The Loading Dock

I waited an hour for a bacon egg and cheese sandwich while an entire group of people that ordered after me were served before me.

Would give zero stars if I could. Zero customer service. Regularly out of items which they don’t tell you until after you order and pay. Today I got chicken since they were out of steak (which They told me after taking and confirming my order) and it was rubbery and utterly tasteless.
This place used to be great but under new management for 3 – 4 months. Maybe it’ll get better eventually but for now I’m staying away.

The amount of meat on the sandwiches is a serious joke. One, yes one, slice of deli ham and one slice of deli turkey lunch meat. My sandwich was supposed to be a panini, but the almost nonexistent slice of thin cheese on it barely held it together. I guess this is a great place to go if you are on a diet.

Awful horrible place. We had an hour and a half for our last breakfast before heading off to the airport, plenty of time one would think. Not here. You have to order at the counter, pay in advance including tip, but you can see the cooks behind the counter. It looks like a nice place, but that’s oh-​so-​deceiving. They have a «breakfast all day» sign and it’s on the menu so this isn’t new to them, I don’t think. An order of eggs is $ 3, but that doesn’t include anything else, so we added grits for $ 3, and Cuban toast for $ 3. It’s a strange but simplified limited breakfast menu, which should suggest quick and easy. The fountain drinks are self serve, the coffee is brought out, allegedly with the food, so prepaying the tip that’s over $ 25 for breakfast. Not a great deal but not out of the ballpark for downtown. Fairly quickly the fried eggs over easy came out, in a plastic basket (that’s not going to be easy to eat I thought) with Styrofoam bowls of something not identifiable. The counter cashier — server asked if we needed anything else, the Chief of Staff reminded him of my toast order, and he promised it would be right out. I was staring at the strange stuff in the Styrofoam. It looked like the leftover rice residue in a rice steamer at the bottom the day after, or maybe three days after. It was cold and crunchy, dry and brittle but I realized it was improperly prepared instant grits. Instant grits, south of the Mason-​Dixon line? Isn’t that a misdemeanor? How could this have even been served to us? We waited for my toast, thinking since that was coming right up, we could point to the instant grits that were made maybe yesterday with a quarter or less of the required water, then not heated. And waited.
After finishing my coffee, I took the bowls back up to the counter, waited for the cashier to finish with two customers, had to get his attention, showed him the bowls and with just a glance he agreed that they «didn’t look right,» and took them saying «we’ll fix this and get them right back to you.» Horrifying that they thought they could fix those two bowls, there’s no fixing instant grits that were made yesterday without enough water, I interrupted and said «how about hash browns instead? You must have those ready to go, and our eggs are going cold.» He agreed that would be a good idea and promised once again that the food would be right out. I reminded him of my toast order, and sat back down. Finished my coffee. Chief of Staff finished her Diet Coke. Eggs cold and solid.
Since we seemed to have been forgotten about, I had to again go up to the counter, again wait for him to finish with customers giving orders, this time I gave him the choice, put together the breakfasts we ordered, or please give me a refund. He once again promised the food would be right out, I reminded him that we had two orders of hash browns, our eggs were cold, and one order of Cuban toast, and even as he promised they would be right out, a cook called out to him saying «we don’t have an order for hashbrowns or toast.» In response, the cashier gave me somebody else’s toast order and promised again that the rest would be «right out,» I took the single toast order back and we ate our cold solid fried eggs and waited some more. Again we were forgotten about.
We made a big show of putting on our jackets, getting up to go, but we were totally forgotten about, so back to the counter where this time I demanded a refund for the food that they apparently never intended to serve us. In a very insincere apology, the cashier said «well you know, stuff happens,» as he gave me only $ 3. I raised my voice in anger as he should have been refunding me for at least the two orders of grits-​hash browns and the unearned tip but really for the whole breakfast which was just inexcusably screwed up. I wasn’t using any inappropriate language, I was just recapping the history of our order and lack of service as a response to getting only a $ 3 refund and instead of apologizing, he actually ordered me to leave the premises! If I had the time I would have called the police, as we were robbed. Instead, we had a plane to catch, and on our way out, the jerk called out with a sarcastic «Have a Nice Day!»
I don’t know how often this sort of «stuff happens» here, but I was the only non-​White person in the place, I’m not sure how much race played into this insulting bad service. There are some wonderful breakfast-​lunch spots just around the corner where I know I would get treated with respect, no matter what I look like.

Back in May I said I’d never try it again. This morning I was running late and couldn’t get breakfast on the way to the office. I bit the bullet and ordered from the Loading Dock for delivery. It was 30 minutes before the food was delivered, which is fine. However, when I ordered they asked if it would be cash or charge, so I said Cash. The guy shows up with no change so I have to go buy a latte at the coffee stand in our building for change. I pay the guy and throw in a $ 2 tip for delivery. I get to my desk upstairs to a warm burrito and cold hashbrowns. Threw the hashbrowns away. Still disappointing service.

Our office ordered 3 sandwiches. 2 were cash, one was credit, they just put all of them on that credit card. Looking at the order form, he/​she wrote the orders correctly with one sandwich to be charged. Not sure how does one take the liberty and just charge whatever they want to someone else’s card. One of the sandwiches also was missing peppers but again he/​she did write the order down correctly. I guess they can write down instructions just have trouble following them. Absolutely obnoxious. Will go somewhere else for sure.

