Genesis M.

Before I get into the nitty details, I want to make it known that the only decent factor involving this establishment is the outside environment aura because of the beach and our waitress Nikki -- she was a fabulous waitress, changed her gloves multiple times when touching other tables and she was accommodating and compassionate. Where should I start? Maybe with what bothered me the most. As the big foodie that I am, I've been writing several reviews and going to various places eating fabulous food and this restaurant failed to suit my expectations. Again, not trying to rub you off the wrong way because I know I'm not Kim Kardashian and deserving of top notch service and high class food, but the portions were as small as a microorganism and keep in mind that microorganisms are extremely tiny. Usually when you go out to eat you're obviously hungry and studies show that many customers mainly eat with their eyes. I couldn't eat with my eyes because I could barely see the plate considering how small it was. The food was subpar and wasn't anything to die for. This isn't a restaurant that I would visit multiple times because I loved it so much because in reality I didn't. Also, the restaurant is entirely opened so despite me trying to avoid the mosquitoes outside they still found their way inside and came to enjoy a feast -- at least someone was eating good.

Gretel Y.

Rowe Bar is A-OK. It's located inside The Don CeSar and is where the majority of the pool and beach side service food comes from. We dined at Rowe Bar on our first night at the hotel. They seemed to be overwhelmed and understaffed that evening. There was group standing outside waiting to be seated when we arrived. Guests are encouraged to wait outside until a staff member can assist them. After waiting a couple of minutes, my husband asked the other group if they've been assisted. When they said no, my husband decided to go inside the restaurant to get a staff member's attention. Both of our groups were seated shortly after. We ordered the following: Spicy margarita Paper plane to paradise $14 Corn meal crusted calamari $14 Don CeSar salad $14 Seared gulf snapper $33 Half dozen wings (bbq) $16 The drinks were excellent. Loved them both. The food was good and seasoned well. However, they were definitely pricey. Portions were decent, but not enough to warrant the high prices. The menu was very similar for the pool and beach side service, minus a few items. While at the beach, we ordered a handful of times: fruit, salads and sandwiches. A small grouper sandwich was $17 without sides... We also ordered breakfast twice through Uncle Andy's. Convenient, but again, pricey.

Jim S.

Amazing food and very good drinks. The server was awesome. I did ask for a second drink with took way too long. He accommodated us and gave us such a goal. Overall a very good experience.

Mel C.

Fantastic food with unique flavors at the Rowe Bar, accented by beautiful sunsets! We dined here Superbowl Sunday and again for breakfast during a recent stay at the Don Cesar (see my detailed review on the Don). Kylin, our server, was lovely and so attentive. Our water glasses were never empty and she kept our wine glasses filled too. She also made the perfect recommendations for shareable plates for our table. The D'Orsay Rose' was refreshing and light and went well with the crabcake sandwich I had. Large and tasty wings too. The crabcake sandwich was so good I had it twice in three days! The "build-your-own-omelet" was a treat for a breakfast just the way you want it. Pricey, we paid over $46 for breakfast for three people. But I would surely return on a future visit because the food, service and views are outstanding.

Andi P.

