Raymond James Stadium
Make a Buccaneers or USF game a full day out. Plan a meal in West Tampa, then settle in at a TV stop in Tampa Heights or SoHo.
Benchmark International Arena
Make a Lightning game a full evening, with restaurants within a quarter mile of the arena and a hockey bar a few blocks away.
Suncoast Credit Union Field
Watch Sun FC pro women's soccer beside the Hillsborough River, then eat or drink at Stones Throw or Armature Works within a quarter mile.
Hattricks
Hattricks is the hockey bar of downtown Tampa, an Irish pub and sports room on South Franklin Street that has been there for years and fills before and after everything at the arena. Its own description is the number one spot for Lightning pregame parties, postgame celebrations, and any concert or event at the arena or the convention center. The posted closing time is honest about how that works: eleven in the morning until as late as three, according to volume.
BellyUp! Tampa / Sports
Sports & Game Day Tampa
Pro and college venues, nearby food and drinks, and places to watch on TV.
2 spots
Mr. Dunderbak's
Dunderbak's has been serving Tampa since 1974 and sits in the Oak Ramble Shopping Center on Bruce B Downs, which is a plain strip plaza and exactly the point: this is a German beer hall, brewery, deli and European market behind a strip-mall storefront. It started as one of about 30 franchise locations nationally, and co-owners James and Christina Ellis bought this one in the 1990s; the franchise folded and they turned it into a brewery with a dozen or so house beers on tap, told to That's So Tampa. The kitchen cooks from family recipes, with the potato pancakes made fresh every morning from James's Oma's recipe and the coleslaw from his mother's. Live polka plays on weekends, the beer hall room on the left seats 32 for private bookings, and the site's own parking advice is to arrive by 6pm on a Friday if you want a space.
Stones Throw
Stones Throw is the open riverfront pavilion at the Armature Works end of the Heights waterfront, a short walk along the Riverwalk from downtown. It runs on oysters, seafood and craft cocktails, with sunset happy hours, weekend lunch, Taco Tuesdays and live music on the water. The pavilion sits on the Hillsborough River with the boardwalk and the boat slips right there.
What these spots are known for
The same sports spots, sorted by the reasons people actually pick them.
Origin Stories
Who built this and why?
Big Groups
Will they seat twelve of us?
Rooftops and Patios
Can we sit outside?
Waterfront Dining
Can I eat next to the water?
Private Dining and Buyouts
Can we take a room?
Neighborhood Institutions
What has been here forever?
Late-Night Food
What is still open?
Vegan and Plant-Based
Where can I eat with no asterisks?
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