Tampa 坦帕 or 滩吧


Tampa, what a booming city! Her many winning pro leagues, Lightning, Buccaneers and Rays certainly added to its allure, and MORE.

Tampa is the city with 384,959 population (2022), ranks 49th city in the US.

Tampa Bay, or the Bay Area (not San Francisco’s Bay Area …) is the body of water connects to Gulf of Mexico. But usually it refers to its metro area, that includes surrounding cities, such as St. Petersburg to the west and Clearwater, north of St. P. The Bay Area has population 3,290,730 (2022), ranking 17th in the nation. Sarasota to the south is another place that worth to visit.

Tampa TPA is a neat airport, with many direct flight around the major cities in and out of US.

Many Chinese use 坦帕 but I think 滩吧 is more appropriate: beaches and bars, especially tiki bars -:).

Here is our visits

Sports

There are many good restaurants. Ethnic restaurants, such as Chinese and Korean (Sa Ri One closed) are so so but Vietnamese is generally good. My list is generally excludes St. Pete, and includes a few good restaurants between Tampa Bay and Sarasota. The ranking of the top 10 changes, obviously; and the rest just added randomly.

  1. Columbia Restaurant, Ybor
  2. Casa Santo Stefano, Ybor
  3. Alleno @ St. Pete
  4. Steelbach Steak
  5. Ulele, Armature Works
  6. Oak n Ola
  7. Social Roost
  8. Duval’s @ Sarasota
  9. Terra Gaucha Brazilian steakhouse
  10. Circle @ Apollo Beach
  11. Parkshore Grill @ St. Pete
  12. Kojak’s House of Ribs BBQ, a dump but yummy
  13. Acropolis Greek Taverna @ Riverview
  14. Bernini, Ybor
  15. On Swann, Hyde Park Tampa
  16. Yummy House
  17. Beaune’s Wine Bar @ Chateau Cellars, Ybor
  18. Sunset at Apollo Beach
  19. Oxford Exchange
  20. The Library @ St. Pete
  21. Steep Station @ St. Pete
  22. Bern’s Steak House
  23. Haven
  24. Rooster & Till
  25. Skipper’s Smokehouse
  26. Thinh An Kitchen & Tofu
  27. Datz
  28. Byblos
  29. Watervue Grille @ Harbour Island
  30. Bahama Breeze
  31. Watervue
  32. First Watch
  33. Hales Blackbrick on going dispute

… some dockside

  1. Rick’s on the River
  2. Circles @ Lands End
  3. Salt Shack on the Bay
  4. Finn’s Dockside
  5. Sunset Bar & Grill
  6. Jerry’s Dockside Bar & Grill
  7. Dry Dock

Ybor City is one of interesting areas in the Tampa, with many cigar bars and restaurants.

Cigar: Tampa is a cigar city. Especially in Ybor City: La Flor de Sanchez y Haya cigar company (Tampa Historical; UFL; Hotel Hoya) on 7th Avenue opened its door on April 13, 1886, became the first place in Ybor City to roll a cigar. Nowadays there are many cigar bars and lounges, with workers rolling up the sticks on either side of the 7th Avenue. There is also the famed El Reloj which was opened in 1910, and was considered to be the largest and finest cigar factory in the world. J.C. Newman Cigar Co. since 1895, is the oldest family-owned cigar maker in US.

Others

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