The Pearl Tampa

Reviews

• OR

  Oleksandra Ryzhkov

  1 day ago
  2.0
  This has always been one of our favorite locations—whether for a casual dinner or a special celebration. The food is consistently amazing. However, our experience yesterday was disappointing and overshadowed what should have been a wonderful evening. From the start, our server felt either overly pushy or completely inattentive. Our water glasses were never refilled, and when it was time to pay, we sat at the table for almost 15 minutes with empty glasses while our server repeatedly walked past us. When we finally paid, he made a visible expression of dissatisfaction at the tip and walked away without a thank you or goodbye. Great service should be consistent throughout the entire dining experience, not only when it’s time to bring the check. Unfortunately, the passive-aggressive attitude really took away from our anniversary celebration. The food was incredible as always, but it was hard to enjoy it while dealing with that level of service.
• TJ

  TyLisa Johnson

  2 days ago
  4.0
  I enjoyed it here! 8.5/10 — the service and ambiance was sparkling, really elevating the overall experience. i loved the art, the individual bathrooms, our attentive waiter and the overall ambiance. the menu was full of thoughtful combinations that will have your mouth watering, seriously. - The water street punch caught my eye because of the reposado tequila, but it was so much more than i was expecting. Robust and bursting flavors, with the St-Germain Elderflower and the basil. The strawberry gave it a fresh sweetness, and the grapefruit juice gave it a sharp tartness. It was spritzy and refreshing, with a cute, thin slice of cucumber dusted with lime zest. I really enjoyed it! 9/10 - the n’awlins style baked oysters were fantastic, definitely recommend! they come on a bed of rich garlic herb butter, and have a cheesy, herbaceous crust. the butter really was unforgettable! We even ordered more bread to eat all of it. - the harbor salad was full of creamy chunks of avocado, lump crab, plump shrimp, bacon and sharp bright quality from the vinaigrette — just so fresh and light. i didn’t really enjoy how mushy the croutons became, but otherwise it was delicious.
• MC

  Michael Combs

  2 days ago
  5.0
  Excellent experience at this one of a kind Seafood restaurant in the heart of Channelside literally right across the street from Benchmark Arena, formerly Amalie Arena! The menu is spectacular and has something for everyone. I loved the Harbour salad which was rich with scallops, crab meat, and shrimp and featured a very nice red wine vinaigrette. I also loved the smoked whitefish spread and the Thai style mussels. For dessert I went with the iconic brown sugar pie which delighted with every bite. Overall I was very happy and impressed with The Pearl Tampa and certainly will be back!!
• PV

  Paul Vagnini

  Nov 10, 2025
  3.0
  Be aware if you dine before games. I had to wait a few days before posting this. Let me start by saying our previous visit here before a hockey game was amazing is all aspects. This time everything was different. Our reservation for 4 was 4:45. We didn’t want to rush before the game. We sat in the back room. Jeff was our server. He started off strong and quickly became overwhelmed and nonexistent. Came for drink order. That was about it. 45 minutes before we got his attention again. No eye contact whatsoever. Every others table ordered drinks and food. And then their food started coming. We finally got his attention for an order of apps. Then meals. We did tell him of a food allergy and order was for crispy chicken sandwich. Food allergy is for pine nuts. He said you should be fine with the crispy chicken. My. Wife asked is there was possible to get a grilled chicken sandwich. He said they didn’t have a grilled chicken. Only Roasted Chicken. That was fine too. Simple chicken sandwich with mayonnaise and pickles. Then the meal and apps all came at the same time. It was ridiculous a we asked for apps first then meals. Sadly the two chicken sandwiches were both wrong. 50% of the meals were wrong. We asked for the manager as the service and meals were unacceptable. Spoonbread was now delivered as cornbread. Our previous order of spoonbread was amazing. This was dry cornbread. Manager Gus came was presenting an attitude and chest hair through his low buttoned shirt. He was so unprofessional. We explained our previous visit was amazing. Service and food amazing but sadly this was not the case this time. Gus said we own the mistakes. We said communication was terrible and service was non existent. When manager was there our server basically disappeared for the rest of our experience. Except to apologize at the end. Gus did offer to comp some of our meals and apologized again as we left. Great location for games at the arena but manager said they can’t seem to handle pre game surge of customers. We will never be back.
• KW

  Kory Westerburg

  Oct 29, 2025
  5.0
  The Pearl was the highlight of our trip across Florida. We have traveled from Jacksonville to Gainesville, Orlando, Miami, Fort Myers, Sarasota and finally ending up in Tampa over the last three weeks. The Pearl was the perfect way to end the trip. Amazing food. Incredible atmosphere. Excellent 5-star service. We went in on a busy night (Elevation Worship was playing at the Benchmark Arena) so had to park in the paid lot a little down the way but the walk through Water St made it worthwhile. We walked in without a reservation and within 3 minutes they had a table ready for us. Both the hostess and waitress gave amazing recommendations. Definitely recommend the Smoked Salmon starter for any salmon lover. There is no portion of the salmon that doesn’t explode with flavor. We ended up ordering two. We then ordered the Scallops, Hanger Steak, and the Redfish. I don’t see how you could make the dishes better. The Chef has truly perfected these meals. The Hanger steak comes with Kimchi rice and it provides the perfect amount of kick (but not what I would call spicy) to compliment the amazing steak. The scallops have been the best scallops we have had in Florida thus far. You can tell the quality from every single bite. The redfish (apparently a newer menu item) was fresh and also an exquisite experience all on its own. You cannot go wrong with any of these dishes. To top it all off, we ordered three different pies, the brown sugar, the apple pie, and the Oreo pie (all with ice cream). The intensity we devoured them was almost embarrassing. All were amazing but the table consensus had the Oreo at the top. Now while you may think it’s just a typical pie with Oreos mixed in, it is not. They have somehow created the fluffiest cheesecake style pie with Oreo cookie pieces that makes every bite seem like eating an Oreo for the first time. Anytime I am in Tampa, this will be a must.

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