Ulele

Knowing that I love food, my sister insisted we go here for lunch! So I found myself wandering it’s gorgeous grounds on a beautiful 80 degree Tampa winter day! Although the area feels a little industrial, Ulele’s was nestled perfectly into a space between Water Works Park and a bend in the Hillsborough River. The result is a gorgeous view from the lawn and patio areas. The name Ulele is taken from American Indian folklore. A sign near the sculpture on the lawn tells the ‘Story of Ulele’ as follows:
«In 1528, the young daughter of local Tocobaga chief Hirrihigua, pleaded for mercy and threw herself over 17-​year old Juan Ortiz. He was about to be roasted alive in revenge for the tribe’s previous hostile encounters with European explorers. Otriz, a member of the Spanish Narvaez expedition, was spared. Whether love or pity prompted Ulele’s reaction we will never know. But we preferred to believe it was love — just as we prefer to believe that the all too familiar Pocahontas-​John Smith story 80 years later is based on this story.»
We arrived around noon to one of the most beautiful restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of dining. It’s as if a Pottery Barn factory exploded. Each and every part of this place from the front door to the staircase and from the lower dining area to the upper patio was spectacularly done. Simple, yet elegant, rustic, yet well thought out. This is totally my kind of place!
Service was outstanding and the Executive Chef walked around in what looked like pajama bottoms with fruit prints, but I was told by our server those are chef pants. Either way, I thought it was awesome!
However, I clearly ordered the wrong items, because the food was not the 4 or 5 star dining experience I’d read in so many reviews prior to my visit.
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THE FOOD
CALAMARI (2.5 stars) | $ 11
Slightly under-​cooked in my opinion and the flavor was just not to my liking. The Amarillo chili lemon dressing the calamari was tossed in after being cooked was entirely too strong for my tastes after just a few bites. I’m a predictable Unilocaler. Most anyone who regularly reads my reviews would probably be able to list at least 3 things I would order 100% of the time if they are on the menu. Calamari is one of them. It is my favorite seafood critter unless cracked conch is on the menu. I was highly disappointed with their version.
ULELE BURGER (3 stars) | $ 12
This was my fault. I am very traditional when it comes to certain foods, yet adventurous with others. A well seasoned, juicy, well cooked cheeseburger with the typical toppings on a great bun is the perfect burger to me. Holeman and Finch in Atlanta is my favorite cheeseburger on earth and it is the benchmark to the ultimate taste I hope for when trying a burger, especially at an upscale restaurant. Knowing this I should have stuck with their regular Classic Burger, but my adventurous side was hoping to introduce a new favorite burger to my taste buds.
Described on the menu as: «A char-​grilled ground short rib, brisket and chuck blend burger topped with our house steak sauce, Wisconsin sharp cheddar, portobello mushrooms, fire-​roasted red peppers and fried leeks served on brioche bun.» It was interesting for sure, but a little too organic for me.
CRAB MAC n’ CHEESE (4.5 stars) | $ 11
Four-​cheese combined with Ulele light beer sauce, fresh lump crab meat blended with seashell pasta topped by a Parmesan Romano crust. The flavor is near perfection!
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FINAL THOUGHTS
I most definitely plan to return to try the charbroiled oysters and the Kilo Porterhouse steak so many reviews (and my sister) glow about. Hopefully that will give me the 5 star experience I was longing to experience. Just hope I can stay focused, because the menu also has a Deconstructed Seafood Pot Pie and Water Works Meatloaf that sound amazing too!
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We recently came here for my birthday dinner and loved it.
Ambiance inside and out is wonderful. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. I’m vegetarian and they had a daily special entrée for me which was very enjoyable! It’s not easy pleasing with only one entrée option, but they did it! (And all without the typical fallback of mushrooms or eggplants.) The only thing less than spectacular was the flourless cake we ordered for my birthday cake. Luckily we also ordered their yummy peppermint ice cream. We combined the two to create a tastier treat. But overall, we loved it. We went back about a week later. We rode our bikes down on a Sunday afternoon. We found two seats at the bar and enjoyed their local brews. We definitely plan on coming back many more times.

