26 classic Tampa Bay restaurants that've been around for more than 35 years

Columbia

2025 E 7th Ave., Ybor City
As for Tampa’s oldest restaurant, the Columbia Restaurant is by far the winner. It was actually the first air-conditioned dining room in the city, and it's the oldest restaurant in Florida. The restaurant originally opened in Ybor City as a 60-seat corner cafe with Cuban coffee and sandwiches. Local cigar workers were the first regulars, until their homes gave way to blight in the ‘60s. Even then as Ybor City dwindled, the third-generation owner, Cesar Gonzmart, opened the Siboney Room, a large showroom, in 1956 for performers. At the Ybor City location, Spanish flamenco dancers still perform every night except Sunday. And to this day, the 115-year-old restaurant is run by the same family.
Photo via Columbia/Website

Alessi Bakery

2909 W Cypress St., Tampa
At the Alessi Bakery, 109-year-old deli goods, cakes and pastries are on the market. The founder Nicolo Alessi migrated from Italy to Tampa and began the bakery with his family’s recipes. Back when Tampa was all fields and wide open, he delivered Italian and Cuban bread to customers on horse and wagon. Today, the bakery is at the same location and has expanded to Northwest Tampa with a manufacturing facility. The cake designer, Melissa Maggiore, has whipped up and iced cakes at Alessi since 2000.
Photo via Alessi Bakery/Facebook

Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber

447 Mandalay Ave., Clearwater Beach
Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber opened in 1948, and in 1959 the restaurant was rebuilt after a fire. Back in 1962, "Adventures in Good Eating" said you could find “back-to-the-farm” fried chicken dinners, seafood and NY cut sirloin steaks for up to $3. Now, the decor is still old with Brutalist trim and barrel chairs, and it still serves the fried chicken meals. Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber is also known for its relish tray with cottage cheese and fresh chives, apple butter, beet relish and corn relish.
Photo via Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber/Facebook

Bern’s Steak House

1208 S Howard Ave., Tampa
At Bern’s Steak House, the meals are indeed an experience. Almost like a theme park, the 65-year-old restaurant offers tours with no videos permitted. Gold-trimmed frames adorn the brick walls, chandeliers dangle from the ceiling and an impressive collection of half a million bottles and 6,500 labels line the wine cellars. What started as a small luncheonette serving orange juice and cold sandwiches expanded with hot breakfasts and homemade doughnuts. Eventually Bern’s was founded in 1956, Haven was opened, seven dining rooms and a dessert room were added all while Bern’s grew to be internationally recognized. The restaurant serves premium aged steaks and vegetables grown on Bern's farm.
Photo via Bern’s Steak House/Google

Carmine’s

1802 E. 7th Ave., Ybor City
Carmine’s began as a Italian and pizza stop in 1945 at Highland Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. For 16 years, Carmine Iavarone’s grandparents served the city its first pizza slices. Then, in 1961, Iavarone bought the Seaborg Cafeteria in Ybor and sold 99-cent breakfasts to cigar and box factory workers. At the time though, Columbia was the only restaurant that served dinner in Ybor. Carmine sought to change that. Finally, he opened Carmine’s Restaurant and Bar at the corner of the main strip and 19th Street. Eight years later, the restaurant moved to its current location. Carmine told the Tampa Magazine that the restaurant initiated Ybor nightlife. Carmine’s is known for its deviled crabs and pressed Cuban sandwiches.
Photo via Carmine’s/Google Gallery

The Cuban Sandwich Shop

10434 N Florida Ave., Tampa
In 1975, the Cuban Sandwich Shop began as a small shop with Cuban and deli style sandwiches. Now, the restaurant serves every meal from cafe con leche, to pork sandwiches, to picadillo to yellow rice and baked chicken. As Tampa is the epicenter of Cuban sandwiches, and some would say the birthplace, The Cuban Sandwich Shops is one of the sandwich experts.
Photo via The Cuban Sandwich Shop/Facebook

Donatello

232 N Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa
Established in 1984, Donatello serves Italian, mostly in the northern style, with some traditional dishes from Naples and the Amalfi coast. Every year, the restaurant serves charity meals to around 1,000 people. Even though the owner originated in Italy, he still served Thanksgiving classics like turkey and cranberries. On normal days, the restaurant staples include calamari Amalfitama, capelli al pomodoro and medallion Napoletana. Plus, all of its pastas are homemade.
Photo via Donatello/Facebook

El Cap

3500 4th St N, St. Petersburg
El Cap has cooked up burgers and hot dogs for 57 years. It's the kind of family-run dig that serves cheap, good food. El Caps’ menu has remained unchanged since it opened in 1964, and it features sandwiches all below $7. If its neon sign doesn’t draw you in, then I’m sure the burgers will.
Photo via El Cap/Facebook

Frenchy’s Original Cafe

41 Baymont St., Clearwater Beach
Like many other long-time restaurant founders, Michael Preston knew he wanted to own a restaurant. In 1981, he opened Frenchy’s Original Cafe. As for the title, the restaurant is still named after him. Michael was born in Quebec, a French province of Canada, and he and his family spoke French. So, his friends nicknamed him Frenchie. To ensure a supply of fresh fish, Frenchy purchased fishing boats and eventually opened Frenchy’s Seafood Company. He also opened four other restaurants and a hotel. The original cafe is famous for its grouper sandwich.
Photo via Frenchy’s Original Cafe/Facebook

