Over 50 St. Pete

Downtown · new american

Chef Jason Ruhe and Hope Montgomery, husband and wife, spent years catering and consulting before opening what they call 'a true brick and mortar' of their own on the 500 block. The couple went on to open Seaworthy Fish + Bar in Tierra Verde in 2020 and Pulpo Kitchen + Lounge on Central in late 2024. I Love the Burg's staff wrote in June 2026 that its burger is perhaps the best in the city.

Grand Central District · european cafe, french pastries, burgers

Co-owners Dragan and Martina Pelevic soft-opened this 12-seat European-style cafe in January 2026. Dragan Pelevic is a trained chef from Montenegro who has cooked across Europe and in Austin and Massachusetts. He makes every sauce, pastry and baked good from scratch in an old trolley converted into a kitchen behind the shop. The case holds eclairs, napoleons and croissants, and the menu runs from a lamb and Angus 'hybrid' burger to mushroom lattes.

Historic Kenwood · french, moroccan

A family-run French and Moroccan kitchen in Historic Kenwood. The site puts it this way: Chef Touf 'cooks the way he learned in Paris and serves the way he learned in Morocco'. Cybel began as a catering company and still is one; the permanent dining room opened in late 2024. It is BYOB at 10 dollars a bottle, tagines and couscous anchor dinner, and on Sunday mornings the room runs as Lilya's Cafe with coffee, croissants and quiche.

Pass-a-Grille · new american, seafood

A dinner-only room on historic 8th Avenue run by chef and owner Jason Lutzk, a Tampa native and Culinary Institute of America graduate. The menu changes with the season and adds weekly specials, with ingredients bought from Tampa Bay suppliers. Florida Trend gave it a Golden Spoon for Best New Restaurant. There is a private dining room.

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'.

EDGE District · $$ · gyoza, asian fusion, bao

Chef Ronicca Whaley started Shiso Crispy as a food truck in Pinellas Park, hand-folding gyoza. The site says Tampa Bay Times readers voted it 'Best of the Best' in 2020 and 2021 and that she has appeared six times on Guy's Grocery Games. The Central Ave room is the original storefront and what the group calls its flagship; there is now a second St. Pete kitchen on the Jannus Block and one in downtown Tampa.

Downtown · sushi, omakase

Brothers Arte and Rexley Kwok opened this counter in January 2018 as downtown St. Pete's first omakase restaurant. There are ten seats, each facing the chef, and Rexley Kwok prepares and serves every course himself. It is omakase only, with two choices ... a signature menu with a few more appetizers, or a shorter one focused on nigiri. The DMO says the fish comes direct from Tokyo's Toyosu market. Booking is through Tock only; the restaurant's own site warns that it is not on Google Reserve.