Tampa

I haven't been to Tampa as a tourist for over 20 years. We are spending Saturday night in Homassass, to get up and swim with manatees early Sunday morning, 1 hour north. We are dining at Bern's at 6pm and thought we would get to Tampa around noon to revisit any tourist sites. Ybor City is the only thing I can think of, other than Busch Gardens/Dark Continent, which isn't of interest. I was thinking of a light lunch in Sarasota first. Any suggestions for dining or sightseeing?

Andy,

I'm also going to be in Tampa (actually St. Pete Beach) in a couple of weeks. I was there just about a year ago and filed this report (be sure to scroll down to see all of the posts). I especially recommend a stop in Tarpon Springs for a meal at Rusty Bellies if you can swing it. Also, on a non-food note, a visit to the Salvador Dali Museum is well worth the time.

On the St. Petersburg side, the white sandy beach in Pass-A-Grill on the southernly portion of St. Pete Beach is a great place to go sunning and swimming. You can walk across the street and have a nice martini (or whatever) on the 3rd floor rooftop bar at the Hurricane Restaurant. Also, the bar at the Don CeSar resort in St. Pete Beach has the greatest inventory of single malt scotches around, if you're into that. (I'm a little unclear about the Revrend thing, tho.)

For Breakfast, Skyway Jack's in St. Petersburg is an excellent choice, as is the famous Lenny's in Clearwater, Beverly's in St. Pete Beach, and Frog Pond in North Redington Beach.

Dining recommendations -- You've already selected Bern's which is very good, but the steaks that my family and I had at Malio's (http://www.malios.com/) in downtown Tampa a couple of months ago were exceptional. Two other excellent dining places come to mind: La Folata Churrascaria in Gulfport (about 10 minutes from St. Pete Beach) has gotten some great reviews lately. See their website at http://www.lafogataonline.com/ It is a specialty South America style steak house where the steak is cut fresh and hot for you right at the table. A unique experience. Also the Middle Grounds Grill in Treasure Island (right next to St. Pete Beach) has fantastic food. Ever time I dine there, there seems to be some former governors and other politicians in adjacent booths. I don't care about that, but their reputation for great food is growing rapidly in the area. See their site at http://www.middlegroundsgrill.com/ .

St. John's Pass in Madeira Beach is a popular place for siteseeing, pinball machines, fishing, casino boats, several different sightseeing boats, do-dads, etc. I don't know if you're dragging along kids, but there's a lot of activities for them there. The nearby Fort De Soto County Park was just rated as having the No.1 beach in the U.S. according to one of the surveys. Have a great trip.

(SteveZ - You seem to travel in many areas that I do, i.e., Mich., FL, etc. Maybe I'll see you at the Candlelite in Chicago for pizza sometime. Vito & Michael's in St. Pete Beach serves an excellent pizza, too, but only in their small "Ultra Thin" version cooked well done.)

Try and fit Brocato's sandwich shop into your lunch schedule. Best Cuban sandwich in the world and right up there with a combo from Johnnies or a fried oyster po' boy from Frankie & Johnny's in Nawlins and the roast beef po' boy from Domalise's as the best sandwich in the world.

My parents loved the deviled crab there whenever they came to visit.

BROCATO'S SANDWICH SHOP
5021 E COLUMBUS DR
TAMPA, FL 33619
(813) 248-9977

Andy...

Be sure to read that Tampa / St. Pete's thread Steve linked to. There's a lot of great stuff in there.

Andy, these were a number of good suggestions, but I was re-reading your initial post and wonder if some of us hadn't misread what you were requesting. Did you mean that you were looking for something non-foodwise to do between arriving in Tampa at around noon on Sunday and your 6 pm reservation at Bern's? Most of the recommendations here were for food (and for a lot of time consuming metropolitan travel to and fro) so that I don't know if we were helpful. Bush Gardens is a great place. I went for my once every 10 year visit there a couple of months ago and found it totally different from before (i.e., better). But that's a full and tiring day's visit. And filling yourself up before a hearty meal at Bern's doesn't seem too wise.

The pre-season baseball games are over (Phillies, Yankees, Rays). The Pier in downtown St. Pete is fun if it's a nice sunny day. The Salvador Dali Museum nearby is interesting as someone suggested (http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org) and the Sunken Gardens is also very nice (http://www.stpet.org/sunken). There are a number of festivals and events coming up, but not for a few weeks. The main attraction in the area is the beaches along with it's attendant water-related activities (para-sailing, dolphin boat cruises, casino gambling boats, jet skis, martini sipping, et al). Let us know how your visit went.

As the Tampeno here, I must say that it sounds like too much of a rush/hassle to try to get back and forth between Tampa and the beach. And Busch Gardens is like Disney. No way would I do that.

Now, since you are coming down from Homosassa Springs (which is north of Tampa St. Pete on US 19), why not check out Tarpon Springs? The Suncoast Parkway is a great new (albeit expensive) conduit connecting Tampa to Homosassa, and it runs by Tarpon Springs, sort of. You'd get off by the ritzy country club community of Cheval and drive west to the water for about 20 mins to hit Tarpon Springs, drive back to the parkway then head to South Tampa and Berns.

