pane rustica bakery & cafe

love the place.... but hate the overdose of noise. uncomfortably loud but our food and service made up for this. enjoyed the watermelon salad and the twin cheeks. perfect combination.

wonderful unplanned dinner. it's been years since i was in pane rustica so when a friend mentioned that we meet him there for dinner and a drink i thought to myself - ok a pizza could work so long as i can get a glass of wine:) imagine my surprise when i walked in and saw the bar area and the full dining room - wow - things had changed. although it looked packed we were seated immediately. our server (we'll call him chad to protect his identity) was prompt and courteous and he made thoughtful suggestions on the menu. aside from spilling a glass of wine on one of the people at our table (which the manager quickly apologized for and after asking for our preference on how he could apologize, provided us with a complimentary bottle of the wine we were drinking) was accurate with our orders and overall very pleasant. our table enjoyed one of the flatbreads that was not only delicious but also enough to feed 4 people. i had the veal cheek bolognese which aside from hoping for a bit more pappardelle was also very good. additionally we had several small plates and everyone had a salad. i also ordered the apple tart (holy cow was it good!) and penne with vodka sauce to go for my boyfriend who was at home. our total bill (including one $40 bottle of wine - they bought the other:) was about $130 for five people. for the atmosphere, quality of the food and the service i would rate it as a very nice night out!! thanks pane rustica (and by the way - you are much more than a bakery & cafe although your breads are some of my favorite in town!)

this past friday we decided to try pane rustica bakery & café on s. macdill ave. in south tampa for dinner. i had always heard good things about pane rustica . after eating there this past weekend i now understand why and am glad we checked it out. pane r

like the food. hate looking for a place to sit! tables way too close.

best lunch. i love pane :) a weekly pizza stop for me every week!

one night of bad service ruined it for us. i came to pane rustica for dinner for the first time with a large group. someone had written me a private message on this site to try it, because i frequently lament the lack of decent bread in tampa (helped somewhat by trader joe's who has their bread shipped in). i thought the food and portions were average for the price and setting. the food overall was good, but nothing that really stands out in my memory. i added salt to the usual salad, the special eggplant soup was pretty flat in flavor, and the seafood entree was good. based on food alone, i'm not sure i would return. i'm from the northeast, and for the money this is nothing special. i wanted to check the price of their bread loaves, given that those prices are not posted online or in store, they are probably too expensive. though i never got a chance to check bread prices because of the following story.

the night we had dinner, our waiter was terrible. he acted as if he was drunk. he slurred his words, his hands shook almost violently, he got a lot of our orders wrong, he kept trying to take half finished things away from people who were still consuming them, bumping into us and spilling water on us, etc... the other staff even noticed something was amiss because they were chuckling at him all through our meal. he seemed to get worse and worse as the night progressed. at the end of that, the bills for our table came out completely wrong, and so we got the manager. the final bills still had a 20% group gratuity that we complained about and had dropped. they brought over the leftover bread "here, take what you want, it'll get thrown out anyways..." most of the people at our table had been there multiple times, and they all swore they'd never come back. i felt the same way.

great experience

this is one of my favorite places for weekend brunch and weekday lunch. the side of herb roasted potatoes is a must try, i've had a few different sandwiches from here and they're all good. the weekend brunch has a good variety of killer pastries and great entrees, the quiche is the stuff your foodie dreams are made of.

one of our favorite spots in this area of tampa bay.visited here more than a few times for lunch and dinner.food is always fresh, tasty and some good variety as well. the baked goods and coffee are a real treat for a lite lunch or take with option after a good meal.the add of the bar was good but did not add as much as i first thought it would in retrospect.the vibe here is that of a european café in some town over there.would gladly recommend and visit again when in the area.  a bright spot on the tampa scene and if choosing here or datz down the way would come here instead.

