New Restaurants in St. Pete-Clearwater

Forks up, people! The food at Azura Coastal Kitchen & Bar is so beautifully plated, you’ll want to take a photo of every dish, before everyone digs in and smears those lovely squiggles of sauce.

Located inside The Hotel Zamora, the former Castile restaurant has been newly imagined: The menu is Mediterranean-inspired with an emphasis on fresh seafood, with an upscale-but-casual feel. As befits a hotel restaurant, Azura is open for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.

Some dishes are quickly rising as fan favorites, including the Shrimp Al Ajillo, Chilean sea bass, and lamb kabob. The extensive cocktail menu features seasonal favorites like the Watermelon Mojito (mocktail) and the Ruby Red Fizz (cocktail). Tip: You can even grab a to-go item from Azura Coastal Kitchen and head upstairs to the rooftop to enjoy your meal. Because everything is tastier with views of the Gulf and the Intracoastal Waterway.

A sparkly waterfront park + an intriguing museum + a lovely meal-with-a-view—sounds like a perfect day in St. Petersburg. Located at the entrance of super-popular St. Pete Pier District, adjacent to the St. Petersburg Museum of History, Perry’s Porch offers a menu of fresh coastal cuisine with a touch of “Old Florida.” The airy, inviting eatery was named for Commodore Perry Snell, a local developer known for embracing timeless design and community gathering spaces. He’d be right at home here.

Perry’s Porch offers indoor and outdoor seating with views of skyline and waterfront, and a pleasing array of eats all day long. The restaurant serves coffee and pastries in the morning, and then lunch, dinner, and cocktails. Cheers for the gelato cart! Already, the charred octopus starter is winning rave reviews (it's the aji amarillo romesco!) and guests say the baked oysters with smoked pancetta and grana padano cheese are the best they’ve ever had. A shout out to the burrata salad with melon and beets, too.

A James Beard Award nominee, Chef Chris Ponte is known for adding pizazz to pappardelle, creativity to cavatelli (you get the idea) at Olivia, across the bay in Tampa. Now, Olivia has a baby sister in St. Pete, a traditional trattoria with a twist, if you will. Savor an enticing array of fresh pastas, pizzas and craft cocktails, set in a sleek dining room punctuated by elegant columns. A fun feature here: Diners can watch Olivia’s bakers in action, thanks to windows in the dining room that reveal the dough room. 

“The invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, and we believe our paths were meant to cross,” read the invitation to Red Thread’s recent opening. Intriguing, no? This mystical, magical spot in downtown St. Pete celebrates the flavors of the 4,000-mile-long Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking China, India, Persia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Open for dinner and late-night dining (with lunch and weekend brunch coming soon), this colorful jewel box of a restaurant is helmed by Chef Zachary Sylvester, a master of sharable small plates with oversized flavors. You’ll encounter a well-curated mix of dishes like North African chicken pie in phyllo pastry with dates, almonds, and sumac; and kafta en croute with mince, pomegranate, pine nuts, and tahini labne. Specials will feature the chef’s seasonal finds. As for libations, expect classic cocktails made with unexpected ingredients.

Experience the fun parts of camping, minus the tiresome parts (bugs, rain, Walmart parking lots), at Glamper, a retro camping-inspired restaurant/bar on Central Ave. in St. Pete.

The folks behind party-hearty joints Good Night John Boy (70s theme), Welcome to the Farm (country bar) and My Rich Uncle (martini bar) promise a good time, with a "backyard Fourth of July party" vibe.

Besides canned beers in the cooler, count on elevated options like the S’mores Old Fashioned (topped with a torched ‘mallow.) Of course, there are hotdogs and burgers, but here, their signature "Hawt Dog" is a triumph of caramelized onions, scallions, crispy potato sticks, and cheese sauce, while their "Smashburger" features grass-fed beef.

And did we mention Glamper has the city’s largest covered outdoor space? After hours, the indoor space morphs into a lively nightspot with DJs spinning tunes from Thursday through Sunday.

Enjoy sparkly views of downtown St. Pete from Sparrow, on the 7th floor rooftop of the Moxy St. Pete hotel. Unwind under the stars or settle into Sparrow’s sleek interior in a comfy teal banquette or colorful barrel chair with a cocktail – say, Dali’s Surrealist Dreams, a swirl of green tea vodka with passionfruit, Lillet Blanc, and a twist of lime. Sparrow’s Asian-inspired menu showcases seasonal ingredients. Highlights might include bao buns with mushroom, pork, and duck; Korean fried chicken tenders; Thai seared snapper; and a yellowtail ceviche tostada, along with a selection of sushi rolls (named for local spots like Edge District Dragon and Central Ave.) Upping the Cool Quotient: DJs and a happy hour. 