Or, you could take a "leisurely" drive down 19 to Tarpon, which is one of the great undocumented chow streets in the US, chock full of strip malls with ethnic and US regional stores and restaurants. But there is no LTH in Tampa and no Jonathan Gold. On the other hand, US 19 is brutal in its traffic, speed traps, and urban blight (those same strip malls).

Sarasota makes no sense, since it is an hour in the wrong direction (south) from Tampa. I'd say the same for St. Pete.

South Tampa/Palma Ceia near Berns is worth checking out if it's not too hot. It's like a tiny version of West Melrose in LA. In the same area, Bayshore Blvd. is one of the great streets of America. A miles-long promenade along the Bay past beautiful houses with a view of the city.

Ybor also is well worth another look if it's been 20 years. Much more touristy and plasticized, but the heart is still there. A cup of coffee or a brandy at the Columbia might be nice. Sunday afternoon, you'll have the place to yourself. If you smoke cigars, it remains the best place in the US to buy them -- particularly the Fuente and JC Newman brands (probably the best non-Cuban lines). Both families and their businesses remain in Tampa. There are also some solid local rollers.

If it were me, I'd jump on the expressway, check out Tarpon Springs, jump back on, check out Ybor, take a drive downtown and along Bayshore, then go to Bern's. TS and Ybor are unique in Florida -- two very old, intensely ethnic neighborhoods (Greek (TS) and Spanish/Cuban/Sicilian (Ybor)). Do seriously check out Steve's and Dmnlky's posts. They did plenty of research and leg work for you already.

Or play a round of golf. TPC is on the way.

PS, I'm a long time fan of Malio's (old dark and clubby version) and have some connections there. I tried the new fancy downtown location some months back and agree that it is very, very good. And the view of the minarets at UT -- widely regarded to be the best example of Moorish architecture in North America (at least the fantasy Moorish Revival of the late Victorian era) -- is hard to beat. I still miss the old place -- where Burt Reynolds used to cruise in the '80's and George Steinbrenner inked many of the greatest trades in baseball, among other things.

Then there's the famously seedy side of Tampa. I won't get into it, unless asked.

PPS, both Ted Peters and Keegan's, noted in my response in the SteveZ/Dmnlky, have been "discovered" by that "Dumps, Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" guy on Food. Keegan's chef is a classically trained Spaniard who takes fresh local seafood and does great things on the cheap. You must go to an oceanside place like Keegan's or Rusty Bellies for that kind of food and a cold beer.

BTB wrote:Andy, these were a number of good suggestions, but I was re-reading your initial post and wonder if some of us hadn't misread what you were requesting. Did you mean that you were looking for something non-foodwise to do between arriving in Tampa at around noon on Sunday and your 6 pm reservation at Bern's?

Yes, I'm more interesting in things to do to sightsee for 6 hours in Tampa before Bern's.

Don't worry about the revrend thing. Mail order revrend.

JeffB wrote:As the Tampeno here, I must say that it sounds like too much of a rush/hassle to try to get back and forth between Tampa and the beach. And Busch Gardens is like Disney. No way would I do that.

Now, since you are coming down from Homosassa Springs (which is north of Tampa St. Pete on US 19), why not check out Tarpon Springs?

Jeff, I'm actually driving up Saturday morning from Bonita Springs, so I'm not sure Tarpon Springs would be convenient.

RevrendAndy wrote:Yes, I'm more interesting in things to do to sightsee for 6 hours in Tampa before Bern's.

In that case, I'd visit the Dali Museum, then take the JeffB recommended drive around South Tampa. With a couple of "refreshment" breaks, that should nicely fill up your 6 hours.

Sorry-- I misunderstood your intinerary. Then I would look into the St. Pete options. A drink at the Don, lunch at Keegan's etc.

Thanks for the help everyone. We stopped for a nice lunch at Epicure in Sarasota. They have good sandwiches and nice, thin crust pizza.

We killed some time at the International Plaza, which has good stores but isn't particulary beautiful. We then strolled around Ybor City, and took a drive along Bayshore Blvd. and thru Hyde Park. Beautiful. That was a great suggestion.

Dinner at Bern's is still a great experience with an incredible wine list and excellent food. Don't forget the dessert room.

Swimming with the manatees is unbelievable. They are gentle giants totally unconcerned by humans.

Sunday on the way back we ate at Columbia House in Ybor City, a landmark restaurant. The food is very tasty, having sampled garbanzo bean soup, black bean soup, empanadas, 1905 salad, and a cuban sandwich.

Going to visit my Ma who has moved from Gage Park SW Chicago down to Hernando, FL. Shes picking me up in Tampa on Monday, and just seeing if there are any good eats up by her or on the ride from Tampa up to Inverness/Hernando.

Bracato's sandwich shop just east of the airport.
Best Cuban sandwich anywhere but might also want to try the devil crab.

5021 E. Columbus
Tampa, Fl.

I was just in Tampa and while I cannot help you I can say to anyone else that Edison Food and Drink Lab is exquisite. The midscale "hipster" dining scene is one I have mostly given up on in Chicago, but this place really nailed everything sent out and they did it fast since we were worried about making our flight (turns out Tampa airport is pretty much dead at night, so this was not a worry). My companion also said his cocktail was fantastic for those of you into that kind of thing.

http://edison-tampa.com/