Over 50 St. Pete

Beach Drive · mediterranean, aegean, small plates

A Mediterranean and Aegean small-plates room that calls itself 'your neighborhood spot for small plates, good times and lots of wine'. Husband-and-wife owners Shawn and Jeanna Damkoehler opened it first, then opened Juno & the Peacock a block north in 2024. I Love the Burg's staff singled out its brunch in June 2026.

EDGE District · latin street food, cuban, juice bar

Debbie and George Sayegh came from Brooklyn, where they ran restaurants including a Cuban coffee shop that used the same Cuban sandwich recipe Bodega serves today. George trained partly in Miami and fell for Latin food; the couple say they built Bodega for themselves because they were hungry for something different. It is a walk-up window with all outdoor seating and a juice bar next door, and the Cuban sandwich and lechon platter are the dishes the venue ties its name to. The same couple opened Baba in Grand Central in 2019 and closed it on 3 July 2026.

coffee, wine, snacks

In its own words, 'a bookstore with wine, a wine bar with books' ... a bottle shop, independent bookstore, coffee cafe and wine bar in one small room. Founder and managing director Terra Dunham describes it as an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, local-first business. Its book picks run regularly on Radio St. Pete and Great Day Live.

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.

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.

Gulfport · bbq, soul food, southern

Jesse Sapp is the pitmaster, and the name honors his late sister, Kimberley Sapp. The Tampa Bay Times reports he cooks over oak and sometimes pecan on a pit smoker more than 50 years old, at the site of the former Hogley Wogley BBQ, and quotes him: 'We take pride in how we clean our ribs.' Spare ribs, chicken, top sirloin and pork shoulder come with mustard-based sauce, hot or mild.

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

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.

Downtown · english pub

An English-style pub and brewery that took over the old Cycle Brewing taproom in July 2025. Husband and wife Todd and Colleen pour cask ale through hand-pulled beer engines ... I Love the Burg says it is one of only a few breweries in the Southeast doing real ale. It opens early on weekends for Premier League and NFL games, and the resident dog is named Dolly.

Gulfport · american

Gulfport's brewery turned six in June 2026 and threw its second annual Beerfest to mark it. Three of its beers medaled at the 2026 Best Florida Beer competition, and in August it released Sea Breeze, a beer honoring local newspaper history back to 1886. There is live music in the biergarten, a Tuesday run club and Thursday trivia. Since June 2026 it also opens at 9am as a breakfast cafe pouring Black Crow Coffee.

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

Grand Central District · vegan sushi, ramen, asian fusion

Thalia Tatham was diagnosed with lupus at 23 and went vegan in 2020 to take control of it; she told FOX 13 she was in remission within six months. She would not give up sushi, so she started making plant-based rolls for her family, then sold them at pop-ups and a weekly drop at Black Radish Vegan Grocer. Her first brick-and-mortar opened on 21 March 2022 inside Body Electric at 655 31st St S, and the restaurant has since moved to 1990 Central.

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'.

Beach Drive · new american, coastal, steak, seafood

Opened in August 2024 in the space that was 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House. Shawn and Jeanna Damkoehler bought that restaurant in 2021, ran it under the old name until 2023, then rebuilt it with the design firm AvroKO around Aesop's fable of Juno and the peacock. St. Pete Catalyst reported it as the only Florida restaurant serving Dean & Peeler steaks, dry-aged 45, 65 or 90 days. The Pluma lounge next door keeps more than 1,400 wines, and the patio faces North Straub Park and the yacht basins.

The Deuces · sandwiches, soul food, cuban sandwich

Melissa 'Melly' Gardner opened LOVE22 on Juneteenth 2026 in the building where Lorene's Fish House cooked for 32 years. She calls it a new-age bodega: a downstairs takeout counter with sandwiches, salads, juices and free coffee, a patio with a bar, and a lounge upstairs. The Cuban sandwich uses pork smoked daily, and Sundays are for soul food. Gardner told the Tampa Bay Times she wanted fresh food on a corridor with real health gaps, and that Elihu and Carolyn Brayboy, who own much of 22nd Street, mentored her.

MLK Street North · indian street food, bengali, kati rolls

First-time restaurateur Amita Mukherjee opened this 540 square foot room in January 2025 in the former Chi-town Beefs and Dogs space. Her parents came from India more than 50 years ago and she was raised in St. Pete; she built the menu around the Kolkata street food she missed, kati rolls first. The name pairs Mowgli from The Jungle Book with 'tiffin', the Indian word for a lunchbox or light meal.

Grand Central District · vegan hot dogs

Jenny and Jeff Howe started Nah Dogs in 2019 as a roaming vegan hot dog cart at markets and festivals around Tampa Bay. In 2026 they moved into a small storefront that shares a courtyard with Black Crow Coffee and Tombolo Books. St. Pete Rising lists the Yo Soy Dog (nacho cheese, street corn salsa, pickled jalapenos, garlic mayo, tortilla chips) and The Captain (chili, cheese, fried onions, spicy mustard). The Tampa Bay Times reviewed the new room on 14 August 2026.

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.

Pinellas Point · coffee, brunch

Husband and wife Thomas Maloney and Sonya Sarkar opened this second Paradeco in March 2025 beside the pool at SkyBeach Resort, the 18 acre property that used to be the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove. The bar was 3D printed from recyclable material by the St. Pete manufacturer Haddy. It seats 16 inside with a view over the bay, and the owners chose the spot for the sunrise over the water. The flagship is downtown on 2nd Avenue NE.

