Write Around Tampa

Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters

10118 Montague Street

Westchase

Took a break in posting last week because of a nasty boy named Milton but I’m back on the beat, visiting Tampa’s writing hotspots.

Quality and pricing of food and drink:

If you go minimalist you can get a bagel and coffee for under ten bucks. I got the breakfast sandwich and a Smartwater for fifteen. The fare is relatively healthy (the breakfast sandwich was a round egg patty with cheese, lettuce sprigs and tomato) and also relatively tasty. The selections aren’t overwhelming, but provide enough variety that you can try something different within your first six or so visits. I had the breakfast tacos last time and liked those as well.

Are there enough outlets?

There appears to be at least one per seat. I’ve been here twice and have scored a plug both times, but during peak hours this may be a challenge. The Blind Tiger is small and cozy and although I was one of four others with open laptops, all inside tables were taken (the last one by me). Come fully charged just in case you have to take a seat outside.

How’s the wifi?

Pretty good, and I was greeted with two pop-ups upon signing on, one to join the Blind Tiger mailing list and another to sign up to someone’s podcast for a free latte. I passed on both; I don’t need any more junk mail and I don’t like lattes unless they’re more chocolate and cream than coffee.

Will my muse come out?

That depends on how committed you are to her. I took a seat by the window and it’s easy to get distracted by the dog walkers and endlessly rotating take-out folks. The music is coffee shop pleasant, starting out on a station featuring emo-girls like Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, morphing into a block of eighties songs like Down Under and Everybody Wants to Rule the World, before dumping us off at Simon and Garfunkle’s Mrs. Robinson. There’s something hear for everyone (and yes, that hear over here is intentional). On the whole I’d say the vibe is fifty/fifty: spend the first half of your stay writing, then have a friend meet you for some tea spilling.

How long can I park it?

As long as you can stand it. My shelf life in this place is about two hours. There’s dueling energies here, one pulling you to write that best seller but also something that makes you want to get out in the Tampa sun and take a brisk walk. Maybe it’s all the people dressed in lycra.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 laptops

Rachel Remick’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, among them Rosebud, Bluestem and ellipsis . . . literature and art. A frequent contributor to women’s magazine Sasee, her writing has also been published in several volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She lives in Tampa, Florida.