Named for an Aesop fable, this Beach Drive newcomer to St. Pete offers an upscale dining experience featuring New American coastal cuisine. Here, it’s crispy pork belly with pickled red onion and carrot, drizzled with chipotle honey; ahi tuna tartare with avocado crema, short grain rice and shiso and other seafood-forward preparations, plus dry-aged beef and grilled Bulgogi-marinated bavette. Pasta and pastries are made in-house; guests rave about the shellfish bucatini; and Monica’s cornbread, enhanced with fontina, jalapenos and hot honey butter is every bit as good as it sounds. Open for lunch, dinner and brunch, the best seats in the house are outdoors under the red-and-white umbrellas.

Yearning for a cocktail inspired by Mexico’s mole verde, served with toasted pepitas? A drink that recalls a childhood favorite, the Tootsie Roll, and served with a house-made version of same? Saunter over to Pluma Lounge before or after your meal to enjoy the Green Ember and Dip Baby Dip, respectively. Those are among the clever and surprising tastes you’ll encounter at Pluma, the lounge next door to Juno & the Peacock. The tastes of Mexico, Brazil, and Peru are reflected in the libations and cocktail bites at this luxe boîte. Swathed in deep tones of velvet and leather, it’s a chic backdrop for a date night or friends' evening out. 

Reward yourself with a visit to this delightful Latin-Peruvian-inspired restaurant, conceived by the owners of local favorite Brick & Mortar. Of course, there’s pulpo (octopus, in Spanish) on the menu, for example, Pulpo a la Gallega, a triumph of seared cephalopod with fried potatoes and pickled Fresno chiles.

In the kitchen, Chef Jason Ruhe ably executes an array of appetizers and small plates, plus a couple of heartier entrees – such as branzino with pistachio butter or paella with duck confit and roasted mushrooms. (There’s always a paella on the menu.)

Snag a coveted table at the circular bar, or settle in on the patio, home to an outdoor stage with live music. This is a great fit for St. Pete’s hipper-by-the-minute Grand Central District. Open for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.

Settle in for dinner at the upscale Malio’s Beach House on Gulf Boulevard, and Derek or Jen Iavarone might stop by your table to say hello – they’re the husband-and-wife owners of this sleek new spot, an outpost of Malio’s Prime Steakhouse in Tampa. Manager Dina Kuchkuda may also do the honors.

It’s all about gracious service and attention to detail here – and, of course, memorable meals. Count on perfectly-cooked steaks with Malio’s signature bearnaise sauce, along with prime rib and filet tips. Selections on the seafood side get plenty of love, too, including tuna tartare, escargot, jumbo shrimp, crab pasta and wild-caught Scottish salmon. Few guests can resist the allure of the charcuterie and cheese board as a starter.

When you put your dad’s name on a place (Malio is the name of Derek’s father), the stakes are high, and they nail it at Malio’s Beach House.

It takes some chutzpah to write “It’s Good” in giant letters on your restaurant window but hey, Steven Peterman knows what he’s doing. The creative mind behind Pete’s Bagels has opened this Jewish-inspired eatery and coffee shop in the historic Snell Arcade on St. Pete's Central Avenue.

Nearly everything is made from scratch, including baked goods, bagels, jams, dressings, cream cheeses, and a matzo ball soup that rivals bubbe’s. Bagel sandwiches are a big draw here; few can resist the Lox Toast, an open-faced bagel with silky lox, fresh avocado and locally-sourced microgreens. Seymour's also make savory scones, biscuits, quiches, breakfast bowls and sweet baked goods, available to grab-and-go or enjoy onsite in classic diner digs. As for beverages, how about an espresso from partner Look Alive Coffee, a local roaster? 

Tucked away in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District, this little eatery is getting major love from, well, everyone who shows up. Open for brunch (on weekends only), Eat Art Love is helmed by Chef Mario Brugnoli (of Michelin-starred Rocca) and he’s gone brunch-tastic here, taking, say, a humble poached egg and giving it star appeal. Guests love the fluffy, cake-like pancakes, duck confit on feta grits and the EAL Classic, a happy mishmash of scrambled eggs, kielbasa, hashbrowns, sauteed onions and hot sauce that is anything but basic. The menu is short and sweet and elicits comments like “I could eat this every day.” If only.

