I'll be in Tampa the first week in January for a photog convention. I'll be without my E on this trip, so can anyone suggest places to eat, and how easy is it to use public transit.Thanks for any input.:)

tampa/clearwater is a nice place to visit. i was there aug. 2006, but don't remember any place special to eat in tampa. in clearwater shells seafood was not bad.
have a safe trip.

I left Florida about a decade ago. While I lived on the Atlantic side of the state, I did spend a few week ends in Tampa/St. Pete.

You may want to check out the Dali Museum. (http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/home.html)

Best of luck,
Uno

Hi DCbox,
Have fun in Tampa. I used to live in Valrico and work & play in Tampa and Clearwater.

There are of course the usually chains--Ruth Chris', and a few steakhouses with football coaches names attached to them. Someone mentioned Shell's Seafood. It's not bad, it's a Florida chain...it's better than Red Lobster and they give you free peanuts. It's a very casual, low key family dining place.

Now, if you really want to dine I suggest Bern's Steakhouse (http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/bs_frame.htm). While I don't eat steak and cannot appreciate the aged meats I frequented Bern's for the wine and chocolate desserts. They have an awesome dessert room. You used to be able to make reservations for the dessert room.

Tampa has grown and changed so much since I lived there, but SoHo and Hyde Park have lots of good restaurants and hidden gems.

Hopefully some Tampa folks will chime in soon. -g

Gisele,

Is Bern's the steakhouse that has an all red lobby?

Once a year, my IBM rep used to take me to the Tampa Bay--Green Bay football game in Tampa. (Back then, we called it the Bay of Pigs game.)

I think that Bern's was his favorite steak house. Since, I don't eat red meat, its a bit of a tuff call for me.

Though, if my memory is correct, they gave me a tour of the kitchen where they had several large tanks complete with the day's selection of fish swimming around. I got to select the fish that I wanted for dinner.

Everyone else said that their steaks were great!

Uno

DCBox

I am guessing that you are attending an event at the Tampa Convention Center - downtown?

First, the public transportation is almost non-existence. Tampa is very spread out and the HartLine bus transportation is the only form and very limited.

There is some places in the downtown area that have life:
Channel Side - http://www.channelsidetampa.com/
Ybor City - http://www.centroybor.com/

I also have a favorite local upper scale restaurant that is across from University Tampa in downtown. It is a very nice restaurant that is rated in the same category as Berns Steakhouse -- Mise En Place -
http://www.miseonline.com/

If you are on foot and staying downtown, I would suggest a nice afternoon walk along BayShore Blvd. It is just south of downtown and has a very wide sidewalk that fronts the Bay. This is a favorite place for many to walk, jog, bike.

If you have a car, I might suggest International Mall by the airport. This is a upper scale mall with stores like Nordstrom's, Dilliards. They also have a lot of restaurants and night clubs on Bay Street at the same mall --
http://www.shopinternationalplaza.com/

We also have the Bucs playing the Giants at home this Sunday in the first round of the playoff games. Tickets are easily bought near the stadium on game day.

If you are wanting to get to the beach, I would suggest St Petersburg beach. This beach is typically less crowded than Clearwater and nice soft sand.

I hope this helps, have fun and enjoy your stay in Tampa. We had some cold weather come through today, but it is supposed to be back in the upper 70's by the weekend.

DCBox

I am guessing that you are attending an event at the Tampa Convention Center - downtown?

First, the public transportation is almost non-existence. Tampa is very spread out and the HartLine bus transportation is the only form and very limited.

There is some places in the downtown area that have life:
Channel Side - http://www.channelsidetampa.com/
Ybor City - http://www.centroybor.com/

I also have a favorite local upper scale restaurant that is across from University Tampa in downtown. It is a very nice restaurant that is rated in the same category as Berns Steakhouse -- Mise En Place -
http://www.miseonline.com/

If you are on foot and staying downtown, I would suggest a nice afternoon walk along BayShore Blvd. It is just south of downtown and has a very wide sidewalk that fronts the Bay. This is a favorite place for many to walk, jog, bike.

If you have a car, I might suggest International Mall by the airport. This is a upper scale mall with stores like Nordstrom's, Dilliards. They also have a lot of restaurants and night clubs on Bay Street at the same mall --
http://www.shopinternationalplaza.com/

We also have the Bucs playing the Giants at home this Sunday in the first round of the playoff games. Tickets are easily bought near the stadium on game day.

If you are wanting to get to the beach, I would suggest St Petersburg beach. This beach is typically less crowded than Clearwater and nice soft sand.

I hope this helps, have fun and enjoy your stay in Tampa. We had some cold weather come through today, but it is supposed to be back in the upper 70's by the weekend.

Oh thank you so much for posting Mis en place. I used to dine there 2 - 3 times a month. I worked in Westshore but had a lot of business downtown, too. The food and service was divine, unpretentious. There was another restaurant in that same vicinity that escapes me, it was more Norther Italian, had a wrap around porch, family owned and operated--i think it was something with an "A" (abudanza comes to mind, but I know that wasn't it).

I miss Tampa. I watched it grow from a place pretending to be a city to actually becoming a city. At first the slow pace of things drove me crazy, but then I settled in and enjoyed it. Very friendly, good food. Great weather. -g

Thanks everyone for their input, wish I was taking my E, maybe next time.:sad: I've been to Tampa before but I was closer to the stadium than downtown. I'll be in the CC most of the time, but I'll make time to sightsee and take pics.:)

Channelside is a short walk from the CC, and if you like Irish pubs, be sure to check out four green fields, its about a block away from the convention center (on the opposite side from the st. pete times forum). it has a thatched roof you can't miss it.

Ha I'm going to have to check that Pub out! TY 4 the info :)