Restaurant BT

Q is hands down the best server we’ve ever had. We chose BT to celebrate our anniversary and managed to book a table just an hour beforehand (last minute, I know). When we arrived, there was a handwritten card on the table with my name, wishing us a happy anniversary which was a super thoughtful touch. Q’s service was flawless. Every detail was noticed and cared for. If you’ve seen The Bear, imagine Cousin Richie, only Vietnamese and more polished. Q brought the same level of passion, precision, and genuine care to every moment: from explanations of the dishes to making sure the experience felt special. We ordered the Shaken Beef and the Bouillabaisse, finishing with the croissant bread pudding for dessert. Every bite was outstanding. 10/10. Easily among the best meals we’ve had anywhere. And we travel and dine out frequently, so that’s saying something. Thank you, BT, for such a memorable evening. We’re only sorry it took us this long to try your restaurant. But we’ll definitely be back!

We celebrated my fiance’s birthday here yesterday and i have to share how wonderful this place is!! We selected to be in the garden which was the best for privacy. From the start the service was exceptional and our waiter was very helpful explaining each dish. My fiance loves oysters and said these were the best he ever had! A true gem in the heart of south tampa!

At first I wasn’t sure if this fusion would work, but it certainly does! Every single item we got were so flavorful and delicious. We got the lobster bisque, the duck burritos to start, and lamb (special for the day) and shaken beef imperiale for main, and croissant bread pudding to finish. Every item was seasoned well, and loaded with flavors without powering, and delicious. The service was phenomenal. Wait staff were timely and very attentive. The ambiance has an intimate vibe perfect for small group special occasions or date night.

Beautiful way to spend an evening. Food was gorgeous and tasted even better. So many great flavors presented in a well rounded and elegant way. The coconut rice was my favorite, but everything was excellent. I loved how many veggies were served with the dishes. Entrees are pricier, but quality and flavor so delivered. Service was great. Wine list had more boutique producers too.

Great service and atmosphere. Felt like a European restaurant. The food is so delicious. Definitely coming back. Great date night spot

I just don't understand why people fight to get into restaurants that are so very clearly inferior to this one, when they have availability here. This is a fantastic place. Please stop eating standard steak and pasta every night. Come here and expand your flavor palate with a mix of Vietnamese and French cuisine. Share everything so you can really appreciate the offerings. And the decor is lovely. We sat on the back patio surrounded by orchids, bamboo and water features. Service was impeccable. Please don't be scared to expand your culinary experiences and come here now!

The best vegan and vegetarian dishes I’ve ever had. Hands down the best place to take a loved one, whether it be a birthday, an anniversary, or just to celebrate. Plan on spending at least $100 per person.

We came here for my wife’s birthday after she had expressed interest for several months. Our waiter Chris was excellent, and jumped in with our silly banter. The layout of the restaurant is a bit unusual. We entered through what we thought was the main entrance and walked right through a part of the kitchen. As a small restaurant owner that would drive me insane, but no biggie. The decor is nice given what they’re having to work with. Now, onto the food; presentation was good, and most of the dishes were very tasty, unusual, but tasty. Definitely misses a lot of the Vietnamese flavor profiles, but the dishes are still excellent. We all enjoyed the Pumpkin soup, the Tuna tartare with Rice chips, sushi rolls, Duck burritos, Calamari Relleno, Yellowfish, Noodles with Prawns, some kind of a steak bento box, and the Foie Gras. The Foie Gras was paired with roasted Duck leg, and was some of the best Foie Gras I’ve ever eaten. For dessert they brought out a birthday treat for the wife, and we also tried the crossiant bread pudding, and another dish that I don’t recall the name of. Yes, there’s sticker shock from the elevated price point, but if you’re looking for a quiet spot to dine with friends and eat a unique take on traditional foods, this is a good spot.

The food was 10/10. Beautifully plated and delicious. The beef dumplings were so good we ordered a 2nd round! Add the veggie crisps to the tuna tartare, such a great edition. Got the vichyssoise soup warm and wow ! The duck with the risotto was amazing. Ended with the warm croissant desert and it was a perfect ending and not too sweet!

The food was fantastic and our server was wonderful. I made a dining room dinner reservation weeks in advance to celebrate a milestone birthday with my family. I called and sent a message to the restaurant earlier that week to inquire as to whether I could bring in a cake, because I have specific dietary/allergy restrictions . I did not receive a reply, and my family was told upon arrival that we could not serve the cake there. Wouldn't have had much of an issue with this if I had received communication regarding this when I reached out days in advance, or if it was otherwise marked in their policy. Again, it was my birthday and I take the time to review menus and restaurant policies to avoid situations like this. I found the lack of communication/follow up regarding this unprofessional and frankly off-putting.

