Went to Santos Kitchen & Lounge last Thursday for a VIP saxophone performance, and the entire experience was terrible. We arrived early for our reserved inside table, but there was no hostess or manager in sight, the artist himself had to seat us. Service was a mess from the start. Our server didn't know basic menu or drink items, and nobody else seemed to know anything either. The hostess was rude and tried to lie about our reservation when my brother and sister-in-law arrived, insisting we only had outside seating even though we were already seated inside and eating. Completely unprofessional. The restaurant became overcrowded, service stayed slow and disorganized, and half the menu seemed unavailable. On top of that, the food was mediocre at best and absolutely not worth the money. The live music was the only good part of the night. Everything else, especially the service and that rude host, ruined the experience. Would not return or recommend. read more

Disappointed. We made a reservation over two weeks in advance for a group of eight and paid the required deposit and large party surcharge, which we fully understood and agreed to. When we arrived on a Saturday night around 8:30 pm, the restaurant had a large party inside, so our group was seated outside in very humid conditions. We were fine adjusting, but the first red flag came when we attempted to order drinks and were told they were out of Prosecco we ordered a bottle and had it delivered and paid extra for having outside liquor. Our server was also acting as the bartender nothing wrong but that delayed the service. While service itself was fine, the drink quality was disappointing. The passion fruit cocktail had no noticeable passion fruit flavor, and the mezcal base overpowered the drink, making it unbalanced. The sangria tasted boxed, with no fresh fruit or depth. The dinner menu is SUPER small(10 options or less) and TACOS one of them, and most of the main dishes rely heavily on shrimp. Unfortunately, they were out of SHRIMPS, which eliminated the majority of the entrée options. Of what remained, one option was a $75 entrée meant for three people, leaving no realistic individual dinner options for our group. We were told as the apology that the kitchen had not fully restocked after a large event the night before. At that point,it was 9:47PM and we chose to leave and dine elsewhere since there was essentially nothing available for dinner. We still paid for our drinks and the group surcharge they wouldn't miss that. There was no live music outside or light show as advertised. The photos on gallery for the outside didn't match what we had around us. Guess the might need to update website. I'll say The space is cute and has potential, but being unprepared for a busy Saturday night with confirmed reservations significantly impacted the experience. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

This place had potential but ended up being a huge pass. I found this spot using the InKind app and was immediately drawn in by photos of the flame dancers and all of the pretty drinks. It seemed like a fun Saturday night vibe. Upon arrival we were greeted outside and asked if we had reservations. Thankfully, I had made them prior using their free google service. The inside was small but beautifully decorated. The music was a little loud for the space but not an immediate concern. Later on it seemingly got louder and made conversations harder. Service was a little backed up a the manager came over to take our drink orders. I was really excited to get the pink cocktail I saw all over the reviews. It is served "on fire" and my dining partner asked for a spicy mocktail. We instead received a strong, poorly mixed sangria and a super sweet mango based mocktail. No fire. We ordered guacamole as an appetizer. It took 33 minutes for it to arrive. The guacamole and chips reminded me of eating Tostitos and an avocado spread. No flavor, no chunks, just a paste. It was very disappointing. It was recommended that we share their large fajita platter which also took forever to come out and was a letdown. The chicken resembled Tyson chicken strips you find at the grocery store and the overall dish lacked flavor/seasoning . The meal isn't served with anything besides the 3 proteins and veggies so for $69 definitely was not worth it. Again, the vibe was there but everything else was a let down from the drinks, to the food, to the lack of entertainment. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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This Tulum inspired gem was truly a treat. From the moment I walked in I felt like I was certainly in Tulum. The themed decor was on point and the dimmed lights set the ambiance in the right direction. I attended a hosted social hour event there and the staff were pretty attentive for the crowd to be as large as it was. They made sure they kept the space clean after you finished your meal or drink which is very nice. The shrimp tacos was super delicious and filling. It paired nice with my welcome sunset drink. They have inside and outside seating and there is an hourly parking garage directly behind the restaurant as well as street parking available. This a nice spot to date spot and even great for a girlie chit chat day. read more