always a fantastic experience!. this is a great example of a five star restaurant! i've been coming to pane rustica since around 2010, and have not once been disappointed, in fact, i've always been very satisfied. whether i'm here for lunch, dinner, or a snack, they always have a good variety of food that i like. for lunch, i either get a slice or two of pizza or a grilled chicken sandwich. the pizza here is one of the best that i've ever had - it's extremely thin and crispy, and the slices are huge so one of their slices is like the size of three regular slices of pizza. for the grilled chicken sandwich, i ask for no red pepper or greens and get it on rosemary focaccia bread - it's so good! plus, i get a side of their homemade potato chips, which is also very good. at lunch, you order at the register and then get the food brought to you, but at dinner, it's full table service. at dinner, i usually get an individual pizza or a margherita flatbread, which is even thinner than the pizza. rather than getting bread and butter or bread and olive oil before the meal at dinner, you get bread and hummus, which is nice and more unique, not to mention that surrounding the hummus is olive oil. for dessert, i usually get a chocolate chip cookie from their baked goods area. i love chocolate chip cookies, and i can say with confidence that pane rustica's chocolate chip cookie is one of the best that i've ever had - it's not too chocolatey, and is nice and soft. the gelato and other desserts are good, but nothing beats their chocolate chip cookie. pane rustica's atmosphere is very nice, it's modern and rustic at the same time. don't forget that you can also eat at the tables surrounding the bar. the employees are always friendly and helpful. overall, pane rustica is one of my favorite restaurants in tampa, and don't just try it for lunch or dinner, try it for both!

a little sugar please. this was our first time here. i'd been wanting to make the 25 mile drive for a long time, ever since seeing its ratings/reviews on urbanspoon.
the place was packed, on the cool side/front doors open, & loud. the boneless short ribs, sauce, whipped potatoes (not mashed/smashed/or any other unacceptable version), & asparagus were quite palatable. the asparagus had a definite smoked flavor, nice. sea scallops were excellent but had a mildly spicy bite that accumulated, bland tastees beware.
service was good; prices were what i'd rate as ***1/2. the only negatives were the bread evo2 dip (none of the usual pesto but an assortment of non-garlicky items) & the bar. my first drink was a raspberry mojito which lacked major portions of rum & sugar & then the red sangria, which also had minimal sugar. the pantry must have been running low on sugar, & the bartenders had to ration the sweet.
i even commented to our waiter that i'd had raspberry mojitos much better than theirs. no matter, no remedy, no adjustment..

consistent reliable and delicious. great value---eclectic menu---outstanding food ---well prepared---efficient and knowledgeable servers --my picks: fresh seafood---pork porterhouse; chicken with savory bread pudding and greens---scallops awesome---rustica salad with polenta croutons---watermelon salad a blend of sweet and sour---dessert summer cake --the finest---apple tort not to forget---flat bread pizza's the very very best---carmelized onions bacon gorgonzola---you will never go any place else!!

first visit. i had an early dinner on november 8th. being a saturday i went early since i sensed that it would be crowded later on. my review is not so much about the food (which was good), but about the service. our waiter was chris, since it was our first visit, he patiently explained about the menu and after we asked was spot on in his recommendations. he was excellent. i also noticed that the manager was working hard to make everyone happy. i would like to just add a little constructive criticism. after chris took our order the young man who brought over our dinner seemed out of place in that he did not greet us or smiled. i wonder if the waiter and the manager do not realize that someone else can undo all their great work. despite this, my rating is a high one thanks to chris .

below average flat bread pizza. ordered flat bread pizza for take out- it was soggy and undercooked. not recommended.

overall good spot. quality food, someone in the kitchen management knows what they are doing and creates innovative interesting dishes at prices that are not obscene. good wine list and cocktails. could do better on the beer selection. great bakery which is featured in many dishes. service is, at best, average, heavily because the place is always pretty crowded. one complaint: the back windowless room. being seated here is like walking into a beautiful hotel, past all the suites and rooms with a view, and then descending into the basement and checking you into the boiler room. you should get a discount for complete and total lack of ambiance.