Over 50 St. Pete

MLK Street North · seafood, new england seafood

The Casual Clam has served New England seafood on MLK Street North since 1991: whole belly Ipswich clams, a New England style lobster roll and a clam chowder the house says is made fresh daily. There is all-you-can-eat shrimp, grilled, blackened or fried, and picnic benches outside.

Beach Drive · spanish, tapas

A Spanish tapas house modeled on Barcelona, built around shared plates and sangria. The company says it has been at it for nearly thirty years and now runs two rooms, this one on Beach Drive and one on Westshore in Tampa. It does not take reservations.

4th Street North · burgers, american

El Cap is the 4th Street burger bar with the red neon baseball sign. St. Pete Catalyst traces it to 1958, when Louis Joseph Svabek opened it in a 1948 building as one of his 'Cap' beer joints; Steve and Rose Bonfili of Pennsylvania took it over in 1963, and their son Frank turned it into what many call the city's first sports bar. Johnny Johnson has hand-formed the patties since 1992 and once made 2,300 in a day. Mary Jean Bonfili left the place to two longtime servers when she died in 2019, and in January 2023 Seed & Feed Hospitality, run by St. Pete natives, bought half while Cindy Nally kept the other half. The order is the World Champ cheeseburger.

EDGE District · burgers

A small burger sports bar with a hockey theme on the corner of 1st Ave N and 9th St, open since September 2012. Owner Jason Esposito is the son of Tony Esposito and nephew of Phil Esposito, both Hockey Hall of Famers and founders of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bar does not take reservations.

EDGE District

Open since 1992 across the street from Tropicana Field, Ferg's has grown to nearly two city blocks and eleven separate bars and rooms, including Ferg's Dog Park & Grill, a clubhouse with a DJ booth and the St. Pete Axe & Ale axe-throwing room. USA Today readers named it the best sports bar in America in 2025, and it won Best Sports Bar at the 2026 Visit St. Pete-Clearwater Besties. Food trucks such as Vinnie's Pies and Maxi Empanadas park inside, and you can order from your phone.

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

4th Street North · seafood, shrimp, grouper

The Shrimp Store has been on 4th Street North since 1984. Its own history page says the building went up in 1928 as a service station for Model T Fords, later became a laundry with a small seafood market in one corner, and the market's fried shrimp baskets and grouper sandwiches grew into the restaurant. It expanded in 1997.

St. Pete Pier · seafood, american

A deck-wrapped restaurant on the downtown marina seawall near the Pier entrance, in business for more than 20 years. Its future is unsettled: the city's $165 million marina rebuild calls for the building to come down so the seawall beneath it can be replaced, with construction expected to start in late 2026. In April 2026 the city had not said whether Fresco's would return afterward, and council member Gina Driscoll said she had 'a lot of concern about this restaurant being displaced'.

Downtown · italian

Owners Domenic D'Angelo and Tony Mangiafico met in 1992 at a restaurant in Punta Gorda. Domenic started at the old Gratzzi Ristorante in BayWalk in 2001, where Tony was executive chef. When that restaurant closed in 2009, the two reopened it in 2010 as Gratzzi Italian Grille on 2nd Street South.

EDGE District

St. Pete's oldest brewery marked its 13th anniversary in September 2026. The beer garden and tasting room on Baum Avenue stay family friendly, while Webb's City Cellar, its second room, pours sours, cider, mead and wine for adults only. On September 25, 2026 it opened Upstairs at Webb's, an adults-only second-floor bar with Japanese-style side-pull pours and English cask ale. I Love the Burg says honey for the mead comes from bees kept on the roof.

MLK Street South · bbq

Brothers Steven Johnson and William Delaine have run Hams 'R' Us for 14 years in one of the city's historically Black neighborhoods, rain or shine. The Tampa Bay Times says they cook hot and fast over live oak, laurel oak and pecan. The menu stays short: spare ribs, brisket and chicken, with baked beans and potato salad.

4th Street North · american, seafood, burgers

Dan Harvey opened the grill on 1 April 1984 and the third generation of the Harvey family now works there. The room is built from pieces of old St. Pete: decor from the Vinoy, Soreno and Albermarle hotels, and doors from the Sunshine School. The house claims more than two million grouper sandwiches sold, and the Tampa Bay Times named it one of Tampa Bay's 25 most iconic restaurants, per the venue.

Pass-a-Grille · seafood, american

The Falkenstein family from Baltimore bought the site in 1977 and built the restaurant out of what was left of an old hotel. The spot had held Page's Pavilion bathhouse, built in 1912, and later the Casa Bonita Hotel. The family added the first floor in 1986 and the upper floors, a banquet room and the rooftop bar in 1990. The roof deck, the Hurricane Watch, has two bars and a full-circle view of Pass-a-Grille. The grouper sandwich is the dish the restaurant puts forward.

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'.

Downtown

An open-air, standing-room concert courtyard downtown ... the venue says it has been running for over 40 years. Touring rock, reggae, hip-hop and electronic acts play under the sky, with balcony views and air-conditioned lounges sold as VIP upgrades.

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

Treasure Island · bar food

A locals' beach bar across the street from Caddy's, open since 1982, with live bands seven days a week across rock, blues, reggae and R&B. The kitchen turns out pub food ... sandwiches, wings and a $3 cheeseburger. It is 21 and over, and it was back in business well ahead of its neighbor after the 2024 storms.