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I came here for drinks only. I think this is going to have to get in on the Friday night date rotation locations. Finally a spot with super duper delicious mezcal mixed drinks! Happy Hour is from Tuesday - Friday 4pm-6pm. Sadly, I missed happy hour on the night I went. You can get 10% off if you show your conference badge. That's a cool perk. Up first, I had the $18.72 Calientica (Amaras Mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde, lime, agave). YES! Delicious! It is served flaming!!! Second, I tried the $18.72 Dulce Passion [allegedly owners favorite drink] (Lobos Mezcal, Passoa, lime, passion fruit). Excellent, but I give a slight edge to the Calientica. Third, tried some $8.32 Churros. OMG! Amazing! I freaking loved them. I could eat these every day. I don't like the chocolate that is served with them, but the other caramel was phenomenal. I want to order these again. Fourth, tried a $16 Old Fashioned. It was standard. Nothing spectacular or bad. Fifth, I tried a $16.64 Espresso Martini. No where near a Boulon, Edition Hotel, Beacon. Avoid this, and stick to the mezcal drinks. I like how all of the drinks a flaming here. I'll be back soon. read more

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Update: both my friend and I were sick all night after eating here. Probably from the shrimp. Do not recommend!!!! This place is okay. My drink was excellent and strong. The guacamole was great. The shrimp was so bland and unseasoned. Outside I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos. They also were out of all the dishes with veggies and also the lamb, which was disappointing. I recommend for drinks, but not food. read more

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Absolute best spot downtown for dancing. The music is fantastic every time. I've never been for dinner so I can't speak on the food, but later in the evening it becomes less of a sit down restaurant and mostly everyone dancing. The DJs have all been fantastic... they will ignore you if you have a song request but it's okay; they're playing great tropical house type of music typically and other fun music. Not the basic boring music you'll get at other clubs in the area. The crowd is great, outfits are awesome, no cover. The drinks are expensive but good - it's the terrific ambiance that keeps me and friends coming back! read more

This spot is a little tucked away, but we found it easily after parking and walking a block or two. The interior is smaller than expected, though the outdoor patio makes up for it with plenty of space. We had reservations since we wanted to sit inside. I started with the La Jungla cocktail, but it wasn't to my taste, so I swapped it for a Diet Coke instead. The baked sweet plantains with Oaxaca cheese were definitely the highlight of the meal and absolutely delicious. My boyfriend ordered the surf and turf tacos, and I had the chicken and avocado tacos. Both were good, just not the most memorable we've had. The ambiance inside was lovely, with great music that added to the vibe, and the service was excellent throughout. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Chicken and avocado tacos - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Aside from wait time, and getting attention from staff here and there, I usually enjoy this establishment! The food is good. I especially enjoy the empanadas and ceviche! The live dj, and fire show are definitely worth checking out They have different deals each day, as well as different events throughout the year that are nice to attend! It's a vacation spot without taking a vacation ;) read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Dulce pasion - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Sat at the bar. There was no one else at the bar. No one at the outside seating and one table inside with 8 people and one with 2. Ordered a glass of water and the ceviche. Ceviche came quick and was very good. Not ONCE did the bartender ask me if I wanted anything else to drink or offer to fill my water. Very disappointing experience. Water was right in front of me but on the bar, maybe they assume self serve? read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Great place in downtown. Had steak tacos and the triple dip appetizer. Both were fantastic. Service was great. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Steak tacos and triple dip appetizer. - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

I don't typically leave reviews like this, but this needs to be said. Multiple people I personally know who work for this company have experienced ongoing issues with not being paid for hours they've already worked. This isn't a one-time situation--it's a consistent pattern affecting more than one employee. I've also been told by several of them that credit card tips are not being paid out to employees in a timely manner, and instead are being withheld and added to the growing amount owed to staff. Despite repeated attempts to resolve things professionally, payments have been delayed, partial, or not made at all. No one should have to chase down money they've already earned. If you're a customer, it's important to understand where your tips may actually be going. And if you're considering working here, ask very clear questions about how and when you'll be paid. Accountability matters. read more

Good service, but the waiter didn't check on the outdoor tables as often as they probably should have. Spent quite a bit of time waiting for a refill on water. But the food was excellent and we enjoyed our lunch. Downtown Tampa food scene is fairly sparse and we were glad to find this spot. read more