While I hadn't been to Restaurant BT in many years, we moved to Tampa and wanted to try this wonderful restaurant again. While the food is magnificently prepared and presented, I unfortunately must say that whatever we had was short on flavor. We had the Salmon Poke which was a special, was tasty but nothing special. Also had the Duck Burritos which were delicious but overpowered with too much Hosein sauce. (Also two of these were $18, overpriced). Finally we shared the Pink Prawns which were nicely prepared but the noodles had no taste. Just boring. The services is very good as is the wine list but the owner who was there never came by to say hello and there were only 2 other tables there on a Friday Night. At minimum you would have thought the chef/owner might say hello and a at least a thank you!

I really wanted to like this restaurant, but a couple things fell flat. I have to say though that a couple friends rave about this place, so I would still recommend checking it out, but definitely order off the menu instead of the tasting menu. I have a very hard time choosing restaurants when my family is in town. My younger sister lived in LA, Singapore and now NYC. My dad travels internationally a lot and always stops at Michelin star restaurants. I am the least cultured and least traveled of my family. But I love food, so I try really hard to figure out where to bring them when they're in town. I texted a friend who moved here pretty recently from NYC and is big in the food scene to ask what restaurant she would recommend. She listed a couple and Restaurant BT was on it. I had always meant to check this place out, since I love locally owned and operated restaurants and this place had great reviews, so I decided this would be the one dinner I would take my family to. (My dad and sister's visit only overlapped by a day.) That's a long way to say a lot was riding on this dinner. We went with the $230 pp tasting menu. I think this is where we went wrong. Online it says there are 10 plates. The first came out with all four together (there wasn't any type of amuse bouche). I actually thought that was one plate, but later realized that it counted as four. Dessert had a small banana tapioca pudding and chocolate mousse that was served together and counted as two. I think if the food really wowed me, I wouldn't be counting plates, but the quality and quantity didn't feel worth the price. I thought all of it was good, but not great. None of the dishes were truly memorable to me and normally when we do tasting menus there's at least one that really stood out. None were bad though, so I'd say it was a solid good. The other part of the meal that was difficult was our waiter couldn't tell us anything about what dishes to expect. Both my dad and sister love wine, so they were trying to pair the dishes with the wine. We asked our waitress twice if she could give us more information about the upcoming dishes (in case we wanted to decant a wine for later) and she said something along the lines of there will be a couple seafood dishes and a meat dish. We pressed more, but there wasn't really more she said even after going in the back to check with the chef. I remembered reading online that the chef travels to various wine regions, so I thought their wine recommendations/selections would be better. The last part that surprised me was we never met the chef. I saw her walk to the bar once or twice, but she never came over to the tables. There were only three during a majority of the time we were eating and at one point only two. It got busier when we left (but that was only six tables). It's hard for me to write this review, because I believe the chef is truly talented and people love this restaurant. Personally, I just didn't have the best experience and would highly recommend sticking to the regular menu instead of the tasting one (especially if you're looking to pair wine.)

Restaurant BT is the best restaurant in town. How this place has eluded the Michelin Star list is crazy. The flavors of every dish are exquisite. The service is phenomenal and the ambiance is inviting. Everything we have here time after time never disappoints. Highly recommend if you want a great meal in a Foodie town.

This place should have a Michelin star! It's fresh, everything on the plate is delicious! The service is excellent and the outside garden is lovely place to enjoy a meal.

I am here reading reviews of nymy favorite restaurant BTs... Isee a review from Grace K....what did you expect, a pony and a pinata shaped like a water Buffalo? This restaurant is incredible and you beat the owner and staff up because you couldn't bring in your ice cream cake from Carvel?!? Seriously, what planet are you on. You acknowledge the great food and service but because you couldn't bring in Fudgy the Whale, you cyber bully a restaurant? Stay home, hug your comfort dog and order takeout from Top Wok....no french Vietnamese for you!

Really unique place. Vietnamese and French fusion. Definitely a rare find especially in Tampa. Place has a nice parking lot and very romantic ambience. A menu is pretty extensive and every dish is unique and special. We had duck burrito and tuna tartare for appetizer. Was absolutely delicious. For the main I had food karma, a vegan dish with tofu that was perfect. My husband had BOUILLABAISSE BT which was huge and super delicious. But his dish was definitely more French than Vietnamese. Honestly we were positively surprised. We like trying new dishes and I found it to be very special. I have been in Vietnam and in France, so I was very excited to try this place. Service was exceptional, friendly and knowledgeable. Drinks were superior! Loved them! It is on a pricier side but definitely worth it!

