Tampa Bay's 25 small town restaurants everyone should try at least once

Breakfast Nook

1532 Land O' Lakes Blvd., Lutz
Located in Lutz, the Breakfast Nook serves breakfast and lunch for below $10. Orange cream French toast, eggs Benedict, chicken fried chicken and eggs and burgers are all available at the joint.
Photo via Breakfast Nook/Google Maps

Cajun Cafe on the Bayou

8260 66th St. N, Pinellas Park
Open for 25 years, the Cajun Cafe on the Bayou is literally on the bay, and it serves Louisiana cuisine and craft ales from an old shack. The cafe is known for its soft shell crab dinner, shrimp bowl and crawfish cornbread. And just as you’d expect, it serves jambalaya and Creole gumbo.
Photo via Cajun Cafe on the Bayou/Google

Bon Appetit Restaurant and Bar

148 Marina Plaza, Dunedin
Gulf views can be seen from every seat in the Bon Appetit Restaurant and Bar. The beach eatery serves lunch and dinner inside and on the outside terrace. The Florida black grouper and lobster roll are some award-winning favorites.
Photo via Bon Appetit Restaurant and Bar/Facebook

Detroit Coney Island

32922 U.S. Hwy-19, Palm Harbor
Right off of U.S.-19, Detroit Coney Island is a breakfast, lunch and dinner stop. The diner serves classics like hamburgers and hot dogs, including the Coney Island hot dog. Detroit Coney Island also offers Polish dishes like two eggs with grilled Polish kielbasa and a Polish platter with pierogi, potato and cheese, sauerkraut and holiday-style kielbasa for dinner.
Photo via Detroit Coney Island/Facebook

Gigglewaters

737 Main St., Safety Harbor
Gigglewaters is in the heart of downtown Safety Harbor, and it offers one screen for movies as well as food and drinks. The restaurant and movie theater inherited its name from the nickname of a 1920s cocktail, and the space ties in some of the old-timiness with a custom bar built from Biltmore doors and wood. The menu features the rare Wagyu beef on burgers, cherrywood smoked bacon and cocktails. As the owners are originally from Brooklyn, they also serve some New York favorites like Frito pie and ricotta cheesecake. Stop by for some good ol’ movie classics, and maybe even munch on their truffle popcorn..
Photo via Gigglewaters/Facebook

Golden Dinosaurs Vegan Deli

2930 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport
This Gulfport deli serves made from scratch vegan meals like Philly sandwiches, Cubans, mac n’ cheese and cookies. It’s also got kombucha, made from St. Pete ferments, with a variety of flavors.
Photo via Gigglewaters/Facebook

Pizzeria Gregario

400 2nd St N., Safety Harbor
Gregario's is among only a handful of pizzerias around the country using 100% stone milled grain, and the wood-fired pizza is made from all natural, organic ingredients, some farm-to-table. The bacon is sourced from local hogs, and the poultry and duck is local and pastured. With a long community table, the restaurant encourages intermingling. The food is free of chemical inputs, and the place takes its carbon footprint seriously, which is what I call respectable. Gregario's is open Wednesday-Friday.
Photo via Pizzeria Gregario/Instagram

Hacienda Corralejo Mexican Kitchen

1238 Cleveland St., Clearwater
The Hacienda Corralejo Mexican Kitchen makes homemade Mexican dishes including quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, salads and sopas as well as mammoth plates of chicken and beef with beans and rice. For dessert, enjoy fried ice cream or classic rocks margaritas and tequila.
Photo via Hacienda Corralejo Mexican Kitchen/Facebook

Hungry Crab

8841 Park Blvd., Seminole
Located in Largo Mall, the Hungry Crab Juicy Seafood and Bar serves fresh snow crabs with corn, potatoes and eggs, fried baskets and lots of sides. A shark mannequin floats in the restaurant, crabs hang and a Captain Jack Sparrow figure greets you.
Photo via Hungry Crab Juicy Seafood and Bar/Facebook

Isabelle’s

2937 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport
Isabelle’s is tucked inside the Historic Peninsula Inn and enveloped by a lush landscape of tropical plants. The restaurant serves a seasonal Southern classic menu in a dining room or in the 1910s-era bar. The current menu features shrimp and grits and short ribs.
Photo via Isabelle’s/Google