Some folks say “Rabbit Rabbit!” on the first day of each month to promote good luck. A restaurant of the same name has opened in the former Squeeze Juice Works space in the Grand Central District in St. Pete. This will be a lucky find indeed if you love plant-based cuisine and mocktails that taste like cocktails (loaded with taste, not booze.)

By day, Rabbit Rabbit is a café devoted to healthy cuisine – think smoothie bowls filled with adaptogens (plants and mushrooms that promote well-being), tasty vegan salads, even a fun take on the humble peanut butter-banana sandwich. By night, it’s a swanky mocktail lounge – a high-end experience for the sober or sober-curious crowd. Coffees, teas, and nutrient-dense elixirs round out the beverage menu.

In some parts of India, a "tiffin" is a light meal or snack eaten between lunch and dinner. Foodies will want to make a bee line to sample the tiffin-esque bites at Mowgli’s, a new go-to in the EDGE District for Indian street food. (Mowgli, of course, is the adventurous lad in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.) Founder Amita Mukherjee’s goal at this new eatery is to bring the vibrant cuisine of Kolkata, India, to the sunny streets of St. Pete. Here, warm Indian spices meet fresh ingredients to create an inspired medley of tasty tiffins, including an aloo masala kati roll (flaky rolled flatbread stuffed with aloo masala and veggies), and succulent butter chicken served atop mixed greens and Basmati rice. And if there’s a better drink on a hot day than mango lassi, a creamy blend of sweet mango and tangy yogurt with mint and cardamom, we’ve not tasted it. 

You don’t have to be a surfer to dig this breakfast-and-lunch joint on Indian Rocks Beach. Start with a toasted coconut latte and pair it with a hash brown bowl made of all the best breakfast ingredients piled together—soft scrambled eggs, crispy potatoes, bacon or avocado, tomato, pickled red onion and sourdough toast. Yum. Even the Greek yogurt parfait bowl is an elevated version, pushed over the edge of deliciousness thanks to a dollop of jam and some toasted coconut. For lunch, the beet sandwich is a flavor bomb of roasted beets, greens and golden raisin puree with pistachios and goat cheese.

Welcome to your newest food obsession, French-Moroccan fusion, courtesy of Cybel. This newcomer to St. Pete’s Kenwood neighborhood got its start in the Foodie Labs culinary hub and, thanks to popular demand, Chef Taoufik Abdelmoula (aka Chef Touf) opened this space, serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. Drawing his inspiration from Morocco’s history as a French colony from 1912 to 1956, he transforms the simplest chicken dish with bold, authentic spices. Already, the restaurant has created major buzz for its French taco, a grilled flour tortilla filled with chicken, beef or lamb, layered with sauces and French fries. It’s as wildly craveable as it sounds and has quickly reached “must-eat” status in St. Pete-Clearwater.

If Chef Ronicca Whaley looks familiar, it may be because you’ve seen her on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games—she’s been on the show six times! What started as an Asian-fusion food truck business has expanded to a storefront in the EDGE District of St. Pete and (in the works) the Tyrone Gardens neighborhood. Local diners can’t get enough of Whaley’s melt-in-your-mouth gyoza (pan-fried dumplings), made with locally sourced, organic ingredients, along with her crave-worthy lobster tail Rangoon and a totally bangin’ version of bang-bang chicken.

This fun addition to downtown St. Pete’s Central Ave. is everything you love about the ’80s in food form. With music, playfulness and lots of neon, this lunch and dinner spot serves sandwiches, pierogis, salads and shareable bites named after the Golden Girls, Powerpuff Girls, Baby Spice, the Karate Kid and other ’80s icons. One favorite is The Spinelli, a gooey medley of fried mortadella, smoked gouda, house-made chips and hot honey, served on a brioche bun. (Grab extra napkins.) Cocktails and shots honor Yoda and Polly Pocket. You get the idea.

A flight from Tampa Bay to Tokyo takes 18+ hours and cost upwards of $800. That’s a big commitment. For a taste of Japan doesn’t require a passport, there’s Kitsune. Guests rave about this new Clearwater eatery, serving big, delicious sushi rolls that don’t require you to empty the piggy bank. (Prices top out at around $30 for a sushi/sashimi combo plate served with soup or salad.) And this is not a hole-in-the-wall takeout joint, but a stylish dining room with cool tile and sophisticated lighting. The kitchen shows flair with sushi (some rolls are named for Florida locales, like U.S. 19), ramen, hibachi, and teriyaki, plus an array of desserts. If you have a yen for sushi, this is one to try.  

