LIT premium cigar lounge

Walked in… walked out. Hip hop music with three 20 somethings hitting a hooka at the bar. Sparsely furnished and small. Didn’t make it to the humidor. Not very premium and not a classic cigar bar experience.

6÷6÷15 Beware Chanel stole my friends debit card on an open tab and lied about it!!! We went and back she conveniently got off early. (probably trying to use the card.) Bryan P the manager was called. Be careful. Save yourself the trouble and go elsewhere! thieves behind the register!!!

No outdoor seating. Was small. Not a «cigar smokers» spot. Felt like a more modern bar instead of a cigar lounge. Kind of clubby.

NOT A PREMIUM CIGAR BAR… Cigarette butts were in every ashtray… The only thing premium about it is it’s location. It’s in the heart of Channelside. They do have a nice humidor with a decent selection of cigars. The scotch & bourbon selection is lacking along with its minimal top shelf tequilas. The have Patron (nice tequilaesqe cordial) & that’s the sum of it. Not impressed at all. The bartender was very nice and the beers were cold. It’s name LIT explains what this spot is all about… They have the potential to be so much more.

The wait staff is nice and I loved the R&B music that was playing the evening I visited the location. I must admit, the female wait staff was overly confident and snatched my change thinking it was her tip; so I had to hunt her down to retrieve my $ 22.50 change. You were good but not that dog-​on good and I am snatching a star rating from you.
Oh yeah, I ran into a former friend and Belmont Height Little League (now professional baseball player) while at this location, he was a regular. If you want a place to smoke that cigar or puff on that Hookah, visit this location at least once.

Have not really hung out here and vibed but its a cute spot in Channelside next to Hooters. It is small with like a cute bar with a select few and then the cigars are also a select few. The cigar humidor is small and they are a bit to much money when I could go to Tampa humidor or Total wine and get them for cheaper. I overall think its an alright spot and I will tell you more once I hang there.

Nice change from all the bars in Channelside. Oh BTW I hate Channelside.
Quaint. Good Scotch and Bourbon Selection. Attractive bartenders. Well decorated. They sell a wide variety of cigars, hence the name «Lit.» That means you can smoke inside.
They often have music, specials almost every day. It has a more progressive vibe, which Channelside needed. Big difference from Hooters and Splitsville. I wont say its classy, but its a bar, with real drinks.
Only place I go in Channelside.

First trip to channelside since 2008 and I stumble on Lit. I’m built about six months into this cigar smoking. So I just had walk in and it’s a real smooth looking place not big at all but nice. They have one flat screen t. v and wrap around sofa, a bar and they have a walk in humidor. Now I see all the costs in the humidor with the prices but I only saw the bartender working so I asked her can she get me a cigar. She said the. door was open and I looked crazy forgive me folks I’m
and nobody will let you walk inside any place without the worker being right there. So that surprised me. But I picked out two hand rolled cigars which was $ 5 a piece would’ve got something else but they didn’t have a large selection of cigars. But nice cool spot.

Love this place! Nice little cigar bar with an outstanding bartender.

Awww… I’m sorry for the bad reviews! My 5 star review is based on our experience on a Monday afternoon/​early evening. I’ve only been there once so I don’t know how it is on the weekend, but we had an awesome experience when we were there.
We had some wings and beers at Hooter’s and then started searching for another bar that was open. We stumbled into LIT because it was new and we didn’t remember it from the year before. The place is teeny tiny but still a chill little place. I thought that the beautiful brunette bartender was going to be ditzy but to our surprise she was awesome! Shame on me for automatically assuming a young pretty bartender doesn’t have a personality, maybe I’ve been hanging out in Wrigleyville too much (DOH!) Seriously though, shame on me.
Tim wanted a cigar even though he doesn’t smoke cigars but for whatever reason it seemed like a good idea at the time. The bartender suggested a cigar (for beginners) which was a very reasonable price and cheaper than the one he was originally considering. He liked the cigar and I have to admit it was pretty tasty so well done on the suggestion. Did you know these things are sweet like candy? Learn something new every day. We talked about cigars and it was obviously that she knew her stuff, we also talked about beer and liqueur and it was obvious she definitely knew about that!
I asked for a martini but I told her that I didn’t like regular martinis or really sweet ones. I said that I like Cosmos and French martinis and she made an awesome combination of both! This one used champagne, and it was perfect… exactly what I was looking for. I usually tell bartenders «Make me something but not super sweet» only to get a super sweet martini that I can barely choke down. Definitely well done LIT bartender, I’m so sorry I don’t remember your name (I know it was something unusual).
We were the only two customers in LIT and we enjoyed talking to her and had a lot of laughs. She said that she’s usually really slow and she was happy she also had someone to talk to.
I think Tim’s cigar finally caught up with him (I didn’t know these things gave you a huge buzz that sticks!) so we definitely had to get some food in him and go. If we find ourselves in Tampa again I’d definitely go back to LIT. Hopefully more people will have a good experience and give better reviews!

My husband and his friends went here for a guys’ night out. They had a good time and enjoyed the atmosphere. The guys were asked for a credit card to start a tab. No Problem. My husband gave his. At the end of the night when they were ready to go, they asked for and received the bill with credit card. They paid in cash and left. My husband’s next credit card statement showed the charge applied to the card. He has since contacted the establishment with no response from the owner Brian. He has contacted them and left two verbal message with an employee and four with the voice mail. The owner suddenly is never in and has never returned any calls. Now, my husband is disputing the charge with his credit card company. Yay! Cheers to the owner for looking out for his customers. If you go, make sure to pay in cash.

I know this place can’t be that new… c’mon Tampa ya’ll need to hop on board this Unilocaling train! =)
When an out-​of-​towner is the first to review… that’s no good!
So, from my observations here is the deal:
Attractive looking place, right next to the hooters in the Channelside complex. Downtown Tampa, near the convention center etc.
The ladies there were dressed up but not carrying themselves that way. At the end of the night, one lovely lady was laying on the bench, puking. Did I mention that the bench was right outside the front door?
Lovely.
There were a lot of photographers there, snapping away at the crowd. Inside the bar is a bit of a tight squeeze. Thought it was going to be tad more classy than it was. let’s put it this way, I was sitting next to a girl, that was dressed up and sipping beer straight out of the pitcher like it was a crunk cup… interesting.
Great locale for people watching.
Oh, and they really do sell cigars inside.
Premium? meh.