Wondering where the Tampa Bay Times Food Hub has eaten lately? A Cantonese-style Chinese restaurant in Tampa, a fun St. Petersburg spot serving a little something for everyone and two wine bars with solid bites on both sides of the bay, to name a few.
Readers of Do & Dine, our things to do and dining newsletter that drops every Thursday, learn about the team’s food-scapades first. Sign up to get it so you don’t miss out.
Here’s the rundown on six of our recent stops.
Cacciatore & Sons
April 30 newsletter
All I write about are sandwiches, I know. But when’s the last time you went to Cacciatore & Sons?! The West Tampa Italian market is as lovely as ever, still turning out tasty eats from its deli, including, yes, sandwiches.
We were on our way to a Saturday matinee (to see the new Anne Hathaway-Michaela Coel psychological drama-thriller) and wanted a quick bite. I ordered a Caprese. My partner got an Italian plus some devil crab for us to dab with hot sauce and share. The woman helping us behind the counter said she was all out of the bread that the Caprese usually comes on, so I opted for Cuban bread. Never a bad choice. It worked well as the crusty vessel for thick slices of mozzarella and tomato, fresh, vibrantly green basil leaves and a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I loved chowing down on this classic combo in the little seating area in the middle of the store while people-watching and scanning the market’s displays of Italian goodies. The whole place just epitomizes that old-school feel of a neighborhood institution.
Pair the Caprese with an order of the meaty devil crab and a can of A’Siciliana blood orange soda and thank me later. — Meaghan Habuda, assistant food and dining editor
3614 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa. cacciatoreandsons.com
La Setima and Pistil House
May 7 newsletter
I’m gearing up for Florida’s sweatiest season, and leaning into a couple of food groups as a result: crunchy, cool produce and things I can eat with my hands. Poolside fare, you know? One of those things, I have decided, is going to be boiled peanuts.
The revelation began a few weeks ago at La Setima, the natural wine bar in Ybor City that also serves up a super solid menu of vegan bites. One of those recent bites was a bowl of boiled peanuts in a broth so rich the bartender served it with a spoon. Popping open the pods and slurping up the slightly spicy broth in between sips of a crisp glass of rose was a transcendent dining experience: messy, indulgent and super delicious.
More recently, I was at Pistil House in St. Petersburg when I realized I had never tried the boiled peanuts, a staple of the New Orleans-tinged food menu at the wine bar/flower shop. This version was just as fun to eat: Topped with pea shoots that lent a rather dainty vibe to the dish, the peanuts were soft and warm, almost creamy inside. A plunge into the vibrant broth made each pop more mouthwatering than the next. — Michelle Stark, food and dining editor
La Setima: 815 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa. lasetimaclub.com; Pistil House: 2533 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg. pistilhouse.com
Ju Fu House
May 14 newsletter
For my first time at Ju Fu House on East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa, which serves up Cantonese-style Chinese food, I tried to go for a few dishes conducive to a solo diner. That can prove tricky in a place where a lazy Susan sits in the center of every table and jars of hot chili oil await, ready to be used liberally.
Cantonese food is made for sharing, with big portions and bold flavors. At Ju Fu you can order egg drop soup, sesame chicken and beef with broccoli from the Americanized laminated adjunct menu, which might all be fine, but I suggest sticking to the “authentic Chinese menu” (Ju Fu’s words, not mine). Crispy fried pork intestines, crispy skin roasted chicken and lamb stew with radish in a clay pot are some items you’ll find as you peruse the thick plastic pages on which Chinese characters take top billing.
I started with the smashed garlic cucumber salad ($7.95). It came mounded atop a light, salty, sweet soy-based sauce, cold, and was served with a side of steamed white rice (definitely get the rice). The crunchy soft chunks of dressed cucumbers weren’t quite pickles, but not quite cucumbers. The rice soaked up the brown sauce as I layered more cucumbers on top of the small bowl, depleting the rice as I worked my way down, adding hot chili oil to give it a kick when my mouth became too cool. Texturally, it was a perfect combination.
Next, I ordered the noodle soup with shredded pork and pickled greens ($12). It came out lava hot in a giant bowl stuffed with what looked and tasted like blanched mustard greens and their spicy pickled stems. The wheat noodles were good, but I think the thin rice noodle option would have been a better complement to the slightly milky broth. The broth was light but sturdy and kind of sweet, and the spicy pickled veggies added crunch and zip, the soft wheat noodles sopping it all up.
