Bandit Coffee Co. team's Small Bar brings big flavor
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Small Bar in St. Pete. Photo: Kathryn Varn/Axios
By day, Bandit Coffee Co. bustles with regulars, often with a line out the door, as one of St. Pete's most-beloved coffee shops.
- By night (well, some nights), it transforms into Small Bar, a quite literal small bar with dinner service and an expansive selection of natural wines.
Dig in: The pop-up bar and restaurant serves as a preview and fundraising effort for the upcoming Spitz Wine Bar, a new venture from the Bandit team set to open a few doors down at 2520 Central Ave. this fall, per the Tampa Bay Times.
đŸ‘‹ Kathryn here. I've been a Bandit regular for years, so I was super excited to try this new venture last week.
The vibe: Small Bar comes to life in a cozy back room near the kitchen where chefs Benjamin Pomales and Adrianna Siller work their magic. There are just 15 seats available between the bar and four small tables.
Best bites: The croissant garlic twist with peach marinara ($14) and the local burrata toast ($21) were great starters, but the true star of the night was the fish and chips ($34).
- Cod or haddock usually anchor that dish, but Small Bar's take included mojo-spiced yellowtail snapper with cascabel chili, pickled chayote remoulade and shoestring potatoes. It was served tail-on but otherwise deboned.
Of note: The menu changes, so some of these exact dishes may not be available on future weekends.
For drinks, the red wine blood orange cardamom sangria ($8 a glass) was a standout, and I can confirm the Folicello SandrĂ³un red wine ($10 a glass, $38 a bottle) is "dangerously easy-drinking," as the menu says.
- No natural wine experience? No problem. Helming the bar was Small Bar partner Seth Davis, who walked us through the menu and open bottle options.
If you go: Small Bar is open for reservations on Friday and Saturday nights and standing-room only 5-10pm on Sundays. You can make reservations via Resy here.