As others have said, Restaurant BT is expensive. It's for special occasions or occasional splurges. The food is delicious though! I ordered the following and enjoyed every bite: * Lobster Fresh Rolls: jasmine rice paper filled with steamed lobster, pickled radish, micro greens, roasted shallots, mint, tiny noodles, pansy flowers; served with ginger fish sauce and chili-peanut sauce * Cote Basque Prawns: Key West pink prawns, grilled corn-sweet pepper-basil pesto, succotash, coconut black rice, roasted heirloom tomato and Espelette pepper compote * Coconut Panna Cotta with a lychee and passion fruit broth, topped with pineapple and roasted coconut What stood out to me the most is that the prawns are quite large. Some restaurants call their shrimp "prawns", but they are really just medium-sized shrimp. The prawns here are large and succulent. Then again, the prawns entree was $48, so they better be large and succulent, right?

Most beautiful presentation of delicate dishes. Soft quiet atmosphere thru out the restaurant with waiter thats always on top of things. Lovely experience

We found this gem on an article that recently highlighted Michelin recognized restaurants in Tampa bay. We were greeted at the door by the hostess, and welcomed with a beautiful serene atmosphere. Exceptional service and amazing food did not disappoint.

10/10 would eat again . Great food and service. Super creative menu. Sous vie octopus was great as was the shaken beef and literally everything else we had. Only complaint is there is no full bar. Try some of their teas post meal if you like teas.

I was very impressed with the ambiance, service, and the freshness of the food. I felt well taken care of. The service was great. The food came out promptly. The plating of the food was a work of art. Our server did a great job with remembering all of our orders in a group of 5 and was very respectful. The food was delicious and as expected for fine dining. I am also very impressed with the kindness of the staff/ management. After leaving the restaurant on a Saturday night, I realized I forgot my jacket. I called and left a voicemail on Sunday since they are closed Sunday and Monday I received a phone call back promptly the next morning and I was able to get my jacket back before driving back to my hometown that was 2 hours away. I am so grateful for that.

Restaurant BT is really a treat. They source locally as much a possible, grow their own greens and herbs, and present a fresh, unique fusion menu that will have you struggling to decide which interesting dish to try. The only downside is how expensive it is, but if that's the price to pay for sustainability and supporting a small local restaurant, then I'm okay with it. They have a very romantic interior and a lovely patio (which is where we sat). My husband and I started with a special appetizer of a lobster stuffed artichoke and it was nothing short of mind blowing. For dinner, I had a special (hogfish over soba noodles with a goat cheese tomato sauce), my husband had the bouillabaisse--both were incredible. We shared a delicious bottle of rosé (no liquor at the restaurant). We also split the coconut panna cotta which was really decadent and fresh. If you're looking for a really special meal, celebrating something special, or just looking to treat yourself, I highly recommend Restaurant BT.

The best in town for decades! :-) whether it's for a casual night or something fancy and romantic you won't be disappointed!

There's a part of me that doesn't wanna say a word about this place in hopes that I will always be able to get a table. This place is just fantastic. Menu is super creative and changes regularly to always stay exciting. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I love this place.

Loved the food, service, & ambiance, all 5 star! Great job to all, a rare gem. Reminded me of dinners in France, very intimate.

Innovative cuisine, great flavors, a great experience. Service is on point. Ambiance is comfortable and quiet.

My husband and I can not get over this place! The food, service and ambiance is fantastic. The martinis were incredibly smooth and the food was so filled with flavor. We were in awe of everything we tried. Can't wait to come back!

The best food in tampa . Amazing service and the ambiance is chic and intimate. Plan to spend that money for a memorable dining experience.

Everything is outstanding. Attention to detail, welcoming, atmosphere, organic ingredients everything freshly made to get everything from their own gardens that's vegetable and their products are the best quality. The presentation is stunning, and everything taste, so flavorful and fresh and amazing conglomeration of French and Vietnamese food.

Everything about this fine restaurant is a 5 star. Perfect restaurant in Tampa for a special occasion or enjoyable meal!

Highly recommend, you will not get food like this anywhere else in the TB area. Every dish that comes out is a price of art and absolutely delicious. One of the most unique menus I've seen and I got to try so many new things. My fiancé and I get the escargot and duck burrito as an app and they were amazing. Server was also very attentive and was there to fill my water the second I finished it. Small and intimate setting, perfect for our engagement celebration dinner!

