JeffB wrote:
Regarding Gaspar's Grotto, the pirate themed 3:00 am bar in Ybor, I think you were misguided, Cynthia.

Well, I'm certainly open to other suggestions, if devil crab is better somewhere else. Too bad that so large a group was guided to a less than stellar place. Sorry folks will be taking low opinions of the dish home with them, rather than knowing that it's just the place.

I listed 3 places above that are all very, very good. Seabreeze would be #1 for me and I think Jeff agreed.

mhill95149 wrote:Eat at Bern's on Friday night. ... The steak was good but everything else was meh and I would not go there again for dinner.

8 of our business group dined at Bern's on Friday night as well. 7 of the 8 all made the exact same comment, steak was good/ok, everything else was meh & 7 of 8 wouldn't go back. Common sentiment was that Bern's is too hyped for the quality one receives. That said, I'm back in Tampa this Sat night for business and might be a sucker who goes despite what my peers told me as I've never been.

Sweet Willie wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:Eat at Bern's on Friday night. ... The steak was good but everything else was meh and I would not go there again for dinner.

8 of our business group dined at Bern's on Friday night as well. 7 of the 8 all made the exact same comment, steak was good/ok, everything else was meh & 7 of 8 wouldn't go back. Common sentiment was that Bern's is too hyped for the quality one receives. That said, I'm back in Tampa this Sat night for business and might be a sucker who goes despite what my peers told me as I've never been.

If you've never been, it's worth going for the service, the wine cellar tour and the desserts in the former cigar lounge. Don't go there expecting a steak anywhere near as good as you can get at some of our local steakhouses. I've found eating in the bar to be the best experience, unless you are there with a group, in which case a table is advised.

There's always been a weird local bias against Bern's as being too pretentious and expensive, which is dumb because it's always been cheap compared to the national chains that people seem to prefer, and it has completely unique bargains in several areas already noted. It's a quirky anachronism that's very specific and local. Or you could just go to Ruth's Chris #723B. It would be considered a treasure in Brooklyn or SF. And it sort of is in some quarters of Tampa and more so the national press. But folks in my hometown are pretty frugal and often can under-appreciate local flavor. They don't want to pay $100 for a good steak and a side of carrots cooked in a cloying amaretto glaze circa 1987. I'm fine with it, because I'm also enjoying heavily subsidized rare wine and caviar in a room with non-ironic carpeted walls.

stevez wrote: I've found eating in the bar to be the best experience, unless you are there with a group, in which case a table is advised.

I'll be solo on Sat night so thanks for the heads up on dining at the bar.


This past Sun night, we stayed at a Westshore area hotel, close to Dale Mabry. For lunch on Monday, we got two sandwiches to go from Mott & Hester Deli.

I got a chance to chat with owner Ted Kelly who has owned the place for 20+ years. He cooks most of the meats in-house, like roast pork for his Cubans, roast beef, corned beef. He also gets fresh breads in daily.

I had a rueben, excellent flavor but corned beef was a bit dry, I wish they used the entire brisket rather than just the 1st cut.

Mrs Willie had a muffuletta on french bread. Excellent.

If in area and looking for a good sandwich, I can suggest Mott & Hester.

Mott & Hester Deli
1155 S. Dale Mabry Hwy, Suite 10
Tampa, FL 33629
http://www.mottandhesterdeli.com/
M-F 8am-7pm
Sat 9am-4pm
closed Sun

Here is my go-to Bern's order when I'm just eating there with one other person--unless there's something on here that you hate/are allergic to/etc., I'd highly recommend not straying too far from this . And by all means, sit at the bar if you are solo or +1--it's a much better experience.

Start: Caviar or an order of the Traditional Bern's steak tartare--ORIGINAL RECIPE--you must specify this. The new recipe and all the variation recipes on the menu are bunk.

Main: Steak of whatever persuasion. If you're there with another person and you have similar preferences for doneness, the Chateaubriand is excellent. Since I'm a medium in a family of bloody centers, I grew up ordering the 1" NY strip and taking half home for lunch the next day. People swear by the filet--I hate that cut so can't comment. Fish choices are actually really strong as well. But I'd stay away from the "fancy" dishes and stick to the steak or fish with choice of sauces (all are great).

