Bungalow Bistro Offically Closed – Refinery is Born
Just received an email that a deal has been reached with the Bugalow Bistro and the Refinery. As of Today, the Bungalow Bistro is no longer in business. Greg and Michelle Baker will be opening the Refinery. While I am always excited to see new businesses open in the neighborhood, I am deeply saddened to see the Bungalow Bistro go out of business. While the service was lacking from the beginning, one thing I can commend Elizabeth on is the quality of the food. There is not one restaurant in Tampa who could compare to the soup or burger. While consistency was not a strong suit, the quality of food made up for most issues. I wish the refinery the best.
Greg and Michelle, you want instant success? Keep the burger, offer consistent dishes. Most want to find a dish they will love and know it will be the same every single time. Also, SPEED! You may recall how busy the Bistro used to be for lunch. Once downtown professionals found out how good it was, the line went out the door. However, the long waits and horrible service quickly ended the trips to the Bistro. I am excited to see what comes next. When you have your details worked out, please submit for posting. Best of luck! (PS. Put some atmosphere in the great building! )
Tagged as Bungalow Bistro, Refinery
Categorized as uncategorized
Wow i’m shocked too. I found this information online.
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Greg and Michelle Baker, the couple behind Culinary Sherpas and recipe columnists for the Tampa Tribune, plan to open a new restaurant in Tampa’s Seminole Heights. They haven’t signed the papers yet and they’re under a confidentiality agreement, so they can’t say where the restaurant is, but it’s a turn-key operation that they plan to operate under the original name for a few weeks until they can arrange for signage and a quick remodel.
Once that’s done, the new spot will be called The Refinery and will feature a large selection of small plates — “bigger than most tapas,” according to Michelle — and a few entrees, like basil-miso battered tofu and bison country-fried steak. “The lunch menu will be seasonal and brunch will be a collection of dishes from our favorite restaurants across the country,” says Michelle.
Wow, that is shocking. I’m bummed, as I thought we were adding another restaurant, and not just replacing one of the better ones in the neighborhood. I have to agree with original post that the food was almost always very good, yet the service and overall atmosphere could have used some improvement. Personally, I think their food was better than at Ella’s (plus I liked that they had specials), yet Ella’s routinely has a wait of an hour, while you never had to wait at Bungalow Bistro. I guess Bungalow Bistro was just missing something. Add a more “fun” interior, a little more consistent service, maybe a small bar on the second floor, and you would have had one of the best restaurants in all of Tampa. Hopefully the new owners will take the place to that next level.
How can we blame this on OSHNA?
#3- Why do you want to blame OSHNA? I assume you are interpretting this situation as a loss!
Not everyone does you know. There are people with vision that stick to their ideals.
What’s with the name “The Refinery”?
I was also hoping that a new restaurant was being added, especially since we lost
El Sevillano and Sangria’s is on indefinite hold. Excited to see a new menu, maybe
they might decide to keep the Bistro name that is already well-branded ?
And what does this do for all those who have Bistro gift certificates?
I am shocked, I wish they had at least mentioned that they were going out of business, then everyone would have shown up to have some last meals there. The only thing I didn’t like was the ice machine on the first floor making noise. Their food was excellent.
Ella’s I like but you can’t hear a thing in there. The acoustics are terrible.
Listen kiddies, #3, anonymous @ 11:07 is a perfect example of a troll. Dropping a turd in the punchbowl just to watch the ripples. If we ignore such digital diarrhea, they tend to go away, and the blog is a much better place.
Greg and Michelle love food. They love the craft of preparing food so I’m sure their quality and taste will meet everyone’s expectations. If you have met them know they will infuse something into the atmosphere. Congrats!
While I’m sad to see the Bistro go, I’m glad it’s a transition instead of a total loss. Count me among the hopefuls that would have preferred a new place to add to our growing list of wonderful establishments, but this is better than losing one.
Does anyone know if this has any bearing on the future of Forever Beautiful?
I, for one, am not in the least bit surprised. I remember first going to the bistro and loving it! I went back weekly! Then suddenly the service went down hill and the food went WAY down hill. I think they got cocky and started caring less and less about the food and the patrons and just wanted to work and go home, minus the work. Very very sad that this happened the way they did. I do have high hopes for The Refinery. Greg Baker appears to be a very well seasoned young chef (yes that makes sense) and has that great “punk rock” forward thinking culinary style. Greg and Michelle have a blog of their own @ http://www.culinarysherpas.com. I have no fear the food will be great I just hope they hire the proper staff to treat patrons as patrons, not as a pain in their side.
Dear neighbors and friends,
I’ve sold ownership of the Bungalow Bistro to another Seminole Heights couple, who are ready to take it to new heights. Although it feels as if a part of me is gone, I make this announcement with great enthusiasm for the future. The Barkers will build on the gourmet menu and continue to cater to locals. As for me, I’ll get to put all of my efforts into my life’s work next door at Forever Beautiful Salon and Day Spa. It’s an exciting transition that will help both businesses grow and keep Seminole Heights a vibrant neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Graham
I look forward to the new restaurant; I don’t think the owners were very customer friendly.
People love to complain, but in the interests of constructive criticism for anyone operating or planning on opening a restaurant here in the neighborhood, what were some specific issues people had? General griping isn’t very helpful in making positive change, but specific examples might lead to real improvements.
The service I experienced at the Bistro was exceptional, but I was disappointed once when the special board still showed the lunch special at 5:45PM and the dinner special wasn’t going to be available until “later.”
I agree the food was good, but my issue was also an advertising issue. Advertising that you would get something and when we asked about it, we were told, “oh we are not doing that.” Yet, the notices on the tables and on the website still indicated that they were.
