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St. Pete Travel Guide

Last updated: January 2026

Living in coastal Florida means I am often asked for recommendations by friends or family who are visiting the area.

The list I would send of places to eat, drink, and explore steadily lengthened over the years into one obnoxiously long email.

So, to make it easier to share, I gave the list a public online home that I update as I try new places or others become replaced by vape shops, car washes, or vape shop car washes.

The list mostly focuses on the non-beach areas of St. Pete. I do not go to the beaches often enough to have strong opinions, but they are probably all great if you are coming from a place without any beaches.

Zack Zarrillo and his cool guide to Philadelphia also inspired this idea. 

Hotspots to Explore on Foot

St. Pete has many areas where you can park and spend an afternoon exploring on foot. Most of these neighborhoods connect along Central Ave., so you don’t even need to hop back in your car to go from one to another.

Many of the specific food and drink recommendations that follow are in one of these areas.

  • The Pier: A massive 26-acre civic space that has shops, restaurants, a café, children’s play areas, and incredible views of the bay and downtown. You can even grab a drink from the outdoor bar and walk with it. Afterward, explore the ritzy restaurants and boutiques of Beach Drive, go to the Dali museum, or hang out in the waterfront Vinoy Park.

  • Grand Central / EDGE District / Warehouse Arts District: These more-Etsy neighborhoods bleed into each other and all have breweries, unique places to eat, and lively (but mostly unpretentious) nightlife.
  • Pass-a-Grille: If you insist on being near the ocean. The beach is smaller, but it’s the only nearby coastal spot that has a small town feel as opposed to an over-developed strip of realty offices and identical ice cream shops.

  • Magnolia Heights / Woodlawn: At first glance more of a residential neighborhood, but within 11 blocks you’ll find wine bars, a brewery, a dive bar, coffee shops, some laid-back restaurants, and an organic grocer that is snacker heaven.

Eat

  • Chili Verde: In the middle of strip mall hell, but killer Mexican tacos and more in a former gas station.

  • Engine No. 9: Cozy burger bar where everything on the menu has some heat to it. Also a great beer list.

  • Flatbread & Butter: Quaint coffee shop with a small but tasty breakfast menu. Sit by the window and watch the ducks in the pond across the street.

  • Floribbean: Your favorite bowl place, but Caribbean food.

  • Haze Ice Cream: The best in the region, hands down.

  • Good Intentions: Amazing vegan restaurant I would even take my dad to.

  • Hawkers: Asian fusion in the shadow of Tropicana Field. I think I’ve had literally everything on the menu and loved it all.

  • Mangosteen: The favorite sushi place of me, a non-sushi snob.

  • Mazzaro’s: Perpetually busy indoor Italian market. Grab a number, order at the counter. I’ve had the Fig & Pig sandwich more than any other menu item in St. Pete.

  • Pistil House: Charcuterie, coffee, and drinks in an old house.

  • The Big Catch at Salt Creek: Reasonably-priced seafood, ✓. Waterfront tiki vibes, ✓. Bistro lights, ✓.

  • The Getaway: You are somewhat paying for the waterside views, but they are good ones. People freak out over the coconut-crusted French toast.

  • The Hangar: Standard diner fare at the downtown municipal airport while you watch planes land and take off. Some people think it’s cheesy but I love it.

  • Twisted Indian: A food truck so popular they opened a brick-and-mortar location.

  • Wildflower Ice Cream: Made-to-order soft serve. The downside is that if I don’t like the flavor combination I can only blame myself.

Drink

  • 3 Daughters: Third-largest brewer in the state. Massive indoor/outdoor space with games, food trucks, and live music. Their Beach Blonde Ale is served everywhere in town.

  • Beech Kombucha: Literally everything they make is quality. Get a flight then explore the cool botanical garden.

  • CellarMasters: Moody wine bar and bottle shop. I do not care for wine but even I like this place.

