This is a short list on purpose, and the reason is worth stating plainly: a venue is only tagged Black-owned here when the venue itself says so, or a named publication or a Black-owned business directory does. A food-blog roundup is not enough and a name is never enough. Four Tampa venues clear that bar in our dataset right now, and there are certainly more in the city than that.
Big John's Alabama BBQ has been on 40th Street in East Tampa since 1968. The late Rev. John A. Stephens opened it after moving his family from Eufaula, Alabama; the restaurant's own biography page says he came here to be an entrepreneur and, more importantly, a man of God. It still cooks on an open pit and his son Fred runs it.
Mama's Southern Soul Food has been cooking in East Tampa for more than fifteen years under Chef Reaves and Katrina, and moved once to its Dr Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard address. The pork chop sandwiches and the mac and cheese are what people name.
Al's Finger Licking Good smokes Tennessee-style ribs in Ybor City. Its own site says the barbecue has moved into the soul food shop at 2302 E 7th Ave, which is worth knowing because four different guides still print the old address.
7th + Grove on East Seventh Avenue cooks Southern comfort food crossed with Guyanese flavours and runs late Thursday through Saturday.
If you run a Black-owned restaurant in Tampa and we have not tagged you, that is a gap in what is publicly stated, not a judgement. Claim your profile and we will fix it for free.