Carmel Kitchen & Wine Bar

Seriously, everything was super good here and the service was great. The complimentary hummus was delicious. The pita that came with the hummus and the spinach dip was incredible — warm, soft, and a little crunchy. Just right. The ravioli app was good too. The texture of the fried ravioli was also amazing.
The Greek salad was my favorite thing. Tangy and sweet Greek dressing was the highlight. Feta and olives in it were fresh and delicious.
Lamb chops were very nice. Wife enjoyed her cheesy bacon melt.
I loved the key like pie and she loved the pound cake. A+!

Delish! My first time here. It won’t be my last. I had for starters the Skinny Poma Tini. It was so yummy. Then the Short Ribs. They are melt in your mouth good

OMG! what the hell happened? If you look at my previous reviews of this place it was stellar. Most of the great menu items are either off the menu or the recipe has changed. How could you take away the mac n cheese? Why did you change that amazing spinach dip??? This has been one of our favorite restaurants for a long time but no longer. Not only was the food that we ordered not good but the service was terrible too. the restaurant was empty and the waiter was never around. We are so sad. To each his own but we will be looking elsewhere in the future. :(

As good as it gets! We decided to try Carmel Kitchen Wine Bar on a whim, as it is right down the street from us. I could not be more impressed! The «Mod-​Med» menu offers tons of different and unique options, and the wine and cocktail list is beyond impressive. I was also thrilled that they are able to make substitutions and that they cook to order in order to accommodate allergies. On top of all this, the specials they have are great… who doesn’t love a happy hour menu and half off wine Wednesdays?!
My husband and I shared the fried oysters and they were perfect… not at all greasy and fried to crisp perfection. Paired with the house-​made cocktail sauce… heaven! I had the Citrus Grilled Salmon salad (sub chicken for the salmon). The chicken was juicy and had that perfect char-​grill to it and paired perfectly with the seasonal berries. I must say that the crispy herbed goat cheese medallion may have been my favorite part of the salad… they should offer that as an appetizer! My husband had the beef short ribs with the creamy mashed potatoes and he practically licked the bowl clean! The meat was so tender it practically melts in your mouth, and the cognac braise adds even more to the flavor profile. As a self proclaimed mashed potato connoisseur, I’d have to say that these are quite possibly the best I’ve ever tasted!
The staff was incredibly professional, friendly and knowledgeable in regards to the menu, ingredients and were quick to give their recommendations! I absolutely love that level of service, rather than «what can I get for you».
I am so excited to have learned that they now do on-​site private dining parties, off-​site catering and even weddings, with pricing that is so reasonable! Plans are already in the works to hold our monthly office dinner at Carmel and I’ve already suggested their catering to a friend who is getting married next year!
To wrap this review up in a few short words, you will be beyond impressed with every aspect of your dining experience. If you haven’t been yet, this should be your next stop!

Went on a lunch date with my friend here and the atmosphere and staff were wonderful and so was the food! Will definitely come again on half price wine bottle Wednesday!

Delish… Sat down and got complimentary black bean hummus with these A-​maxing pita chips that taste so good I could eaten just a bowl of that!!! Service is good and the prices are fair for the food you get!!!

Had a wonderful experience on mother’s day. I was very impressed despite the crowd they promptly seated our reservation. Food was on point. They do a great brunch on Sundays.
Dinner service unfortunately has not been as great. Maybe will try again down the road, but for now based on experience I prefer Carmel for brunch. Hope they decide to extend it to Saturdays.

Was very impressed. Great food. Liked all the options on the men
u .Food was very tasteful and well plated. Mediterranean feel and taste. Great service to match great food, wine… be sure to ask for Paris for A+ service… We will return driving from Pasco county.

Great dishes. Could use some music on the patio. Outdoor tables should be wiped off, though it is outdoor and prone to dust and debris.
Menu is available on tablet with attached photos. Very pleasant ordering experience. Hostess didn’t tell me what the tablet was for and I was given a tablet and menu, so that can be confusing.
Delightful afternoon stop.
Will come again.

