Malio's Prime Steakhouse - Downtown Tampa, FL

I have known of Malio's existence for the last couple of months, but have been unable to stop in because whenever I seem to be in the area it is because I am visiting the Florida Museum of Photography on a Saturday and Malio's is not open for lunch on Saturday.  This invariably leads to us dining someplace else.  However, the whole family recently had a Friday off and after a visit to the Museum of Photography, we stopped in for lunch at Malio's.  Predictably, any restaurant in downtown Tampa on a weekday will be filled with the business crowd, which gives it a different atmosphere than a Friday evening.  However, we were eating a late lunch, so just a few stragglers were left.  We took a seat at one of the curved booth seats in the bar, which I thought was quite cozy.  I can say it might even be romantic with all of the soft lighting and muted sounds.

I didn't much care for the wines by the glass menu, so I decided to order the Blue Moon Cosmo, which was pretty, as well as tasty.  We ordered the aged white cheddar cheeseburgers with fries and the filet tips with mushroom marsala sauce. The filet tips came with a choice of salad, which I upgraded to the gorgonzola salad, which was excellent.  It was so good, that next time I would just add a filet to the salad and make it a meal.  The food arrived and the burgers were great and we loved the thick steak fries that came with them.   As far as the filet tips went, I did not like the marsala sauce served in a gravy boat that came with it.  It had settled into a thick, lumpish mess that wasn't very appealing.  However, the filet tips were so good on their own, that after a first taste with marsala sauce, I ate the rest without the sauce.  Unfortunately, I was full after that, so I didn't get a chance to try dessert, but I would definitely like to come back one evening for dinner.  Another plus, the service was attentive.

Malio's Prime Steakhouse
400 North Ashley Drive
Tampa, FL  33602
813-223-7746