I highly recommend adding a light beer, and they have a few to choose from. Did I mention that Ju Fu House has dim sum service, too? Patience is a virtue, if not mandatory, when you are eating alone or with a companion in a spot that typically serves eight to 12 people per table at peak hours. — Evan Rodriguez, food and dining reporter
1441 E. Fletcher Ave., No. 125, Tampa. jufuhousefl.com
Noble Tavern
May 21 newsletter
This week, I reviewed Noble Tavern, the new St. Petersburg spot from the team behind the wildly popular Noble Crust empire.
It took me more than a few visits to wrap my mind around what, exactly, was going on here. Was it a bar? A restaurant? A sports hangout or a date-night spot? And what was going on with the menu?
The seemingly random collection of dishes spanned a wide-reaching list of cuisines and included everything from sushi rolls to Korean fried chicken sandwiches, Chicken Milanese, burgers and empanadas. It was, at first glance, a real head-scratcher.
But the more time I spent at the restaurant, and the more meals I consumed, I realized that, while perhaps not the most logical or fine-tuned approach, something was clicking. The place was perpetually packed, most of the dishes and drinks felt reasonably priced and, though not everything on the menu worked, a lot of it did.
My favorite plate has to be the kale salad, the kind of salad you order when you say you want to be good (but really, you want to be bad). Swathed in a creamy Parmesan dressing, the dish is zingy with dried cherries and crunchy with walnuts. The best part? It’s chock-full of crispy, fatty hunks of pork belly, which are swapped in for the usual croutons.
And if you are, like myself, at all into frozen cocktails, the bar has a pretty stellar lineup, including the Bourbon + Berries that tasted like a boozy piece of blackberry pie — just in time for summer.
Read my full review. — Helen Freund, senior food and dining critic
1650 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. nobletavern.com
Tropicana Field
May 28 newsletter
There’s a whole lot of season left for the Rays to play. And good thing, too, because we have food recommendations for your next visit to St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field.
The Food Hub took to the Trop and tried some items on the menu this season. We weren’t big on the wacky, wild milkshakes (love that you can make them boozy, though) or the Flamin’ Hot Corn Dog (breading overload). But we did dig a lot of what we tasted, including the Pig + Potato, a giant potato loaded with slow-roasted pork and beer cheese, and the totally great Cuban sandwich crafted Tampa-style.
Here are eight bites to consider ordering the next time you go.
Our trip to the Trop also got us thinking: What local eats and drinks should the stadium serve?
Peep the Tampa Bay fare on our concessions wish list. — Meaghan Habuda, assistant food and dining editor
1 Tropicana Drive, St. Petersburg. mlb.com/rays/ballpark
86 Wine Bar
June 4 newsletter
Today I am using this section to pay tribute to a small menu. There is really nothing I am more intrigued by at a restaurant than when I sit down and the menu has less than 10 items on it.
It usually (not always) conveys a confidence in what they’re dishing up: With the focus on an app or two, a handful of entrees and a dessert, there’s more room to get each dish just right. That’s one of the things I love about 86 Wine Bar, the vibey spot off St. Petersburg’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. Open for about a year, it’s a cozy place to pop into for a glass of wine or a full meal.
The best part? The menu is small enough that, if you go with a couple of other people, you can usually try most of it. And it changes monthly, so it’s not likely you’ll have the same meal twice. That’s a con for some people, but for me — an indecisive diner who can’t handle too many options — it’s a thing of beauty.
The menu just reset for June, but on a recent visit in May I loved the Savoy Caesar, which featured savoy slathered in a creamy dressing and topped generously with parmesan, orange slices, orange beets and fresh dill. A beautiful dish that tasted even better than it looked. Also strong were the Patatas Bravas and the Cochinita Pibil Baby Back Ribs, both full of flavor and rather hearty. We finished things off with a dessert of blueberry hand pies, warm little pockets of summer heaven. — Michelle Stark, food and dining editor
2930 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., Unit B, St. Petersburg. instagram.com/86winebar
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The Tampa Bay Times Food Hub launched in 2026, a four-person team covering Tampa Bay’s dynamic and expanding food scene. You can contribute to the hub through our journalism fund by clicking here.
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