pane rustica bakery & cafe

wonderful unplanned dinner. it's been years since i was in panerusticaso 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 panerustica(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 panerusticabakery & café on s. macdill ave. in south tampa for dinner. i had always heard good things about panerustica. after eating there this past weekend i now understand why and am glad we checked it out. pane r

one night of bad service ruined it for us. i came to panerusticafor 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.

always a fantastic experience!. this is a great example of a five star restaurant! i've been coming to panerusticasince 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, panerusticais one of my favorite restaurants in tampa, and don't just try it for lunch or dinner, try it for both!

there is nothing like a comfy neighborhood bakery and cafe and panerusticais one of my favorite local spots. nestled in the heart of palma ceia at 3225 south macdill, panerustica is a food lover’s haven with rustic sandwiches, hearty pastas, decadent sweets and of course, a coffee bar. i have spent many mornings at panerustica having coffee with friends and it  is one of my favorite spots to read a book and relax. aside from their cafe menu, they also feature a full bar and dinner menu with exquisite entrees and exotic cocktails. i will be featuring their dinner menu and cocktails next month, so for now i want to focus on one of my favorite sandwiches at  panerustica…… smoked turkey.   served on your choice of bread, this heavenly sammich consists of smoked turkey, sweet onion jam, tomato and aioli .  i had mine on rosemary focaccia and it was outstanding. comforting and beyond tasty, this is one of my favorite sandwiches in tampa bay.     the sweet onion jam is what really mak

lovely meal. just thought i'd throw my two cents in.

we went to panerusticathis last saturday before heading off to an 8 o'clock show. i had already seen pictures of the outside so driving up to a mini mall wasn't too disconcerting. and luckily, walking in the decor was warm and beautiful. it didn't at all feel like the kind of place that people would be walking in to scream out orders to the bakery, or bringing groups to come and get gelato, which was what i had been worried about as i was taking my boyfriend here for his birthday dinner and had been looking for something upscale.
i had made reservations so we were immediately taken back to our table. it was a little half couch-half table along the back wall and you could see the open kitchen and the bakery working away. on a personal note, i hate these kinds of tables and i really wish restaurants would stop seating two tops this was. yes, it's much more functional, but i hate being on top of other diners and later in the meal that was an issue.
so, the food. the first thing that was brought to the table was bread with homemade hummus. honestly, i was completely unimpressed. i've had better bread from whole foods and the hummus badly needed salt. but it is just bread so even though this is a bakery, i let it go.
the cocktails looked creative and tasty so i decided to start with the smashed grapes while my boyfriend started with his ever present glass of malbec. the malbec was very tasty (it's hard to do a bad malbec) and the smashed grapes, though good, was.. i don't have another word for it, watery. the flavors were all there but it tasted like they had put everything in a shaker, let it sit for a little too long and then strained it. the water was palpable. either way, it must have been good enough to finish because after the first course had came and went it was gone too and i moved on to a very nice white blend from spain that i was very happy with.
the first course. i decided to start out with the grilled asparagus with the cheddar fondue. they were grilled to perfection and the fondue was creamy without wimping out on flavor. my boyfriend started with the kurobuta pork cheeks which he loved, but when i had a taste i found a little lackluster. maybe i just failed in my bite to get some of the cranberry sage jus because i thought it really needed something to brighten it up.
second course for me was the scallops with the corn fondue and for him the wild stripped bass with the boar bacon. the entrees is where this place really shined. my scallops were cooked to perfection, the corn fondue was creamy and permeated with the flavor of fresh summer corn. the rendered chorizo gave it the exact salty bite it needed and the crispy potato coins were the perfect crunch. i would definitely recommend this dish. his snapper was perfectly cooked, the boar bacon has a wonderful flavor that was not at all gamey, the brussels sprouts were impossibly fresh without any bitter aftertaste and the tabasco butter is exactly what you wanted on that beautiful piece of fish. i'm sure the dishes sound a little overdone but somehow it all melded together perfectly with every component feeling necessary.
we were originally going to head over to the harry waugh dessert room after dinner, but we had underestimated how long it would take to eat. when the server said that dessert was complimentary on your birthday, that solidified our choice. seeing as it was his birthday, he picked. i would have went for the cookie sundae as i'm fonder of sweeter desserts, but he likes things lighter and so he picked the summer cake with the blueberry compote.
i have to say, it was a great choice. the cake itself was so well done. i have a little old italian couple that lives across the street from me. they owned a bakery for thirty years and send over this exact cake all the time. they fail on so many levels in comparison. the summer cake from pane was light and sweet but buttery and umptious. it had a perfect crumb and went delightfully with the blueberry compote and the zabaglione. i will say their zabaglione could have used some improving on as instead of a creamy custard it felt like they had made it in the gelato machine and left it in for too long. maybe we just got a bad batch. my boyfriend isn't italian so he didn't notice at all.
the whole thing came to a neat $140 and i'd say it was worth it. we left pleasantly full and happy unlike some other posh restaurants who forget that the end game is supposed to be to feed you. i would definitely like to go back again if for no other reason than to try their rack of lamb and the salmon that both had me torn as to what to order.
i always forget to mention this part but the service was well paced, friendly and accommodating. to me service that you don't notice is there is the best kind so it was wonderful. and as for the seating being bothersome, at the tail end of the meal, after the dessert had come, we had a very annoying pair of blondes sit next to us and they proceeded to be loud and obnoxious until we left. i felt bad for the older couple who was on our other side.
overall, four stars. couple of minor things, but all in all a great meal. i would go back and i would recommend.

