Must-Visit Restaurants on a Tampa Food Tour
Here is something you didn’t know about – Besides the theme parks, cigars, and museums, Tampa also has a cracking list of restaurants.
With amazing chefs running popular eateries, it should not be surprising if Tampa declares itself the food capital one day.
So, before the rest of the world crawls up and stands in queues to grab one bite, plan your food tours in Tampa and ensure these restaurants are on your list!
Bern’s Steak House
The best should be on #1, right? To say that Bern’s Steak House serves the best food would be an understatement. This eatery has won recognition for its food in Tampa, ambiance, service, and everything else. Sure, it’s pricey, but every penny you spend here is worth every sweat you break to earn it.
Bern’s cooks each steak exactly how you want it. Their customization service lets you decide how many ounces and thick you want the steak.
But this is not all the good Bern’s Steak offers; you can also tour their kitchen and wine cellar. The staff will take you to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room for the desserts.
Their dessert menu is full of sweet treats that make you smack your lips, but we have a special recommendation. The Taste of Bern’s: a sample-size portion of their vanilla cheesecake, macadamia decadence cake, banana cheese pie, chocolate cheese pie, and King Midas will keep you returning to this restaurant.
Read more: Where to find the best Korean food in Tampa?
Oak & Ola
Oak & Ola is one of the classic American restaurants in Tampa, aging fine-like wine. The dining guests will find everything from pizza and steaks to salads and fresh fish on their menu.
No place is better than Oak & Ola’s rooftop terrace to enjoy a gathering with friends while sipping craft cocktails. If a get-together is your plan or you’re going with a group, the best decision you’ll make is to order a few rounds of appetizers at Oak & Ola.
Their Mediterranean-inspired mezze board has many munching options, including roasted eggplant dip, goat cheese smears, or pommes frites with garlic aioli.
Tampa Bay Brewing Company
It wouldn’t be crazy in Tampa if you visited the Tampa Bay Brewing Company for breakfast. Their cider wings are award-winning, and they have a bomb burger (we’re not making it up; it’s called ‘the Bomb’). This half-pound burger is wrapped in pizza dough and features cheddar cheese, hickory bacon, and onion straws.
If burgers aren’t someone’s favorite (yes, let’s believe it for once), there are plenty of options on the Tampa Bay Brewing Company’s pizza, calzones, and entree menu.
Other top-rated dishes are the meatloaf, shepherd’s pie, and beer-battered fish and chips. If you want an epic ending at this restaurant, finish your orders with their apple crisp.
Goody Goody Hamburgers
If there’s one thing Tampa knows how to do right, it’s burgers, and Goody Goody proves this statement without any doubt. It’s big, enchanting, and one of the best places to include in your food tours in Tampa.
This place is a bit of a restaurant, with elements of a coffee bar and a wood-paneled bookshop. It also has space for co-working and events, all inspired by the venerable Wolseley in London. The setting makes it a must-visit spot on Tampa Bay food tours.
Goody Goody Hamburgers makes any daytime an ‘affair’ with weekday breakfast and lunch offerings, weekend brunch, and afternoon tea. Their greenhouse atrium will make your lunch something more than just sitting at a pretty place and eating.
The C House
We couldn’t list restaurants to include in your Tampa Bay food tour without talking about the C House. What makes this place stand out is its customizable charcuterie boards.
If you love charcuterie boards, you’ll never have enough of the C House. This restaurant offers a variety of meats or other selections for your board. You can also pair your board with wine or other alcohol options.
Miguel’s
To have the best experience at Miguel’s, you’ve got to grab a seat on their back patio, order a margarita from their top shelf, and eat those chips and salsa. But remember, this should be just the first step to tip-toeing over Miguel’s menu.
Miguel is an authentic Mexican restaurant that offers its diners home-cooked, mouth-watering dishes. Their USDA prime filet or the Kobe skirt steak fajitas, served with frijoles charros, Mexican rice, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and hot tortillas, is everything you’d want from a Mexican eatery. Other specialties are spicy pinto beans and ceviche.
The Columbia Restaurant
A Tampa Bay food tour is never complete without a visit to Ybor City. The Columbia Restaurant is the best you’ll find in Ybor City, which has been creating history since 1905.
The Columbia Restaurant, in its ‘just in’ days, was a local cafe that mainly served cigar workers. However, it worked its way up to be one of the most prominent Spanish restaurants in the world. Its sangria pitchers make the headlines.
The 1905 salad is a must-try and legendary in the list of Tampa foods. The recipe has been the same for over a century- iceberg lettuce, ham, olives, tomato, Romano cheese, Swiss cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and a house-made garlic dressing are tossed all together table-side.
Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe
Ella is famous for its folk art, indie, vintage atmosphere, and live music. You shouldn’t skip this restaurant on your Tampa Bay food tour if the whole vintage-retro-hipster isn’t your thing because the food here is to die for.
Soul Food Sundays are their version of brunch. You can taste fried chicken and waffles with bourbon honey, southern cornmeal fried catfish, and biscuits with smoked sausage gravy at this brunch.
While their menu has many tempting options, you shouldn’t miss out on ordering an a la carte side of bacon mac and cheese. One bite into this delicacy, and you’ll never have mac and cheese without bacon.
Read more: Things to do near Tampa, Florida .
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Conclusion
Tampa has many options for great food; you’ll never be short of choices but never have enough flavors. Food tours in Tampa will give you the tastiest options on your plate and memories you will cherish forever in your hearts. So add these eateries to your list and have the best of Tampa.
