Cigar City Brewpub

Cigar City BrewpubCigar City Brewpub
Cigar City BrewpubCigar City Brewpub
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

15491 N Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, Florida, 33618-1822
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
3.95
Beers:
271
Ratings:
48,491
Linked Beer Listing
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.38
Reviews:
25
Ratings:
129
pDev:
10.96%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by cjgator3:
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Reviewed by cjgator3 from Florida

3.96/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4 | food: 3
After visiting the main brewery many times over the years, I finally made a point to stop at the brewpub for brunch early on a Sunday morning. Out of roughly 12 taps, I would say about half were Cigar City Brewpub beers brewed on location, with a few regular Cigar City beers and a few local guest taps. The food was okay, I ordered off the brunch menu and it was nothing special but again I have only been once so far so I will be interested to order something off the regular menu next time.
Apr 04, 2016
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.4 by heddar33 from Pennsylvania

May 23, 2017
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Reviewed by slander from New York

3.72/5  rDev -15.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75
Taking in the Flowida sights, happily not at work for a small stretch. Oh, late in the day but still time for a beers, we thinks. Cigar City; briefly saw the location out near the ball park but now the brewpub for good measure. Surprisingly standalone in a parking lot that surely must have been a something else where there was food (the ceiling being a clue)…

In and to the left, the bar, it pulls me in as they often do. Rounded wood plank topped bar rounded, with a can top lined base under plexi, and a tiled foot box. Seating on a horseshoe 3 sides around for 2 dozen on high wooden chairs. 3 tap towers of 5, one on each side, and 2 handpumps in the corner on the hook. Bar island holds an ovalish black plastic top piece with tiered booze, over coolers below and shelf space on the ends for bottled wines.

Small brewroom up front, a bit of serving tank and barrel play between the bar and the brewing side. Brown wood walls with ‘hops’, ‘water’, ‘yeast’, & ‘malt’ piece, just in case you don’t know what they are or what they do. Tile floors, and a black drop ceiling and white sunken of the same all plastic shiny. A pair of cool barrel lamps with every other stave sprawling outward over the bar, single bulb barrel band ball lamps to both sides, and Cigar City can lamps behind me (think 20 cans in a large ring held by a pack-tec with a big bulb in the middle of it). TV’s to the rear and 3 boards in between and a liquor cabinet below the TV’s. The bar area décor is of malt bags and barrel ends and lined Cigar City cans elsewhere. “Pin sized barrels running probably a pillar stacked”. I couldn’t figure out what I meant by this until I looked at some pics and totally recalled. It’s a bunch of small ‘pin’ sized barrels stacked to the ceiling high but I suspect there’s a pillar inside. 8 hightop tables wrapping around 2 sides of the bar, and some two dozen booths & tables around the bend, behind the swag store, and outside in the Dena sun section.

And beer… How about a sampler of 4; that seems safe (although I may have doubled down). Of the 12 house beers they have up (8 smaller batch brewed here and another 4 from the Cigar City production facility), I sampled through 8 of ‘em (Cacique, Robust Porter, 6%, tasty, but thinnish for a Robust Porter; Flattering O’Connor, Dry Irish Stout, 5.5%, misses, just not a lot to it; Space Race, Rye barrel Russian Imperial Stout, 10.5%, spicy rye, booziness, chocolate; Spider Wars, Session IPA, 4.3%, light sessiony easy hoppy love; Orge Fermente, St. Somewhere collab Sour Farmhouse, 7.5%, funk and Brett?; Ryetious Dude, Rye English Pale Ale, 6.7%, nice rye spiciness, citrus, floral & dry; Tampa Lager, a Southern Lager, whatever that means, 4.5%, pleasant, floral, goodness; Maduro, Brown Ale, 5.5%, toffee, chocolate, espresso, a solid brown ale, just lovely). Amongst the things I didn’t get to, there were 4 other house beers (Northdale, Pale Ale, 6.4%; Palate Reset, Blonde Ale, 4.5%; Invasion, Pale Ale, 5%; Florida Cracker, Wit, 5.5%), a few guest taps (Cigar City Cider & Mead Hard Cider, 5%; Brew Bus Brewing Last Stop, American IPA, 7.2% and You’re my boy, Blue, blueberry wheat ale, 5%), and a cask option (Raspberry Cacique, Raspberry Robust Porter, 6%). I should have gone for that cask beer, what was I thinking? Space Race Rye barrel Russian Imperial Stout, Spider Wars Session IPA, Ryetious Dude Rye English Pale Ale, & Tampa Lager were the best of the bunch,

Guy at the end of the bar says that ‘Satisfaction’ was written by Keif in Clearwater while the Stones were on tour down here in ’65 (fact check: Keif actually wrote the song at his flat in Carlton Hill, St. John’s Wood, but Mick wrote the lyrics by the pool in at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater so partial points awarded).