Décor and ambiance is a 5, food was a 3.8, I’ll give it a 4.
I appreciate the complimentary valet at dinner. I read that there is street parking, but when it is dark, this isn’t really an area where I want to go hunting for street parking.
My husband noted that the building doesn’t look like one that housed a restaurant previously. It is very unique. Our waiter told us stories about the wood from the table being from St. Augustine and that everything in here has a story. They could probably make up half the stories, but it is fun to hear and believe. It does make you take special note of your surroundings.
I love the atmosphere of this place. It is all wood and warm tones. There is a certain lack of pretension here. I saw a couple people even wearing jeans. My favorite restaurants are the ones that don’t take itself too seriously.
We came for our one year wedding anniversary. The waiter joked that since this was our first time, we were very trusting to come here for such a special occasion. I heard from so many people that this was the perfect place for an anniversary that I hadn’t even thought about that. During our dinner, another table got engaged. People definitely come here for special occasions.
I got a mojito. It was very refreshing, but a tad too sweet for me. However, there are so many amazing looking cocktails, that it wouldn’t be hard to find another one to try. They are priced at about $ 9, which I found very reasonable (even a little low) for a restaurant like this. The waiter mentioned they are very deliberate about keeping their wine prices low.
We started with the crab mac and cheese. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away. My husband and I make our own mac and cheese from scratch so it takes a lot to wow us on that front.
I got the Deconstructed Seafood Pot Pie and my husband got the Filet Mignon. I actually loved my choice. It was basically a seafood chowder with puff pastry on the side. It was chalk full of seafood. It also came with wild rice and asparagus. Weirdly enough, I liked the rice better the next day, cold. I’m weird I know. My husband enjoyed his filet. The mashed potatoes came with popcorn in it. It was a little strange. I don’t know what it added to it, but it was definitely memorable. Overall, we enjoyed our meals, but weren’t blown away.
Since we were celebrating our anniversary, they brought us a complimentary box of chocolate truffles. They are divine. Two are covered in coconut, and two are covered in sliced nuts. I actually ate all four myself. They are light and oh so chocolatey.

This place is beautifully done. Those bastards at the Columbia group did an amazing job. The entire theme and brand of the restaurant resonates very well.
The open windows inside and the LED lights make everything very well lit and designed.
I can’t really say anything bad about the place other than, I hope this place isn’t based on an ancient burial ground… or something of that nature. Even if, I’d probably still eat here.

Good ambiance nice promenade.
Great for a date night.
Foods weak but completely passable.
Not to cleaver with seasoning.

If you’re looking for a lively, energetic restaurant to have a dinner date, this is a nice start. My husband and I tend to scoot in and head straight for the bar to order small plates and appetizers, especially when the restaurant is über busy. I was very surprised when Ulele came up when I searched local breweries. Come to find out, they have about 5 beers that are brewed in house, and let me tell you the Wedding beer is phenomenal! Mildly balanced with a slight fruit and floral note. .very very good!
For appetizers we enjoyed the octopus carrpaccio, crispy okra fries with homemade ketchup and fresh green beans. Odd combos, but that’s how we roll! All were decent and fresh but we really just enjoyed the libations and atmosphere the most.
I will definatly return and venture a little more into the menu next time

I’ve been here a few times before. One of those times was during the day on the rooftop with the group of friends while we were taking a break from our weekend bike ride through out the downtown area via Riverwalk.
The draw here is very popular amongst local professionals including less than a handful of celebrities and well-​known political figures here. There is a trendy rustic style here. They also have a mezzanine dining area. As mentioned before, they do have a rooftop seating area, but this area is very limited to the amount of seating they provided. Warning: this area can only be accessed via exterior.
This is located at the very scenic Tampa Waterworks park. You get the really beautiful sunset view on the west facing side of this restaurant with the park to its south. The downtown Riverwalk will soon connect to this area, but for right now is under construction.
The staff is friendly and helpful with questions.
I enjoyed the food a lot. I feel it was definitely worth the visit.

