1983
South MacDill restaurant, bar and arcade from a Tampa hospitality group. Publishes Bucs and Gators schedules, NFL and college football all season, and Premier League on weekends. Says it has 80 TVs.
220 East
220 East sits on Davis Boulevard in the small village strip at the top of Davis Islands, and its own site calls it a locally owned American kitchen 24 years strong. The menu runs wider than most neighbourhood rooms: shrimp and grits, a hand-cut New York strip, pizzas including a dill-pickle one the site tells you to trust it on, and a weekend brunch with chicken and waffles. Its Cuban sandwich is built on Cuban bread from La Segunda, which it names on the menu. Several dishes are marked GF on the menu itself.
7th + Grove
7th + Grove sits on East Seventh Avenue in Ybor City and describes itself as the flagship of the 7th + Grove Hospitality group. The cooking is Southern comfort food crossed with Guyanese flavours, served with what the site calls creatively crafted cocktails, and the room runs late on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It is one of the Ybor rooms Creative Loafing Tampa Bay lists among Tampa Bay's restaurants, and it leans into events... a Saturday day party with hookahs and small bites, NFL Sundays, private parties and catering.
Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.
Al's Finger Licking Good Bar-B-Que & Soul Food
Al's cooks Tennessee-style barbecue in Ybor City, dry-rubbed ribs smoked over wood with a tomato-based sauce, and it has won best barbecue in Tampa more times than anyone bothers to count. The food is family food in the literal sense, with dishes on the menu named for the people they came from ... Uncle John's smoked sausage, Aunt Nita's black eyed peas, Sparky's pulled pork, Mazie's serve-it-up yellow rice and chicken. The business started as a concession stand in 2003 and became a sit-down restaurant in 2009, and it now runs barbecue and soul food out of one address on East Seventh Avenue after folding the two shops together.
BellyUp! Tampa / Over 50
Over 50 Tampa
Nobody publishes the noise level, and it is the thing that decides the night.
Good places to eat and drink in Tampa, minus the nightclubs. When a spot gets loud later or draws a lot of kids, the card tells you.
4 spots
Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co.
Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. is a single-location sandwich shop on West Cass Street, started by what its own site calls 'a group of paisans originally from New York looking to share their passion for quality New York inspired sandwiches with the Tampa Bay community'. The shop was added to the MICHELIN Guide in the 2025 Florida selection and kept its place in 2026, and Creative Loafing reported it would appear on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Psomi
Psomi is a daytime Greek restaurant and bakery on North Howard Avenue, named for the Greek word for bread. Its own site puts that at the centre of the place: 'bread is the cornerstone of every meal at psomi, it's where every meal starts and how every dish is built.' The kitchen advertises itself as a seed oil free establishment and runs a small market called Parea alongside the restaurant. It has held a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand in both the 2025 and 2026 Florida selections.
Rick's on the River
Ricks on the River is a bar and grille sitting directly on the Hillsborough River off North Willow Avenue, with a marina and wet slips so guests can arrive by boat. Its own site describes live music daily, fresh oysters at its own oyster bar and cold drinks on the water. It stays open to 1am every day and to 3am on Friday and Saturday, which is genuinely late by Tampa standards. Creative Loafing put it on its kid-friendly list because children watch for dolphins from the riverside deck.
Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.
SOHO Juice Co
SOHO Juice Co makes superfood acai bowls, smoothies, waffles and soft serve, and it now operates out of Urban Jungalow on West Cass Street rather than the South Howard Avenue address it is still listed under in older guides. TAMPA Magazine's downtown vegan and vegetarian guide describes the whole operation as entirely vegan. It trades under Everwell Hospitality.
What these spots are known for
The same over 50 spots, sorted by the reasons people actually pick them.
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In the MICHELIN Guide
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