This chef-owned spot is set within an unassuming neighborhood strip mall, but its fresh flavors are designed to transport you directly to India. Expect classic dishes like tandoori chicken and lamb curry, plus some unexpected items like rosemary cream cheese naan—a triumph of pillowy softness and creamy flavors. Savor garlicky naan and flaky samosas as well as chili gobi and chicken tikka masala with heat levels set to your preference. A choice of vegetarian and gluten-free options adds to the allure of this bright, welcoming spot, open for lunch and dinner.

Is one of Dunedin’s best restaurants hiding inside a golf club? (Shhh, let’s keep this to ourselves). Highland House at the Dunedin Golf Club is the club’s signature restaurant and bar, featuring a menu designed by – wait for it – Chef Rob Reinsmith, chef/co-owner of dining hotspot Wild Child in St. Pete.  The concept is New American, representing a fun mash-up of classic eats presented with a dash of Chef Rob’s whimsy – arancini tater tots, a Chicago "dog" with all the fixings, Nashville hot chicken sliders, and S’mores bread pudding. Special shout-out to the steak frites with chimichurri – the hand-cut fries with garlic aioli are worth a visit all on their own. Not a member of the golf club? No worries – the restaurant is open to the public. 

The crane is considered a symbol of good luck and longevity in many cultures. Those who fancy a rewarding upscale dining experience have lucked out with this one—a new steak and seafood place by restaurant impresario Sean Thongsiri, of Mangosteen, The Glass Noodle, and Green Pagoda. Located on Central Avenue, this eatery + cocktail bar is quickly attracting flocks (hehe) of fans with for lunch and dinner with an Asian spin. Committed carnivores will head directly to the list of Wagyu beef options (tip: order those delectable hand-made Wagyu dumplings as an appetizer for the table). On the "surf" side, there’s a raw bar plus unique choices like She-crab soup and a crispy lobster spring roll. Dishes like seared peppercorn tuna reveal the chef’s flair with saucing. The drink menu includes inspired choices like a lychee milk punch and Ube coladas.

Confession: They had us at "dog-friendly tiki bar" (it's cheekily named "BARk"). That’s just one of the three zones at this rollicking Gulfport hangout. The main attraction is a wildly-painted indoor tavern/dining room, featuring a menu of all-American pub favorites like crab cakes, lobster rolls, grouper BLTs, and smoked chicken and pork. Their delightfully crispy chicken wings are quickly reaching legendary status. The burgers are perfection. Or go big with a grouper plate or half-rack of ribs. For a beverage-with-a-view, head directly to their rooftop Crow’s Nest Bar overlooking Boca Ciega Bay. Of course, if you’re hanging with your furry sidekick, it’s Doggy Tiki Bar time (think “Cheers” for pet parents). Keep up with happy hours, live music schedule, and events galore on their social media feeds.

The gorgeous (and newly renovated) Vinoy Resort & Golf Club on the bayfront in St. Petersburg is eagerly anticipating opening a new dining hotspot – Elliott Aster, to open in late spring or early summer 2025. At the helm is Chef Lee Wolen, with a resume that includes Michelin-starred Boka, the Four Seasons Palm Beach, El Bulli (once considered the world’s best restaurant) and Eleven Madison Park in New York City. The low-key elegance of the dining room (there’s also a waterfront patio) is expected to be the perfect foil for a menu that includes 45-day, dry-aged prime bone-in ribeye and King crab tagliatelle. A cool element: an antipasti bar will feature Italian meats, marinated peppers, and worthy accompaniments like whipped ricotta. 

Remember the long-ago days when no one took out their cellphones at the table? Ah, good times! That’s the inspiration behind Sunshine City Tavern, a fun throwback to St. Pete-in-the-1990s dining concept.  Everyone is excited about this one, thanks to the person making the magic happen in the kitchen, Chef Ted Dorsey, whose CV includes training at Le Cordon Bleu, plus stints at several beloved Tampa Bay area restaurants. The menu at Sunshine City Tavern will highlight local seafood and smoked meats, including plenty of barbecue, plus a variety of dishes that will appeal to diners of all stripes. Menu prices offer a delightfully nostalgic bang for the buck, too. And if you’ve never tried alligator, consider making their delightfully crispy Florida Gator Bang-Bang with pineapple-jalapeño slaw your gateway gator.