Over 50 Tampa: SoHo

SoHo · $$$ · italian

Bella's opened on South Howard in 1986, when Bill Shumate and Joanie Corneil set out to give Tampa authentic Italian cooking, and its own site now counts 40 years of service. Shumate had run restaurants around the country since 1964 and served as president of the Florida Restaurant Association and chairman of its Hillsborough County chapter. Corneil came to the partnership having run two of her own places in Oklahoma. The restaurant sells its own cookbook, which is the sort of thing only a kitchen with a long back catalogue bothers to do.

SoHo · steak, new american

Bern's Steak House has been on South Howard Avenue since 1956, built out by Bern and Gert with their own craftspeople from what the restaurant's own history calls 'an ordinary business block on Howard Avenue, containing a grocery, barber shop and dime store'. The wine list runs to more than half a million bottles across 6,500 labels, kept in a 50-degree working cellar on site and a temperature-controlled warehouse, and the programme won the 2016 James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program. Dessert moves upstairs to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room, which keeps its own wine list. It is a MICHELIN Recommended restaurant in the 2026 Florida selection.

SoHo · coffee

Buddy Brew is Tampa's own specialty roaster and the Kennedy Boulevard cafe is its flagship. The Labrador retriever in the logo was a real dog called Buddy, who the company says kept watch over the small Diedrich roaster it used in its early days. It sums its position up as coffee that is not about edginess or snobbiness. There are now eight cafes across Tampa Bay, two more of them in this sector: Hyde Park Village on Snow Avenue and one on Bay to Bay Boulevard.

SoHo · bar food

Corner Bar is the casual stop across from the louder dance rooms. The official site posts a midnight close from Monday through Thursday, 3am on Friday and Saturday, and midnight on Sunday. Weekly trivia gives the room a reason to visit before the weekend crowd arrives.

Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.

SoHo · small plates

EDGE is the calmer rooftop choice above the Epicurean Hotel. Go for cocktails, small plates, and an open-air view rather than a dance floor. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, with a 1am close on Friday and Saturday. Hotel valet is free before 7pm and costs 10 dollars after.

Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.

SoHo · new american

Elevage is the restaurant inside the Epicurean Hotel on South Howard, directly across the street from Bern's Steak House, whose group helped create the hotel with Mainsail Lodging. It serves from 7 in the morning, running brunch into mid-afternoon, then a lite bites window, then dinner to 10. Valet is free before 7 PM and 10 dollars after. It was in the 2025 Florida MICHELIN Guide as Recommended and is not in the 2026 selection, so it carries no Michelin designation now.

SoHo

Good Luck Chuck's works two shifts on South Howard: a football bar by day, with TVs through the room for NFL Sundays, Monday and Thursday night games and full Saturdays of college football, and a late-night bar after. It stays open until 3am six nights a week, which is as late as anywhere in Tampa posts. The kitchen does wings and burgers and the bar splits its drinks list into Frontstage and Backstage menus.

Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.

SoHo · mexican, tacos

Green Lemon is the margarita-and-tacos stop in the middle of South Howard. It works best when food matters as much as the first round. The official site posts an 11pm close on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, with a 10pm close on the other nights.

SoHo

SoHo bar on S Howard. Its Instagram bio calls it a Seminoles bar and an Eagles bar, and it hosted an FSU watch party on Aug 29. Its own site lists Wednesday to Saturday evening hours, open to 3 am Friday and Saturday.

Open late. Go earlier if you want a calmer room.

SoHo · new american, cocktails

Howard & Platt is the polished early-evening choice at Howard and Platt. The full bar, covered patio, dinner menu, and weekend brunch make it better for a seated first round than a 3am finish. Happy hour runs Tuesday through Friday from 4 to 6pm in the bar area.

SoHo · american, french, mediterranean

LALA gives SoHo a built-in activity instead of another stand-and-talk bar. Book one of eight themed private karaoke rooms or use the open mic in the main room. Tampa hours reach 3am Thursday through Saturday, and the late-night menu runs until 2am Friday and Saturday.

This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.

SoHo · irish, bar food

MacDinton's is the long-running Irish pub at the center of the South Howard crowd. It is the easy pick for soccer, football, karaoke, and a packed late finish. Current public posts show nightly specials and activity through 3am, while the official site confirms the SoHo address and phone.

Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.

SoHo · $$ · american, burgers, diner

Meeting House opened in August 2026 in the South Howard space that had been Daily Eats, and calls itself a new-age American diner where coastal charm meets a laid-back Venice, California spirit. Burgers carry the menu and the weekend opens at 9 in the morning for brunch. Its motto, printed as the only headline on the site, is meet, eat, repeat. It belongs to Ciccio Restaurant Group, which is a Tampa company, not a national one.

SoHo · argentine, steak, wine

Renzo's moved its original Tampa steakhouse into a new South Howard room with an Argentine wine and spirits program built for this location. Choose it for Malbec, dinner, and a slower start to the night. It closes at 9pm Monday through Thursday, 10pm Friday and Saturday, and 8pm Sunday.

SoHo · american, bar food

Sunset Rodeo is the country night on South Howard. The room has live bands, line dancing, late DJs, a patio, and a mechanical bull. It is 23 and over except for its 21 and over Thursday program. The current event calendar carries live music through October 2026, and posted hours run to 3am from Tuesday through Sunday.

This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.

SoHo · $$ · mexican, tacos

Taco Dirty is the fast-casual counter on West Platt where you build your own bowls, tacos, burritos and nachos. It is the original of two, the second being in Riverview, and it belongs to Ciccio Restaurant Group, the Tampa company behind Meeting House and Green Lemon. The name does most of the marketing.