While the food was always enjoyable, we stopped going due to the service. Perhaps if it had been slow for everyone, we might have found some way to excuse it in our minds; however, after a couple visits where we waited 15+ minutes for drinks while watching servers fawn over tables of “regulars”, we just stopped going.
#15 that type of inconsistent service has seemed to plague many of the restaurants here in the neighborhood. I’ve experienced the same sort of thing at every place except Nicko’s and Three Coins. Is it that hard to get good servers here locally? Ella’s brunch has been very hit or miss on service, we stopped going to Cappy’s for dine-in for such unpredictable, often aloof service. The Front Porch has made leaps and bounds in improving their staff, and for the past 18 months or so has been great, but before that, the same sorts of issues were rampant.
So stoked on this news.
We need a cool place to have brunch in the neighborhood. Not diner food real brunch. Can someone please help us out with that?
#16 Ella’s stopped serving brunch for precisely that reason. Melissa’s statement was, ” If we can’t do it right we shouldn’t be doing it.” So, now they have Sunday Soul Food. It’s all southern soul food, Grits, barbeque, collard greens, etc. They have music beginning at 4 PM and they stay open later than they used to. Try it.
Susan Long
I’m disappointed they chose to give up instead of finding a solution. I thought the food was delicious and we enjoyed the atmosphere of eating on the deck on a Sunday morning. There were just a couple of hiccups in the preparation and service. Sad to see us lose a great option. Diners have their place, but for that style of breakfast, I’d usually just rather eat at home.
Does anyone know if the new owners purchased the property along with the business? I’d love to try out the new place but refuse to put a penny of my hard earned dollars in Elizabeths’ pocket since the Independent debacle.
You could email Greg of Michelle. Their email addresses should be on their blog.
What Independent debacle?
I know elizabeth poured her heart and soul into bungalow bistro. maybe she streched herself too thin with ownership of a salon and a restaurant. I wish her the best along with the bakers!
“What Independent debacle?”
Elizabeth fought to keep the Independent from opening.
There was some issue with wet zoning hours that were more favorable for the Independent than what was permitted at the Bistro.
21 the site is being leased
21 – Have you researched the landlords of all the businesses you patronize? Seems pretty complicated to me.
I went by last night and they appeared to have a good dinner crowd enjoying themselves. I just stopped in to say hello to Greg and Michelle and wish them luck, but I am eagerly looking forward to dining there. Greg is a great chef and the two of them are good people. I wish them all the best!
Went to the Bistro tonight. Was very good, better service. I NEVER complained about the Bistro’s quality, flavor or selection. I never had a bad dish there. Their issue was with the help. I am not sure if it was from such a small kitchen or just bad help. I am so hopeful that Greg and Michelle wil have much success. Can’t wait to see the new menu.
Only time will give all you people the true answers. Be prepared to keep complaining…..
There was a brief period when the Bistro food was not very good; kept changing up the recipes or something, but the burgers were always awesome. Lately we were even impressed with the other menu offerings and flavor consistencey. The service, while lacking and strange, was always that way; so , I guess that was consistent in its own right.
We went the other night and were surprised to find out about the new ownership but were excited for the new owners and looked forward to the their soon to be introduced menu. For now they still have the Bistro menu. We got burgers and were so disappointed. The burger patties were not even a match for Three Coins. They were flattened, less flavorful, and smaller versions of the old Bistro burger and looked pathetic on the huge rolls, but alas the price was the same — about $10 each. That said, if you are going to continue with the previous menu for a few weeks at least attempt to master the dishes, especially the basic ones. I think it is a bad idea to transition while customers pay for your lack of enthusiasm in the previous menu selections! Hopefully, our first meal with them was a disappointment because it is not their menu and style. We will certainly go back but will wait until they are fully transitioned. We wish them the best of luck and are ready to support their venture!
I’ve eaten there twice now – once off the old menu and once for their Valentine’s Day menu, which is closer to what they want to be serving.
The burger I had was perfect and huge – not at all flat. I subbed sweet potato fries for the regular spuds, and thought they were fantastic. They were fresh cut, not that Sisco garbage.
The Valentine’s Day meal I had was insanely good. We sampled three small plate apps (one oyster, one scallop and the third a tart), each had a bowl of lobster bisque, and shared two entrees – a strip and a duck breast. Everything was remarkably well-prepared and presented.
We were so full, we had to take the dessert home.
I hear it’ll only be a few more weeks until they fully transition, but they are now doing at least one dinner special and several lunch specials that are “theirs” instead of the Bistro’s.
Give them a shot. The entirety of the staff is attentive and obviously take a lot of pride in their work.
Hey everyone. I know Greg and Michelle Baker and they’re terrific cooks. So please give them a chance!
While we did nothing to change the portion and the source of our burger meat, we did find that it was not up to our standards. We took your comments to heart, #32. Starting today we are offering in house ground fresh chuck for all of our burgers, as well as hand cut french fries and sweet potato fries.
Hope that you’ll find these more to your liking.
Construction delays have prevented us from moving forward with the Refinery concept. Tomorrow night will be the last that we run the Bungalow Bistro menu. We’ll be open with our new brunch menu Sunday and then will be closed until Thursday for surface remodeling.
Thursday, we will re-open for lunch as The Refinery with a new lunch and dinner menu. Hope to see you there.
Greg, will you be posting your menu online are submitting it on Big Blue so we can see it? Advertising any specials? Loving it so far. Thanks for keeping us big blue fans in the loop. You have our support.
Please tell me the bacon-wrapped meatloaf is going to be on the new menu.
We re-open today as The Refinery. Until we can finish our website, our lunch and dinner menus for this week can be found on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Refinery/465172215251?ref=mf hope to see you.
Looking forward to it! Great cooks and super nice people; I hope it’s a recipe for success!