Restaurant BT was definitely worth the splurge! It's a Vietnamese-French fine dining exerience, and the flavors were unique and amazing. Service was attentive and not pretentious. Beautiful space for a romantic, foodie night out or elevated adult gathering. Phone for a reservation, as th yelp reservation system was not accurate.

What a wonderful experience! Our server Erin was professional, lovely and fun. Her timing and manner were so perfect for my boyfriends birthday. Not to mention the food! Incredible flavor, presentation and style. Would highly recommend this cozy, stylish and flavorful restaurant for any intimate evening! Thanks again ERIN! Stellar service!

The service is absolutely amazing. Probably the closest to Michelin standard service I've ever received in the Tampa Bay area outside of Black Pearl. We went celebrating a birthday, it's during the week so we were the only table. I feel bad for the service people. Because of covid, I'm sure a lot of restaurants are struggle to stay open. I want to recommend this place to everyone looking for a cool date spot or celebration. The food is unique and delicious and elegant. Please don't miss out!

A Tampa Gem. My wife and my favorite restaurant. Excellent food and service. Unique and charming atmosphere, perfect for date night

Amazing service, outstanding food and pleasant ambiance. Fantastic dining experience

My wife and I han been trying Vietnamese restaurants in Tampa for a few years and had become very well acquainted with the cuisine. I saw BT in the Michelin guide, so I thought this would the perfect place for our wedding anniversary dinner... In summary, one of the best restaurants we have ever eaten at. The food was fresh, flavorful and impeccably presented, the wine spectacular, and the best of all was the service. We look forward to going back soon.

Beautiful food presentation. The food was amazing and we enjoyed the calming atmosphere. We will say a top restaurant experience in Tampa.

Hostess was unpleasant and rude. Server was very good. Waited too long for our food. Almost an hour. Food was good but left me hungry. Ordered an expensive snapper dish. Tasted good but very small piece of snapper for $40+. Mushroom soup not like the photos. Tasted like Campbell's soup. Too expensive for what you get. Will not come back. Lots of other better restaurants that are the same price range but much better food, ambience and value.

BT has been called the "Godmother" of Tampa fine dining and for good reason. It's been a few years since dining in her landmark location and things have changed yet stayed the same. Love the new look in the dining room, the curtains create an allure of private and fancy experience I've only seen done at Ciro's. Such an elegant touch when you walk through the place. Service is prompt yet never rushed. We started with a Burgundy red because a meal of this level deserves a wine to match! The wine list is extensive and covers the bases for any true wine lover. We had the great honor of sitting in the smaller back room next to Chef BT. We were worried about bringing our 4month old to dinner but she welcomed him during the Friday 8pm dinner rush! The pace of dinner was amazing, plenty of time to enjoy our wine and enjoy the date out with my wife. Food was incredible- specially the soup and the duck!

Wow. A complete culinary experience. We ordered escargot appetizer and it was a unique take on a dish most do not dare to differentiate from the norm on. The puff pasty was an appreciated touch. We also had the patte appetizer which was on special and it came with an interesting fruit compote. When I tasted the compote I was unsure it would go with the patte, however trying it all together, I was left wanting more of the unique pairing. It just worked! For entres, we ordered the salmon and the snapper. Both delicious to the point your want to keep eating them even if you need to maybe in bottom the top of your pants. I'm a salmon lover and I don't think I've ever had a salmon cooked to this point of perfection. In awe. Final thought: This place has very unique flavors and pairings that you'll not find anywhere near Tampa!

Unique experience. BT takes great pains to teach us to respect and celebrate the vibrancy of the life we too simply call " food "

One of our favorites. Have loved everything we tried. Small, quiet place with good service. Recommend!

Absolutely phenomenal. One of the best places in Tampa with the highest quality of ingredients. Intimate atmosphere. Yummy saketinis too.

We live in St. Pete, so we are not in Tampa very often, but whenever we are, we either go here or to their cafe if it's lunchtime. We also celebrate our anniversary dinner here as well. They go above and beyond to make it memorable for us, from printing our names and a special message on the menu to a special dessert. It keeps us coming back each year.

One word, amazing. The food and outside atmosphere were delightful. A bit odd you would have to walk through the kitchen to get to the back patio but once you're outside you feel like you are in tranquility. Just be sure to bring bug spray bc you will get bit up for sure. If you are concerned about covid, I was there last month and the staff wore masks. My boyfriend and I had the back patio to ourselves throughout our entire dinner. Mostly everyone else dined inside the restaurant so it was perfect for us. Be prepared to spend a lot of money. This restaurant is pretty expensive and definitely not somewhere to eat at often (for most).

