Eating Our Way Around Tampa, Florida

Ulele’s

N. Highland Ave.

This restaurant and brewery (pronounced you-lay-lees) is steeped in local history, located on Tampa’s Riverwalk in the former 1903 Tampa Water Works pumping station, and is open for lunch and dinner. Owner Richard Gonzmart, president of the Columbia Restaurant Group, is a fourth-generation member of the world-famous founding family of restaurants. Richard’s great-grandfather moved to Florida from Cuba and, in 1905, purchased and opened the Columbia Café in Ybor City. They use fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and other proteins from Florida, much like the early restaurateurs in the family have done for years. Craft beers, made on-site at the Ulele Spring Brewery, are only available here. Be sure to enjoy the “experience of dining” — all artwork was hand-selected and designed by local artists and craftsmen.

What to eat:

• Don’t skip the appetizers — start with the charbroiled oysters. If seated in the balcony, you may even be able to watch the chef prepare them right on the grill.

• For entrees, there are so many choices, but these are a couple of our favorites:

  • Gouda grouper – fresh from the Gulf of Mexico, served with smoked gouda ale bechamel with wild rice blend and seasonal vegetables.

  • Barry’s Tomahawk pork chop is a 14-ounce Compart Family Duroc bone-in pork chop, named in honor of legendary FSU Hall of Fame receiver #22 Barry Smith. It is prepared with a guava demi-glace and served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. It is HUGE, but so, so good.

  • For dessert, be sure to have their coconut ice cream, served in a coconut shell — from a family recipe and made right on site.

Tip: You will want to make reservations in advance for your best dining times and to eliminate long waits, especially on weekends or holidays. Valet parking is available.

Columbia Restaurant

E. 7th Ave

Speaking of the original family of restaurateurs, one should not skip visiting the Columbia Restaurant. This spot was first opened in 1903 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez Sr., who arrived in Tampa with his four young sons, seeking a better life and opportunity in the US. Over the past 120 years, the original restaurant has expanded to nearly an entire city block in historic Ybor City, and is now the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. Boasting seven locations in Florida, the Columbia is still owned and operated by family members.

What to drink:

• Their menu is expansive and includes a wide variety of cocktails and wines. One of our favorites is the fresh sangria. Order a pitcher for the table and watch them prepare it tableside for you.

What to eat:

• Their original 1905 salad is a meal in and of itself. Prepared tableside, this legendary salad is made with fresh, crisp iceberg lettuce, chopped ham, Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese, Worcestershire sauce and their famous garlic dressing.

• Enjoy the tapeo sampler — take part in the Spanish tradition of sharing small plates of food with family and friends. It’s a great way to try out all of their tapas.

• The dinner menu is two full pages long and you can’t make a bad choice. We have enjoyed the grouper Jimmy, which is fresh grouper seasoned, grilled and topped with fresh blue crabmeat, drizzled with lemon butter sauce and served with yellow rice and asparagus. Red snapper Adelita is grilled and topped with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and onions, and served with yellow rice.

• Vegetarians will enjoy the eggplant riogana — sliced eggplant breaded with ground Cuban breadcrumbs, smothered in their rich rioja sauce of tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives and red wine, topped with melted Galician tetilla cheese.

• For dessert, there are almost too many choices. The coconut ice cream is an original family recipe and is made fresh at the restaurant. Their key lime pie is amazing!

Take some history home — there is a great gift shop next door to the restaurant where you can purchase many items to take home, including cookbooks, salad dressings, Sangria mix and even hand-painted ceramics.

Tip: This place is super busy, especially during peak tourist times, so make a reservation. They also have a special dinner flamenco show featuring live music and traditional dancing. Valet parking is available.

Caffe Paradiso

S. MacDill Ave.

Voted the best Italian restaurant in the Tampa Bay area — and it gets our vote as well. Located off the beaten path in the South Tampa area of Bayshore Beautiful, this family-owned restaurant is truly a hidden gem. Owner Paolo Tini grew up in the Rimini area of Italy, and he has fond memories of watching his grandmother and her love for cooking. Paolo has a passion for impeccable food and service and since he has such a passion for service, many of his staff members have been with him for 18 years, allowing him to offer a brand consistency unique to his restaurant.

What to drink:

• This restaurant introduced me to a delicious Chardonnay called Sea and Sun. I have been able to find it at our local store. They have many other great wine selections — ask the waiter for the perfect pairing with your meal.

What to eat:

• Any of the appetizers or antipasti are recommended — always prepared with fresh ingredients.

• Their bread is freshly baked and served warm to the table with tangy balsamic vinegar for dipping.

