I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the newly opened tea room within the historic Rialto Theatre and am already looking forward to visiting this lovely venue again. * owner & staff personalities = 5 stars * food = 5 stars * service = 5 stars * ambiance = 5 stars * accessibility = 5 stars As an e-wheelchair user I was pleasantly surprised by all the subtle design decisions the new owners thoughtfully made when remodeling this historic building to ensure its accessibility. Accommodating everyone is important to them and it shows. read more

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The Rialto is beautiful inside. Nice venue for events big or small. The natural exposed brick is gives life to its natural beauty as it was built. The decor and aesthetic is like no other. read more

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Beautiful place to relax and enjoy a slow afternoon tea. The service is excellent. Try the tea of the day and branch out if you're inclined. They sent me home with a sachet of tea to brew at home. Such a sweet touch. read more

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Checked out the new Cafe Rialto inside the old theatre. Got the Sinatra latte. Delicious. They are in their first week so very much a soft opening. Staff is either very experienced or still being trained but all are so very nice and welcoming. I can't wait for them to be fully opened and staffed up. Parking is right outside the building and they have both street parking a a parking lot. read more

Rialto Theatre - The hot Sinatra Latte - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Visited this location during the A'One of a Kind Experience and it was sooooo dope. I didn't stop by when Aja was there but the experience was truly one in a lifetime. Love the location & venue! read more

Rialto Theatre - Nike Aone Event - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Cute old theatre in Tampa Heights. We were here for my daughter's piano recital. The space feels like a blank palette, and I think it'd be a neat venue for a wedding or holiday party. High ceilings, white washed brick behind the stage, nice hard floors. It can get cold in the winter. There's street parking, and there are some private lots. The neighborhood is up and coming but still has rough patches. read more

So I have seen a lot of negative reviews which we are quick to post. However, as humans we don't take the time to out to post about the good things. It becomes a task and an inconvenience. So I decided to take time out of my schedule and thank the venue for such an awesome experience and opportunity to experience this historic venue. Rialto has a lot of character and allowed us to "Set the Stage" for an unplugged experience read more

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This venue has such great potential. The cons outweighed the pros so much that I would not recommend this to anyone. Pros: Beautiful main hall and entrance. Tables and chairs were already set out. No breakdown of tables or chairs No cleaning necessary Cons: Hot! There were 5 plug in ac units and a loud big plug in fan to cool the place down (that never cooled down) The owner was very sarcastic and rude when she spoke to anyone. Upon leaving the owner said if you have anything you can call or text me. We told her we didn't have her number and her response was " I like it that way". Then gave us her card. Owner kept mentioning how she was watching us on the cameras. Owner kept pushing her way on the layout and floor plan. After we moved tables around, she would keep throwing indirects of how that's not what (Her) floor plan said. The bathroom stalls were extremely small. If you had to sit down. Your knees would almost hit the door that was a piece of painted plywood with a handle. We had to set up in the dark. The owner said she would be by before the start of the event to turn on the lights. To only turn on half of the lights. read more

We rented out the space for a big event. 100-150 people .. I wish I read the reviews before spending thousands of dollars for our event. Hope has known about it and She has done nothing. There is a huge air-conditioning problem there. From the time my party started to the time I left .. 5:30 till 10 o'clock ... myself and all the guests especially the ones that showed up dressed in business suits were drenched in sweat. It was cooler outside on a Florida evening than it was inside the venue. After reading these reviews, Hope knows full well of this problem! She knew we would be sweltering. She then lied and blamed the front door being open at times as if we were in an apartment. But again it was cooler outside ... people would go out front so they would stop sweating so profusely. Do not rent this space for a big event unless she fixes her air conditioning. read more

My son recently got married there and the owner was very difficult to work with, we had a fear about being able to cool the place down and we were right, it was soooo hot that guest started leaving early drenched, and the owner disappeared. I had a Aunt who went there as a child and the owner had said she would love to speak with her and when I tried to introduce them she was rude and blew us off. I'd think twice, no kitchen, just empty building with so many rules, it makes it hard to plan. read more

