Bernini Restaurant

Tonight I fell in love with Bernini in Ybor. I have dined in restaurants in Europe from Paris to Lisbon but those dinners had nothing over Bernini of Ybor in terms of quality, food, service and surroundings. My dining partners enjoyed, and I mean enjoyed, Lemon Pepper Scented Flash Fried Calamari, a menu of tempting Pastas and Entrees while I settled into the finest Atlantic Salmon I have ever tasted. Being from California, I have enjoyed salmon many ways but I must commend the talented Executive Chef, Paul Bonanno on his splendid preparation of my dinner. It was exquisite in taste, with a light crab citrus salsa and delightful presentation on bed of sautéed leeks and spinach. The Grilled Atlantic Salmon will be one of my favorite meals forever. We were a large group, with the dreaded separate checks, numerous drink orders, and many requests for bread, butter and herbed olive oil. All of these demands were met with grace and charm including a group photo graciously taken by our waiter Johnny, a wonderfully energetic and organized young man. We were able to enjoy half price entrees with $2.00 Finlandia Martinis. Such a bargain in these times. Because of our groups size the gratuity was included at the discounted cost so I would suggest you add a bit if you enjoy your experience half as much as we did. Oh, did I mention the beautiful surroundings and ambiance of the old Ybor Bank Building and reasonable, easy valet parking. A thoroughly delightful, delicious dining experience. Pros: The food, service, atmosphere, the food more

My fiance and I visited Tampa for a week between Christmas and New Years. We ate at Bernini the first second night we were in town, and we loved it so much that we went back again before we left. The food was amazing (I HIGHLY recommend Jason's Favorite), the staff was friendly and knowledgable, and the atmosphere can't be beat. We arrived relatively late for dinner one night, and the staff was so, so nice about allowing us to stay until well after close. One of the owners even visited our table to chat with us and ask how the food and service had been. When I commented on the lovely architecture of the building, he was kind enough to show me around the restaurant, pointing out things of interest. Overall, a fantastic dining experience. Pros: food, atmosphere, service Cons: parking in Ybor City more

This place has fantastic pizzas!! Try the New Yorker. Calamari was good, too, and dining room was tight but comfortable. Great night out, right in the center of activity in Ybor on weekend night. Pros: pizza was tasty and place has a neat look Cons: kinda loud, but nothing horrible...little cramped more

We recently had family visit Tampa and we had heard good things about Bernini from friends, so decided to wine and dine the fam on last night.It was fantastic.We loved the look of the place right off, from the marquee on the side of the building to the insect-like door handles you have to see to appreciate. They sat us in plain view of the kitchen, with a great view of their giant, clay pizza oven, and we actually got to watch the chefs prepare the meals.The place has a really unique look, with giant sculpture photos (which our server informed us were done by the place?s namesake, an Italian sculptor named Bernini), high ceilings, and giant chandeliers. Our server also let us know that the place was an old bank and showed us the original bank vault door, which now serves as the door to their wine room. The whole building had a really neat historical feel to it and a casual atmosphere where we were comfortable in jeans and shorts. The wine we started with was reasonably priced, as was just about everything on the menu, and the appetizers we ordered were excellent (bruschetta, calamari, and rockshrimp in a spicy tomato sauce). The menu?s great. We ordered all over, covering a lot of foods in different ways. The Crispy Duck I had was the most recommendable thing I?ve ever eaten, with some sort of fig sauce on top and goat cheese potatoes. My wife inhaled her lasagna, a huge six or seven layer monster, and I thought it was great that, for an Italian place, they didn?t feel the need to put spaghetti and meatballs on the menu and other automatic Italian food. The pizza also rocked, with a smoky taste to the cheese that our server said came from their wood-fire oven and there were even some tasty sounding steak entree options. Anyway, this is a great place for a night out and we can?t wait to try it again soon. It's definitely worth hitting if you?re down here and is more calm and relaxed than other Ybor venues we've tried, so an overall good find for us. Pros: Big menu, comfortable atmopshere, neat venue, good service Cons: Parking in Ybor. more

I had gone to Bernini's for valentines day. It was nice and there were very few people (it was a thursday night); It looked like the tables and chairs were crammed in there, I can't imagine what it would be like if the place was full. I was surprised at how slow the service was despite the emptiness.\r \r The food was fine, probably over priced, but ok.\r \r Everything was acceptable until my girlfriend and I got home. \r Within a couple hours we both were sick. Both of our stomachs hurt; I had difficulty sleeping and I cannot recall how many times she ended up vomitting that night.\r \r Consequently, I called Bernini's to complain about the sickness that afflicted my girlfriend and I. My first attempt was at a busy time- I voiced my complaint but the manager said he's busy and he'll call me back in 20 minutes, but never did. Two hours later, I called back but he was still too busy to talk. I finally spoke to him again the next day. In my best attempt to remain calm I explained the situation to the manager again. The manager was rigid and was unable accept even the slightest possibility that we got sick as a result of the food at that place. I hadn't even asked for any type of compensation (although I would've liked to be compensated for at least my girlfriend's meal).\r \r Dissatisfied with his ability to handle my complaint I asked to be escalated to someone higher up. He gave me the name of the owner and said he would have him call me the following monday... that call never came either. I called a few times later, my last attempt I spoke to the same manager and asked for the owner, he claimed he had just left to go out of town and did not know hen he would return. In any case, I gave him my name again to call back. The call never came. Pros: At least the parking was expensive too - good to be consistent Cons: Vomitting girlfriend,... was not her idea of a romantic valentines day more

Nice surprise to the typical Italian food one finds in the greater Tampa area. Very good service and food won't disappoint. Was a bit noisy when I was there, if you are taking clients for a meal ask to be seated in the balcony or in a corner. more

The restaurant was very noisy. It was hard to hear conversations at your own table. Service was adequate but not exceptional for the prices of the meals. Although the salads were average, the entrees were not palatable. The dishes were dried out or undercooked and lacked seasoning. Pros: atmosphere Cons: , Expensive, unsavory meal more

Just about every time we go to Ybor to party we hit this place for eats! The food and drink are always good, the service despite the busy pre-nightclub rocking hours is good. What better compliment can I give a restaurant than being a repeat customer! Bottom line, if your in the mood for good food before hitting the clubs in Ybor, this is the place! Right across from Ampitheatre (that and Platforms are my favorite) each other is a few feet from sn awesome experience!! Pros: food, wine, good crowd more