Love the lobster risotto! The wine selection is not as extensive as I’d hoped but they have a little bit of everything. The service is so-​so, they’re not rude but not completely friendly either. I don’t like the iPad menu thing they give you to order from, it’s not user friendly and takes up room on the table. This is a great girls night or intimate date night spot.

Jamie was the best waitress be sure to ask for her. Food was great. This was a great little place with food that was also very good. Great selection on menu. As this is a wine bar there is also a selection of wines and food is set towards the tone of wine. You are given a iPad to order from and search for wines that you want. waitress taps in your order on the pad and you are all set. Lobster Bisque was great, but I am partial to it as it is my favorite.

Hit and misses for sure. This was by far my least favorite experience at Carmel Café. We frequently visit the Tampa locations and this one was not up to par at all.
Due to Valentine’s Day they offered specials. I ordered the crab stuffed shrimp with asparagus. First off it was Luke warm to cold. My shrimp was undercooked and gross (like slimy gross). The asparagus was undercooked, hard and flavorless. The whole meal was so bad that I had to send it back and get a bowl of lobster bisque instead. This is usually really good. Although the flavor was there, there was not one piece of lobster in it. It was all bisque. Lol. Super bummer. Service was ok. She was nice enough but not knowledgeable and very forgetful.
Pretty much underwhelmed. I wouldn’t go back there anytime soon. Funny they were giving $ 10 off coupons. We made a joke that we would use it for a drink while dining somewhere else.
Time to step it up. It’s a great place, great concept, and has all the potential but the kitchen needs to keep it together.

First class EVERYTHING! This place is stuffed with professionals. Great service; knowledgable staff. Delicious food served promptly; great presentation. The bar is top-​notch, and I’m very critical on that particular craft.
Wine list is extensive and a bit spendy, but I caught a half-​price special tonight, and I have no complaints… only praise. Come see ‘em. You’re welcome.

First time here for a Saturday night dinner and we had an awesome time. The fact that the place is very trendy is an afterthought, everyone here dresses very nice including the staff. You have to get here for happy hour 4 — 7 they have great specials on drinks and appetizers. They also have the IPad menus which we totally enjoyed. We had the appetizer sampler and their signature chic pea fries so, so good! We had the herb chicken and the pork medallions (small portion) and we cleaned our plates the food was that good. Also we had Natalie as our server, a little hard to understand but she was fun and knowledgeable. I could keep going on how great this place was but needless to say we’ll be back again for this 5 star restaurant.

We have been to Carmel before for a weekend dinner with friends and really enjoyed it. Lots of menu options both food and drink. The only complaint was it can get a bit noisy in here. It’s a weekend, I get it, but ask for a corner or side booth if you’re noise sensitive, definitely helps.
We came back during a weeknight and HOLY HAPPY HOUR! $ 5 drinks and appetizers are enough to make a meal of. We ordered a few different options off the happy hour menu and all were good. The entrees as well, braised short ribs and lobster rolls were delicious. The crab cakes were just OK. Our server was excellent and attentive and the iPad ordering is fun too.

They took off pretty much every good menu item. They took off the empanadas, meatballs, the lobster risotto, and much more. I will not be returning unless they bring those items back or have a better menu selection.

