Over 50 St. Pete

Gateway · seafood, crab

The Crab Shack is the no-frills seafood house on the St. Petersburg side of the Gandy. Visit St. Pete-Clearwater describes cracked crab, shrimp, frog legs and alligator in an informal room.

Downtown · pan-asian, wagyu steak, sushi, steakhouse

Fortu opened in late November 2023 on the ground floor of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, in the space Ceviche Tapas Bar had held since 1997 before it moved to Beach Drive in 2021. It was founded by Shan Bakrac and is run through Benson Hospitality Group, with Nathan Howey as executive chef and managing partner. The kitchen is pan-Asian and built for sharing, with Japanese A5 wagyu, wagyu gyoza and Australian wagyu picanha on the menu and a bar that leans on Japanese whisky and sake. MICHELIN's inspectors call it an attractive, high-energy dining room with handsome wood finishes. It has been listed in both years Pinellas County has been eligible.

The Deuces · soul food, southern

Heavy's started as a soul food truck working festivals and added a takeout restaurant at 22nd Street and 9th Avenue South, a move I Love the Burg reported in February 2020 with Kendrick Scott, Robb Lancaster and Ken Rhodes behind it. The site calls the founders 'two men on a mission' to serve soul food at fair prices. The turkey wings are the dish with its name on them, beside fried pork chops, oxtails and meatloaf.

Downtown · italian, modern italian, pasta

Owner and executive chef David Benstock grew up in St. Petersburg, cooked elsewhere, and came home to open this room ... the name means 'The Return' in Italian. Local press says he has led it from downtown for more than a decade. Sheridan Scott is chef de cuisine. The kitchen is open, and the Chef's Bar beside it serves 8 to 9 courses that are not on the dining room menu for $275 a person before drinks and tax. A private dining room seats up to 14 at one custom wooden table. MICHELIN's inspectors singled out the pastas, and the DMO quotes the guide praising its 'boldness and flavor in spades'.

Grand Central District · izakaya, sake, french-japanese small plates, oysters, sake bar, ramen, small plates

In Between Days opened in August 2021 in a 1925 Craftsman bungalow, the idea of Pinellas native Zach Ashton, a recording artist turned restaurateur. It is modeled on Tokyo's underground listening bars ... a pair of 1972 Klipsch Cornwall speakers behind the bar, two turntables, and records played a full side at a time under oil lanterns. The room is small on purpose: its own profile counts 7 tables and 6 bar stools. Beverage director Noah Sain leads a team of sake sommeliers over what local press calls Florida's largest sake collection, and chef Justin Shwetzer cooks a short rotating menu of gyoza, hamachi, oysters and a noodle dish. It joined the MICHELIN Guide Florida in 2026.

Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.

EDGE District

The self-described classy dive bar opened in 2012 and has been putting on free shows by local and touring bands ever since. I Love the Burg describes the room as tight in the best way, with the crowd spilling onto the sidewalk and into the parking lot on show nights.

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

Gateway · american, seafood

A tiki bar and restaurant on the water at the St. Pete end of the Gandy Bridge, tagged by its own site with #comebylandorbysea. Suncoast Family Fun puts it first on its Pinellas list because tables sit on the sand where children can dig, and an old boat ramp lets them play at the water's edge with a table beside it. The own site books weddings, rehearsal dinners and birthdays under the tikis.

Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.