great food, great atmosphere. we came to panerusticawith a large group and the service was impeccable, not to mention the delicious food! we are looking forward to our next visit...which will surely be sooner rather than later!

foodie momma. panerusticaa consistently great eatery...glad to have it in our back yard. whenever we have guests come into town we take them there with no worries. if something's ever not right-they fix it.

of the 200 or so times i've eaten at pane never once has the meal been bad. now statistically i don't even know how that's possible, you'd think at least freakin' once it would have such an off day that it would just suck and lose it's #1 status. nope. the best sandwich, burger, spare ribs, ravioli, veal cheeks, scallops, cupcake, cornbread, pastry, blah, blah, blah, that i've had in tampa- all at pane. speaking of pastries… panerusticais in a very unassuming retail plaza just south of bay to bay on macdill ave. in south tampa. you could drive by it a dozen times and never notice it, and they don't really advertise (tha

best restauarnt in town. penerusticamay be one of the great restaurant sucess stories in a long time. they started as a small bakery and sandwich shop and have developed and grown into a top 5 full service restauarant, if not #1, in south tampathe seafood, meats are top notch and some great flavors. the service is impeccable, especially in the new bar area. you have to love the bread and hummus that comes complimentary to the table. i used to go here all the time for lunch, it has now become a must for dinner as well.

p.s. where else can you get silver oak by the glass. love it!!

consistantly good and growing!. started going to panerusticawhen it opened in the little tiny place across the street from my house - was there three times a week and usually had to wait for a table no matter what time of day... was so excited when they moved to a larger location down the street on macdill. it was good to see any restaurant prosper when so many don't make it. it's legions of loyal regulars can't be wrong... interestingly wonderful and sometimes unusual combinations of flavors, taste and textures, solid standards with a twist, and hands down some of the best sandwiches in town.

not kid friendly. great food, and you can read about that in other reviews.

panerusticais not the place to bring your kids (mine are 2, 8, and 10). service was fine, but we were exiled to the table by the kitchen in back, and no overtly kid-friendly items existed to our knowledge.

i'll be back--but it will be a date night for me and my wife.

great neighborhood spot. we are so llucky to have panerusticain south tampa. love their menu, love the new bar. we had a great experience at the bar from the very first day. great food, great staff.


-----15 jun, 2010-----

love it. it is one of the places that i always love returning to. there isn't anything that is not exceptional.

don’t let this non-descript strip mall location dissuade you- panerusticais a hidden south tampa gem. focusing on hearty country cooking, this bakery and café consistently serves up delicious artisan breads and a variety of robust pastas, wood-fired piz

best restaurant in south tampa. panerusticais hands down one of the best restaurants in tampa. it's elegant yet casual atmosphere is a breath of fresh air after a busy day or for a romantic evening. i have had almost everything on the menu and the food is absolutely superb. presentation is beautiful and always consistent. always a mouth watering experience. if you are a frequent visitor, the daily specials list is always a treat. they absolutely serve the freshest seafood in town. the service is outstanding and very knowledgeable of the menu and wine list.