The hottest table in town isn’t always a table. In dining, as in travel, the trend has turned squarely to the significance of the overall experience, as people crave stories and connectivity along with their next great meal. And perhaps no place has turned dining out into more of a communal experience of late than the humble restaurant bar.
Tampa Bay’s restaurant scene is right on trend when serving world-class meals in bar locales that invite guests to settle in, get comfortable and come along for a culinary joy ride.
“The whole idea of dining at the counter is you become part of the community the moment you sit down,” says Jeannie Pierola, chef and owner of South Tampa restaurants edison: food+drink lab, swigamajig and Counter Culture. At the latter, the angled bar lets diners enjoy iconic views of Bay to Bay and Bayshore Boulevard while sparking interactions.
“People sit at the counter at Counter Culture, watch the process and enjoy being engaged by our staff,” Pierola says.
Nick Reader, owner of Michelin-starred Rocca, among other Tampa hotspots, says sitting at the bar for a meal “is like getting dinner and a show”— particularly when there’s an open kitchen.
That’s the case at Reader’s latest South Tampa opening, Streetlight Taco, where you can sip from a dizzying selection of mezcals while watching chefs prepare masa for the handmade tortillas made from Mexican heirloom corn.
“There’s a certain element of breaking bread when you sit for a meal at a bar,” Reader says. That applies whether you’ve arrived early to nab a first-come, first-served bar seat at Rocca to indulge in the wagyu or are opting for something more casual elsewhere around town.
“I think people have traveled and seen this concept, and now we have it here, too,” says Reader about the boom of the bar dining concept.
Streetlight Taco
“Give me a passion fruit margarita and carnitas tacos and I’m good,” says chef-partner Michael Brannock about his ideal bar meal at this South Tampa taqueria with its own wood and charcoal-fired grill that the Michelin Guide just awarded a Bib Gourmand. Come to bask in the heady scents of pork simmering in copper kettles and a dizzying collection of mezcals that’s surely among the largest in Florida.
On Swann
A Hyde Park Village staple since opening in 2016, On Swann has a perpetually buzzing bar that lures crowds for weekend brunches in addition to the usual daily lunch and dinner rush. Whether going light with a quick glass of rosé and the cult-favorite kale salad with black quinoa pre-cinema or settling in for a night of cocktails and steak frites, the bar’s approachability and elegance are undeniable.
Boulon Brasserie and Bakery
Montreal-based interior designer Zébulon Perron says he “doubled down on a long and prominent bar” as the centerpiece of Water Street’s defacto brasserie, Boulon, where 50 bar seats welcome takers. “We wanted to push the theatrical aspect of the project so people could feel the brasserie energy,” he says. There’s plenty of theater to partake in when you nab a stool at the extra-long bar to enjoy platters of oysters and bowls of Prince Edward Island moules frites among the cocktail clinking.
Allelo
St. Pete’s prettiest bar backdrop is a mural painted by Tampa artist Annette Gloomis that depicts some of Florida’s incredible birdlife, both living and long-extinct. It’s just one reason to bookmark a bar meal at Allelo, in a romantic setting off Beach Drive where Mediterranean and Aegean-inflected dishes like mezze and grilled octopus star.
Taverna Costale
Right along Central Avenue in St. Pete, Taverna Costale’s 25 bar seats are particularly in demand at happy hour, when shareable delights like the tuna wontons and steamed mussels with ‘nduja broth beckon at discounted prices. Don’t miss a bowl of the house favorite cioppino, with seasonal seafood and a sinfully good lobster tomato broth.
Counter Culture
Chef Pierola’s happy hour menu changes every month depending on the seasonality and current inspiration of her kitchen. You can even tuck into a five-course tasting menu at Counter Culture’s 18-seat bar. “It strikes a perfect balance between an elevated dining experience and a cozy neighborhood hidden gem,” says South Tampa resident, Lauren Katz.
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