Beautiful interior, delicious food, excellent service. High prices. Highly recommend the shaken beef! Also loved the lobster roll appetizer and dumplings. Gorgeous plating!

I have been wanting to try Restaurant BT for about 5 months (I love Bistro, and BT To go) and was able to convince my partner to give it a shot. We were not disappointed. Everything we tasted was perfectly presented, cooked to the right degree, and had so much flavor. We ordered the beef dumplings, tuna tartare (quality of tuna is almost unmatched in Tampa) , duck burrito (a must try), king salmon, and coq au vin. The king salmon was unbelievable! This might be one of my new favorite restaurants. I can't wait until they get their liquor license and take their drinks to the same level as the menu. Bravo!

Excellent service, food, and atmosphere. We got the escargot puff pastry pot pie for a starter. Entrees were the snapper and lemongrass chicken special. Dessert was the Croissant bread pudding. That might have been the best chicken I've ever had. The escargot app was phenomenal and unique as well.

We did the chef tasting menu and it was literally one of the best meals I've ever had. I left happy and my stomach was overly satisfied. Service was amazing too!

One of my favorite restaurants in Tampa. A very intimate restaurant with limited seating. Especially during the pandemic, each table has a partition to separate them. I don't believe I've ever left this restaurant disappointed. The duck-duck-goose and the snapper are two of my favorites there. Their sake cocktails are also quite enjoyable. Definitely up there for a great food experience.

Zen-like fine dining In Palma Ceia. No detail is forgotten at this Tampa gem. Haute cuisine with the freshest ingredients. Food presentation was artistic and elegant! Every dish I tried from the escargot to the croissant bread pudding had layers of flavor, texture, and depth. Quite worthy of a Michelin star in my opinion, but go see and taste for yourself.

Anh catered an event for us last night by University of Tampa and the food was amazing. Awesome salad and summer rolls. The summer rolls were quite popular and went fast. Anh made the entire process so easy from ordering to delivery to billing. She also was able to provide options for vegetarian guests in attendance at the event. Look forward to the next opportunity to use them again for catering.

Wow. This place is pretty spectacular. I just found out about this gem and I wish I had sooner. We had the Vietnamese soup special for an app, best seafood soup I've ever had. Light and refreshing, no cream. We also had the tuna app which had hearts of palms to mix inside the tuna, yum!! I had the squid dish, never had anything like it before and the black rice that goes with it was magnificent. My fiancé got the bouillabaisse which also delicious. They were decent size portions and had to take home left overs. Bread pudding dessert was lovely as well, smaller portion but perfect for two stuffed individuals. Absolutely worthy of 5 stars. Their wine glass pours are pretty stingy but you can go very close by and get a better pour somewhere else. Will definitely be back for the food... and drink after the meal next time.

The best meal I've ever had. If any Florida restaurant deserves a Michelin star Restaurant BT does! The service, the cuisine, the presentation and the ambience all top-notch. Wonderful way to celebrate. Thank you

I don't know how this place is Michelin rated. Table for 4. 3 apps, 4 entrees, 2 desserts. All the food was terrible except for one entree and the sides on that were awful. One dessert was decent. Won't be going back. What a disappointment! The server was not very attentive either.

It truly doesn't get better for fine dining than BT! At this location, they have a more upscale menu, service and environment. The staff is excellent and very attentive. At my last visit here, we had a few starters which included fresh rolls (so delicious) and black truffle burrata with heirloom tomatoes and balsamic (insanely good). I ordered the seafood special which included lobster and salmon, and it was terrific. I also ordered the snapper entree which was phenomenal, with a perfectly crispy crust and crunchy cabbage and cucumber salad beneath the fish. Lastly we ordered creme brûlée for dessert, and it came out as 3 different creme brûlée flavors. Very creative and tasty. The flavors and presentation are top notch thanks to the amazing talent of BT Nguyen! For a bit of a higher price point, it's perfect for a night to dress up and enjoy luxury dining. 5 stars!

Our Number 1 restaurant - This has become our "go to" restaurant for out-of-town guests. The iconic Bern's is a "one and done" restaurant, whereas Restaurant BT is one they we keep going back to. Specials supplement a menu of modest length, but the dishes are worth repeating (my fav: Duck Duck Goose). You must try her escargot in the puff pastry. Even if you hate "snails" this will change your mind. The waitstaff are very knowledgeable - like culinary school graduates - take their advice.