Neighbor News
Write Around Tampa
* Your weekly guide to the best places to park (it) and write in the Bay Area *
Eclipse Cafe
6118 Gunn Hwy
Tampa
Find out what's happening in Carrollwood-Northdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
They claim to be Florida’s 1st functional mushroom café, whatever that means. Do they mean shrooms, as in dosing, or the actual mushroom, as in the polarizing rubbery fungi that I would never touch a as a kid, but now actually like. Not that I want my smoothie blended with them. Ditto for the hallucinogenic kind (the cafe may be functional; will I be afterwards?). Maybe this gimmick will work, as this is the third incarnation of this place in the past two years (previously White Buffalo Coffee, previously Sips). I liked it when it was Sips; White Buffalo I only gave three laptops back in November 2024. Let’s see how the new baby stacks up.
Quality and pricing of food and drink:
Didn’t get any food. It looks good enough, nice selection, but all the paninis were meat, and no ham. Nice selection of sweets. I settled on the mango peach smoothie. Yes, it’s delicious but an astounding $8.50. Rounded it up to $10 for my friendly staff and that’s a pricey smoothie. But again, one of the best I’ve ever tasted. So at least the quality matches the price. Actual lunch—food and water and a sweet—would probably run close to $30. So don’t come hungry.
Find out what's happening in Carrollwood-Northdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Are there enough outlets?
A nice offering of outlets. I’m using one now.
How’s the wifi?
Password protected, posted right on the counter, then in you are.
Will my muse come out?
She will. The décor is unassuming, the chair is fairly comfortable and the table is big enough for my computer and notebook and all the other stuff I need to have a successful writing experience. The music is a mixed bag. Some Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Sam Smith. But I also had to suffer through someone called Marcelo D2 & Claudia. But at least it’s not blaring. Decent background vibe, I can tune it out if I need to. Which says a lot, as I’m not the greatest tuner-outer.
How long can I park it?
Open to close, 6-7 M-F, 7-7 Sat & Sun.
Final rating: 4 out of 5 laptops
Rachel Remick’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, among them Rosebud, Bluestem, Minerva Rising, 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.