the bricks of ybor

phenomenal breakfast place with greatsandwichestoo. great location in ybor city and the perfect place for a big breakfast and bloody mary after a night of partying in ybor

great place! just a block away from the parking garage in a charming corner brick building. the walls are covered with art for sale, and the exposed brick wall adds ybor charm. we sat at the bar while waiting for our friend and enjoyed a few beers from their great beer list. its not overly long, but there is a choice for every taste. they also have a full liquor bar and wine. i noticed fresh mint, a muddler and bitters on the bar, which is a good sign for cocktails. but i was in a beer drinking mood. the bartender was friendly and attentive. we then moved to a table for lunch. i was torn between threesandwichesbut decided on the club. we had chips n salsa appetizer and the salsa was freshly made. my sandwich was huge and yes, a little dry. but the potato salad was the best ive ever had. my friend got the portabello mushroom sandwich and it was divine! even though my sandwich wasnt the best, there other items i want to try so i will be back soon!

my friends were right!. i had heard from several friends that the next time i'm in tampa i should try the bricks. people that know me seemed to think that this is the kind of restaurant that i would love, so on my last visit i made a point of it to see if they were right.
the atmosphere… bar/ restaurant/ coffee shop located on 7th avenue in ybor city with local art on the walls and live music on certain nights.
the service… our server was courteous and helpful, and our food arrived in the proper amount of time
the food… they offer a wide variety of beer, coffee and tea to sip on while you enjoy one of their unique appetizers, salads, orsandwichesthat are made up of an interesting combination of ingredients. they also serve "specialty" peanut butter and grilled cheese sandwiches.
there were three of us and so for an appetizer we decided to get the "taste of the bricks" (house-made hummus, house-made salsa, house-made black bean dip, vegetables, tortilla chips, pita slices - $12). everything on this platter was fresh and delicious, and just the right amount for three people.
then when it was time to order i had a ginger peach tea ($2 - delicious) and the pacific rim pulled pork (ponzu and coffee marinated roasted pork, asian slaw, hawaiian sweet bread - $8) and my side was the roasted potato salad. there were several othersandwichesthat sounded good, but i'm glad i tried this one for my first visit. the pork was tender and flavorful and made for a really nice sandwich. however the star of the show might have been the potato salad. i normally shy away from mayonnaise-based potato salads, but this was a sour cream base, served cold and mixed with bacon, cheese and chives, giving it a loaded baked potato flavor! it was quite memorable! i would definitely go back to the bricks and try some of the many other intriguing menu items.

sub-par sandwiches, uber-hipster vibe. the atmosphere -hip city meets casual skater hangout - is awesome. from the art on the walls to the art on the servers' bodies, it was all very funky and fun. the drink specials and the djs spinning - all fab.

thesandwichesand service, however, were less than spectacular. first of all, maybe it was time of day (a sunday afternoon), but the service was slow, sporadic, and the servers seemed very...self-absorbed in their minutiae. secondly, the sandwiches, although made with quality ingredients and conceptually a wonderful paring of meats and cheeses, fell short in their execution.

the bird and pig sandwich was a good attempt, if not underseasoned and dry. the pulled pork sammy was definitely dry (it had no sauce to accompany it) and the slaw, meant to dress the pulled pork, also leaned towards the dry side, making the sandwich eater longing for their glass of water, which lay empty thanks to the waitress, the potato salad side, although deliciously pungent and garlicky, was made with hard potatoes - did they even bother to boil them, i wonder? perhaps the best sammy was the kids pb&j - so simple, even they couldn't mess it up.

i may go back, to give the bricks another chance, but it was no special experience...especially for the price.

not great. really not sure how they got so many good reviews. the bread and chips weren't fresh, i could have made bettersandwichesat home. for dessert we had what amounted to cut up chunks of bananas and apples smeared with greasy peanutbutter and sprinkled w stale granola. the bill for 2 adults and one child was over 40$ for this drek. never coming back.

a great addition to ybor. i went to the bricks last weekend for the first time and was impressed. the whole restaurant has a great vibe and the staff was ready to please. top it off with good beer and greatsandwichesand you've got a winner. try it out.

this place looked like a coffee shop, so i figured typical trendy hipster coffee fare. but once we walked inside i realized that it wore a number of hats. sure there was the coffee bar but there was also the alcoholic beverage counter, the live music area and even a kitchen. we sat down and j-fur ordered her iced tea making it clear to the waitress that the iced tea was all she wanted. but that sly waitress placed a menu in front of us anyway and i couldn't help but look at it. it seemed like a relatively normal affair. there were appetizers, salads,sandwichesand breakfast fare. nothing that made it stand out. but then i came to the peanut butter bar section and realized how wrong i had been. there were pre

great lunch spot. really excellent lunch spot with sophisticated food in a casual atmosphere. much better food than your typical ybor city fare. great prices -- we love the breakfast all day menu too! this is an ideal lunch spot but the dinner experience leaves much to be desired. namely, poor service at dinner time is a let down. there is a young female server there with bleach-blonde hair that can't seem to take a drink order let alone keep glasses full. we have been several times with a group of people and the restaurant could have made a significant amount more off of us had she only been around once every 20 minutes or so to replenish our adult beverages and clear the table of empty bottles! she even asked one of the people in our party why they didn't tip. he had tipped but combined it with another person's tip. just rude! i didn't care much for the dimming of the lights in the evening, as the place is not formal enough to justify a barely-lit candle-light atmosphere. turn on the quirky disco ball in the back corner (whoch makes you dizzy and it impossible to see inside the place) and it negates any effort to make the place formal anyway. also, on one visit, i ordered a cappuccino and got an espresso. odd! big ups to the bricks for an excellent menu. you must try their bruschetta with a delicious mushroom/parmesan sauce. their porksandwichesare missing some sort of sauce, as their hawaiian roll is very bready and dry -- perhaps bring some special bbq sauce to the table as an aside? also, the hummus chips are good but don't need the fancy "hummus" sauce with them -- how about some real hummus? the asian slaw is mild, not for every palate. they do keep vinegar on the table to give it a boost. with that said, we still frequent the bricks and love the place. the food is a notch above the rest that is offered here in ybor in an unpretentious atmosphere. oh yeah, and the artwork, games and friendly / knowledgeable daytime staff are great too. and the peanut butter creations are ingenius -- try the elvis.

very enjoyable. my family took me to the bricks for a birthday meal and i really enjoyed it. they use peanut butter in all sorts of interesting way. i liked it on apples and bananas. the nachos were very good as was the hummus. all thesandwicheswere good and the service was perfect. when we arrived the music was very loud and although we did not ask, they turned it down very shortly after we were seated. there are so many items on the menu that i want to try, i'm sure i'll be going back soon. nice find for the new year. oh and extremely vegetarian friendly.

fresh and yummy. wanted to try something new for lunch today and tried this place out with co-worker. it won us over immediately with its open environment, good music selection and art. nice touches includes the halloween decorations and chilled jug of tap water. we each had tastysandwichesthat left us full and content for the rest of the work week. we will be back and highly recommend.