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

Gulfport · seafood, american

The bar Gulfport measures storms by ... after Hurricane Helene The Gabber's publisher wrote a note titled 'The O'Maddy's Index', and during Idalia in 2023 police closed it because the corner was under water. It faces the Gulfport Pier, has live music every day and welcomes dogs at the outside tables. In March 2026 it opened a second floor, a long-planned expansion that The Gabber says came after 20 years in business.

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

4th Street South

An Old Southeast dive in a building that has held a bar since 1972. Owners Kelly and Lee took it over in 2022 and joined their names for the sign. $3 drafts, $2.50 beef tacos on Tuesday, a free pool table on Thursday, darts, chess boards and a karaoke machine.

Beach Drive · modern american, seafood, steak

Open since 1996 and, in its own words, the first major restaurant on this stretch of Beach Drive. Executive chef and partner Tyson Grant runs the kitchen; the site says he was voted Best Chef of Tampa Bay in 2025. It also runs full catering for weddings and corporate events.

Gulfport · italian

Pia and Tom Goff have run this trattoria since 2005, cooking to order and baking their own cakes and desserts. The private courtyard is what people come for, and in 2021 they took over the building next door as Pia's Veranda for more seats, outdoor tables and live entertainment. They fed local seniors free during the pandemic and gave away pasta dinners in 2025 when SNAP benefits were disrupted.

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

Grand Central District

PAW is the dog-themed brewery ... milk bones on the tables, charity nights for animal rescues and a Milk Bone Stout on tap. Brewers Matthew Brown and Dennis Decker started it, its Sweet Stout took silver at the Great American Beer Festival, and it turned 10 in May 2026. The site has a barrel aging room, a tap room and a beer garden with a food truck. On October 1, 2026 it soft-opened a second room, PAW Taps & Tails, in the former Dissent Craft Brewing building at 5518 Haines Rd N, welcoming dogs and cats.

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

4th Street North · mexican, latin american

Red Mesa has cooked Mexican and Latin American food on 4th Street North since 1995 and is the original room of the St. Pete-born Red Mesa Group, which later added Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Mercado. I Love the Burg reported in February 2025 that a second Mercado was planned for 6001 Central Avenue.

Downtown

A cocktail and cigar lounge with live music seven nights a week, sets usually starting at 6:30pm, and a Thursday night jazz session hosted by Le Jazz. It is paired with Central Cigars and keeps a temperature-controlled humidor ... smoking is allowed inside. The bar says it has more than 25 years behind it.

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

Pass-a-Grille · american, seafood, breakfast

Founded in 1938 as one of the area's early drive-ins, the Seahorse was given historic designation by the St. Pete Beach Historic Preservation Board in 2024. Months later Helene and Milton put several feet of water through it and it stayed shut for more than a year. Owners Carlos Calvillo and Anayeri Gomez kept the wooden booths, the memorabilia and the taxidermy when they rebuilt. Breakfast runs to omelets, pancakes and shrimp and grits; lunch to seafood platters, burgers and Cuban-style grilled chicken.

Perry Bayview · breakfast, diner, southern

Jack Thomas started Skyway Jack's in 1976 as a shack at O'Neill's Marina feeding boaters and fishermen near the Skyway, and moved it up 34th Street South about two decades ago. You find it by the giant Humpty Dumpty and the rooster out front. Breakfast runs all day, and the Food Network once picked Jack's scrapple as Florida's best breakfast dish. I Love the Burg later reported a new owner, Darren Forte.

South Pasadena · seafood, smoked fish

Ted Peters has smoked fish on Pasadena Avenue since 1951, and its own site still leads with that line: old Florida flavor served fresh since 1951. The smoked fish spread is the thing people name first. The street address sits in South Pasadena, a small city wedged between St. Petersburg and the beach, and the restaurant itself prints its address as Saint Petersburg.

4th Street North · thai

Thai Am has been family owned since 2001. I Love the Burg says the owner and head chef are both natives of Thailand and that ingredients are imported from there. The dish people talk about is Chicken on Fire, a fried chicken filet in Thai chili sauce that arrives topped with flaming whiskey. A second Thai Am is on Drew Street in Clearwater.

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.

4th Street South · burgers, american, english tea

Helen Lund opened The Chattaway in 1951 and her family, later Jillian Frers, ran it for 75 years as a burger garden with an English tea room inside. In March 2026 the property went under contract and the restaurant was expected to close for good; it shut in mid-July. Cullen Mahoney, Ferg's owner Mark Ferguson and Shrimpy's Waterfront owner John John Delladonna bought the restaurant and its 0.70 acre lot in August and reopened it on 25 September 2026. The new owners added a second outdoor bar, a canopy with fans over the patio and a full liquor license, and say the burger stays as it was.

Grand Central District · seafood, oysters, steak

The Oyster Bar spent 24 years at 249 Central Avenue downtown, from 1999 until it closed there in 2023. Owner Josh Cameron of Craft Hospitality Group brought it back on 14 October 2025 in a new 3,200 square foot Grand Central room with 120 seats, 22 of them outside. The old signatures came with it ... buffalo shrimp, bacon parmesan-crusted grouper and raw oysters, with a dollar-oyster 'Aphrodisiac Hour' from 4 to 5pm. The site now names Daniel Walter as executive chef.

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

Treasure Island · mexican

A walk-in-only Mexican restaurant and lounge that dates its start to 1973. Helene flooded it just before the current owners' 30th anniversary and the room had to be gutted. They sold tacos, wet burritos and margaritas from a borrowed food trailer behind the building, under what they called the 'Shitty Circumstances Menu', and regulars traded donations for the staff against free margaritas. Bay News 9 reported it reopened by September 2025. There is a second VIP in Indian Rocks Beach.