El Cante

Omg I was visiting Madeira and was looking for a Spanish place to hang and this spot was amazing on Saturday night. Great live music played tons of great Spanish hits. I love it!!!

Paid cover to get in with a credit card, and later saw an extra 20% added on top of the cover. I tip generously on all the drinks I order- but its not right (or legal) for the staff to just add a tip on their own on the cover charge. Everything else about this place is awesome.

Fun place down in a basement, dancing 💃🕺 live music 🎶.Not worth a cover change & poorly poured drinks that are over priced.

I liked the male Spanish singer that usually plays in this establishment. I did not like the band with the woman singer that played tonight. She played old Spanish music like fireball and Macarena and manos Pa’ arriba that it was not enjoyable to dance to. I am Hispanic and I wished I heard more salsa or merengue or more up to date Latin music. I also barely heard her sing, it sounded like it was karaoke night. The band was not professional.

After a long search for good Latin music in the Tampa Bay Area, I stumbled across this underground club. Such a great vibe and the music spans from salsa, merengue and bachata with a live band until about 12 and then they have a DJ that typically plays reggaeton until late. I’ve gone various times and the DJs were great. Until unfortunately they recently changed their DJ for some guy with a panda suit. Sorry but not the right fit for this place. It’s an all Latin club and you have a DJ playing house music that empties the entire dance floor as soon as he begins. I hope they find another DJ like they used to have! The old DJs were great playing old school reggaeton and had the dance floor full all night. I hope they find another DJ because this place has great potential. They just need better artists.

This place is no Ceviche unfortunately. Bad music, bad service, bad vibes, rude door chica, bad everything. Why are you charging a cover for a lame DJ that comes on at 1am? Unfortunately it’s the only remotely Latin place so they can get away with it.

The best venue downtown St. Petersburg. Live music 🎶 Great atmosphere, amazing Mediterranean food. Must visit 🍾👍🧉🔸️🧃

Cante is definitely a vibe. It feels like youre in a cozy basement. I love the live Latin music on Friday night and Saturday night. The bartenders are really nice and make good drinks.

Amazing Vibe. Tons of Dancing. The perfect place for a night out.

Music and the talent were great. The bartender was confused on the drinks we wanted and how to prioritize customers. This was before the place had more than 6 people in it. My friend felt ignored for 20 minutes waiting for her first drink. There is a cover charge of $10. Around 11 it started to get packed, hot, and music was blaring. My ears were still ringing the next day but we had fun!

Wow awesome music and bar. Jeff the bar tenter puts on a great show for the ladies. We just found this place and it is super cool.

I usually love going here, however apparently last night (night of 10/14 going into 10/15) the door girl took the liberty of tipping herself on my card when I paid the $5 cover. There is a charge on my card for $12.96, I did not tip the person 100%+ for simply paying entrance. Matter of fact, this door girl never handed me the terminal to sign. Which is usually what they do. I thought it was weird when she kept the screen to herself, but I didnt think anything of it until I saw more money taken from my account than should have been. Its a shame that some new employee is doing this and ruining the business reputation. I will use cash here in the future due to this to pay my entrance. Ive never had this issue with the bartenders and I enjoy going here to dance in general. The ambiance is great and the crowd loves to dance here. This review will remain posted until I settle this with my bank or the management reaches out to me. (Which hasnt happened and the listed phone number for them hasnt worked for me) The new door girl should be fired for stealing. That is atrocious and pathetic behavior.

My boyfriend is Venezuelan and loves to dance - this place did not disappoint! $10 cover charge for a fun, lively atmosphere and great live music! We will definitely be back!

The food here is fantastic! Really interesting Turkish cuisine with a Greek feel. Every dish was so good we had to try dessert. The pistachio baklava was so delicious. The service was excellent and our server Emily made us feel right at home. We will definitely be going back.

On one of those unpredictable st. Pete nights, we stumbled upon this bar and ended up having an incredible time. The live music was excellent. But the highlight was our time with Jeff, the bartender extraordinaire. Did he make amazing drinks? Yes. Did he do flair bartending, flipping bottles and shakers like a pro? Yes. Did he make roses out of napkins? Use his counseling skills to assist bar patrons? Supply edible flower garnishes with enthusiasm? Yes. yes. Yes!I did not try the Greek tapas menu (?) but it was probably good. This place kind of had it all. Highly recommend. Ask Jeff to make something special for you.

According to the promoter, who introduced himself as, Rambo, El Cante is what was known as El Che Latin Underground Lounge.I arrived around 10:30pm. Street parking was steadily available, and after 10pm the metered parkings are free.The Latin music could be heard from the street, and it sounded great. The events promoter, Rambo, graciously welcomed me in at the door. There is a $5.00 cover charge for all. I was not I.D.d.The place is rather small, but what it lacks in size is made up for in the energy I feel as soon as I entered. There was a live Latin band with the female singer covering classic, and new, salsas, merengues, and bachatas. The band was excellent! They didnt play more than 2 songs of the same genre at a time. The dance floor is practical the entire place. The crowd was extremely diverse, and everyone danced- no pariguayos at this venue! The ages of patrons ranged from 21-60+. Mostly Latinos, but I observed a lot of other races, as well. Dancers ranged from novice to professional couples burning up the dance floor. ¡Estaba encendió! As crowded as it became, it remained a very chill atmosphere with no beefing. Everyone seemed to maneuver the space well and in an orderly fashion without instruction.The bartenders were friendly and attentive. You wont have to wait long for their attention, or your drink, which was surprising since the place gets so packed. The female bathroom was clean, well-stocked, and smelled good. A clean bathroom is always a good indicator of good service, (to me anyway).The only downside were the prices of the drinks; on the higher side, but taking into consideration inflation, and how small this place is, they have to make their money somewhere.So, as it turned out, the promoter, Rambo, is from Nueva Yol, a native Nuyorican, and Army Vet. I believe this is why the events energy was so electrifying. As a native New Yorker myself, I was instantly drawn in by the music I heard drifting out into the street, and the silhouettes I peeped dancing about through the small window.I would definitely drive down from Tampa to visit El Cante again, and again, and again.

