The Living Room on Main - Dunedin, FL

This weekend we FINALLY made it to The Living Room in downtown Dunedin. We have been wanting to try this place for ages, but we always seem to have other plans getting in the way. What I love about almost everywhere in downtown is the dog friendly patios. We could regularly be found at Dunedin Smokehouse or Jolli Mon’s with Murphy and now Finn got to go out twice with us over the weekend. His first restaurant trip out was to The Living Room and he loved it just as much as we did.  When you come with a dog they bring out a big bowl of ice water for him and hand sanitizer for you. This is a first that I haven’t seen before at a restaurant and I really appreciated it.

We arrived at 6 and it was pretty empty, there was one other party on the patio. Being the frugal people that we are though, we wanted to get there before happy hour ended. The Living Room has a pretty good happy hour. I will have to say none of the places in downtown Dunedin are spectacular with their happy hours, but 2-4-1 wine makes me a happy girl. The only house wines they have are Chardonnay, Merlot, or Cabernet. I stuck to the cab since I’m not a fan of the other two. My cousin walked up to the bar while we were enjoying our drinks and ended up putting our drinks on his tab. Having a big family has great perks sometimes!

I love the tapas concept and am so happy we have a few tapas restaurants nearby. Hagin and I have been known to just go to restaurants and order a few appetizers to split. We like the smaller portions of tapas so we are able to order a few extras without filling up too fast.
They start you out with some crostini and olive oil. The oil has a balsamic roasted garlic in it which has a very distinct taste. I would have preferred a softer bread to go with the dip, but I liked the flavor of the oil.

We started with a Mango and Brie quesadilla (the pictures has vanished). It was good, an interesting combination that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own. We also ordered the Wild Mushroom Flatbread with the quesadilla that came out a few minutes later. Mushroom and artichoke goodness right there. It was piled with toppings and the crust was still crispy. That is the way a flatbread should be.

Honestly after just those two we were pretty full, but we wanted to try something from the meat side of the menu. So we forced ourselves to order the Pork Empanadas. They get the pork from their sister restaurant next door, Dunedin Smokehouse (one of our fav’s) so we knew we were in for a treat. Served with a black bean and corn salsa and an avocado crema they were a delicious end to our meal.

It took us a few years to try the place, but we will definitely be back to The Living Room. It started to fill up later in the evening, but if you head over around 6 you should be able to get a table no problem, in the off season. It would be a fun place to go with friends on a double date night or for girl’s night. We were celebrating my belated birthday, since mine was rained out a few weeks ago.