In many ways I feel like I left my heart in Florida … And Ulele is one of the reasons why as I visited this past weekend and fell in love with this place.
Visiting friends who recently moved to the surrounding Tampa river walk, I realized
The area is still pretty undeveloped for businesses and too family friendly to be hip, but Ulele really felt like a cool California spot with progressive fresh cuisine. Trendy décor reminded me of LA or SF back in Cali. I’m surprised we didn’t have to wait on New Year’s Day arriving at 1pm for lunch for 4.
The menu was near impossible to pick items from because there were tons of unique treats. I absolutely loved the cold avocado soup with charred corn, etc. My friend warned me avocados in FL are not as good as California/​Mexico breeds but it was just to unique on the menu to pass up. The four of us all ended up getting it because it was so enticing. I like that it was done without cream (my friends are vegan, and plus I didn’t want something heavy as a starter).
Everything else was tasty and unique. The house ground sirloin meatloaf had a smooth quality. It was served with popcorn mashed potatoes – who knew such a thing existed!– and tobacco onions. Couldn’t tell them from regular onions but being in the south I just had to go for this.
My friends ordered vegetarian dishes and we’re pleased the stuff wasn’t just out of a box. The veggie patties were freshly made in house, not the Boca variety.
Ulele doesn’t need to given the excellent food, but they also have their own beer! It was the most refreshing stout I’ve had and with a uniquely light flavor.
It’s hard to find good restaurant fare in Tampa but this place rocks it, in a cool atmosphere with very attentive service.

Ulele’s… By no means did I have a bad experience. It just wasn’t the 5 star experience everyone else has seemed to have.
The restaurant itself is beautiful. It has a great indoor/​outdoor set up with doors that are wide open to the outside overlooking the water. There is great artwork and a unique décor all over the place. It really does feel like a Florida restaurant. The décor, the menu the atmosphere, everything just made me feel really at home.
The food was really good. They have daily specials which is always nice. My table had alligator hush puppies, steak, meatloaf, popcorn mashed potatoes, salad and asparagus. All of the food was very good.
My only complaint is I’m not a huge seafood fan so it was difficult for me to find an app to eat and there was no bread or anything so I was a bit hungry by the time the main dishes came.
The service was really on point as well. Our server knew the menu very well and was able to make recommendations.
We did not experience any of the Brewery portion.
Overall for me it just missed that fifth star due to the limited non sea food selection coupled with no bread and being too hungry before the main dish came. Great place though, will definitely be back.

I’ve been here a couple of times before, so I already knew what to expect.
This visit was a little different for me though, because not only was the party that I dined with was much larger than usual. But, I’d also never gotten a chance to fully explore the restaurants surrounding waterfront. Apparently I’ve been missing out, because it’s incredibly serene and peaceful!
By the time we settled down at our table, I was eager to begin our meal. I will note, It took a while to get everything out to us-​but I’m guessing it’s because they wanted to bring everything out together. I’m not a huge fan of their entrees, but I love their sides, drinks, desserts, and appetizers. We took advantage of this, and made the appetizers our meals. We ordered the lollipop chicken, the duck appetizer, macaroni and cheese, avocado soup, and frogs legs. Everything tastes wonderful, but the duck was the standout dish to me!
We finished our meals with so much enthusiasm, that we left nothing on our plates. So, we decided to order dessert because we all have the biggest sweet tooth’s. We ordered a latte, a coconut ice cream, and the duck bacon fried ice cream. We ate and drank every drop, and it was good to last bite. I especially loved the duck bacon. Whoever thought to put sugar on that needs a raise!
Diabetes, here we come!