Grand Central District · bagels, breakfast sandwiches

Steven Peterman started Pete's Bagels in 2019 in Historic Uptown. On 6 October 2026 the Grand Central shop moved four blocks from 2361 1st Ave S into the 4,200 square foot Quonset hut at 1900 1st Ave S, the former Good Intentions space, growing from 42 seats to about 100. Bagels are boiled and baked fresh, with house-made cream cheeses and breakfast sandwiches. Weekend brunch, evening beer, wine and cocktails and more vegan options are planned for the new room.

Grand Central District · thai, asian fusion, pho, ramen

An independently owned Asian fusion room from the owner of Pin Wok and Bowl downtown. The site says she learned to cook young in her family's restaurant. The menu covers Thai classics, pho, ramen, udon and sushi burritos. It traded earlier as Pin On Cafe, and it sits in the stretch of storefronts that used to hold Nitally's.

Treasure Island · american, seafood

Helene's surge put nine feet of water into this Gulf Boulevard bar. Owner Brad Piche rebuilt it to take the next flood ... concrete bars, flood gates, closed-cell foam, fiberglass panels in place of drywall, raised electrics and capped plumbing. 'We didn't want to put a band-aid on hurricane repairs,' he told Bay News 9. It reopened in late February 2025 with three bars and a new stage, using food trucks while the kitchen was finished.

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

Grand Central District · vietnamese coffee, matcha, pastries

Haley Huynh moved from Vietnam to Tampa Bay more than 15 years ago and also owns Sip Tea Boba in Pinellas Park. 'Say' means obsessed in Vietnamese ... 'you drink it so much that you're obsessed with it'. The coffee is slow-dripped through a phin using robusta beans she imports from Vietnam, and the house specialty is egg coffee. It took the former Crisp Waffle Company space in 2026.

Grand Central District · coffee

Owner Kenny Beers ran a coffee counter inside Sans Market in the EDGE District before opening this standalone cafe and roastery on 26 July 2026. It took the former Adieu Glu bakery space and seats 20 to 30. The roaster describes its coffee as light-roast single origin only, no blends.

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.

4th Street North · gastropub, cuban sandwich

A Florida-themed gastropub owned by St. Pete natives Pete Boland and Ian Taylor. The full menu runs until 2am and a late-night kitchen menu carries on to the 3am close ... steaks, seafood, tacos and a Cuban sandwich. I Love the Burg calls it St. Pete's legit local pub, the place locals watch game after game.

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

St. Pete Beach · seafood, raw bar, new american

Heidi and Michael Butler opened The Helm in 2021 at 7736 Blind Pass Road as a raw bar, restaurant and seafood market. Helene's surge wrecked it in September 2024 and it reopened on February 21, 2025. The Butlers also had a South Carolina restaurant hit by the same storm and closed it to stay here: 'We decided to stay here where our roots are.' In July 2026 they moved across the street into the former Verducci's, which never reopened after the storms, nearly doubling their space and adding a private room for 30 to 40. The old room becomes The Scullery, a kitchenware shop with cooking classes. Known for Maine lobster rolls, she-crab soup and Florida sour orange pie.

EDGE District · sourdough bakery, sandwiches

Ariana Duksa started baking sourdough as a cottage bakery in her Seminole home, and she and Ryan Duksa opened the storefront in 2023. It sells naturally fermented loaves, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, soups and wraps. In September 2026 the owners announced a move to the 1926 Union Trust bank building at 895 Central Avenue, 11,000 square feet over three levels, expected in early 2027.

Historic Kenwood

A veteran-owned room that calls itself St. Pete's first self-pour wine and bourbon tasting lounge. Machines dispense 32 wines and 16 bourbons in tasting, half and full pours, with small bites such as whipped feta and meatballs. Tuesday is trivia night at 7.

MLK Street North · pizza

Dan and Brit, a husband and wife, started The Violet Stone as a food truck in 2022 and now run a pizzeria on MLK Street North. The dough is hand tossed after a long ferment and made from scratch each day. Their own line about the business is 'We have absolutely no idea what we are doing'. I Love the Burg reported in February 2025 that the shop was moving to a larger space at 2609 MLK, and a Tampa room on West Kennedy is listed as coming soon.

Gulfport · pizza, sandwiches

Larisa and Tommy Lussiano opened this wood-fired pizza and sandwich pub in 2023. They told The Gabber the 2024 hurricanes devastated them and credited staff, friends, family and the town for getting them reopened quickly. St. Pete Rising listed it among the first Gulfport rooms to resume service.

4th Street North · bbq

Mike Leander and Tina Vierus started Treehouse BBQ in 2021 as a mobile catering outfit after a restaurant plan stalled in the pandemic, and they toured the Carolinas, Tennessee, St. Louis, Kansas City and Texas before settling the menu. St. Pete Rising lists Texas-style brisket, Carolina-inspired pulled pork and St. Louis-style ribs. The 1,200 square foot room is mostly carry-out, first come first served until the meat sells out, and the site currently limits brisket to 2 pounds a customer. They still set up at the Kenwood Sunday Market at St. Petersburg High School.

MLK Street North · diner, breakfast, american

Trip's opened on 12 March 2012 and is named for the owners' triplets, Libby, Will and John. The owners call it a 'Not-too-Fancy neighborhood restaurant' and serve breakfast all day beside meatloaf, pasta and sandwiches. The St. Pete diner is the original; the Tampa room on North Florida Avenue came later.

Grand Central District · indian

Lokesh Vale launched Twisted Indian as a food truck in St. Petersburg in 2016 and built a following at the Saturday Morning Market. The brick-and-mortar on Central opened in May 2022, more than a year later than first planned. The venue describes itself as modern quick-service Indian, and says its aim is to make Indian food less intimidating.