TAMPA
I misspoke. When I did a preview story on Del Frisco's Grille, the newest upscale restaurant on Boy Scout Boulevard's tony restaurant row, I inaccurately characterized the restaurant's menu as having a "something for everyone approach." She shoots but doesn't score. Having worked my way through a fair bit of the menu now, it hangs together, far from a hodgepodge. But maybe my confusion was borne of a little identity ambiguity with the concept itself.
The company's Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse is the kind of swanky, mahogany-lined prime steaks place where captains of industry celebrate the purchase of small island nations. The 15 slightly less rarefied Del Frisco's Grilles, especially the one in Rockefeller Center, are still about 'spensive slabs o' steak. But that's just the most obvious stuff. Really, this new entry to Tampa's expense-account alley is more like a referendum on what Americans like to eat right now.
Nothing pious about it, it's got ahi tuna tartare tucked into crispy tacos ($16), a kale and quinoa salad gussied with jicama and sweet corn ($9), shaved Brussels sprouts studded with bacon ($8), and a passel of flatbreads with things like wild mushrooms and fontina ($14). With its deviled eggs and wedge salad, it even hits 2014's culinary nostalgia just right. You know this food and like to eat this food, whether you're ogling the $14 cheeseburger or a $40 prime ribeye.
Its buildout completed at a breakneck pace, the newcomer is cheek to jowl with Kona Grill, Texas de Brazil and about half a dozen other big-name chains. My question was whether this newcomer would offer enough novelty to draw big crowds. I think that was the wrong question.
Dinner pacing can still be a little stuttery — so common in new restaurants — although general manager Beth Weisman has assembled a service team that itself is a big draw. These people are preternaturally cheery: They remember your name, know the menu and can render opinions about whether you should opt for the Youth Serum (fresh cuke, mint, Hendrick's Gin, fresh sour mix; $11.50) or the pomegranate margarita (with Camarena reposado; $12). The answer, by the way, is both: House cocktails are smart and lively, but not cheap, and the wine list is similarly dynamic (but also with fairly steep markups).
Those ahi tacos are a signature dish, arriving in a tight quartet on a little stand, their spicy citrus mayo a pleasant foil. These, and the oft-recommended cheesesteak eggrolls ($11), were not my favorite starters, however. That went to the simple artichoke, served steaming in two halves with a ramekin of tangy-rich Meyer lemon aioli ($12.50). It's the original finger food, the grassy flesh of the leaves pulling off between your teeth.
Whether you're dining in the gracious main dining room with its absurdly capacious booths, or outside on the nicely landscaped patio, or even upstairs on the hip rooftop, a join-and-conquer approach is good: Steaks come with only a little potato cake (fine, but not scintillating), so you'll want to add shared sides, from the aforementioned sprouts ($8) to insane truffled mac and cheese ($8), this version done with radiatore, the creamy goo infiltrating every nook of the little radiators. So choose a couple of sides, then maybe go for a rosy ribeye ($40) and the plantain-crusted grouper ($31), a Florida-only dish that arrives with a disc of sumptuous coconut sticky rice, and collaborate.
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Explore all your optionsHere's another reason it's wise to share dishes at Del Frisco's: Desserts are amazing. And large. I was smitten with the six-layer buttercreamy, tangy, moist lemon Doberge cake ($10.50) and less rocked by the Nutella bread pudding ($9). But it was the coconut cream pie ($10.50) that I coveted most. Sitting at the bar one day and eating my way through a seared Asian tuna salad ($17), bright with fresh mango and a gingery dressing, I cut glances at the gentleman next to me as a confection as ornate as a Kentucky Derby hat was set before him. ("Dear Abby: Is it rude to ask a stranger seated next to you for a bite if you know full well he won't be able to eat the whole thing himself? Signed, Hungry Critic." "Dear HC: Yes.")
The coconut cream pie is just one of the things that will likely lure me back to this part of Boy Scout Boulevard. From personable service to a knockout rooftop level, Del Frisco's Grille has plenty to distinguish itself in this restaurant-rich strip.
Contact Laura Reiley at lreiley@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2293. Follow @lreiley. She dines anonymously and unannounced; the Times pays all expenses.