Stonewood Tavern, New Tampa, FL

**Update: The manager of Stonewood contacted me personally to apologize for the staff oversight. He stated he would be using my email as a training tool and asked I return to the location at a later date to see what if any changes had been made. I hope to visit during April. I am always impressed with any establishment who takes criticism constructively and look forward to my next visit

Date: 03/09/2010
Time: Dinner
Type: Restaurant
Where: 17050 Palm Pointe Dr, Tampa, FL 33647
Party: 1 female

Immediate Impression:
Absolutely no where to park but once inside was not very crowded. The bar and dining room are very dark.

Service:
I sat at the tail end of the bar, next to the service station. At first, my impression was favorable - one of the bartenders assisted me with their drink specials and let me know happy was ending soon. I was please with the bar staff, but the waitstaff really needs to be more aware of their surroundings and what they say to one another with patrons around. Not only where their conversations rude, obnoxious and condescending, but their continual bumping into my chair and putting their arm over my food without excusing themselves was irritating.

Menu/Food:
The menu was very inclusive - something for everyone. I began with their smoked salmon appetizer, which although sweeter then the menu lets on (who would have thought dill mustard seed sauce would be sweet) was delectable and well portion. This could have easily fed 3 people.

My salad - Mediterranean Salad w/o pine nuts - was really great - although again, the dressing was a little too sweet. All of the vegetables were fresh and crisp, and the presentation made you feel you were getting a good value (although for the price, I would say it wasn't ample).

For my entree I ordered a 7oz Medium Rare Sirloin Steak with Rice Pilaf and vegetables. The vegetables were great - again, crisp, fresh and cook correctly; the rice "pilaf" was nothing more than yellow rice and pepper; but the steak was excellent. Cooked to the perfect temperature w/o any overwhelming spices or additional salt.

All the food presented around me looked fantastic.

Price:
Pricey - happy hour wine, appetizer, salad and entree, after tip was $50 even.

Final thought:
Although I wasn't disappointed, there are better steak/fish joints in my area, which I would be more likely to frequent than Stonewood. But if I were to go again, I would definitely sit at the bar, the waitstaff may be nice to your face but they say nasty things behind it!