Secret Garden

This place is great and within walking distance from my office!!! Everything is fresh and the soup is delightful too! This place is not overpriced but keeps their prices to a minimum so they continually get my business. I shouldn’t have to pay $ 10.00 for a salad if I don’t like all the ingredients; here you make your own and get exactly what you want at a minimal cost. I definitely recommend this place for lunch. It is superb!!!

I was taken here by a coworker, who will no longer have a say in where I eat…
There’s not much to this place, which in itself isn’t a bad thing. There’s a salad bar as soon as you walk in, and a small station to order sandwiches to your right.
The night before I had a huge salad for dinner, so was inclined to order a sandwich instead. I don’t think you’re «supposed» to order a sandwich here. I think the salad bar is the focal point, and sandwich station was an after thought.
I ordered a turkey and swiss and the nice lady said she’d take it out to my table. A few minutes later she did just that, and i could tell right away I was in for a let down. Arnold brand bread is what they use here, from the grocery store. So there’s a missed opportunity there to wow me with the bread. But worse, the turkey inside had the two qualities I dread the most in a lunch meat — shiny and wet. It looked and tasted like the cheapest of lunch meats, I could only eat half (and I was really hungry).
Other than the food, the décor isn’t exactly warming either. Old dirty walls painted with a beach scene that doesn’t hide the holes or the grease spots.
Too bad, because the lady who made my sandwich and the guy manning the register seemed like nice folks, and they also seemed like they owned the place.
oh well, there’s plenty of other places around, including Bay city sandwich in the same building (around the corner on Madison).
At least my coworker paid for lunch!

Love this place. They are very close to county center. The salad bar is very fresh with many options including sushi, krab veggies eggs nuts etc. two kinds of greens and home made chicken noodle soup. The price point is very reasonable as well (weight). Large dining area in back. Clean quiet and friendly. Family run too.

Nothing to complain about, plenty of healthy options, and a salad bar seems to be a lost art lately. Got a plentiful salad for under $ 5. Bar was well stocked and clean.

Secret Garden is a conveniently located salad bar in downtown Tampa. The price is reasonable – most of my meals ranged from 4.5 dollars to 7.5 dollars – but the vegetables are not very fresh, and the salad bar serves serves imitation bacon bits and imitation crab. The salad bar has many options, but the options don’t change, so I found myself getting sick of the salad bar after two or three visits. Secret Garden would benefit from serving one or two main dishes they change daily, or even weekly. I do love the glass noodle stir-​fry they serve near the counter, though.

In and out salad bar with sandwiches, soups and sushi! When I crave a salad, I like it my way and there is no place better from work to grab what I want. Everything is always fresh and the sushi is simple, but a great compliment to the salad. Always friendly and always clean. Great to dine in or carry out.

Secret Garden is a great place to grab a quick lunch, especially if you haven’t eaten healthy food recently. The restaurant is run salad-​bar style. You walk in, fill your plate, and buy by the pound. I think the price is around $ 5 or $ 6 per pound. Most things I’ve gotten there were great and healthy. The salad bar is fairly small, but they’ve fit a lot of ingredients on there. And at the end, they have some kind of Asian noodle dish.

This restaurant truly is a secret located in downtown Tampa. The salad bar is absolutely delicious, and includes fresh pasta salads, potato salad and sushi. Everything was fresh, the restaurant is clean and the owners were very welcoming. It was a welcome treat from all of the other greasy spoons downtown. I will definitely go back again.

I love salad bars, and this is my absolute favorite in the world. No kidding! I like it better than Sweet Tomatoes (which is of course very commercial) and any other hometown salad bar I’ve visited. I eat there or take out from there up to 4 times a week! The place is small, the atmosphere is utilitarian (the classic rock piped to the dining room is a bonus for me), and it’s only open for lunch (10 – 3, M-​F). Who cares? It’s all about the salad!
You pay by weight (take out or eat in) for your choice of plenty of VERY FRESH fixings from an extremely well-​stocked bar for one of its size. Composed salad options include tomato/​onion/​feta salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, imitation crab salad, cottage cheese, classic macaroni salad, and pasta salad. Vegetable, fruit and legume options include iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, red onion slices, kidney beans, garbanzo beans (chick peas), green peas, tomato wedges, red pepper strips, green pepper strips (big pieces!), mushrooms, broccoli florets, alfalfa sprouts, beet slices, cucumbers, green olives, jalapeño pepper slices, and whole pepperoncinis. Additional options include hard boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, freshly made sushi, and stir fry of rice noodles on most days. Dressings include ranch, Italian, oil and vinegar, and blue cheese, just to name a few. It’s amazing how much stuff they get on this relatively small salad bar.

I’m all about a salad bar and while this is not as extensive a spread as Sweet Tomatoes (the Mecca of salad bars) and maybe a quarter or two more pricey (you pay by the weight), it was pretty good. There were many fresh looking options, lots of bean salads, chicken and tuna were available, and fresh avocado that was cut fresh as it was picked up so it wouldn’t brown. I appreciate the ample toppings as well, lots of different kinds of nuts, seeds, and a good selection of dressings. This place is tucked away downtown and has never been crowded when I’ve been there. The owners are continually changing out the salad bar with fresh options and I’ve never had a piece of rotten lettuce (blech ugh gross). The inside isn’t very charming but for a healthy lunch, it’s worth the walk from Tampa St.

Best downtown Tampa fresh salad bar.