I am a filmmaker/wedding videographer who has shot at this venue tons of times in the past 5 years. However, last week I thought it would be a good idea to rent out the space for 3 hours for a corporate interview/testimony filming set. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. It started last week when only a few days after booking I get an email from the owner "Hope" that and I quote, "you are late on your invoice payment, my kids depend on these payments and it means a great deal to us". First off, After initial deposit I received ZERO emails regarding a payment was due. As soon as I received this email I sent the payment over asap, $80. It was unnecessary to make a comment about "her kids depending on it". For an individual like Hope to have SO many specific rules to follow she sure seems to match it by her professionalism. We rented to space from 3p-6p for a specific reason. One because of lighting at that time and how the inside of the space looks with that lighting and two because Hope has a specific rule on being out of there RIGHT at time you're scheduled for. She even came down to the shooting location to start turning off things 15-20 mins before our scheduled departure. We arrived at 2:50 (10 mins before start of our reservation) we get an email from Hope stating "I'm running late" I then ask how long behind and she says "5 minutes". Well, 20 mins later after our scheduled time Hope opens the side door with a baby in her hand. Welcomed in with no Hello, no sorry I'm late dipping into your start time, just opens the door. We quickly try to setup all of our equipment for the interview and start getting ready to film. There was an odd yellow painting leaning against a wall in the background that I myself, gently picked up and moved 1 foot over to the right to remove it from being seen in the shot. As soon as I could get back to my camera to begin filming, Hope sends me a text stating "Do not move paintings, I will be looking to make sure no damage is done". Like what?...Why is that necessary to write an email like that 30 seconds after I moved it, and what are you doing monitoring us on video 24/7? The worst part of the entire experience is when we were in the middle of an extremely intimate moment in the interview with our guest, and Hope comes inside from the MAIN doors with not ONE but TWO kids now. Door slams, running up stairs back and forth which is EXTREMELY loud and is terrible for our professional audio we are capturing. I specifically told Hope in email AND in person that I needed the space to be absolutely quite and no disturbances. I text Hope right away as I interrupt my guest from continuing to start over, "Please do not run upstairs, it ruins our audio". She then replies "I can enter whenever I want, there was no running." For someone that is monitoring the camera 24/7 I'm sure you can clearly see our setup and that should be respected and taken seriously since we rented out the space accordingly. We get it, you're in control, but respect our setup we rented. This was the absolute worst experience ever, and is extremely sad that this woman is an owner of a establishment. After reading other reviews, I can clearly see this isn't a first occurrence with this woman. Do not make the same mistake we did, there are TONS of beautiful locations to book instead of this one. read more

This is a cool old theater space. It's been lovingly restored as an event space. Tampa Heights on the rise. read more

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My husband and I had our wedding here this past October and goodness the space really is gorgeous. Photos do not do it justice!!! It was as breathtaking on our day, as it was the first day that I stepped into it! The bridal suite is also a great new addition to the space! It was a great spot for my husband and I to hang out in the quiet for a little bit. It was also the coldest room in the building! However, I am giving it 4 stars because we booked it with the alley way in mind only to find out 3 weeks before our wedding that it couldn't be used due to some issues the Rialto owners are having with the brewery behind them that shares the space. Had I not shared my layouts with the owner, I would have never known about the new changes. It made our cocktail area very tight! Not a huge deal but I definitely would have preferred having the alley way, especially considering we had booked a food truck for our food. Instead, we had to have the truck out front which made the experience cheap in my opinion. Not to mention, we couldn't get any bridal party photos under the arch or in front of the doors because of the whole ordeal. I will also say that the AC is lacking for 160 guests. Our wedding started at 4:30PM and ended at 11PM and the weather was a high of 86 and a low of 72. It even rained and still, all of our guests were sweating. Some even changed out of their clothes to keep cool! If I could do it again, I would definitely book this location in the Winter. All in all, its a great location. SO unique and historic and just absolutely breathtaking, the AC just needs some updating which is expected for an old building. read more