Definitely a vibe like no other in Tampa owing credit to the DJ and entertainment. It was a Saturday night and the small dance floor was packed and an acrobatic performer outside creating a chill, party vibe. There are only a handful of tables inside, so very limited seating available when outdoor temps aren't ideal. I didn't understand how this place got so many negative reviews until I experienced it for myself. They're kind of a hot mess. Our Open Table reservation wasn't honored for some reason. They made us wait an hour for our table in case a table who reserved with a credit card showed up. The server was MIA much of the night running to all the tables, so we sat with empty glasses a good while. The kitchen was quick though and the tacos were good. We were still in good spirits having drinks at the bar, and chalked it up to a lax attitude and mismanagement. Definitely check it out when it's nice enough to sit outside. read more

They advertised that there would be a fire show, there wasn't. That was the draw for us. The food was terrible. We ordered the fajitas and it was dryer than sandpaper. Do not order this! It comes with no sauce. We requested sauce to be able to eat the dry ass meats. We requested chimmichuri but was sent salsa, fine. But the server insisted that it was chimmichuri. False advertisement, dry belly dancer rather than fire show that was advertised. Terrible dry food. The ambience was nice. If you go here just get drinks the food was so dry, I'm in disbelief that a chef sent it out. read more

DELICIOUS!! Food was amazing, little costly but delicious Recommend for last minute decisions!

Food:3 Service: 4 Atmosphere:3.5 We went into Santos with a Tulum vibes expectations. Cute decor but not Tulum. There was no one in the restaurant. We were skeptical due to lack of people. We ordered a few apps. None were very good. The highlight was the churros at the end of the night. The drinks were pretty light on liquor but tasted great. Our server was great but she was the only one doing all the serving once the places picked up. Poor thing. She was very friendly but could tell she needed backup. Did like the DJ the music was good. The food was the biggest let down of this place. read more

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First time in the area and didn't realize most places you need a reservation. As we were walking to try a different place we passed here and they let us in without a reservation. They are not exactly on the main road, they are in a business courtyard area. We walked so not sure where you would park. We sat outside and it was a nice atmosphere, but the chairs are not the most comfortable. Service was good. The menu is limited, but we were satisfied with the options. I had carne asada tacos (3) and I really like them. I would eat there again and I would get the tacos again. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Carne asada taco - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Sooo, Santos Kitchen + Lounge definitely brings a Miami vibe with its atmosphere. The service was a bit slow, especially with only a few tables occupied, but the waiter did acknowledge it. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. The highlight of the experience was definitely the fire dancers and the lively atmosphere. I've been twice now, and the bartenders I've had haven't quite been true mixologists. Overall, I'd go back for the vibe and a simple drink but would probably eat elsewhere. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Santos Kitchen and Lounge is a vibrant spot known for its lively atmosphere and latin fusion menu. The drink menu offers unique cocktails great to enjoy for a happy hour with friends or on a date. Friday and Saturday nights has a DJ playing making a great place to dance on the weekends. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

Excellent first experience! Honestly I had a little trouble finding this place at first but it was well worth the extra trip around the block. Finally parked in the Fort Brooke garage. The restaurant is tucked away in the corner of the Tampa City Center building by the Hilton Hotel. Went for happy hour and ended up staying a while. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. When you walk up the open outdoor area immediately gives Tulum-inspired vibes with natural wood and jungle forest decor. We were seated inside at the bar. The vibes carried on inside into a small intimate setting with dim lighting, great for a date night! Carlos greeted us at the bar and the drinks were fire, literally! 2 for 1 happy hour and some of the best margaritas in town. We ordered the Tostadas de Maiz con Pollo they were also delicious! Service was great. Live DJ started around 9 playing upbeat sounds of Mexico. Fire dancer made a brief appearance outside. Music got a little loud inside at times so next time I would like to sit outside and get that full experience...but I will definitely be back! read more

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Santos is a great vibe! We sat outside and enjoyed some food and drinks and it was an overall great experience. The ambiance was fun with music and night life. Our server Lea, was such a sweetheart. She made sure we were completely satisfied and kept checking up on us. 10/10 experience! read more

