"Airie in the City" Tori Bar Opening Week at Tampa's Downtown & Water Street Holiday Extravaganza + OOTN

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Tori Bar

Tampa's Downtown

Opening week

So, there is a new restaurant that just opened in the Downtown/Hyde Park area. To be precise it is right across from UT in the space that Fly Bar once occupied. This restaurant is Torie Bar. Now, I have never a tally had the pleasure of dining within this space before because the previous restaurant didn't have anything I wanted to eat. So, I was already intrigued because this building is quite fetching. I am unsure if this building is historic to be honest, but the architecture is very very nice and we don't have a lot of buildings that are unique like this in Tampa.

Ok, so Tori Bar is a Japanese Pub which has several specialties, one being handrolls. It is very rare that I will go to a restaurant on opening day or during the soft opening and not know what is on the menu because doing that is very risky for me as a Celiac. Sometimes I do make exceptions. With most Japanese places there is usually something I can eat that is gluten free; albeit there have been times when there was no gluten-free soy sauce (Tamari) which equally is kind of just as bad, but I was willing to take a chance.

Lychee martini

Chirashi bowl

Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, & Octopus

I freaking love handrolls. Earlier this year I went to rhe opening of another handroll restaurant in St.Pete which was great, but I didn't have a lot of options. Well...Tori Bar has great selection of gluten-free handrolls, in fact, all of them are gluten-free except the eel. The spicy tuna is gluten-free without the tobiko. They did have a bottle of Tamari (yay) and that actually was perfect for me.

The fish was very very good, like top notch, but what stood out to me was the prices and portion sizes. They are great. I have mentioned this before that a lot of new restaurants in the city are getting into some insane price levels for sushi dinners and omakase dinners. The pricing is wild. It was really nice to dine in the city and have sashimi and other offerings at a quite decent price point.

So, the restaurant is stunning on the inside. The architecture is just as great inside as it is on the outside. The space looks small from outside, but it is quite large. Right now they are not taking reservations and it is walk in only so there is a wait. I waited less time then what I was actually quoted which was nice. With the vicinity that it is located you can easily go so something else and come back if there is a long wait.

SASHIMI

Korean fried chicken

not Gluten-free

Service was great also and I liked the drink selection. So, there is a lot more to the menu. There is a whole section of Temaki vegetables, Danbury saahimi options and skewered foods. I was told pretty much most of the skewered items has sauces (marinades) that contained gluten. I think the wagyu was safe to eat. So, anyhow, there is a lot to try from burrata to Japan styled potato salad.

It is really really good and refreshing. So, have I influenced you to tey this place out? If you like this kind of thing it may become your new local favorite. Also, they are open late night! Last call for the kitchen is 12:30am and the actual restaurant is open until 2am.

XOXO