Really really really enjoyed this restaurant!!! We took my mum here for her birthday dinner, none of us having ever been, but saw great reviews and the menu looked wonderful. The restaurant was almost full when we arrived around 6:30 on a Thursday. We sat outside, because we love outside dining. Our server, Natalie, was super sweet and did great a job. I think it is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen that we order everything through iPads. Great idea! I really think/​hope that more restaurants adopt this idea. Natalie was really attentive and nice, but think when a server is overwhelmed or has a huge section, it is really helpful to have an iPad there for putting things in at your convenience and not waiting a long time. Loved it.
They have a really great happy hour– a selection of $ 5 appetizers, and specials on drinks, although I don’t recall what they were. BUT, they did have «$ 5 martini Thursday,» excellent! I am currently a sober person right now, but my mum had the raspberry sweet tart martini, which she loved, and my brother had the spiced pineapple, which he also loved. The spiced pineapple was my dream had I been drinking, so naturally, I really had to try a sip. Just a sip. Best sip ever. Pineapple and jalapeño infused tequila, agave, lemon and lime, YUMMM. Good sized martini for $ 5 too.
There were lots of things I would have liked to try, but I’m currently on a new food trend, and have to sadly avoid a lot. That doesn’t mean I have to avoid goat cheese. My mum and I split the Nan’s goat cheese appetizer, mmmm. Goat cheese IS hands down my favorite cheese ever, and this was SO good. It was a huge portion of soft, delectable, goat cheese with crackers, kalamata olives, roasted garlic, and sundried tomatoes. Excellent appetizer. My brother got the $ 5 portion of calamari and shrimp, accompanied with peppers, capers, saffron aioli, and thai chili. I so wanted to try this, but had to look from a distance. He really liked it though. I had a smidgen of the aioli, because I am obsessed with sauce. That was a win. For entrees, a lot of them you can get either a small or large portion, which I think is great for people with smaller appetites, or people who load up on apps. My mum had the small portion of the Moroccan lemon chicken. She LOVEDDDD it. It was an all natural chicken breast, with pine nuts, lemon, roasted vegetables, and some scrum sauce. She thought it was outstanding. I don’t eat chicken so I didn’t try it, but she was super happy with it. My brother got the small portion of the braised short ribs which came with asiago polenta. Mmmm love polenta. He loved his meal too, and it looked great. Nice presentation with both entrees. Also, when you are ordering on the iPad, it shows you pictures of all of the food, SO COOL! Love that thing. I got the kale salad with grilled salmon added to it and a side of apricot quinoa. The salmon was DELICIOUS. A really big piece, cooked perfectly, every bite was great. The salad itself was yum too– fresh kale, grapes, mandarin oranges, cheese, red onion, and slivered almonds. It was delightful. The kale salad wasn’t on the actual menu but it was on the handy dandy iPad. The quinoa was great too.
The prices were fair for regular menu, and the happy hour was good too. The iPad ordering is seriously wonderful. They bring you a water pitcher, which I find super important, so you never run out. Service great, outdoor patio nice, food excellent! Would 100% come here again.

This place is great! We had a gift certificate and decided to give it a try even though we hadn’t heard much about it. Our server was fantastic and very friendly. We both had chicken dishes that were equally as good. We started with the calamari and shrimp appetizer as well as the ahi tuna. Both were very good and only $ 5 each during happy hour. We will definitely be back!

I order the salmon which was delicious but the green beans were so greasy that they were barely edible. I also had the key lime pie which was delicious (delicious but not amazing).
The service was great and the décor was warm and friendly. Pretty good in my opinion.

4 stars, great service, nice atmosphere, delicious flavors.
I decided to give Carmel Café a try since it’s restaurant week and it was an opportunity to try several items on the menu. For restaurant week I had a choice of app, soup or salad, and entrée for $ 30.
My appetizer: I chose the chicken and arugula Flatbread pizza, so yummy. Definitely enough food to take the hunger edge of while waiting for entrée. Probably to light to order as an entrée. There were some candied lemon like shreds on the pizza which gave it a good twist. I was picking up all the crumbs.
Soup: lobster bisque. The bisque was tasty, there were lumps of crab and some type of oil drizzled in. The portion was small, but it was pretty rich. I wanted more but probably didn’t need it, could tell there were tons of calories lol.
Entrée: the salmon. Omg so much flavor! I always order salmon and I wanted to try something different but I just stuck with what I know. The salmon is served on top of a couscous I think and fresh herbs, garlic and tomato I believe. Whatever it was sitting under the salmon… it was good.
I added dessert to my order, it wasn’t included. I had the chocolate lava cake. Taste like dark chocolate, not super sweet, and it was served with a side of ice cream. It was good but didn’t give me that sweet tooth fix like chili’s lava cake. But it was rich and filled with dark chocolate.
All in all great meal and atmosphere. Great date night or girls night out place. Not sure if kids would appreciate the food at this place, it’s more Mediterranean, so I wouldn’t do a family outing here.