Hellas Restaurant & Bakery

785 Dodecanese Blvd, Tarpon Springs
Sponges, homemade soaps, fishing and beaches are among the hallmarks of Tarpon Springs. Hellas Restaurant & Bakery is another huge one. The Greek restaurant opened in 1970 right in the heart of the Greek community. The traditional Greek salad is a meal in itself for up to four people and topped with lettuce, feta cheese, Greek olives, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Greek peppers, oregano and the family’s homemade potato salad. The gyros, spanakopita, dolmades and lamb shank withspaghetti are all restaurant favorites. Don’t forget to enjoy Greek pastries from the on-site Hellas bakery as well; the Baklava is terrific.
Photo via Hellas Restaurant & Bakery/Facebook

Mel’s Hot Dogs

4136 E Busch Blvd., Tampa
Back in the early-‘70s, Chicago native Mel Lohn and his rock band were touring Florida. When they drove through Tampa in their old school bus, all he wanted was a hot dog, but there wasn’t a single spot. So, in 1973, Mel opened his own joint and sold the Chicago-style dogs he grew up on. Since then, the family-run business has continued to sell the hot dogs for under $8 alongside burgers and chili cheese fries.
Photo via Google Maps

La Segunda

Two locations
The La Segunda Bakery is 106 years and four generations old. It began as one man’s dream from the Catalan region of Spain. In 1915, he brought a traditional Cuban recipe to the Cuban epicenter Ybor City. Today, the bakery—it's flagship is at 2512 N 15th St. in Ybor City—produces 18,000 loaves of Cuban bread every day and ships it to markets and restaurants around the country. The bakery also has a lot of sweets.
Photo via La Segunda/Facebook

La Teresita

3248 W Columbus Dr., Tampa
Before The Capdevila Family opened La Teresita, the two older boys sold hot Cuban corn tamales on their bikes in Tampa. The family migrated from Cuba during Fidel Castro’s rule and carried their family recipes with them. Finally, in 1972, they started the La Teresita grocery store. For years, the family worked from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. until the business boomed, and they relocated to the current space. In 1985, they sold the grocery store, but the restaurant is still a Tampa hallmark. La Teresita is known for its ropa vieja and breaded steak.
Photo via La Teresita/Facebook

Lunch on Limoges

14139 7th St., Dade City
Lunch on Limoges may just be a hidden gem because it is tucked inside the Williams Fashion Center in Dade City. The retro lunch spot opened in 1979. It’s got checkered floors and desserts lined across the counter. The desserts are no joke either; a waiter brings by mini-muffins with fruit-infused butter as an appetizer. Some favorites include the pecan chicken, grouper coated in crunchy corn flakes and a chicken salad croissant.
Photo via Lunch on Limoges/Facebook

Malio’s Prime Steakhouse

400 N Ashley Dr., Tampa
Malio Iavarone, I’m sure by now that name is very familiar, opened Malio’s Steakhouse in 1969. His immigrant parents had their own restaurant since 1945, and he carried on the tradition. Malio’s Prime Steakhouse serves USDA Prime Beef, fresh seafood like coldwater lobster tails, accompanied by a selection of over 200 wines.
Photo via Malio’s Prime Steakhouse/Facebook

Mise en Place

442 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
As the name indicates, Mise en Place is a restaurant rooted in French cuisine. In 1986, Maryann Ferenc and chef Marty Blitz opened Mise en Place, and since then, the restaurant has evolved from all California wines to hundreds of bottles from across the globe, and the menu changes monthly or even weekly. Staples include cavatelli, berbere-crusted scallops and venison.
Photo via Mise en Place/Facebook

Mr. Dunderbak's

14929 Bruce B Downs Blvd., Tampa
Mr. Dunderbak opened in 1974 in Tampa’s University Mall. After a generation or two, the 48-year-old Mr. Dunderbak has become a bit Americanized, but it's Schwabisch heritage is still stark. Every morning, the restaurant makes potato pancakes, and it's got over 50 beers on draft. Other German meals include imported German pretzels, currywurst and baked leberkase. Friday and Saturday nights the restaurant also hosts live Polka music.
Photo via Mr. Dunderbak/Google

Munch’s Sundries & Restaurant

3920 6th St., St. Petersburg
Munch’s Sundries & Restaurant was founded in 1952, and according to the website is home of the biggest breakfast in town. Back then though, Dean and Clariece started it as a store and post office, and they sold sandwiches out of their car to construction workers while Lewis Island was built. Once they added hamburgers and hot dogs to the menu, they also added Munch’s to the name. The place is still famous for its fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and Munchburgers—even Guy Fieri tasted them on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."
Photo via Munch’s Sundries & Restaurant/Website

Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B-Q

4103 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
Before opening Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B-Q in 1970, Harold Lehman worked at an ice cream parlor because knew he wanted to own his own restaurant. Back then, pork sandwiches were 45 cents, and now they are $5.75. Still, not bad for a packed-high sandwich.
Photo via Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B-Q/Facebook

Goody Goody

1601 W Swann Ave., Tampa
Goody Goody, home to Tampa’s famous hamburgers, originally opened in 1925. The booth and counter style restaurant closed in 2005, but it reopened in 2015 at South Tampa's Hyde Park Village—2 miles away from its original location on Florida Avenue in downtown Tampa. Known for its burgers (P.O.X.-style, please), sauce and homemade ketchup, Southern Living Magazine also named Goody Goody the “Best Breakfast in Florida.”
Photo via Goody Goody/Facebook