Maryland Fried Chicken

315 N Alexander St., Plant City
The founder of Maryland Fried Chicken, Albert Constantine, made his chicken with a pressure-fryer, 21 herbs and spices and peanut oil. The results, he said, weren’t greasy and were the best in the world. Maryland Fried Chicken still serves chicken dinners along with some seafood.
Photo via Maryland Fried Chicken/Google

Norma’s Plant City Cuban Sandwich Shop

120 N Collins St., Plant City
Although the Plant City Norma’s Cuban Sandwich shop has different owners than the original Ybor location, it has the same beloved Cuban, garbanzo bean soup and black bean recipes. It also has classic sandwiches like turkey and cheese, roast beef and Philly cheesesteak. Breakfast also includes Cuban coffee and muffins.
Photo via Norma’s Plant City Cuban Sandwich Shop/Google

Parkesdale Farm Market

3702 W Baker St., Plant City
Parkesdale Farm Market, also known as “The Garden of Eatin’" is the largest strawberry and citrus market in Florida, with three greenhouses. The market sells locally-grown strawberries as they come and as award winning shortcakes and milkshakes. The market has been selling produce, local honey, marmalades, preserves and candies for over 30 years. It began when the founder emigrated from Northern Ireland, to Pennsylvania, to Plant City. The park is closed for the summer season until Asug. 18, when it will reopen.
Photo via Parkesdale Farm Market/Facebook

Patti’s Kitchen

6527 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park
Slurp down some Thai street noodle soup at Patti’s Kitchen in Pinellas Park. Keaw Nam, made with homemade pork wonton, Tew Ped Toon, served with steamed duck, herbal duck soup and Chinese broccoli, and pad thai, are all made there.
pattiskitchen/Instagram

Pia’s Trattoria

3054 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport
Pia’s Trattoria prides itself in serving simple and original food, without the glitz just as the name trattoria, meaning “eating house,” means. Circled by trees and dangling lights, the restaurant’s environment is elegant, while modest. There, the waiters may welcome you with a “ciao bella” and encourage slow dining, with espresso after dinner. The Tuscan-themed eatery serves lunch and dinner, with the same prices, including penne quattro formaggi al forno, shrimp scampi and lasagna. Gluten free pasta is available.
Photo via Savory Restaurant/Facebook

Red Star Live Bar & Grill

9841 E Adamo Dr., Tampa
Red Star Live is the definition of a suburban bar: located at Harley Davidson and lively. Enjoy a burger with a drink, along with some live music—the place recently had a residency featuring Tampa Bay blues giant Damon Fowler—and on some days, car and motorcycle shows.
Photo via Red Star Live/Facebook

Savory Restaurant

12881 Walsingham Rd., Largo
Since 1974, the Savory Restaurant's Lagoudakis family has been working in the restaurant industry; their restaurant opened in 2006, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner along with classics like biscuits and gravy, a reuben and porkchops.
Photo via Savory Restaurant/Facebook

Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen

1721 W Brandon Blvd., Brandon
Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen cooks up some authentic dishes and New Orleans funk. The restaurant has three locations in Florida, and it serves classics like jambalaya with crawfish pie and chicken file gumbo, shrimp Creole and slow-cooked red beans and rice. The muffuletta is made just like the original from Central Grocery in New Orleans.
Photo via Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen/Facebook

Smokin’ J’s Real Texas BBQ

5145 Gulfport Blvd S, Gulfport
The Smokin’ J’s Real Texas BBQ owner really did cook bbq in Texas, in Dallas cooking competitions to be exact. The joint has indoor and outdoor seating, with momma’s country decorations. From family side recipes to tender and juicy baby back ribs, Smokin’ J’s Real Texas BBQ will definitely leave you with a messy face.
Photo via Smokin’ J’s Real Texas BBQ/Facebook

Kooky Coconut

160 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach
The little bamboo-covered cafe Kooky Coconut is a few steps from the beach, and according to its site, bites of beach-friendly eats. The menu features lots of handheld items like Cuban sandwiches, burritos, tacos and quesadillas. Kooky Coconut serves ice cream from local creameries, and it is home to the only Indian Rocks Beach shell shop.
Photo via Kooky Coconut/Google