Sal Rosa is billed as a Caribbean-Latin restaurant. It opened in September of 2023, replacing Bizou Brasserie at Le Meridien Hotel in downtown Tampa. I never got to eat at Bizou Brasserie. I stopped in once to look at their menu and it sounded good. I’m inclined to think they should’ve kept the brasserie. This was a disappointment.
Le Meridien is an interesting and architecturally beautiful building holding lots of unique history within its walls. It’s included on a downtown ghost tour for its association with Tampa’s mob boss, Charlie Wall.
At one time it was the federal courthouse – thus “United States of America” across the facade. It stands next door to a gorgeous Catholic church (also on the ghost tour because of the three Jesuit priests who died of yellow fever in the early 1900s). You can admire the church’s stained glass windows from the outdoor seating areas.
The first thing you see when you enter the building is the hostess stand in front of the restaurant. It served as the witness stand when this was a federal courthouse. With the rich history within this building’s walls, it’s a little disappointing they don’t play it up. I don’t know – a brochure or pamphlet in the lobby area maybe? This was, after all, the place where Charlie Wall sealed his fate. I’ll come back to that.
The restaurant itself looks quite warm and inviting and has some spectacular coffered ceilings.
Since they were still serving breakfast when I arrived, I started with coffee. If my silverware had included a spoon, I could’ve stood it up in the cup. It didn’t.
I stopped a passing waiter and asked for sugar since there was none on the table. Once that arrived, I added it in and reached for my silverware. That’s when I discovered I had no spoon. Since the two waiters (in a room with only four seated tables) had seemingly disappeared, I stirred with my knife rather than wait to catch someone’s attention.
I ordered the 3-stack pancakes with hash browns and sausage. The pancakes looked scrumptious but were on the dry side. Call me crazy but I expect butter with my pancakes. Nope. Not here.
It would’ve taken a bottle of syrup to moisten the pancakes. I squeezed out every last drop of syrup from the little container, but it was a little like spitting on a loaf of bread.
I turned my attention to the hash browns and sausage. I sampled the hash browns and decided they needed salt. Do you think there were any condiments on the table? Nope.
So, okay, you get it. Breakfast was not up to par. Let’s just circle back to the property’s storied past. If not for that, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to eat in the hotel’s restaurant in the first place.
Back in the 1950s, this building was the site of hearings for the Kefauver Committee, tasked with investigating organized crime’s role in interstate commerce. Florida was known as a hotbed for illegal gambling. Ranking high on the list of individuals to interview was bad boy Charlie Wall.
Charlie could easily have been a powerful, well-connected, legitimate businessman in Tampa. He was the son of a former mayor. His mother was the daughter of another mayor.
However, his mother died when he was twelve, followed by his father two years later. In those two years, his dad had remarried and Charlie despised the step-mother. He attempted to shoot her with a .22 rifle and, at 17, was sent to jail. With that background, I suppose his move into illegal gambling shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
He retired (wisely) when the mafia moved in, took over the gambling operations, and made two attempts on his life. But when the Kefauver Committee decided to hold hearings at the courthouse, they subpoenaed him. The idiot showed up and testified. Clearly he gave away too much information because not long after, he was found dead in his bedroom, his throat slit and his head bashed in.
So come on. If you could read about the past courthouse shenanigans while waiting for your table, wouldn’t it pique your interest in this notorious locale? It might even make you forgive the lackluster meal, missing silverware and lack of condiments. But if this is the best a less than one-year-old restaurant can do, maybe not.
Or maybe you should just go for lunch or dinner. The menu options include ceviche, salads, baingan bharta (no, don’t ask me – I have no idea what that is), empanadas, cachapa, jerk chicken, chilled cilantro soup (might be good but I have a hard time imagining a liquid garnish as a soup), tacos, and main course bowls with proteins like chicken or flank steak.
Me? I’ll stick with the history lesson.
- 601 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida
- 813-999-8214
- http://www.salrosatampa.com
- Hours: Saturday & Sunday 7:00 AM – 12:00 AM / Monday-Friday 6:30 AM – 12:00 AM
- Wheelchair accessible
- Parking – Metered in front at $3 an hour / Hotel valet to the side but I don’t know if they accept non-hotel guests who are there simply to dine.
Lisa Browder 
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