Some good beers on (specifically Tampa Lager for the win), but seems kind of vanilla for a brewery like Cigar City. I think I’d much rather play at the production facility.
Feb 25, 2017
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Reviewed by SpoiledInVT from Vermont

4.19/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3.75
Fantastic and knowledgeable staff, great vibe, and marvelous beers. This place is simply "a lot of fun". Definitely a must stop if you're in the area.
Apr 07, 2016
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Reviewed by hollywoodbeergirl from Florida

4.39/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 5 | food: 3
Can't say I love the place but the beers are delicious. These guys opened my eyes to real beer back in the day and it just keeps getting better. I am not picky with regard to food and service and such when it comes to beer bars. No reason to be negative. Come. Hang out. Enjoy. Drink up.
Mar 13, 2016
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Reviewed by 50StateBeerTour from Arkansas

4.66/5  rDev +6.4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Cigar City was a highlight of our Florida tour. The place was busy, but we really connected with our server who was attentive, knowledgeable, and fun. The beer was great, we were able to try beers we would never have the opportunity to taste. The food was delicious, highly recommend the fish tacos. Outstanding experience!!
Mar 01, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by NCCIndy from Indiana

Feb 24, 2016
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Reviewed by floridadrift from Florida

4.31/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Vibe is always bustling in this place, in and out, lots of tourism. Quality of beer has always been solid, they also do bottle releases, service is good, employees are 20s-30s, beer savy. Beer menu and food menu are always broad and easy to decide!
Feb 08, 2016
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Reviewed by mdfb79 from New York

4.03/5  rDev -8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
A pretty good place, fun to hang out at before hitting the airport. A few guest taps, about 15-20 CC lines. Nothing crazy on tap the 3 times I've been here, but a few different things they don't can or bottle. Lots of cans and bottles to go and merch, a fun visit.
Dec 29, 2015
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Reviewed by Bruce5 from Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
In Tampa visiting family, had to visit Cigar City one of my favorite brews. Lots of choices found only at the pub made the trip a definite! Great selection of beer combined with good food!
Dec 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3.66 by Fordknox from Tennessee

Oct 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.99 by mig100 from Texas

Oct 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Corburk from Pennsylvania

Oct 13, 2015
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Rated by Sam_Schwartz from Illinois

4.71/5  rDev +7.5%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 5
The Food here was amazing. They brew a few in house that are not available at the main CCB brewery .
Oct 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Glenn_Cole_BTBC from Illinois

Aug 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.38 by Jakethesnake503 from Indiana

Aug 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4.81 by KWhyte23 from Illinois

Jul 28, 2015
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Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -14.8%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I was hoping for more, but unfortunately I was slightly disappointed.

The placed looked pretty good with the brewhouse on display and fermentors out in the open, and an overall wood/tile look with some interesting barrel-lights overhead. At least they tried, but I didn't think the design was great as it seemed half-formed, or at least done under a strict budget. At the very least it's functional, just unimpressive.

As for service, I hate sitting at the bar unattended waiting to order my first beer. I've tended bar, and even at your busiest you can make eye contact to imply "I've seen you and I'll be over" - to not receive even that on a slow afternoon is bizarre. Following that, service seemed entirely lackadaisical, as if our server was about to end his shift and knew he'd be turning it over to someone else - which is even more unacceptable.

The food was good, perhaps even "very good", and the prices were for the most part reasonable, but I didn't find it to be any better than any other restaurant in its class.

As to the beer, I was pleased that 4 of their beers were 'brewpub' beers, and they also have two casks via hand pump (although I'm not sure how often they're used). I can get the regular Cigar City beers anytime, but I understand that they can't produce everything out of the brewpub.

Overall, fairly basic but with good food, and surprisingly bad service at the bar (where you should get the best service). I'd normally say that I'd have to give them a second chance but it's been 8 months and I really just don't care to go back. I'd probably rather just go to the Brick House or Mellow Mushroom, as sacrilegious as that might seem.
Jul 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4.4 by VinceMig from Georgia

Jul 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.21 by MyakkaRiver from Florida

Jun 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4.14 by tjk135 from Illinois

Jun 02, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by cyrushire from Florida

May 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4.19 by aasher from Indiana

May 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3.95 by user785335 from Florida

May 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.23 by InspectorBob from New Jersey

Apr 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.88 by mozartandmadnes from Spain

Apr 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.4 by BrewTangClan77 from Florida

Mar 23, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by Jobin_24 from Florida

Mar 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by puftdank from Illinois

Mar 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.91 by matt23j from Florida

Mar 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.23 by baggedlunch from New Mexico

Mar 03, 2015
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Rated by seanzig from New Hampshire

4.8/5  rDev +9.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 5
About 20-30min from brewery. Food is awesome! Good selection of brewpub exclusive selections
Feb 16, 2015
 
Rated: 4.73 by Dactrius from Netherlands Antilles

Feb 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.28 by Patrick_Redbeard from Texas

Feb 07, 2015
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Reviewed by Jfishe13313 from Florida

4.18/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4
Real nice ccb extention, beyond the great ccb beer basics, the brewpub brews are hit and miss but always at least good and flavorful, food is generally good but limited selection. Service can be slow.
Jan 17, 2015
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Rated by AL813 from Florida

3.51/5  rDev -19.9%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 4 | service: 2.75 | selection: 4 | food: 3
Great concept, not so great execution. Service is mediocre and food is inconsistent. Beer is very good.
Jan 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by dcbobcat from Ohio

Jan 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.95 by jophish17 from Georgia

Jan 04, 2015
 
Rated: 3.68 by usfmikeb from Virginia

Dec 27, 2014
Cigar City Brewpub in Tampa, FL
Brewery rating: 3.95 out of 5 with 48491 ratings