For the "choices" that come with your meal:
Onion soup
Salad with Cleopatra dressing
Baked Potato--loaded

Request kitchen tour and a trip to the dessert room.

I'm completely ok with the fact that Bern's may be one of those things one grows up loving that may not thrill those who didn't. I also agree that if you stray too far from the original menu items, it's just another restaurant with a bit of a weirdness factor. But the meal that I noted above is about as close to "favorite" status for me as anything I've had anywhere. And it's remarkably consistent. I'm always really bummed when I go home and can't make it there.

I enjoyed my first dining experience at Bern's back in September and it pretty much lined up with what others who know the place well have posted here. Amazing selection of wines at reasonable prices (we had 2 that were both older than me), stellar old-skool service, very good steaks, affordable rare spirits in the Dessert Room and the rest . . . well, it's all fine, even if not life-changing. But, especially since I will traveling to the area regularly on business, I can definitely see going there again in the near future.

The place I loved, which is right near the airport, is La Teresita, which I've now hit every time I've been in Tampa. Their Cuban Sandwiches are great, as are their soups, beans, hot lunch plates, etc. Thanks, boudreaulicious, for that most excellent tip. Oh, and I had a very nice deviled crab there, too.

=R=

La Teresita
3248 W Columbus Dr
Tampa, FL 33607
(813) 879-9704

There are a couple of things I love about Bern's

- You can order exactly how much steak you want, and not have to pay extra to be forced to take leftovers. Ever since I had my gall bladder removed, I really can't eat more than 10-11 ounces of steak in a single sitting, and I appreciate that I can tell them that's how much I want on my plate once they finish trimming and cooking it. [And that I'm not stuck getting filet like at some steakhouses where the next smallest steaks are 16 or 24 ounces.]
- Their wine prices are ridiculously low. The last couple of times we've been getting bottles of 35-40 year old French Rhones for less than $1/year. We're not wine snobs but even we realize how good these are.
- The service is great if over the top, and the dessert room is a bit expensive but fun.

If you say "is this the best morsel of steak you've ever tasted," those of you who got to a variety of steakhouses or are accomplished at home with a great butcher are going to say no. But is it the best steakhouse for an evening? For me, since I don't like the Gibson's celebrity style of place, it's the best I've been to although I still need to get to Peter Luger some day with some New Yorkers.

Last time there, we got a small "Special Chateaubriand" - maybe about 28 ounces to split between us. My cousin goes for medium well, I go for medium, so it worked out well temperature wise, and the cut had a taste and texture which reminded both of us of being in Buenos Aires.

La Teresita, I picked up from an LTH thread a long time ago, maybe 8-9 years ago. We stop twice a trip - first thing off the plane, last thing before the airport. I haven't found anyplace in Chicago which has the food, the funky counter atmosphere, and is open all night Fri/Sat.

Teresita: no place better at 4:00 am. I don't think what most folks are eating there to mop up booze is exceptional (Cubans and beans) but the cafe con leche is solid and the long-stewed dishes are sleepers. Carne con papas, boliche etc.

Hawkers Asian Street Fare is opening a location in St Petersburg @ 1235 Central Ave.

I had dined at the Jacksonville location of Hawkers, quite good:

Roti Canai was terrific, good bread & excellent curry
Chicken Satay was a bit light on spice but had really good flavor components
Fish w/black bean sauce has delicious, make sure to order a side of rice with this as there is a lot of sauce.

Lots of noodle & rice dishes that I wish I had time to explore.

http://eathawkers.com/

Sweet Willie wrote:Hawkers Asian Street Fare is opening a location in St Petersburg @ 1235 Central Ave.

I had dined at the Jacksonville location of Hawkers, quite good:

Roti Canai was terrific, good bread & excellent curry
Chicken Satay was a bit light on spice but had really good flavor components
Fish w/black bean sauce has delicious, make sure to order a side of rice with this as there is a lot of sauce.