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Went for the first time to celebrate one of my friend's birthday. The place is nice, really well decorated and had friendly service. At the beginning we sat outside but as it started raining we were told to sit inside instead. However, both environments are really cozy and cute, but definitely would recommend the inside area for when it is too hot. It took a little while to get our drinks and food at the table after ordering, which led us to be a little tired of the place. The music was the same mix being repeated multiple times while there. When the food finally arrived, I have to admit it was great, but honestly feel the prices are too high for the portions and the overall taste of the food. The show and DJ set with drums showed up later on, and it was quite fun. I would probably go back to enjoy the environment during the show, but as a restaurant maybe a little more effort in the food department is needed. read more

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It was an okay experience. The bar was empty, maybe 1 other customer, but an employee still gave me a hard time when I tried to sit down and other customers after me were not stopped so that was disappointing to see I was the only one stopped. Once I sat down, the person working at the bar provided good service. The chorizo is delicious and the table side flaming presentation is nice. I wanted to try more but didn't feel inspired by the menu overall. The one thing I came for was the cake but they didn't have it that day so the experience was very meh- not bad, not good. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Chorizo - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

One of three tables on a Wednesday night, but one drink still took about 10 minutes and appetizer took about 20 minutes. The food was OK needed more seasoning, several things very bland. Then when we got the final bill, I noticed that everything was higher than priced on the menu, not by much maybe a dollar or less but still it's the point. So when I show the menu and ask the waitress she said "other people have asked me that too and I don't know the answer but I think it's because you're paying with a card." Interesting though is that I hadn't even pulled a card out. It just seems like they are charging people additional to scam. Would definitely not recommend. One marg, one app and one entree $63. read more

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My friends and I decided to have a ladies night and chose this location. The ambiance is a bit weird, as the staff attire is not the norm, but I assume it is because it fits the Talum style. Our waiter was nice and came back to check on us many times while we were there and cleared the table quickly when he saw things were finished. I will say that the menu is limited and only had a few items to choose from. if you are vegetarian or don't eat a lot of meat, this isn't the place for you as the majority of the menu is meat. I will say though, what we ordered was delicious and we were all happy with our choices as we all finished our plates. Was a bit sad though since we ended up leaving right before they started live music. read more

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Is this place a vibe? Yes Is the food/drink worth the price? No We weren't given exactly what was listed on the menu & my tacos had zero toppings. We (party of 4) came here a couple weeks ago on a Saturday night. We were seated outside, which was the better option because the (awesome) music indoors was too loud to speak to each other. There was a live drummer right by the door, which made it awkward to enter. The menus we received were all in Spanish, not a problem since 3/4 of us know Spanish. Our server was nice but one of our cocktails tasted terrible (it was not the right order), a manager came out to apologize and replaced it, saying "that should've never come out like that." ON the menu, it said that all taco entrees come with rice & beans. When we received our tacos, they were extremely bare (mine was literally just shrimp, tortilla, a dash of cilantro on top and crema on the side...) and there was no rice & beans. We asked our server about the rice and he said that the taco entrees don't come with rice... We were already unhappy with the service and didn't even bother complaining further. We always tip well regardless but ain't no way these plain AF tacos should cost $30... pic below. read more

Drinks are on point. Service was a little slow but it was busy. Food looked good, didn't have time to try anything.

I absolutely loved the fajitas parrillada, the music was outstanding if you like techno and dance music but the service was very slow. The drinks were also very good especially the margarita on the rocks and Moscow mule. Ambiance was spectacular! I do highly recommend it. You do have to pay for parking and the location is on the first floor beneath the parking garage, we missed it many times! We did unfortunately not see any acts going on, but enjoyed our time there. There were alot of college kids, we were probably the oldest couple, but we look young so it was ok, lol read more

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The menu used to be good. It has been cut way down and the food quality is terrible. Service was mediocre. If you want to have a club stop serving food. It's clearly not the priority. read more

Beautiful Tulum-inspired lounge and restaurant with a DJ on the weekends. Bartenders were welcoming and friendly. It's a small but pretty venue with an outdoor patio too. Drinks are insanely pricey or I would've stayed longer. I just can't justify $35 for 2 drinks. I would try them for brunch one day but not again for drinks. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

"Everything is made from scratch please allow up to forty minutes" the food was so nasty and I STG the chips guac & queso all tasted like Tostitos brand. We did not touch our dinner and nobody cared lol. Our server was sweet but I swear she was stoned out of her mind idk. Very wild expensive disappointing experience that's advertised as upscale. read more

