as the bartender was making it we hear him say to our server (he was quite loud, the place isnt that big, and it was slow) that they are out of said vodka. So Mr. Mixologist decided to concoct something on his own which tastes heavily like cinnamon and chocolate. When our server brings us this drink my wife takes a few sips and slides it over to me. TERRIBLE, anyway we tell our server very politely of course, she takes the drink back and then the true horror began. Our food which was probably the only good part of the experience. She had the filet, I had some chicken tangine type dish. The food was great but I swear our awkward server did not come back to our table the rest of the night, she didnt even bring our check the lovely European server did who actually cared about her job. I dont know where your management is finding these people such as our awkward young lady in the glasses who pretty much acted as if we were horrible people because Mr. Hotshot bartender thought he could pull a fast one? Having quality staff is an essential part of running any business. You know people who are able to act in a professional manner? I thought this was a "higher" class establishment. The staff should carry themselves as such. Have a spine and approach people in an honest manner. More importantly, its not cute to keep people waiting in excess of 10-15 minutes after being done with their dinner to check up on them and bring them their bill. Common sense people.
DO
Donna Rupert
I had wanted to try this restaurant since it open, but was waiting for some friends or family to mention they had tried it, but no one had and I know why now. 3 of the four people in our party ordered steaks. We had asked the waitress about them before we ordered and asked specifically what a medium steak looked like in the middle. She said pink center.. I should have questioned it a bit more but she was training a new person so I assumed pink was just that, warm pink center. Two of us ordered medium and one ordered medium-rare. The medium rare was medium. The medium was medium well to well-done both had very little pink and half of each of them had no pink so their method of cooking them is not even. The steaks were tender, but not flavorful. The fries with the steak frite were good but the mayonnaise and ?? dip was eww. The drinks were fine and they have happy hour til 7. They were out of one of the lower end wines so I went a step up and it was fine. The Sangria was AWFUL.. Just terrible and sour… The other person in our party had the red snapper he said it was ok. One of the servers was plain out rude. We found a nice sterling silver bangle bracelet and we stop her to turn it in and as we told her and handed it to her she grabbed it walking away as I was speaking. I was requesting if no one claimed it, I asked if I could be called to pick it up. Well she was long gone before my words were finished and she mumble something but never returned to get my number. I called today to see if anyone turned in a silver bangle and no one had. I realize that had very little to do with my dinner but with the overall experience I wouldn’t go back there. There are too many places in the area with tasty steaks and servers that know how to explain how the chef prepares them. Sorry. This one is off the list.
RI
Ric White
This place is one of our favorites in the entire Tampa Bay area. You must dine here and enjoy their Tapas experience of modern Mediterranean meets gulf style Florida cuisine. Our second trip in and it was fantastic. Our server tonight was Alisa and she was a real professional. She was on her A+ game from the beginning, her presentation was superb. The Zardetto, Brut Prosecco di Conegliano we toasted with our guest of honor went down incredibly with the Basque Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. Yes, Italians can produce a sparkling wine to rival a good french champagne. This was one of the finest pairings you can enjoy here. Our other favorites were the Chickpea Fries with their aioli , seasonal flatbread, but to die for is the Braised Short Rib, portobello mushroom, fontina and mission fig Flatbreads. We paired it with the Beronia Reserva Tempranillo from Spain and it was the meal of my month, if not year ! We ended the night with our guest ordering the heavenly Lava Cake and the finest homemade vanilla ice cream complement , closed with their signature Cappacino ! I forgot to mention this place is cutting edge with your own iPad ordering system. Each table gets an iPad for ordering, the drinks and menu goes right to the respective kitchen, which steam lines the process, and your server simply ensures the Isare dotted and the Ts are crossed. Cant wait to go back !
A
A Private User
My wife and I really enjoyed this place. Their signature item that sets them apart is that they use iPads for their menu. Right now it just a PDF displayed on the screen, but they are developing an app that will allow you to send your order directly to the kitchen. Given that the menu is Tapas style, this is perfect since you usually order several smaller items and not all at the same time. Sweet! If youve been to the Living Room in Safety Harbor, the portions are smaller than that, but they are also appropiately priced so you will end up with more variety for a similar price. My wife and I got 5 small items and the bill was $33 "out the door" (no drinks or wine). Very reasonable. The manager will definately keep this place going. We had a sub-par waitress and the manager was on top of it and offered us a glass of wine for the wait. He was very personable, but not in your business either. Perfect for this type of place. I realize that this is a new place, so once they weed out the mediorce wait-staff, this place will be unstoppable. Will certainly be back!
A
A Private User
chicken skewers were good. Moroccan chicken very bland....would not get it again. We were handed ipad and told to order. No assistance or recommendations, or what came with what. Once we had typed up our whole order, only then did server come over, to notify us, that if we did not want to get everything at once, we needed to delete those items, wait, and place remaining order later. Really? What am i tipping the server for exactly? So i just had everything come at once....didnt need the hassle. I ordered the couscous as a side, only to notice that I didnt pay close enough attention, and it was already a side of my Moroccan chicken. This probably would have been caught with some interaction from a wait staff. I feel like they are trying to be trendy with Ipads and marketing selections as tappas like, but in the end its okay food, and somewhat annoying set-up.
