The Tides Market in Safety Harbor Credit: The Tides Market/Facebook
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS
Taco Dirty’s Riverview location is now permanently closed
Popular South Tampa Mexican eatery Taco Dirty expanded to Riverview about a year ago, but abruptly closed this week. The Riverview outpost, located just off 301 at 10460 Stelling Drive, was the fast-casual concept’s second location from parent company Ciccio Restaurant Group (CRG). Jason Brunetti, CRG’s director of operations, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal‘s Madalyn Blair that despite investing over $1 million into the Riverview location, it was never profitable and lost “up to $20,000 a month.” —Colin Wolf
Tampa’s La La’s Sangria Bar closes in Channelside District
After a little more than six years, La La’s Sangria Bar abruptly closed its doors last weekend. The Channelside District watering hole took to social media on Sunday, Sept. 13, to announce that both La La’s Sangria Bar and the La La’s Sports Lounge would officially close that evening. “With heavy hearts we’re saying goodbye,” wrote La La’s. Located at 203 N Meridian Ave., La La’s opened in the fall of 2019, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and specialized in house-made sangrias made with all-natural ingredients and no added sugar. No reason was given for the closure. But La La’s did file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in 2024 to reorganize more than $1 million in debt, citing inflation and rising supply costs—two issues referenced by a slew of local restaurant and bar closures in 2026. —Colin Wolf
WEEKEND FOOD EVENTS
Appy Hour Cooking Class – Pasta Fresca Friday, Sept. 18. 4-5:30 p.m. Foodie Labs, St. Petersburg. thefoodielabskitchen.com
Ballroom & Bubbles – Champagne Guest Party Friday, Sept. 18. 7:30 p.m. No cover. The Real Ballroom Dance Studio, Tampa. therealballroom.com
Emerald City (Oz): High Tea Saturday, Sept. 19. 10 a.m. $65. Jekyll, Hyde Park
Oktoberfest Saturday, Sept. 19. 1 p.m. No cover. 3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg. 3dbrewing.com
Oktoberfest 2026 Saturday, Sept. 19. 12 a.m. No cover. St. Pete Brewing Company, St. Petersburg
Pawtoberfest 2026 Saturday, Sept. 19. 12 p.m. No cover. Pinellas Ale Works, St. Petersburg. pawbeer.com
Tarpon Springs Wine Walk Saturday, Sept. 19. 4 p.m. $35. Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs. exploretarponsprings.com
Cocquito Pop-Up Sunday, Sept. 20. 8 a.m.-noon. No cover. Lara in Ybor, Tampa
See the full weekly food events list here.
FOOD NEWS
Safety Harbor’s The Tides Market listed among ‘America’s Best Restaurants’ by New York Times
The New York Times released its annual “America’s Best Restaurants” list today, and local seafood favorite The Tides Seafood Market & Provisions was the only Tampa Bay restaurant to make the cut. Tin Tin in Miami was the only other Florida restaurant featured. Located at 305 Main St., The Tides is no stranger to praise. In 2025, the half grocery store and half counter service spot was listed among Michelin Guide’s recommended restaurants, and remained on the list again in 2026. Well, apparently, the New York Times loved it too. The unranked list, which covers the publication’s “50 favorite places in America right now,” was released this morning, and was cobbled together by 16 Times writers, who scoured the country looking for restaurants that have “that feeling.” —Colin Wolf
FOOD FEATURES
Five Tampa gas station restaurants that are worth the pit stop
Gas station restaurants are nothing new. They first sprouted from roadside “filling stations,” offering simple snacks, cold drinks, and barbeque to weary travelers driving long distances. The Great Depression made way for entrepreneurs like Harland Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Gus Belt (of Steak ’n’ Shake) who famously began selling their greasy goods directly at or adjacent to gas and service stations. And later, in the Jim Crow era, filling stations with eateries served as vital, one-stop shops and safe havens for Black patrons at a time when mainstream restaurants refused them service. Today, lots of folks love a good sit down restaurant with linens when the time and occasion allows, but there’s something to be said for getting really good convenience store food that hits the spot while filling up the car for the next errand. Two birds, one stone. There are plenty of great gas station food spots right here in Tampa Bay. Here are five great spots in the 813 serving up hot plates and taking names, giving Tampa folks the best bang for their buck. READ THE LIST HERE. —Annalise Mabe
BITES
Soul de Cuba Cafe in Seminole Heights is marking the Tampa engagement of Buena Vista Social Club at the Straz Center (Oct. 6-11) with a limited-time A Taste of Havana plate — Ropa Vieja, Lechón Asado, Arroz Moro, a Beef Empanada and Plátanos Maduros — available through Oct. 11, plus An Evening in Havana on Sept. 19 from 7-9 p.m. featuring Cuban food, music and a chance to win tickets to the show. A press release says, “Music and food have an incredible ability to take us back to a place, a person or a moment in our lives.”
Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach has launched a “You Dine, We Donate” program at its signature restaurant Ocean Hai, where proceeds from a designated four-top table are matched by the resort and donated to Give Kids The World, a Central Florida nonprofit that creates experiences for children with critical illnesses and their families. A portion of each stay is donated as well.
Chef & The Baker in South Tampa launched “Caliente Meets Cariño” last month, pairing Chef Rosana Rivera’s hand-folded beef empanada — made famous when she beat Bobby Flay on Food Network — with Señor Lechuga’s habanero-based .121 hot sauce, the one the Brooklyn brand created with Joe Rogan.
The 1905 Family of Restaurants — which includes all seven Columbia Restaurant locations, Cha Cha Coconuts, Ulele and Casa Santo Stefano — is running its annual Community Harvest throughout September, donating 5% of every check to a nonprofit of the diner’s choosing at no additional cost to the guest. In its 29 years, the program has directed $4.8 million to Florida nonprofits.
According to the Gulfport Gabber, TradeWinds Resort on St. Pete Beach is expanding its football season programming this fall with a new Tailgate on the Gulf series welcoming visiting Green Bay (Oct. 3) and Pittsburgh (Oct. 17) fans to beachfront tailgates featuring team-themed food, live music and meet-and-greets with NFL alumni.
AC Hotel Clearwater Beach opened Salt & Sky, a new rooftop bar, last month, featuring cocktails like the strawberry hibiscus foam-topped Salt & Sky and the AC Sunset, plus shareable bites and a new 947-square-foot event space.
The Tampa Edition (stylized “EDITION”) is celebrating Negroni Week (Sept. 21-27) across its food and beverage outlets with two Campari-based specialty cocktails crafted by Beverage Director Nihat Cam: a Negroni ($20) with London dry gin, pineapple and coffee-infused sweet vermouth, and a Sbagliato ($18) that swaps the gin for prosecco.
Go Greek Yogurt opened its first St. Petersburg location on Sept. 12 at the Mall at Sundial (153 2nd Ave. N.), bringing European-imported artisanal Greek yogurt with signature flavors like Plain Tart, Greek Honey and Chocolate, plus traditional Greek Spoon Sweets toppings like sour cherry and rose petal, according to a press release.
Whiskey Joe’s has become the first Tampa Bay business to receive a Tampa Bay Water Wise rebate for a commercial food-defrosting technology, installing a CNSRV system that recirculates water rather than continuously wasting it during thawing — saving an estimated 2,000 gallons a day, according to a press release.
Cheeky’s in St. Pete has launched Frozen Flights — four 5-oz. pours of the restaurant’s signature frozen cocktails (Espresso Martini, Margarita, Transfusion and Frosé) for $15 during happy hour and $20 during regular bar service.
Island Flavors & Tings — the Jamaican kitchen at 1411 49th St. S. in Gulfport — has launched Hot Tings, a line of three Scotch bonnet sauces (Mango Pineapple, Tamarind and Aged Rum) available at the Gulfport shop, the St. Pete Pier Marketplace rum-cake kiosk and online at hot-tings.com.
P.F. Chang’s is partnering with Starlight Children’s Foundation through Sept. 30 on its Spirit of the Zodiac campaign, selling Bao, a limited-edition $10 horse plushie, with each purchase triggering a donated plushie to a child in one of Starlight’s 800-plus partner children’s hospitals nationwide — with a goal of raising $500,000.
WEDU PBS is hosting an evening with grilling legend and PBS host Steven Raichlen on Friday, Oct. 23 from 5:30-8 p.m. at WEDU Studios (1300 N Blvd., Tampa), featuring BBQ, drinks and a copy of his new memoir Man on Fire — all included with the $80 ticket.
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This article appears in Sept. 17 – 23, 2026.
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