3 Stars for one of the restaurants at the Don Cesar that's by the pool, has great service, outside seating that includes a section with firepits (first come, first sat), and stiff drinks. This location is pretty fabulous. Let's get that out of the way. The restaurant is decorated in a coastal chic style featuring light wood floors and tables, with grey walls. It's at The Don Cesar, so you expect it to look nice, and it does. We chose to sit outside when we grabbed a bite while on a break from the pool. Later we went back and sat by the fire pits (closer to the sand) and ordered our drinks. For our snack we ordered the Goat Cheese Fritters with a poached pear & pecan salsa and Wildflower honey. I'd give this dish a solid 4 stars. Yes, fried cheese tends to taste amazing, but it was the salsa and honey that perfectly cut the richness of the cheese with a sweet acidity that had us making sure to soak each bite. With that being said, $13 for 3 small fried balls (see my pic) is quiiiiite steep. The other dish we had was the Tres Leches. This sweet and moist Latin American dessert is my favorite treat, so whenever I see it on a menu, I get it. It looked a bit out of place on this menu, but I asked the server and she assured me it was really good. Sigh... It was a tasty dessert, but definitely not a tres leches. It was more of a somewhat-moist poundcake, and there's a big difference between that and the sopping wet tres leches I've grown up eating (and making). This is one of those cases of a dish being good on its own, but the name of the dish leaving me really disappointed. It had some fresh berried on top, so that was a plus, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for the real deal. The drinks that evening by the fire pit were a pleasure, though. I got the Blackberry Smash- Hendrick's Gin with muddled blackberries, house-made simple syrup, lemon, and lime. It was slightly sweeter than I like, but I knew that it would be from the description, and I ordered a second, so I'm not complaining! The ambiance was the real winner though. You could hear the ocean, just beyond the dunes, and the couches by the fire pit were big and comfortable. I could have spent hours there. And I did.

Liselle L.

An easy way to monopolize the hungry customers at The Don Cesar, as The Rowe Bar is basically the only place to eat food at the illustrious pink hotel. It was a bit hard to find at first, but once we started walking around outside to scope the pools, we found it! When we came here for breakfast, it was a Saturday morning around 9:20AM. There were only about 3 parties of people eating outside, so it didn't seem too busy here. We got our outdoor seats immediately, but it took a little longer for the server to come to us. It looked like there were only 2 servers for everyone sitting outside. Not a problem until about 20 minutes later when the brunch rush stampede came through. We ordered the French toast as well as a bagel with salmon and cream cheese. My French toast was mostly good! I was highly impressed with the butter shaped like flowers and beautifully plated on a small dish that looked like it was only meant to hold butter. The syrup also tasted like regular maple syrup - just my type. The french toast looked like eggy sourdough bread. Initially, it tasted good, but it had a strange eggy aftertaste. I had to use more butter and syrup than necessary to try to cover up this aftertaste. I was pleased that the French toast was huge though, so based off size alone, $14 looked like a fair price for French toast from a 4-star hotel. The salmon and bagel were shockingly small! The salmon was placed on a mini bagel, so there was only so much salmon and cream cheese that a person could receive. Although the salmon and cream cheese bagel tasted wonderful, there wasn't anything about it that stood out from other tasty salmon and bagel combinations. When we tried to eat here at 2:30PM, we were also told that it would be a 15-20 minute wait and they would call us back when they were ready for us. We came back around 3PM but a woman who looked like the manager curtly stated "We'll call you when we're ready!" She seemed highly stressed like the lunch rush extended 2 hours past its normal hours. Perhaps the Rowe Bar is understaffed? Well we ended up going inside Uncle Andy's for the Rowe Bar to-go food instead because she never gave us a call back in the end! All in all, I would suggest coming here early for breakfast, if you want breakfast here. However, if you have a car and/or can eat at other places, then just go out of Don Cesar to get a much nicer meal for a cheaper price. If the Rowe Bar is your only choice, check out the Uncle Andy's for the Rowe Bar to-go food service. The to-go food service already includes a 15% service charge, so you don't have to worry about tip! Furthermore, it's much quicker and you can eat somewhere else, where you don't have to worry so much about indoor dining/slow service/COVID-19.

Ambar M.

While staying at the Don Cesar we had dining vouchers and used at the Rowe Bar. Recommended to make a reservation for faster service! The burger my boyfriend ordered was juicy and cooked perfectly. My salad on the other had was super disappointing. The lettuce used was not crunchy or fresh. It was cooked maybe but gave it more of a wilted look and taste. The chicken was in flavorful and the portion was weak. Really wished I ordered something else and glad my boyfriend shared! The ambiance of course was amazing due to the hotels location and service was great.

Erika R.

