On opening day, January 28, 2009, Datz was a very different place. Inspired by Ann Arbor’s famed Zingerman’s, greeters engaged guests at the door with samples of gourmet retail products. Order takers queued up at the downstairs deli to answer questions about the enormous sandwich menu and take orders. Food runners rushed from the kitchen calling out deliveries ballpark style: “Roger’s Rockin’ Reuben… I’ve got Roger’s Rockin’ Rueben for Frank.” It took less than a week for owners Suzanne and Roger Perry to realize that the sandwiches were a hit, but South Tampa wasn’t having any part of the charming food auctions that made Zingerman’s unique. Thinking on their feet, they closed shop for the weekend, retrained the entire staff and opened as a full-service restaurant.

And it’s been that way ever since—a revolving door of invention, reinvention. In it’s current state, Datz is comfort food with a flair. It’s a craft beer oasis, a bourbon lover’s paradise, a culinary education center and a specialty food market all rolled into one. We also offer an eclectic cocktail menu with artisanal liquors found nowhere else in Tampa, in addition to seasonal menu changes that reflect a growing community appetite for entrees. In 2013 we grew and changed again with the addition of a new bakery next door, Dough, and an upscale catering division, Dazzle. Unique, different and always effervescent, we love what we’re becoming, even when we don’t quite know that that is.