Stonewood Grill & Tavern has been part of the Brandon community for over four years. In those four years, the restaurant has won “Best Fine Dining in Brandon” four times in a row from The Tampa Tribune. They are a local favorite for great steaks and happy hour fun. Mark Norman is the manager and operating partner of the restaurant and he loves all the notoriety that surrounds his restaurant.
“We started out in Ormond Beach around 1999 and there are now 16 restaurants all in Florida,” Norman said, “We are best known for our hand-cut aged steaks and our market fresh seafood that is cooked on an oak grill.” They recently added their new “7 Until 7” menu in the tavern side of the restaurant. The menu offers new appetizers and cocktails for $7 each. The special runs seven days a week until 7 p.m. in the tavern.
“We are doing something to revitalize the tavern area,” Norman said. The appetizers include fresh fish tacos, grilled crispy wings, mini bacon cheeseburger sliders, beef tenderloin bites and goat cheese croquettes.
The cocktails include blood orange-plum mojitos, skinny raspberry-ginger gimlets, organic blood orange martinis, skinny spa-tinis, and the ultimate margarita. Norman said his favorites off the new menus are the beef tenderloin bites and the ultimate margarita. The skinny raspberry-ginger and the skinny spa-tini are made with “Skinny Girl Vodka” which is a low-calorie vodka for those who are counting calories. The restaurant also does quarterly features where they pair up fresh seasonal food items and wine selections.
Right now, they are offering garden gazpacho and crab cakes for starters and pan seared sea bass with roasted yellow pepper grits in a poblano sauce or an oak grilled filet with crab stuffed shrimp as entrees.
Norman is thrilled that the restaurant has been a local favorite for so many years and he gives back to the Brandon community whenever he can. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got to be a two-way street,” Norman said, “You have to give back to the community and I will partner up with anyone who has a great cause.”
Stonewood Grill & Tavern has been supporting local community events since they opened their doors. “We always try and give something back,” Norman said, “I like to make sure I donate to the community because you can’t always take, you have to give as well.”
For more information on the different menu selections offered at Stonewood Grill & Tavern, you can visit them on the web at www.stonewoodgrill.com. If you would like to make a dinner reservation, call 655-9561. Stonewood Grill & Tavern is located at 612 E. Bloomingdale Ave. in Brandon.