Ever since I heard that the historic Rialto Theatre had been spruced up, I have wanted to check it out. I got the opportunity a couple weeks ago at the inaugural Indie Flea market. I must say, this space is BEAUTIFUL. The theatre was opened originally in 1926 and closed down in the 40's. It is on the National Historic Registry and has so much charm. The building was recently fixed up and it is a great event space. Although we were here for a flea market, I imagine that this would be a great event space for parties and even weddings, as well. It has a very large and open lay out and I felt as though I had stepped back in time when I walked in! read more

PROS: The place is beautiful and your pictures will turn out amazing. Hope's husband is really nice, respectful, and easy to work with. CONS: I second and third the other horrible reviews. We had our wedding here a year ago and I waited to post a comment because we seriously thought of taking legal action against Rialto. I dont think you can sue for bad rude service. Hope was so very difficult to work with my staff, guest, and vendors. They absolutely hated her rudeness and unprofessionalism. We used Rialto because Hope told us parking was open to the parking lots in front and we could use the ally way. I understand now! That she doesn't exclusively own the ally way. She never told us, until the day before the wedding that we could no longer use the ally way, after showing us the ally way during walk through, because she did not get along with her business neighbors, whom she shares the ally. My guest found out the day of the wedding all the drama between her and her business neighbors(thanks for the info neighbors). When you go to he surrounding parking lots, why does it say no Rialto parking? There are other social spaces in the area? Why did we find out the parking change a day before the wedding, when management knew for months of the change? When our vendors arrived to drop off they ALL stated how they've worked Rialto before and how difficult the owner was. Before you book ask around. As we learned , late in the game, Hope is very very very rude and difficult to work with. My freaking guest hated it. Mind you my guest were not unruly and we left the place spotless. We did get our deposit back, but the experience was HORRIBLE. And she pretty much ruined our wedding with all the drama. Ruined is no understatement. read more

Stay away, far away from this place!! I can not give 0 stars or I would! This venue was not what we thought it was. My daughter chose this venue for her wedding and from the beginning it was a torment for me. Working with the owner, Hope, was very challenging. She disrespected me every step of the way. I told her to email the contract to me because I was the one paying for the venue, but she ignored me and emailed the contract to my daughter and made my daughter sign it. I was courteous enough to keep the communication through my daughter's email, to not make the process difficult for us. I now understand her idea of doing that, was just to keep me away from any issues that will arise later on, since the contract was not under my name. She would not allow my wedding planner to do her job but interfered in every step of the way including even making changes to the floor plan. Hop made it difficult for the vendors, the caterers, the bartenders, and the DJ. After so many complains from vendors and guests, we had to go in to her office to talk to her about her nonsense and how she was treating people. Again, what is she doing at the venue? Why is she supervising my event? Really? Even after the event, the pain continued. Three weeks later, my daughter contacted her for the security deposit refund and Hope replied by saying that we destroyed a wall, wait! A wall? And claimed she had to make repairs to the place and repaint for what we did. Keep in mind that during the walk through that night, her associate said that everything looked fine. She ended up keeping our deposit for entirely made up reasons. This review could be ten times as long if I went into every detail, but I hope it is enough to keep others from having their special days ruined the way my daughter's was. All I can say is shame on Hope and it is a shame that people like her are in business at all. read more

Do not use this venue! The owner is extremely difficult to work with and is well known in the community for giving the vendors a hard time. She will only allow one vendor at a time to unload on the day of the event and does not allow the alcohol to be brought in until mid-day, the day of the wedding! This is an event management nightmare! To make matters worse, on the day of my daughter's wedding, we brought in floral decor, which had been utilized before, only to have Hope (owner) tell our florist it could not be used! This cost us hundreds of dollars with no warning despite a precedence! We also had wanted to utilize the alley for cocktail hour, only to be told after booking that we could not use the space due to the owner's issues with the neighbors. Finally, as mentioned in another review, the air conditioner did not function as expected on the day of our event, causing many of our 160 guests to be hot and uncomfortable. Although the venue may be lovely, the difficulties in dealing with the owner are not worth it! Planners and vendors have a financial interest and will not write a bad review, but take it from one who used this venue for a large wedding, AVOID at all costs! read more