Lots of noodle & rice dishes that I wish I had time to explore.

http://eathawkers.com/

Wow. Thanks for this! it's on the list for my next visit.

boudreaulicious wrote:Finally, I like the Devil Crabs at Alessi Bakery--again, no "eat-in" but they are cheap and delicious. And the baked goods aren't too shabby either!

Alessi Bakery - West Tampa
2909 W Cypress Street
Tampa, FL 33609
813-879-4544
http://alessibakery.com/our-story

JeffB wrote:Alessi is always good.

My first devil crab was at Tropicana years ago, really liked it. 2nd was at Brocato's a couple weeks ago, a big step up from Tropicana.

Based upon the above, I went to Alessi for a devil crab this past Saturday, the best, wow! Flavor was terrific as was the crab.

Jen, what do you mean by no "eat-in" at Alessi, there is a separate eating area as well as tables out front.

Alessi had boxes of Sicilian style pizza which looked delicious, too bad I was full.

It's been years since I was last at Alessi--like probably over 10! I didn't remember there being a dining area inside--I know there are tables outside but I'm not big on outdoor dining in the lovely humid swamp that is usually Tampa!!. The indoor part may be new(er) or it may be my memory sux--except for the DC of course, which I remember being delicious!!!

So glad you enjoyed and thanks for the update! I'll be down there in a couple of weeks and will be sure to stop in to refresh my memory

Cynthia wrote:

Sweet Willie wrote:I looked at the menu for Ulele as I was intrigued by your description of garlic bathed oysters. I didn't see that on the menu but did chargrilled oysters.

The garlic-bathed oysters were also chargrilled -- so probably the same thing. Didn't mention it in the original post, but they also brew their own craft beer.

Stopped by Ulele for some eats. Really nice setting and good looking restaurant. The beer I had was very tasty, not quite a sour beer but some nice tartness from fruit used.

The chargrilled oysters were done perfectly so that the oysters were not overcooked and were handled carefully as there was still some oyster liquor present. The amount of garlic overwhelmed most of the oyster taste, when I go back I'll ask for light on the garlic.

Also tried the Pulpo Carpaccio Shaved octopus with a spicy piri piri sauce, green and red chiles. The chiles were Thai chilies so some very hot heat. A well done, refreshing dish.

Just in...developers bought and closed overnight the 80+ year old Tampa landmark, The Colonnade. With its beautiful Bayshore Blvd view of Tampa Bay and comforting menu of broiled and fried seafood (most of which was, almost certainly frozen but still well-prepared), there are many Tampa natives mourning the loss. One of the very last of my childhood favorites gone. Sad that no one was given any notice whatsoever to get in one last time. Bummer.

BTB wrote:A little off Gulf Blvd. in Treasure Island on 107th Ave. is a great little German restaurant called Cafe Berlin. It is a tiny, little place, but is one of the local's favorites.

I was looking forward to trying Cafe Berlin but after numerous searches, my friend who lives in Treasure Island was unable to find any listings for a Cafe Berlin. Our alternate was to have dinner at German Bistro 2. While they don't have any German beers on tap, they do have a decent beer selection. The special pork schnitzel with a mushroom cheese sauce was easily the best rendition of a schnitzel I've ever tried, too bad it wasn't my dish I enjoyed the currywurst, good sausages, and enjoyable but after trying my friend's schnitzel I'd suggest going with one of their specials as opposed to what I had.
German Bistro 2
1300 E Bay Dr
Largo, FL 3377
(727) 216-6519

I hadn't had cracked conch for awhile so asked my friend to search for cracked conch places in the Treasure Island area (where he lives), cracked conch isn't as easy to find as one would think, he found Mid Peninsula.
The cracked conch was really good, big succulent pieces fried to perfection, the fried oysters were even better though, simply excellent.
Mid Peninsula Seafood
400 49th St S
St. Petersburg, FL 33707
(727) 327-8309
Monday - Saturday 11:00am - 9:00pm, Closed Sundays
https://www.midpeninsulaseafood.com/

Lastly before my flight home, I stopped by Alessi Bakery for a devil crab and pressed Cuban sandwich, certainly a great way to end my Tampa/St Pete weekend.