Run to Santos!!! This place is so cute and the food is amazing! As someone who just recently went to Tulum, this matches the vibe exactly. When you first walk to Santos, they have a cute seating area outside. Their located right in downtown so the seating area outside gives you the city vibe. We asked to be seated inside and the inside is even more cute! It's very low lighting so it's a little dark and there is an option to sit at a table or they have couches if you want more of a lounge vibe. The music is on point and definitely makes you feel like you are in tulum! For our drinks, we ordered the Calientica, dulce pasion and mango ancho! All drinks were delicious and all came out with a little flame ! For our appetizers, we ordered the ensalada de aguacate, chorizo asado and platano maduro Al horno. All of these were delicious ! New flavors and new mixtures of food and ingredients and they all came out great. For entrees, we had the mejillones asadas and pescado en crema de ajies. Both of these were seafood, so to have the fish and mussels cooked perfectly and taste perfect is a big plus for us! Overall this place is great and we were highly impressed. The owner even came over multiple times to check in on us and get our opinion on the food and drinks. He even through in a free shot for us! It was a great experience and we will definitely be back. read more

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Cool vibe and they had a DJ on a Tuesday night. Great selection of mezcal and friendly bartenders are happy to go off menu to create a custom cocktail based on your flavor profile preferences. read more

Santos Kitchen and Lounge - people standing at the bar - Lounges Near Me - Tampa, Florida

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Drinks, service, staff and the vibes are immaculate. The food and seating options are okay.

We were in town for a Cheer Competition and had a bigger sized group and the waitress and staff accommodated our every need. The food was amazing. This is a hidden gem. Would definitely come here again read more

I came here on a Saturday night with a group of friends. We had a reservation however we ended up sitting at the bar since we wanted to be inside. If your making a reservation you need to specify that you want to be inside. The inside is small and moody and a huge vibe! They have these boho mesh lights all above the bar and it beautiful. The bartenders are also amazing and know what they are doing. This place is a tequila bar so if your a tequila lover (like me) you will appreciate the drink menu. We only had drinks and they were all amazing! Truly beautiful and delicious. We didn't eat however the food looked like it was good! I will be back to the the food for sure. This place was awesome!! read more

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The food was good and the service was even better. Compliments to the chefand the bartender Diamond was very attentive and made some wonderful drinks. read more

Santos is brand new to the downtown area tucked away near the Fort Brooke garage. There's no street parking directly in front of it so you'd have to park and walk up the the restaurant. When we arrived the overall vibe was amazing! I love the decor inside, the music and the lively bar. Although it was nice inside it was a bit small and most of the tables were reserved and the bar was completely full so we decided to sit outside. The patio furniture is gorgeous! Handmade wooden furniture really added to the overall vibe of the place but there was something missing. Some more string lights outside would definitely add value to the patio area. As far as the service....we got our one drink pretty quickly because we walked up to the bar but once we sat down the fast pace vibe of the place quickly slowed down. The waitress seemed like she was a friend of the family that was thrown into the fire and expected to hit the ground running. She was sweet but you can tell she was very overwhelmed and not very knowledgeable about the menu. The menu to me is very overpriced considering the super slow service. We ordered a dish to share which was a coconut fish dish which was absolutely delicious! But it took so long to get to our table that we almost canceled it until our waitress promised us it would only take another 10 mins to come out (after already waiting over 20 mins) Im not sure why it took so long to come out considering it's a cold ceviche style dish the dish was $24 and came out in a small bowl. Definitely left a little more to be desired as far as presentation and after waiting for so long. We weren't interested in ordering anything else considering how expensive this place was and how slow the service was & I should mention that they only have entrees on the menu there were no small dishes or appetizers to choose from. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt as far as service because they just opened but it did seem a bit disorganized which is disappointing considering all the trading and hype around the grand opening of this place. I didn't take pics of our dish because by the time we finally got it we were over it and just ready to go. I hope they continue to improve as they go but I probably would not go back. read more

Had a great experience, went to vacation in Tampa and stumbled upon this. Diamond made the experience unforgettable with lovely drinks! Go check it out! read more