• Entrees: So many choices, and if you love veal, you are in for a delight as there are five veal entrees on the menu. The branzino tirreno is a delicious entrée – grilled fresh Mediterranean sea bass topped with diced tomato, capers, crab meat and piccata sauce.

• Pastas: what would an authentic Italian restaurant be without a delicious selection of pastas? Our favorite is maybe the Capelli D’angelo Al Granchio – angel hair pasta sautéed with lump crab, olive oil and garlic or tomato sauce.

Tip: This is a quaint family-owned restaurant, so seating is limited. Make your reservations early to eliminate wait times and for optimal seating.

Bern’s Steakhouse

South Howard Ave

If you are a steak lover, like we both are, then this is the TOP place for some of the best steak you will ever eat. Bern’s had its humble beginnings as a strip shopping center that included a grocery, barber shop and dime store. As each of these businesses closed, Bern and his wife, Gert, expanded the restaurant into these spaces using their own expertise, carpenters and metalworkers.

When one thinks about Bern’s, three things should come to mind: expertly aged steaks, one of the largest wine collections in the world and an internationally famous dessert room. Bern always insisted on quality, and each guest will experience the highest level of quality, from their first interaction with the hostess until they lay their napkin on the table at the end of their meal. Be sure to let your server know you wish to take the kitchen and wine tour at the end of your meal. The kitchen tour is amazing and showcases one of the cleanest, most well-run kitchens ever. The staff is friendly and truly look as if they enjoy their jobs. The wine cellar boasts over 6,500 unique wines, including some very rare finds.

The Henry Waugh Dessert Room is a trip on its own. Private booths have been crafted out of old wine casks so that guests can enjoy an intimate dessert experience, including after-dinner beverages with their wide array of decadent desserts. And, as one would expect from Bern’s, each dessert is handmade with the finest quality ingredients. Reservations may be made just for the dessert room if desired. However, if dining with Bern’s, a separate reservation isn’t required.

What to eat & drink:

• Cocktails & wines — The book is HUGE and is literally a book that describes their wine offerings. Unless you are into something specific, choose the house blend and you won’t be disappointed.

• Appetizers - Plenty of choices if you must, but the three-course dinner was enough for our dining party, and we wanted to save room for dessert.

• Main courses - All steak entrees are served with a bowl of their delicious French onion au gratin soup, then a house salad with your choice of house-made dressing, baked potato, onion rings (think French-fried onion strips) and a vegetable of the evening. Two of us opted for the Delmonico steak (a ribeye) which was cooked to perfection with rich marbling and perfectly seasoned. Two of us opted for the Chateaubriand and it was an amazing piece of heaven. It practically melted in your mouth. If dining as a couple, you might choose one larger 14-ounce Chateaubriand and split it between you.

• Desserts - The trilogy of classics is for those who can’t make a decision on just one yummy dessert - King Midas, cheesecake girt and banana cream pie. The macadamia nut sundae was generous and served in a waffle bowl. The vintage lush chocolate sundae was rich and so yummy. All desserts were served with an additional portion of hot fudge to drizzle on top. There were so many great choices - we may go back just for dessert!

Tip: Make sure you book ahead and only use OpenTable through Bern’s website. Reservations are made on a rolling 60-day basis and open at midnight online. High volume times, such as holidays, are highly competitive for reservations, especially if early dining is requested. Also, be aware that Bern’s cautions against purchasing reservations through an individual or party and reserves the right to dishonor those reservations. Booking directly through Bern’s is free (but they do require a credit card to hold the reservation and will charge you a cancellation fee if you cancel within 24 hours of the reservation or do not show). Check out their reservation policy online if you need more details. Valet parking is available.

Dress code: Bern’s has a business casual or semi-formal dress code.

Olivia

W. Swann Ave.

Olivia is a modern Italian restaurant that is fairly new to the Tampa Bay scene, but part of a family of restaurants with a history in the area. Chef Chris Ponte studied at the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and apprenticed at many restaurants in Europe before opening his first, Cafe Ponte. Chef Ponte and his family also own On Swan in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Olivia is named after the chef’s youngest daughter.

Guests will enjoy all the authentic flavors of northern and southern Italy with fresh ingredients and traditional dishes. The restaurant also offers guests the opportunity to watch the preparation of Italian dough and fresh mozzarella in the working dough room on display.

What to eat:

• Appetizers - There were several yummy ones to choose from but the Wagyu beef and bruschetta were our choices.

