Todd B.
Yelp
Happy that Saint Pete has a new rooftop lounge. It always struck me as odd that a waterfront downtown only had 1. Cane and Barrel has a lot going for it but needs to work on one or two things.
First thing to know is that it's on the 7th or 8th floor of the new AC hotel in downtown Saint Pete. There is a small inside bar with some seating and a long but kind of narrow outside area. We came on a Friday and they had a DJ playing some good tunes outside and it was a very pleasant and fun atmosphere.
Drinks were delicious. I don't recall at this point what we got but we both enjoyed them, and for a rooftop lounge, the prices weren't terribly outrageous. We paid $15 or $16 a drink, which yes is a lot, but I think Canopy is more like $18 if memory serves. Besides, if a craft cocktail at street level is $12-$15, then this isn't too bad for the ambiance.
They need to work on 2 things. First, the hostess-not very friendly but that's okay. She wasn't unpleasant but just not welcoming. They were on an hour wait, so we gave her our number and went somewhere else. It wasn't a text service though-she called and said she had a table ready and could we be there in 2 minutes. I don't know what she expected but if you take my number and tell me it'll be an hour, I'm not going to hang around the hotel lobby waiting. We were a block away but needed to pay out tab and finish out drinks. When I told her we needed 10 minutes she asked if we could be there in 5. I told her no, 10, which ended up being okay, but maybe you should give your guests a bit more time to get back. I'm not saying we should have had an hour to come back, but 10-15 minutes shouldn't be asking a lot and shouldn't result in an attitude.
The other issue was that while I get this is a hotel and they serve food, this was a Friday evening in an adult-environment lounge but there were a couple of girls under 10 just bouncing around the place. They weren't causing a problem but you really should have an age limit starting at some point in the evening so adults can be adults without seeing a bunch of kids. Again, this wasn't a standard hotel restaurant. This is clearly a lounge for drinking where they happen to serve food. Kids just shouldn't be there after a certain time.
Finally, while it was very pleasant up there let's be clear, there is no view. The views are north, which is just neighborhoods and homes and businesses, and east, which would look towards the water but there's a parking garage in the way.
Anyway, children and unreasonable wait list policy aside, I did enjoy my drinks and the ambiance. Our server was great, too, so we'll probably be back at some point.