Attended a wedding there on June 22, 2019. The AC is not sufficient for the venue. It was sweltering!!!! Everyone was dripping and it was very uncomfortable. Some people left early because of the heat. The bride was told that the AC was being fixed before the event. This obviously did not occur! It was cooler outside! Also, the floor was filthy! There are many better places to have an event! I would give it a zero if I could! read more

I am a wedding planner and Rialto is one of my favorite venues In Tampa! I love how they have kept so much of the original feature and charm. Hope, the venue owner is great to work with and is always available to answer and questions. The theater is a blank canvas so it really allows for couples to customize their vision while still being in a unique space. It's also centrally located in Tampa heights, right down the street from downtown. The whole neighborhood is growing and the Rialto theater is a corner stone of this amazing area! read more

BEWARE!!!! This is not an event space, it is a sauna. It is run by a very difficult woman. She is not accommodating, and downright rude. She insisted on opening the doors at exactly 2:00 and our event was in four hours.There is no place to put your garbage, no dumpster! WTF? You have to take your garbage with you! YES! We had to rush around as we were told what not to do from the owner Hope. Hope, what an ironic name for her. There is no hope for this events space. The bathrooms are horrible. They look like a third world country in there. They were filthy, and remained that way through the event. She doesn't deserve your $. There is no central air in this dump. You better be willing to sweat. It truly was a Disco Inferno, without any fun. Everyone at the event left early because of the heat, and there are more fun places to be. The interstate traffic is more fun than this place. Go to Armature Works a block away. Now that is an events space with hope. read more

I went there and attended an event. I saw the woman Hope who owned the place yell at people who were renting to the place. She was nasty to a couple of people who walked in the front double doors and accidentally left the door open. And then yelled that there was a dent in a wall placed by the people renting it. All during the big event. However, the entire inside walls are missing paint, dented, scratches and even holes in the wall. I didn't even rent the place and I can tell you I would never rent there simply based off the attitude the owner had towards others. It is sad too because this place could be a really beautiful spot for a wedding. read more

I need to start this review off by saying that the Rialto is a gorgeous venue.With that said, working with the owner, Hope, was a nightmare. As a venue owner, Hope has few people skills and makes no attempt to support her customers. As we went for our tour, she explained how it's a blank canvas and you can do whatever you want.We were looking for something with a brewery-like feel and she specifically showed us the side alley way and explained how we could open this area up and have cocktail tables, lighting and games for our guests.However, it turned out that Hope was renting out space that was not hers to rent!My day-of-event planner informed me that her other bride was told that she could not use the alleyway because there were some legal problems.We had not been made aware of this from Hope and the wedding was less than 2 weeks away.Come to find Hope is not only not legally allowed to use this space anymore, but figured she would tell us day of and it would be no big deal... WHAT?! Hope showed no empathy, concern, or responsibility for this situation.We made games specifically for this and I didn't even get to see or use them! There is no storage at the venue for décor, and set-up is not allowed to begin until noon making the schedule tight for a 4:30 wedding. Hope does not budge on these requirements. Also, the air conditioning at the Rialto was lacking. Guests were drenched in sweat. Two weeks after the wedding, we had to again pursue remediation for the alleyway from Hope. Her only offer was $250 explaining that that was the amount she "would" have rented the alley space for if it were hers to rent. We told her this was unacceptable. Hope then tried to hold part of our security deposit even though we received the "all clear" from her husband after cleaning. After numerous emails and requests, Hope would not work with us to conclude this matter satisfactorily. While I still believe it is a beautiful space, I must warn to be very wary of utilizing this venue! read more