Best Chili in Tampa and the chicken salad is delicious too! The service is always top notch and the staff are always very welcoming. Lots of places to sit, they have both indoor and outdoor seating. I have been going here for 2 years and have always had a great experience!

Usually pretty good except for yesterday. Ordered the pastrami with chips and a drink. Took forever to make it– chips and soda were done by the time it took to get the sandwich. When the sandwich came I was surprised as it hardly had anything in it — very little meat and a dab of kraut. The guy who was running the register and taking orders was more interested in coming up the bar area and making out with his girlfriend. Weird service. And all this for $ 11.32 — the sandwich was probably worth $ 1.50. I think I’ll give them a rest for a while since there are better sandwich/​servers around the corner.

I’ve been going to the loading dock for years. The owner, Karen, remembers your name even if there are long gaps between visits! :-) They are even nice enough to hold on to your frequent visitor card so you can make sure to get it stamped each time you go.
Everything you order is delicious and it is served fresh. There is a good variety in the sandwiches and you never have to worry about the portions.
The cookies are the best you’ll get downtown. It’s always worth splurging on one if you have room.

I got the veggie sandwich, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a cookie. (Don’t judge; I was hungry.) The veggie sandwich was the best part. They piled it high with pepper jack and a lot of different vegetables. The vegetables (which included alfalfa sprouts) were the best part of the meal — they were pretty fresh. The rest of the meal was ordinary. The bread (I tried sour dough and whole wheat) was mediocre. The peanut butter wasn’t crunchy, and the jelly tasted like Smucker’s. The cookie was neither good nor bad.

I was looking for parking downtown and as I drove by this place caught my eye and with it’s unique design. I walked in before even checking Unilocal to see what was on the menu. Small sandwich shops hold a special place in my heart and The Loading Dock struck all the right chords. This place is small dimly lit with a super friendly staff who knew most people by name and made the attempt to get to know the rest.
I ordered the Cuban Docker and was a little anxious to try a Cuban outside of Miami and they almost nailed it. The cheese needs to be gooey-​er and the whole sandwich should be hot and for some reason they had salami in there. I’m sure the other sandwiches are great they just didn’t the Cuban but everyone else seemed to be enjoying theirs and sat around to just hang out.
The only reason I’m giving them the 3-​Stars is due to the sandwich but I will be updating next chance I get to try something else.

I find a new restaurant every week downtown. This place has been here forever but somehow it took them catering a meeting I attended to know anything about them.
The sandwiches that were catered were delicious. I got the veggie which was loaded with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a great flavored spread/​hummus. The bread was equally flavorful (I think it came on rye). Also ordered that we could choose from was a chicken salad sandwich and everyone LOVED it. Like, wouldn’t shut up about this chicken salad.
The sandwich was good but let’s talk about the cookies. Holy mother of a sweet, sweet Lord, these cookies are just bananas. Try the peanut butter chocolate chip, like a biscuit from heaven. Chocolate chip is good too, I wouldn’t know because I absolutely did not have two cookies. Nope.
I went back for lunch one day last week and the little shop is just as great as their catering. You have to walk up a brick stair and into an old alley and it feel very «downtown» not-​Tampa. The woman ringing up the orders calls you «sweetheart» which makes me love where I live.
A new favorite spot for sure and I definitely plan on utilizing their catering menu for upcoming events in our building.

Good sandwiches.

Great place to grab lunch working downtown, sandwiches are great, and they have a really good (note: incredibly bad for you) chocolate chip cookies. Also, get a punch card (6 sandwiches, 7^th free/​discounted).

This is a deli. And it across the street from where I work so it is very convenient for me. Would I travel to come here? Probably not. The sandwiches are good, the staff is friendly, the décor is comfortable. Oh, and they have a sandwich club where you get a free sandwich after you buy 6 sandwiches so that is also very convenient if you work downtown. If you are downtown and looking for a sandwich and soup, stop in.

Good sandwiches, great friendly service.

I like this place for lunch. I work in a building across the street so it’s easy for me to run to. The only sandwiches I’ve had are the PB&J and the Hooligan Smoker… my fave here is the chicken quesadilla.
The staff is super nice and if they don’t offer one, ask for a frequent diners card and get a free sandwich after you buy 5 (I’m pretty sure). A line starts building around noon, so try to get there before then unless you want to be waiting a while for food.
This is a great place to run in and out of for a cheap, tasty sandwich/​quesadilla.

Like the quirky names on the sandwiches and where else can you get a classic PB&J at lunch when you;re craving one. Hubby loves the Loader, roast beef on an onion roll. The meat is nice and fresh, service is fast and attentive and the prices are more than fair!

There is nothing quick about this place. I definitely waited over 20 minutes for my sandwich, and it was nothing I couldn’t have made at home. Plus, it’s a little on the spendy side. Not a fan.

I’d say 3 stars is a fair rating for this place though I’d go 3.5 if I were allowed. Nothing fancy — just good sandwiches and chip fare. They’ve got a sports theme going and a friendly wait staff. Have never experienced any kind of a line but I’m usually in and out before noon. Haven’t tried the breakfast food but they advertise that they serve it all day.
If you plan on returning, be sure to get a frequent diner’s card as every 6^th sandwich is on the house.