Tampa Heights was the city's first residential suburb, platted in 1883 on the bluff north of downtown. It is now the busiest food corridor in the city, and most of it is within a walk of the river.
The building everyone means. Armature Works is a 1910 streetcar barn holding close to twenty independent counters as the Heights Public Market, with event rooms and a rooftop above it and the Riverwalk lawn outside. Inside it: Oak & Ola, the sit-down room, named for the two streets that meet outside; Graze 1910 for all-day breakfast; Muchachas for birria quesatacos and Empamamas for empanadas, both from the same team. Four floors up, M.Bird looks at the river on one side and the skyline on the other. Steelbach is next door at 1902 N Ola, not the 1910 the building publishes for itself.
On the water. Ulele is in the old Tampa Water Works building beside the natural spring it is named for, opened by Richard Gonzmart in 2014 and cooked off a ten-foot barbacoa grill. Its Ulele Spring Brewery was the first on-site brewery in Tampa Heights. Stones Throw is the open riverfront pavilion further along the boardwalk.
Two stars on one street. West Palm Avenue has both Kosen, twelve omakase seats, and Rocca. Half of Tampa's Michelin stars are on that block.
For beer, Magnanimous is the original taproom, a short walk up Florida Avenue, with no kitchen and no objection to you bringing food. Everything we track in Tampa Heights is on the neighborhood page.