• Main course - The squid ink cascarecce is a unique dish, one that had been highly recommended by our waiter as well as others and was very delicious. The short ribs were braised in red wine and served over creamy rosemary polenta — a very rich but tasty dish. The mini rigatoni with its 24-hour bolognese is not your grandma’s sauce — quite yummy. And the veal parmesan — a 14-ounce chop with pomodoro sauce, fresh mozzarella, parmesan and spaghetti — definitely took the prize for the largest entree.

• Dessert: The tiramisu was enough for the entire table! It was light and so worth the indulgence.

Tip: Reservations are recommended for busy seasons. While there isn’t a formal dress code, it isn’t the place to wear shorts, tank tops or flip-flops. Also, it is a very busy place with an open atmosphere, making it a little challenging for quiet conversations. Valet parking is available.

While there are many opportunities for fine dining in the Tampa area, sometimes it is nice to just be casual, especially when gathering with friends and family. Here are a few of our favorites for a more casual experience.

Bayshore Grill

S. MacDill Ave

This 100% authentic Turkish restaurant is located in the south Tampa, Bayshore area. Their dishes often include lamb, beef, rice, fish, eggplants, green peppers, garlic, beans and tomatoes. This is where the locals eat!

Begin with the delicious lavash bread, served with fresh hummus. Choose from an expansive menu with lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetarian entrees, wraps, kebabs and even combination meals when you can’t decide which one sounds best.

Big Ray’s Fish Camp

So this one might take you by surprise because you may drive by and not realize what a gem is there. This is a “take-out” type of restaurant, although some outdoor seating is available so you can enjoy your meal right away. Chef Raymond “Nick” Cruz grew up enjoying the local fishing area with his grandpa and has turned his passion into preparing some of the tastiest, freshest fish dishes you can imagine. Big Ray’s has been featured on several popular cooking shows, including Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Chef RV.

Our favorites include the u-peel’em shrimp and the grouper cheeks for appetizers (or make a whole meal out of them!). The grouper sandwich is the best you will find anywhere, and it can be prepared grilled, blackened or fried. Personally, the blackened is the best choice. Other items occasionally make the menu based on seasons, and the shrimp and yucca is an homage to his grandmother’s cooking. The lobster corn dog is always a requested menu item.

Big Ray’s desserts include a key lime pie — even served deep-fried if you dare! — or try the deep-fried Oreos.

Tip: There are actually two locations for Big Ray’s – the original “camp” in South Tampa, and a location at the Riverwalk. The South Tampa location is closed on Mondays, so be sure to check the website for hours and closures. Neither place takes reservations and both can get busy at times. If you like fresh fish, give them a try — you won’t be sorry!

Wright’s Gourmet House (formerly Wright’s Deli)

S. Dale Mabry Ave.

Wright's serves some of the best unique specialty sandwiches in town, selling hundreds of them each day. Guests will also enjoy some of the most decadent cakes and desserts around — something else that was not available back in the 1960s. A customer once shared her "secret" rum cake recipe with Marjorie, hoping Wright's would thrive. She declared, "From now on, anyone craving my rum cake will have to buy it from you." Since then, Wright's has sold hundreds of thousands of their revered rum cakes, alongside an array of other delectable cakes, pies and treats. And their portion size is always on the generous side!

What to eat:

• Honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. A few of our personal favorites are the Cuban, the beef martini and the New Yorker. You can choose your bread, specialty spreads and toppings. Of course, if a salad is more your style, their chef salad and Greek salads are spot-on.

• Dessert is probably my favorite here, and with so many yummy choices, it’s hard to pick just a few. The rum cake is an obvious choice, but also the hummingbird cake, strawberry cake and pecan pie are great choices.

Wright’s offers so many options for catering, parties and boxed lunches, as well as dining in. To-go orders are common here as well.

Tip: Wright’s is only open until 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and 4 pm on Saturdays, and they're closed Sundays and major holidays, so be sure to plan ahead! We always forget they close early and are closed on Sunday and sometimes we miss our opportunity to get our “Wright’s fix!”

Green Lemon

S. Howard Ave.

This fun, modern Mexican place is part of the Ciccio Restaurant Group, created over 25 years ago by New Yorker James Lanza. His passion for healthy eating has driven him to create a brand that measures success through repeat customers and team culture.

We visited during happy hour (3-6 pm), which offered some great tapas and drinks. We ordered the loco nachos and a couple of their giant margaritas, which were only $10! We also ordered the fajita bowl and the fish tacos. All of their happy hour specials were yummy and plenty for a lighter dinner.

Tip: Parking is across the street in a labeled parking lot. Arriving early will help ensure you avoid the crowds and longer waits. We got there around 4:30 and it was getting busier as we left. This restaurant group also offers gift cards that are valid at their different restaurants, so everyone is bound to find something that they will love.