By Lucas Luebbers

Edited by Linda Ruble

It can be hard to find a unique restaurant.  Dining out for a romantic date or with family has become a cookie-cutter experience from the abundance of locations that offer nothing more than identical menus and mild hospitality. However, Rumba Island Bar & Grill does a first-rate job of offering a great meal fast, with remarkable service in a convenient location.

Rumba Island does hospitality in a different way. Without a single step into the eatery, the large fan by the entrance blows the restaurant’s delicious temptation beyond its doors, luring in any hungry customers within its grasp. All the while, the feel-good sound of the live Caribbean bands projects its dance-able tune throughout the area. The lighting glows out from the restaurant through the built-in bar and onto the laughing and happy audience enjoying their meals. Rumba Island’s outside-of-the-box way of mixing the consumers’ sense of smell, sight, and hearing makes the restaurant enticing and addicting.

Most importantly, the food is phenomenal. No bay area restaurant matches the way Rumba Island serves American food with a Jamaican and Caribbean flare. Their menu contains all different types of food, from juicy seafood to zesty burgers, served with absolutely amazing sides. One of their most popular dishes is the “Seafood Lafitte,” ranking in at a mere $14.49. The dish is the fish of the day with shrimp and crab meat over a bed of rice, topped with Bienville sauce and parmesan. For the most part, every dish is served with two sides and a deliciously unique salad. The Rumba Salad is served with avocado, roasted corn, bacon bits, tomatoes, red onions, and topped with honey poppy seed dressing. The atmosphere and heavenly tasting food is complimented excellently by wonderful service that is unmatched by any of their competitors in the area such as Chili’s and Tijuana Flats. The servers and the manager regularly walk around the restaurant, assuring that everyone is enjoying themselves and that no cup stays empty.

Rumba Island Bar and Grill, on 3687 Tampa Road, serves as a unique and pleasant dining experience, and truly a must for hungry people looking for a new taste. However, if you’re still having doubts, don’t just take my word for it. In a review on Trip Advisor, a customer described his dining experience with his wife by writing, “The meal was outstanding. We both had the grouper, which was prepared blackened and jerk Both excellent! Eat here! You’ll enjoy it!” The full-bellied reviewer also went on to rate the experience and the restaurant with five stars, tallying up the eatery’s overall rating on the website to four and a half stars. Furthermore, Rumba Island is ranked number 13 in its area and was awarded the Certificate of Excellence on Trip Advisor due to its consistently great reviews. So don’t wait! A delicious meal and an exceptional experience is waiting for you at Rumba Island Bar & Grill!