In a district as restaurant and nightlife-populated as SoHo in Hyde Park, it's no easy task staying above water as a reputable dining establishment. After a visit to The Lodge, it's pretty apparent that they've got what it takes to stick around for a good while.
Housed in a worn-brick building within a stones throw of other SoHo mainstays including MacDinton's and Cheap, The Lodge succeeds because it strays from the norm in a number of creative and wallet-friendly ways.
The menu pages at The Lodge come lined with a schmorgasboard of meals from the refined and inventive to pretty ballsy and funny at that; TV dinner style meals, bacon and hamburger sushi, and pretzel french toast, just to name a few.
If you're a diligent 9 to 5er like us, the $7 lunch menu at The Lodge will do you solid. This isn't some small sideshow menu to the main one either. The Lodge's lunch menu is a solid couple of pages rife with their signature appetizers, sushi rolls, sliders, wood fired pizzas, mac and cheeses, burgers, salads, and more.
The majority of these items will run you $7 and come with a side as well. A pair of sliders, country fried chicken and grouper sliders for us, with a side of baked beans is definitely an ample amount of food for lunch. Grouper comes light, blackened, and nicely accentuated by a creamy, jalepeno aoili. Fried chicken isn't too over-breaded and well seasoned.
Sushi didn't fare quite as well. Their namesake roll, The Lodge, is no different than any other average sushi roll around town, but poorly constructed. More than once, the roll just fell apart in our tiny, soy sauce dipping bowls . It is great to have the option of sushi, though, especially when attending in large groups so there is something on the menu for everyone.
BBQ wood fired pizza with chicken, mozzarella, cheddar, and sauteed onions comes in a lunch sized portion about the size of half of a piece of paper with the side of your choice. The pizza is nothing breathtaking, but comes packed with cheese toppings, which is more than appreciated for such a small price tag.
As a restaurant, The Lodge is a solid component in a growing group of forward-thinking, affordable eateries in Tampa. Their expansive, uber-affordable lunch menu is easily worth the trip alone.
