A Night of Italian Food & Casino Vibes
📍 5223 Orient Rd, Tampa, FL 33610
For my 29th birthday, we decided to go for Italian. After a bit of searching around online, I stumbled upon Cipresso, a modern Italian restaurant tucked right inside the Hard Rock Casino. That alone made it feel like a fresh and exciting choice. I’ve never set foot in a proper casino before, so I was looking forward to the whole experience.
We parked on the roof and took a leisurely ride down the elevator, walked a little and found our way into the main lobby. Right away, we were greeted by a mix of luxury, lights, and music history.
The Hard Rock is full of cool memorabilia, and we spent some time browsing the displays. I saw a suit worn by Eric Clapton, a Van Halen t-shirt worn by Sammy Hagar in the "Runaround" video, and my personal favourite, a red bass guitar used by Roger Glover from Deep Purple. There was even a glitzy jacket prototype famously worn by Chris Jericho (from Fozzy and WWE).
What really shocked me was the slot machines, there were thousands of them! I’m not exaggerating, after a quick Google search I found out this place has 5,230 slot machines. As a casino first-timer, that blew my mind.
Another surprise? Indoor smoking. I genuinely thought that was banned everywhere back in the '90s, but apparently casinos are an exception. The floor we were on was basically a smoking free-for-all. Definitely unexpected.
After exploring a bit, we headed to Cipresso for dinner. The staff were super friendly, and since it’s an open-concept restaurant, we could still hear the bells of slot machines ringing and music blaring from the casino floor. It added a kind of chaotic charm to the night.
I ordered the truffle pasta, and Chris went with a pepperoni pizza. The food was decent, not mind-blowing, but enjoyable. What really stood out to me was the non-alcoholic Bramble I ordered. It was so refreshing and flavourful, and was the highlight of my meal.
Even though we didn’t gamble, I’m glad we went. It was a fun, unique experience for my birthday, Italian food, rock 'n roll history, and a peek into the wild world of casinos. Definitely a night to remember.
We parked on the roof and took a leisurely ride down the elevator, walked a little and found our way into the main lobby. Right away, we were greeted by a mix of luxury, lights, and music history.
The Hard Rock is full of cool memorabilia, and we spent some time browsing the displays. I saw a suit worn by Eric Clapton, a Van Halen t-shirt worn by Sammy Hagar in the "Runaround" video, and my personal favourite, a red bass guitar used by Roger Glover from Deep Purple. There was even a glitzy jacket prototype famously worn by Chris Jericho (from Fozzy and WWE).
What really shocked me was the slot machines, there were thousands of them! I’m not exaggerating, after a quick Google search I found out this place has 5,230 slot machines. As a casino first-timer, that blew my mind.
Another surprise? Indoor smoking. I genuinely thought that was banned everywhere back in the '90s, but apparently casinos are an exception. The floor we were on was basically a smoking free-for-all. Definitely unexpected.
After exploring a bit, we headed to Cipresso for dinner. The staff were super friendly, and since it’s an open-concept restaurant, we could still hear the bells of slot machines ringing and music blaring from the casino floor. It added a kind of chaotic charm to the night.
I ordered the truffle pasta, and Chris went with a pepperoni pizza. The food was decent, not mind-blowing, but enjoyable. What really stood out to me was the non-alcoholic Bramble I ordered. It was so refreshing and flavourful, and was the highlight of my meal.
Even though we didn’t gamble, I’m glad we went. It was a fun, unique experience for my birthday, Italian food, rock 'n roll history, and a peek into the wild world of casinos. Definitely a night to remember.