This is Richard Gonzmart’s new Tampa restaurant that opened in 2014 in the Water Works park on the Hillsborough river. The Gonzmart’s are the ones that own the famous Columbia restaurant in Ybor and also the Columbia Cafe in the Tampa History Center. They now have restaurants on each end of Tampa’s River Walk.
We heard good things about this restaurant so we thought we would try it for lunch. It is upscale casual (if there is such a thing). I was there in jeans and a flannel (because it was very cold today) but you also get business lunch people and there were several groups of older ladies out for a lunch together. The building is a renovated old Water Works building that was tastefully done to preserve the historic features of the original building but also has large doors that can open up to the large patio area. They also have a rooftop patio that looks like a great place to hang out (too cold today).
The Ulele is a Florida Native Indian inspired restaurant. I had the Duck Club which is a club sandwich with applewood smoked duck bacon. I also had the Florida Native Chili which was excellent. It had alligator, wild boar, duck, venison, ground chuck and cranberry beans. Marnie had the Lucanica Salchica sausage sandwich which I tried and was also very good. She also got a side of white cheddar popcorn mashed potatoes. Great food, nice location and the Water Works park is also very nice. They have a dog park, water park for the kids and lots of green space to hang out. Probably a 15 minute walk on the River Walk from the Straz area.
I had to try their beer. I got a sample (I think they were 3oz) of 3 beers for $3. I tried the Buckhorn Black Lager (rated it a 2.5 on Untapp’d – pretty ordinary), the Water Works Pale (rated it a 3.0 on Untapp’d – better than the Black Lager), and the Rusty Red’s (rated it a 2.5 on Untapp’d – again, pretty ordinary). Their brewery is on-site in a 2,100 square foot. They brew 15 barrels at a time and have about 6 beers on tap from a light pilsner to a black lager. A great place to eat and have a few beers. We will definitely come back. Check out their website for more info. www.ulele.com
Update: July 2016: Ulele is becoming one of our regular stops. They have an oyster special in the bar from 4:00p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ($1/oyster). We usually get a dozen raw and have a beer before heading to Hidden Springs (which is only a block away). We visited for lunch on a SAT with a friend from Australia so we asked the server if we could get a tour of the brewery and she hooked us up with Tim Shackton the head brewmaster. We had a nice little private tour of the brewery and tasted some of his specialty beers. All really good and Tim has lots of passion for his job and beer. The beers they develop are focused on their food menu. They should add the beer pairing info on the menu items which would be helpful. The amazing thing is they only produce beer for the bar and sell 1000 pints/day. Hopefully they can get some of their beer at the Columbia Cafe at the other end of the River Walk (and also owned by the Gonzmart’s). Ulele is a great spot for food, oysters, and beer. If you go ask for a tour.