We're staying on property; so I'm not sure about parking details. I think I saw a sign for guests cost $27 + tax (so maybe just Uber here). The Rowe bar is outside next to the pool deck and overlooks the beach. There's indoor and outdoor seating. There's nice outdoor furniture around fire pits as well. You can catch a beautiful St. Pete sunset here, like we did. There's also TVs for catching a sports game at the bar. This is a little classier of a place just because it's located inside the Don Cesar's resort, so I would at least wear a sundress for the ladies, and men in polo shirts. We started with the nacho appetizer, which was loaded with cheese and jalapeños. I had the lobster roll and Brian got the cheeseburger. He had two sides of fries because I was stuffed! Food was good, service was even better - our waitress refilled our waters after almost every sip (lol). Our food came out fast. Prices aren't bad! Including my glass of wine, our bill was about $70.

Eric W.

Fantastic dining/drinking experience. Lovely view. Attentive staff (we sat at the bar). We started with the fish spread. It's no Ted Peter's, but quit good in its own class. I also had the fish tacos (3), grilled. Very good. Finished outside with a fantastic view of a gorgeous sunset. What a great place to enjoy St. Pete Beach. PS. Located in the Don Cesar Hotel.

Annaliet T.

My husband and I stayed at the hotel (Don Cesar) for a couple of nights and for one of our evenings we decided to give this place a shot. I have to say although the choices we requested were good, we were a little disappointed with the menu. There weren't a lot of choices considering this seats in a 5 star hotel. We waited a while for the dinner, but the server did check on us often. They also have good beer on tap for those who love craft beer, and lots of TVs for sports loves. It's a very casual atmosphere! If I can recommend anything on the menu go with the Mahi and Max&cheese. The tater tots with queso and bacon were also pretty delish.

Clyde L.

Rowe Bar is one of several bars and restaurants at the Don Cesar in St. Pete. It is very large with seating inside and outside depending on how hot it is and your preference. The staff is very cooperative and efficient. Their prices are remarkably good. They have a Happy Hour with local brews, craft cocktails, juleps, and punch bowls to share. They also have savory bites and seafood. The Rowe Bar is the newest addition to the Don Cesar! It was built in February 2016. It's a great bar with beachfront seating to enjoy the beautiful beach! Don't miss it!

Alex P.

Rowe bar was frankly as much of a disappointment to me as the entire Loews property. So, to get this out of the way, you probably know that eating a meal at a five star hotel is going to run you a lot, a lot of money. I am talking about $15 for a couple spoons of ceviche expensive and most of the other bite size dishes are $20 and up. So raking up $100 per person before drinks is easy here to get yourself filled up with a decent meal. Here is the thing, I don't mind paying the money when I am getting something exceptional. I really do expect something exceptional for this kind of money and I didn't get it. The ceviche, despite it's gorgeous glass jar, stones and smoke presentation, was probably one of the worst I've ever tasted. It was overloaded with the sweetness of mango, very sticky and the combination of ingredients was just not tasty. They tried to do something unique, but didn't have the talent to execute it. It tasted like mango purée blended with a chunk of Mahi and thrown into a pretty bowl. So, food aside, let's talk about the design. The bar essentially has three parts to it, the inside, the patio with chairs facing the interior and a few sofas overlooking the ocean (and sunset.) Although they clearly invested the money, the design was very poorly thought through. The patio next to the restaurant is a very awkward, open space and it seems like you are sitting in the center of a large, open space. Thus, the cozy touches they attempted to add to it though fire pits and such don't compensate enough. The furniture is mixed, some of it needs a major design overhaul. Looks dated and poorly selected. Blue white color scheme does not fit well into the hotel building either. It seems lost between the modernity of most Loews city properties and the classical design of the building. One of the worst designed 5 star resorts I've seen.

Rose G.

Wow horrific food except for the salads. Hostess won't even look at you when she's taking to you. Cold. We orders nachos and it came with dipped cheese sauce vs using real cheddar. I don't think I ever had bad nachos before. We eat here because we are members and it's convenient after or before hanging on the beach.