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
La Teresita
La Teresita has been cooking Cuban food on West Columbus Drive in West Tampa for more than fifty years, run by the Capdevila family, who give their name to a page of the site and to the Capdevila Group. The kitchen opens at six in the morning, which is a West Tampa habit rather than a restaurant trend, and the site describes 'delicious homemade Cuban and Spanish dishes'. Alongside the restaurant the family runs a ballroom and a catering operation used for quinces, weddings and parties.
Oxford Exchange
The building went up in 1891 across the street from Henry B. Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel, held an arcade of local shops from the 1920s, then sat empty for decades until the century-old brickwork was restored. Brother and sister Blake Casper and Allison Adams reopened it as Oxford Exchange on September 24, 2012, and Casper's line for how it started is that it started with a bookstore and an office. Under one roof now are the restaurant, the bookstore and shop, a coffee bar, the TeBella Tea Bar, a champagne bar, the Commerce Club membership workspace, and the OE Studio and podcast room. The design takes its cue from the old London clubs and shops, and the stated intent was a place to belong.
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?
Community Quotes
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