This place hasnt been cleaned or painted in a long time. If you dont care about smell and the germs in a place then go ahead and enjoy the music. However in this day with Corona virus still very much around the bar has a responsibility to at least clean the place up before the music starts. I will not be returning there even though the band was great.

Great live music spot,

Much has been written about the music and dancing at this new establishment, but El Cante is so much more than that (although that would be enough!). We stopped for an early dinner -- prior to the music and dancing tonight (Saturday about 5 PM) -- after visiting the Western Museum nearby. We ate a leisurely meal on the upstairs balcony with great people watching and breezes from the bay. The service (our server was Cody), beverages, and food was exceptional. The menu is Mediterranean, or more specifically a combination of Turkish, Spanish, and Greek cuisine, in portions designed to satisfy but not overwhelm. Its kebobs are fabulous with unique spices, and its desserts are appropriately sized and exceptional. Perhaps equally enjoyable as the friendly service was the atmosphere of the diners there. Privacy was respected, but not at the sacrifice of a sense of belonging and community. This new establishment is one of a kind, and it breathes new life into a post-quarantine St Petersburg. We hope to return often, and we wish this new business continued success!

I hate to give a bad review but wow… we waited 1.5 hours for our food. Asked the waitress how much longer it would be… she forgot to put the food in! At that point, we said forget it. They still charged us for our drinks and small app we had while waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I’ve never had such terrible service.

Food is fabulous. Eating on the porch, watching the St Pete nightlife. If you like Mediterranean/Greek/Turkish style food this is amazing. Freshly prepared hummus- what a difference! Vs grocery store. Perfectly prepared &seasoned chicken and koftas. Highly recommend dinner and then going to the bar after-flamenco dancing.

Proposed to my gf hours before, and we wanted to grab just a plate of hummus to fill up before we explored St Pete.We didn’t get to because we were there for t w o hours waiting for our check. On a Saturday, they had one waitress working upstairs and downstairs. Multiple guests came to sit and would leave, but us and another table of elderly folks who just got drinks were held there until we were able to finally pay. When the elderly group sent someone up to ask to pay, the older hostess told her to “sit down!” When I tried to pay with her, she said it wasn’t her responsibility to do and we’d have to wait (this was after about an hour and a half.)After threatening to leave without paying, they finally brought our check. The poor elderly group was still stuck there when we walked by 30 minutes later, and they were still seating new tables!My gf and I have never written a terrible review of a place but my god, biggest waste of time and food when you could go to the other restaurant 10 feet west and get quicker and less expensive food. Don’t eat here if you value your time, especially on busier nights.

Love this place...favourite night spot in St.pete.Live music is phenomenal.... DJ afterwards is great as well.

Great place to dance some latin and pop music. Live band and dj fri and sat.

Excellent. Service and music are amaizing. One of the best places to dance and make new friends and memory. I Always had a great time here. Uno de los lugares que deves visitar. Y. Si no saves vailar. Te echamos una mano.

Im so happy to have found a little piece of Latinoamérica in St Pete.Dancing no stop, great margaritas , awesome vibes

Great service, nice life music. I definitely recommend it!

This place is the worse, dirty, unprofessional staff from management to bartenders, the drinks are bad and very high price. Is very hot in there i will not recommend any one to go there if you want to have a good time.

Went out of the blue last night after an event. Enjoyed the live musicians and romantic atmosphere.

*due to the sassy response of the business, I’ll give them a context clue. Steven Goodman [review below] is my fiancé. I had the exact same experience he did.

Not bad, but also not impressed.

What a great find!! Stumbled onto this gem looking for another place, and wow! Truly happy with the freshness of the food, service, and overall ambiance. We will be back soon!

Great place to dance Salsa!

Fun little Latin dance club. It gets hot and sweaty once you start having fun. Love the live music.

Food was plain. Nothing was set up. Sangria literally was watered down and bad. Just not a good place to dine.

Great Place with great music and fantastic food!

Amazing food and service. They are so kind. They have so many desserts, especially Katmer delicious!

Great Mediterranean and Latin music to dance non stop. New fav spot in Saint Pete !

Would love to see a menu posted either on google or your website or your facebook page. I scrolled down a bunch and didnt see it on menu page nor in any of your FB posts

Great music but they need a better a/c

Really really enjoyed our experience Sunday night, July 4th. Well be back.

Terrible serviceTerrible foodTerrible everythingDont waste your time here. Waited 45 minutes for the check to leave. Absolutely awful.

Great service. Food is overpriced for what you get.

Great service and great management. Will definitely be back.

Cute place, great music and a great time!!

The Best Latin Night I’ve been to !

Took out food almost 2 hours and it never came.

Zero stars. Absolutely trash $10 well shots

Very good; Would recommend.

Latin music saturday nigth🥰

Great live music!

This is how they treat their customers

Amazing!

Everything is very good, the live group is excellent but they need to improve the sound quality. Most of the time you dont understand what they sing and if its recorded music you dont hear it well either.

The DJ Ria Mery Colon is not up to date with the music of the moment, she is a sour orange almost reaching the Limon, so the public always expects surprises and she surprises and the disco empties until there are two or three customers, DJ Lemonade.

The best Colombian and Latin rumba in St.Pete!!

They play merengue, salsa, bachata and a little reggaeton. Too funny!

Very good place to dance salsa, live music