Nomadic Adventures: Tampa, Florida
Tampa Florida has a lot to offer! This southern locale offers sports, entertainment, culture, food, beaches, and family friendly adventures. Tampa itself is a surprisingly vibrant and busy city with more than enough to keep you occupied for weeks. On top of that, it’s a short drive to St. Petersburg and Clearwater for Caribbean Sea access. If you’re looking for a day trip, Tampa is only an hour or two away from many of Florida’s pristine springs - it’s always about an hour and a half to Mickey’s House in Disney World! Of course, if you’re interested in sun, warm air, palm trees, and a sea breeze, you can get your fix without even having to travel. We’ve been a few times - but below are some of our most recent stops, which included Ybor City, the Channel District, and Downtown.
Columbia Restaurant
2117 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605-3903 (Historic Ybor)
Delicious, Filling, Great Ambience. The building and decorations, the location in Ybor City, strong drinks, great food, presentation of food and drinks. Make sure to get a Mojito. This is only our second trip, We are a big fan of Columbia. It is definitely an “experience” to go with a great meal. Your experience begins as you drive to the restaurant through Ybor City. The building is wonderfully decorated, inside and out, and can keep you busy for hours just taking in all of the details. This is actually a good thing because, unless you make a reservation, you’re likely to be waiting a while. The food is really good. The meats are a bit less than excellent - for example, dry roast pork - but not so much so that it ruins the meal. I have had numerous sides and loved them all. From the beans and rice to the plantains, they’re all flavorful and just the right texture. As far as drinks, expect to get something with a bit of kick. For good or bad, the Sangria is more alcohol than juice - you only really get the sweetness after you swallow. The mojitos are GREAT - highly recommend. Make sure to visit this historic restaurant if you stop in the Tampa area.
Al's Finger Licking Good BBQ
1609 Angel Oliva Senior St, Tampa, FL 33605-5133 (Historic Ybor)
Made a special trip to Ybor to try this place out. The food is great! The wait - not so much. I arrived around opening time, which was a mistake. There was a line out of the door and it didn’t move very fast. I think it was so slow because they were packaging their backlog of online orders. Total wait time - about 35 minutes. Once past the wait, the rest of the process was fine. I picked up some ribs and the Mac n cheese. I am pretty picky about ribs - these are good! They don’t skimp on the meat - I can’t stand when the ribs are just basically bones. The smoky wood flavor is excellent. The tenderness is good, but it does require a bit of sauce as the meat is a bit dry in spots. Overall, really good! As for the Mac N Cheese - also very good. I don’t typically get Mac, it’s not one of my favorite sides, but it is only available on Fridays here so I went for it. I figured exclusive menu items are better. It’s something Al picks up from a nearby business and it is good! Very filling, good flavor - a small is more than enough for one person.
Acropolis Greek Taverna
1833 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605-3807 (Historic Ybor)
Must Visit - Hummus, Service, and Ybor. This is a must visit restaurant! Good stuff: Food - hummus!, drink, service, dessert, location. Bad stuff: chickens? I visited by myself and sat outside. The outdoor seating in the evening is great for the relative cool weather and people watching, while Ybor City lights up around you. I sat and was not served for a while - but Jason S. took over and more than made up for it. He is passionate about the menu and extremely happy to explain, describe, and recommend as much as you want. I came for the kabobs but never made it. I had the hummus appetizer, which is a meal by itself if you’re alone. The hummus is the best I have had in the U.S. so far - clearly freshly made. Plenty of it and filling. The texture is really creamy and smooth and the pita is good. I also had the Cuban Manhattan - forget its real name. That was sweeter than I expected, but it suits the location well. Also, it was strong. I ended up skipping the entree and Jason talked me into dessert. A baclava cheesecake. I don’t particularly love baclava, but his description of ground up baclava incorporated into a cheesecake sold me. I really like cheesecake. It was good. If you like baclava AND cheesecake, you’ll probably love this dessert. Will definitely return. Ask for Jason when you go! As for the chickens, there are chickens in the neighborhood that just walk up to your feet while you eat. They didn’t do anything in particular, but it was weird.
