10 Great Restaurants in Tampa

The historic Columbia Restaurant offers stunning Spanish/Cuban cuisine along with a massive selection of fine wines. The restaurant opened in 1905, making it more than a century old, and it has earned incredible acclaim in the years since.

When you visit, you'll find old-world charm to go along with pristine dishes that not only honour traditional recipes but appeal to modern palates with innovative additions. Plus, the wine list features wines from all over the world. You'll find it all in Ybor City just northeast of city centre.

Datz - South Tampa is a gastropub that sports an industrial design and offers delicious, upscale comfort food and a vast array of cocktails and artisanal liquors. When you step inside this restaurant, you'll be able to feel the atmosphere immediately, with its industrial-chic designs drawing you in.

When it comes to the food, you'll find some of the best here, and much of it has fun names like the Cheesy Todd burger. Everything is made fresh with pristine attention to detail. Plus, the drink options are substantial. You can try it for yourself on the southwest side of Bayshore Gardens a few miles southwest of city centre.

Bahama Breeze is an iconic restaurant known for its no-worries atmosphere and island-inspired flavours accompanied by live music and legendary cocktails. The menu here has just about anything you could want from island cuisine, including fresh seafood, chicken, and steaks grilled over a flame.

The drink selection has much to offer, and the bartenders are eager to impress with unique cocktails. To top it all off, you can enjoy live music when you visit just about every night. Try it out for yourself west of city centre on Pelican Island.

Ocean Prime is a high-end, fine-dining restaurant offering modern American cuisine focused on seafood and steaks served in an elegant atmosphere with refined decor. The menu here is nationally acclaimed, with steak and seafood dishes prepared with intricate attention to detail and masterful experience.

From the second you walk into the restaurant, you'll notice the upscale atmosphere with elegant decor. The staff also manages to combine professionalism and natural friendliness effortlessly. See it for yourself in Westshore, a few miles west of city centre.

Council Oak Steaks and Seafood is an American fine-dining restaurant and steakhouse where you'll find that every last aspect of the experience is designed to be high-end. The steaks are all USDA prime steaks, and other dishes, like seafood, show just as much dedication to quality and freshness.

The restaurant itself is also high-end in terms of decor and design. The open kitchen is easy to see into, showcasing their confidence in preparation, and you'll find multilevel seating and wine rooms. In fact, more than 400 different labels are available. Discover it for yourself in Seminole Hard Rock by Bellows Lake, northeast of city centre.

Ulele is a unique restaurant in that it combines contemporary American cuisine with ingredients and traditions popular with indigenous people, and it features plenty of drinks, too. Great care is taken to ensure all the dishes and ingredients respect time-tested styles of cooking and are sourced locally.

The vast majority of the food here is prepared on a 10-foot round barbacoa grill for that extra bit of style that you can taste. It's also in the same building as a brewery, so you'll find a variety of craft beers on tap to enjoy. Try it out about a mile north of city centre.

Cockerel and the Till is one of the best places to get modern American cuisine in town, and you can taste the freshness of locally sourced ingredients when you visit. The menu is compact, but every single option is incredible, with dishes like crispy chicken thighs, sumac charred caulilini, seared scallops, and seared foie gras, among others.

The commitment to local ingredients extends beyond the food. While they've set up networks with plenty of local growers and producers, the building itself was constructed by local craftsmen who used as much reclaimed material as possible. See it for yourself in Seminole Heights, north of city centre.

Salt Shack on the Bay is a satisfying combination of beachfront dining, fresh seafood, and comprehensive bar fare, all with a casual and relaxing atmosphere. The food here is sourced from local ingredients, making it a genuine gulf-to-table experience. Its connection to the water is so ingrained that you can arrive by car or by boat.

The drink selection here is extensive, featuring a wide variety of craft beers as well as signature cocktails you won't want to miss. The restaurant faces west, so you can catch incredible views of the sunset. It's located on the west side of Sun Bay South around the marina.

On Swann is one of the top local American restaurants if you're looking for high-end ingredients, as they change their entire menu based on what's in season. This restaurant offers always-fresh American cuisine that has a signature Floridian flair, thanks to its exclusive use of locally sourced ingredients.

As the seasons change, so does the availability of certain ingredients. This restaurant lets that availability dictate the kind of food they serve, so if you visit during different times of the year, you'll find completely different menus. Take a look for yourself in Hyde Park, southwest of city centre.

Bern's Steak House is a popular staple of the city that offers incredible steaks along with an immense collection of wines in a world-class experience. The steak here is made from only the best quality ingredients and cooked to perfection.

Despite being a steakhouse, this establishment is often better known for its wines. The wine collection here contains over 600,000 bottles, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection includes wines that are centuries old, but even the ones you're allowed to enjoy still embody some of the best tastes in the world. It's all available in Historic Hyde Park North, southwest of city centre.