  • Dirty Laundry: A speakeasy that looks like a laundromat at first glance. Worth the novelty visit.

  • Dog Bar: If you like to people watch, but wish people were dogs.
     
  • Ferg’s: A St. Pete/Rays institution and the largest sports bar you’ll ever visit. Go on a college football Saturday in the fall and enjoy the random pockets of fans watching their schools’ games in the many TV alcoves.

  • Florida Orange Groves Winery: Get to feeling right off of free fruit wine samples. The Hurricane Class 5 sangria is a big deal.

  • Grand Central Brewhouse: German-style beers in a sleek modern space with two stories of nice outdoor seating.

  • Green Bench and Webb’s City Cellar: Green Bench is St. Pete’s other big brewer that you’ll see in stores. Webb’s is a rustic wine bar and event space. In between the two is a shared turf seating area.

  • In Between Days: Quaint teahouse during the day, Japanese vinyl listening bar and izakaya at night.

  • Pinellas Ale Works (PAW): Pup-themed brewery with a nice courtyard patio. Pound-for-pound my favorite brewery, even if I always end up getting the black lager.

  • Par Bar: Pints + putt-putt.

  • Rally Gas Station on 22nd Ave. and 4th St.: The best craft beer selection in town (not joking).

  • Right Around the Corner Arcade Bar: Sip golden lagers while you play GoldenEye. 

  • The Ship’s Hold: Your typical Irish nautical cocktail dive bar.

  • Steep Station: St. Pete supposedly has more kava bars than anywhere else on the planet. If you have never tried the drink but want to, do it here in a hammock and underneath a big indoor “tree”.

Go Outside

  • Boyd Hill: Massive nature preserve with both dirt and boardwalk trails. If you’re lucky you’ll see a gopher tortoise. Many rescued birds of prey to see as well.

  • Crescent Lake: St. Pete’s Central Park. Mile-long walking trail with pickleball, a playground, and great bird watching.

  • Seaside Bird Sanctuary: See many rescued and rehabbed birds of all kinds being cared for. Free and sits quite literally on the beach.

  • Sunken Gardens: St. Pete’s original roadside attraction. A winding oasis of a botanical garden with a large menagerie of exotic plants (and flamingos!).

  • Weedon Island: Bayside nature preserve. Navigate the mangroves on foot via the boardwalk trails or rent a kayak to go by sea.

Other Stuff

  • Dunedin, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs: I’m cheating here. These towns are 25-45 minutes north of St. Pete but all have cute Main Street USAs with tons to explore on foot. The Sponge Docks at Tarpon Springs is basically Greek EPCOT.

  • Gulfport: Where beach hippies retire. Though it gets the worst of every hurricane that comes through, still has several restaurants, a brewery, a hot sauce store, and some other small shops.

  • FloridaRAMA: A Meow Wolf-type immersive art museum. Shares a warehouse complex with Kool Daddy Records and many rotating art exhibits.

  • Museums: Naturally, many people come to Florida’s gulf coast to visit museums dedicated to a Spanish surrealist (Dali), a glassblower from Tacoma (Chihuly), and the art of the American West (The James).

  • Record stores: There are many. Banana Records is supposedly the nation’s largest and Kool Daddy is an awesome space along with FloridaRAMA (see above).

  • Rolling Oats: Organic grocery store with great beer, cheese, and snack selections.

  • St. Pete Saturday Morning Market: Every Saturday morning from Oct.-May in the parking lot of Al Lang Stadium.

  • St. Pete Shuffleboard Club: If you really want to get your Old Florida on. Non-members can play for cheap on Fridays, when they usually have a DJ and it’s more of a party vibe. And it’s BYO!

  • Tampa Bay Rays: Baseball is best watched indoors and played on carpet.

  • Tampa Bay Rowdies: Second-division soccer played in the Yankees’ former spring training stadium. Even if you don’t like soccer, a nice place to watch the boats in the marina go in and out.