Tampa Bay Brewing Company
1600 E 8th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605
Typical Brewery Experience. Good stuff: location, beer selection, indoor/outdoor seating Bad stuff: service time Average probably sums this up best. Nothing really bad about it, but nothing very good either. With the other fantastic options in the area, no real reason to have to choose this one. Location is cool - Central Ybor and adjacent to a trolley stop. Plenty of outdoor seating available (my preference). Took a bit to get seated and much longer to be served. I was actually in the process of getting my things to leave when the waiter arrived. The waiter and bartender were plenty friendly though. Food is typical bar food. Decided to go with a burger because, in my opinion, those are always best at these places. It was fine. Took a while to make it to the table. The beer selection was admirable for a small brewery. I had the Red Ale - good flavor, but wasn’t really cold at all. Overall - it’s a safe place for a bite and pint, but it won’t blow you away.
Irish 31
1611 W Swann Ave, 1611 W. Swann Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606-2546
Good lively atmosphere. Went on a Wednesday night and there was live music and a running club that did a 5K from there and then hung out. Young crowd. Nice outdoor seating area. Decent drink selection and the red ale is very good. The waitress we had was very friendly and thorough answering questions. BUT, for an Irish pub, there was a surprising lack of Irish foods on the menu. Ended up with the Shepherd’s Pie Boxty - big mistake. There was virtually nothing in it, just a giant fried mashed potato ball. They tasted as good as you could expect for a fried mashed potato ball, but it wasn’t good. Made me feel gross afterwards too. My friend couldn’t even force their way through all three. So, I wouldn’t come here if you’re looking for an Irish food experience. But, if looking for a nice place to get a drink and have a lively atmosphere, this would be a good stop.
Wright's Gourmet House
1200 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33629-5009
Always Great - Sandwiches and Cakes. Wrights always delivers! I have yet to eat a bad sandwich here. The cakes are amazing too. Good Stuff: sandwiches, dessert, service, price is reasonable. Bad Stuff: closes too early to do dinner, service time during peak lunch hours. I ate the California Reuben this visit. I didn’t time it well and picked up just before close. That meant driving across town with it. Definitely eat on site, especially for the grilled food, as it spoiled a bit from the trip. I have had it before, so I knew my travel caused the sloppiness. But the CR is excellent. It makes you full - like all of their sandwiches - but doesn’t leave you feeling greasy. I also picked up a slice of the Hawaiian Princess Cake. I actually though it was the lemon, but still went with it after the cashier described it. *Side note - the cake slices a HUGE. It’s too much for me, but I do not like cupcakes (which they also offer), so I always end up with the cake. They will definitely put you over the top. The HPC was delicious! The pineapple/coconut layer is amazing. The cake part itself is always the right texture and has good flavor. The cream cheese frosting was good, just too much of it - easily solved by scraping some away. I always stop at Wrights when I visit - be sure to do so too!
Hampton Inn Tampa Downtown Channel District
1155 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
I visit Tampa occasionally for work and this is the first hotel I stayed in that I will try to return to. The location is excellent. There is plenty to do in the immediate vicinity. There is easy access to the trolley service. You are close enough to walk downtown or to Ybor. The Selmon Greenway is across the street too - dumps off at the Riverwalk, so it’s great for a run. I was pleased with the amenities. The on site gym is one of the nicer hotel gyms I have been in. The pool looks great - definitely high-end for my normal level of hotel. There is also nice space to eat and drink either around the pool, in the lobby, or out front. I had nothing but positive engagements with the hotel staff. Everybody was friendly and polite. My only issue was it could be hard to get definitive answers from the front desk - lots of “probably,” “I think so,” etc. No issues with cleanliness. It’s not immaculate, but for this level of hotel, it was one of the better kept I have stayed in. The pillows are awful. They squish down to about the thickness of a piece of cardboard. And then they are so long that you can’t really fold them up under themselves well to make it better. The pillows caused me a few nights of problematic sleep. Parking is available in an adjacent parking garage. The parking fee can be waived - check in advance.
I hope this information inspires you to go out and try something new. Have you been to Tampa? Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me @sincerely.schwartz on Instagram. Bye for now!