Wow—5 years since anyone posted here. Let’s fix that!

Tampa’s dining scene is pretty vibrant. Even Michelin has jumped on the bandwagon . Here are a few places I’ve enjoyed in recent trips:

Casual spots:

Big Ray’s Fish Camp http://www.bigraysfishcamp.com/

A true dive that’s a bit off the beaten path in the Interbay/Ballast Point neighborhood (close to MacDill AFB). Only a couple of bare bones tables inside, no air conditioning, order at the counter, picnic tables outside, nothing particularly scenic to look at. BUT the food is terrific (and that’s what matters!!) Smoked fish dip, grouper cheeks, grouper sandwich, onion rings, shrimp roll, devil crab, always a few specials. Everything top notch.

Thai Island https://www.thaiisland.biz/

No, it won’t make you forget our local places but if you find yourself near Davis Island and are craving something not southern, not fancy and very satisfying, I adore this place. And they mostly avoid the typical American-Thai trap of too saucy/ too sweet that our less lauded places fall into.

Highlights are all the “salads”, particularly the eggplant with squid, nam sod and yum soon sen; the Hor Muk with seafood and the Pad Woon Sen. The menu is large but since I’m not there often, I tend to stick to my regular faves but I’d love to try the curries and the duck dishes one of these days. They will bring the heat if you request and everything is very fresh tasting.

Hales Black Brick http://halesblackbrick.com/

This place is legit. They call it “elevated” Chinese food but to me, it’s like the chef went to all the very best places in C-town, ate well, brought back the best recipes and plated them nicely. Jian Baos, Siu Mai, chilled green beans in black vinegar and chili, poached chicken, red oil lamb wontons with pea tips and lantern peppers—and those are just the apps . The only section that gets a little “cheffy” are the noodles but even those were really more in the names of the dishes—the ingredients and flavors of items like Dan Dan Bucatini with Sichuan pork, Beijing sesame and peanut sauce were spot on.

It’s not far from Tampa Airport and the Ray Jay (Bucs stadium) so a convenient, if somewhat desolate, location. When I was there in Feb, the family who owns it was still living in a fancy motor home behind the restaurant which was interesting.

Spendy but spectacular:

Berns Steakhouse https://bernssteakhouse.com/ is still it for me. Eating and drinking martinis with blue cheese AND anchovy olives at the bar with my 80-whatever year old mama will always be my Tampa tradition for as long as I’m afforded the privilege. But there are a few new spots worth raving about.

Rocca https://roccatampa.com/

Possessing one of the very first Michelin stars awarded in the Bay Area, Rocca lives up to the hype. It’s located adjacent to Armature Works, a newish entertainment district a short drive from downtown. Highlights of a spectacular grad dinner for my twin niece & nephew included Buffalo mozzarella made tableside, a beautiful steak tartare, house made pastas (the blue crab pasta was a table fave) and a spectacular hunk of halibut bathed in tomato sauce with carrots, potatoes and sage topped with slivers of zucchini coins. I can’t even describe how delicious this fish was.

Edison Food + Drink Lab https://www.edison-tampa.com/

Another great spot for creative deliciousness. I’ve had several meals here in the past year and am most impressed by how consistently they manage to present original cocktails and imaginative food without being even the slightest bit pretentious. Favorite dishes included wood fired oysters with Nduja butter, finger lime, brown butter crunch & fines herbes; beef tartare with smoked salmon roe, pearl onions, finger lime, hot asian mustard & black garlic shoyu aioli; avocado leaf-seared Yellow fin tuna with homestead green mango salad, aji amarillo sorbet, fish sauce caramel & tamarind crunch. Have probably had at least 5-6 others that were equally loved but are no longer on the menu so I can’t describe them. Big plus for having the most comfortable bar seating and an extra deep bar surface—I love eating at the bar and the comfort level here was exceptional. As is the service every time I’ve visited.

