Lunch at Lodge South Tampa

Hello little Turkeys! While we are currently in transit to South Florida, I wanted to take the chance to share my recent lunch dining experience at Lodge Restaurant and Bar, South Tampa. I was introduced to Lodge when a few months ago for Brunch and was excited to give their lunch menu a try.

My best friend Keri was visiting me and I took her with me to experience Lodge. Keri is the President of the Cosmopolitan fan club. Not really, but she should apply. One great thing about Lodge is that they have lunch happy hour including $3 Select drafts,  $4 Select Wines, $6 Select Martinis, $5 Sangria,  $3 Mimosas, $4 Bloody Marys, $5 Svedka Cocktails, $6 Jager or Patron Shots, $14 Select Beer Buckets and $12 Select Pitchers. Keri ordered a Svedka Cosmo which was so good that she ordered a second.

I started off with the Iced Tea Mojito. I have a soft spot in my heart for sweet tea vodka and was all about this cocktail. It was refreshing and delicious.

For our appetizer, we had Hot-N-Sweet Crispy Calamari which was the perfect amount of heat to sweet ratio. I really enjoyed the breading on the calamari. This is a must order at Lodge.

Since the Ciccio's group is known for their sushi, which I can personally attest to, we had to order the signature sushi roll, The Lodge: Tuna, Cucumber, Tempura Onions. Topped with Spicy Shredded Crab Meat, Scallions and Kabayaki Drizzle. At Lodge, you can select if you want brown or white rice for your sushi rolls. I want to hug the chef for this. Yay for brown rice sushi.

One thing that made my heart happy was the selection of side dishes served with every entree (including sushi). Veggies, Small Salad, Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad, Chips and Salsa or Queso, Turkey Chili, Homemade Coleslaw, White or Brown Sticky Rice, Edamame, Sweet Potato Fries, Fries or Tater Tots. I have never seen this assortment of side dishes. We were able to try a sampler of all. The Queso was our favorite but do not let that sway your decision, every single side dish we tried was awesome and I would have been happy with any of them.

When Keri ordered her second cosmo, I decided to try the first drink which caught my eye on the menu. The Strawberry Smash: ABSOLUT BERRI AÇAÍ Vodka, Fresh Muddled Strawberries, Sugar, Club Soda and a Splash of Cranberry Juice. This drink is as delicious as it is beautiful.

Since it was lunch, we had to try out the Famous Lodge Sliders. We opted for Citrus Lime Chicken, Grouper, Sirloin Burger and Asian Pulled Pork. Of the four, the grouper was my favorite with the citrus lime chicken in close second. The grouper's batter reminded me of tempura and wasn't overly greasy. Perfection!

Since each of our duo of sliders came with a side, I selected the Sweet Potato fries. I am officially obsessed and a little happy this came towards the end or I would be renaming my blog, I Run For Lodge's Sweet Potato Fries. They had a little drizzle of honey and powdered sugar.

Keri is a new found lover of ColeSlaw and boy were we happy she ordered this. Crisp, light and a little tangy.

Stick a fork in us, we are done. Then we were informed that all new diners of Lodge receive a mini dessert. How can we say no to that? We got the mini brownies which were very good.

If the food wasn't enough, the atmosphere of Lodge is a lot of fun. Lodge has a private party room and an outside dining area, perfect for weekend brunches. Lodge has different nightly specials so check their website out.