Looking forward to my next visit!

The post below is a couple of years old, but it's about Bern's Steak House--which actually has the largest wine cellar in the world (the Tour d'Argent in Paris is number 2).
https://worldsfare.wordpress.com/2015/1 ... eak-house/

Also, across the street from Bern's is Epicurean, a food-focused hotel created by the same folks who own Bern's. Haven't stayed there, but I had the pleasure of touring last time I was in FL.

Sitting in TPA about to fly home from a family wedding. The only non-wedding meal Merle and I had time for was breakfast at:

Trip's Diner
2339 Dr M.L.K. Jr St N,
St. Petersburg, FL 33704
https://tripsdiner.com/

Found it by Googling around for breakfast spots near our hotel. I did a build your own omelette with veggies and home fries. Merle had chocolate chip pancakes. All good. My only gripe was the coffee which was a bit weak.

Any tips for stops north and south of the greater Tampa area?

North: Between TPA and Crystal River (bonus points for in Crystal River)

South: Close to I-75 pretty much anywhere between Tampa and Naples

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Any tips for stops north and south of the greater Tampa area?

North: Between TPA and Crystal River (bonus points for in Crystal River)

South: Close to I-75 pretty much anywhere between Tampa and Naples

Well south of Tampa, but, it looks like pretty darn close to 75:
"Snook Haven"

If a backyard bbq with rando live country / Jimmy Buffet type performers, outdoor wooden picnic benches on gravel, right next to a river where we sure as hell saw a few big ol gators, and the food was better than expected. More of an "Ole Florida" experience than a sit down, fine dining thing. This turned out to be way less of a tourist trap than I thought. I really liked it. They do have plenty of indoor tables, but they also have plenty of "Order at the counter, and we'll bring it outside to your picnic table, on a tin tray." I don't recall any of the standout food we got, but I do recall, the bbq was real, and we had a group of ten and everyone thought it was better than they expected.

https://www.snookhaven.com/

Tampa native but the furthest north I ever go along the coast is Tarpon Springs and none of my old haunts are still there (RIP Paul’s Shrimp House and Pappas). It’s a really cute area (or it was )known for Greek food and sponge fishing and a quick search shows some well-reviewed spots (Hellas, Limani, Dimitri’s)—I’d say worth the hour drive from Crystal River.

I’m going to be in Tampa next week and was trying to figure out a plan for meeting a friend who lives in Dunedin—Tarpon Springs may be a good idea, so thanks!

Not sure if this fits your request geographically but Ted Peter's Smoked Fish in St. Pete is worth a stop.

Following this as Merle and I are heading back to Tampa for four nights in March.

Haven't been there since the pandemic, but I used to go to Tampa twice a year to dine at Bern's Steak House. I went there for, what I thought was the best wine list in the world at the time but the steaks were excellent too. Reserve as far in advance as possible as they do over 800 covers per night. We'd also go to the Columbia restaurant in Ybor City for lunch whenever we'd visit.

If you like beer, Cigar City makes a few decent ones.

deesher wrote:Haven't been there since the pandemic, but I used to go to Tampa twice a year to dine at Bern's Steak House. I went there for, what I thought was the best wine list in the world at the time but the steaks were excellent too. Reserve as far in advance as possible as they do over 800 covers per night. We'd also go to the Columbia restaurant in Ybor City for lunch whenever we'd visit.

If you like beer, Cigar City makes a few decent ones.

Bern’s is still firing on all cylinders. If you don’t mind an early dinner, we love getting there when the doors open at 4:45 and getting the first seats at the bar where the full menu is available. Reservations are challenging and my regular Berns dining companion is in her late 80s so it works for us

A few other Tampa recs—on the upscale end, I’m a big fan of Rocca at Armature Works —I think I’ve posted about them before. Ro in Hyde Park (surprisingly good smoked Peking duck) is fun for creative, delicious Asian food and good cocktails.

I’ll report back if I have any other good meals when I’m there next week.

And one update—Hale’s Black Brick
(Info in my post above) has added a location in Hyde Park (1809 W Platt St).