Bern's Steak House

Editor's pick

South Tampa : 1208 S Howard Ave., Tampa, 33606

Naysayers can grouse, but there's no denying the fine meat and one of the world's best and cheapest wine lists. You can drink back through 20 years in Spanish, Italians, Rhones and zins for $75 or less. Lighten up and relax; just exploring the menu's new additions takes time. Dessert takes more. …

Cafe L'Europe

Sarasota beaches : 431 St. Armand's Circle, Sarasota, 34236

Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

CK's Restaurant

Tampa : Tampa International Airport, Tampa, 33607

If a revolving restaurant with a view for miles makes your heart beat louder, check out CK's Rooftop Restaurant atop the airport Marriott. This is a prime Valentine's destination, you see, and fills up fast for the big day. (They can even arrange for roses to be waiting at your table.) Go when t …

Colonnade

South Tampa : 3401 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa, 33629

With its gorgeous views of Hillsborough Bay, this longtime restaurant has been serving seafood to Tampa's well-off for as long as most people can remember. The property has been in the Whiteside family for more than 100 years, through five generations, each one adding to the long menu. Some dish …

Columbia Restaurant

Editor's pick

Ybor City : 2117 E Seventh Ave., Tampa, 33605

The granddaddy of them all, Columbia Restaurant bears the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in Florida as well as the nation's largest Spanish/Cuban restaurant, with 13 rooms extending one full city block. Some of these waiters have been here a lifetime, there are stirring flamenco show …

Coney Island Grill

St. Petersburg : 250 9th St N, St. Petersburg, 33705

The Coney Island Grill has been an institution and city landmark since 1926. That's a long time to be the alpha dog, but Coney Island's Michigan-style chili dog is the coin of the realm, especially when eaten atop a brown vinyl stool at the counter with an impossibly thick chocolate shake at you …

Crabby Bill's

North Pinellas beaches : 401 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach, 33811

The Loder family started Captain Bill's back in 1975, then sold it and moved on to the unnamed next project. As Matt Loder remembers it, one of his sisters said, "We love eating crabs, we love selling crabs and Dad is pretty crabby." Not sure how patriarch Bill Loder felt about that as …

Hellas Restaurant

Editor's pick

Tarpon Springs : 785 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpon Springs, 34689

Someone must be charged with constantly Windexing the glass cases in the bakery, there are so many eager noses pressed against it every day. Hellas has been one of the big guns in Tarpon since 1970, its reputation boosted by the huge attached Greek bakery (clearly doing well enough to have recen …

Hugo's Spanish Restaurant

South Tampa : 931 S Howard Ave., Tampa, 33606

SoHo's enduring outpost for Cuban sandwiches, beans and rice, and other Spanish/Cuban/Italian comfort foods more common in West Tampa and Ybor City. Serves a variety of wines. In June 2009, Playboy named its Cuban one of America's best sandwiches.

Lenny's Restaurant

Clearwater : 21220 US Highway 19 N, Clearwater, 33765

The spring training hot spot has the feel of Philly year-round, so get your cheesesteaks and scrapple. There are also monster breakfasts and the classic Jewish deli treats, and not just chopped liver. Swing for the fence with the three-half sandwich, the giant potato knish or the whole "bowl o'  …

Lobster Pot

North Pinellas beaches : 17814 Gulf Blvd., Redington Shores, 33708

Lobster Pot has been a favorite of returning snowbirds and beach vacationers since opening in 1978. It got a remodel with new owners in 2009, but the best dishes are still the classics. A whole steamed Maine lobster arrives like a page out of a New England magazine, split down the middle and spi …

Lunch On Limoges

East Pasco : 14139 Seventh St., Dade City, 33525

Williams Lunch on Limoges started a full 73 years after the Williams family opened their little dry goods store in Dade City. The dry goods gave way to giftware, stationery and notions, and it is smack-dab in the middle of all this that the local ladies who lunch get down to business. And, yes,  …

Munch's Sundries & Restaurant

St. Petersburg : 3920 Sixth St. S, St. Petersburg, 33705

It's time travel, pure and simple. Munch's Sundries & Restaurant's booths are lined with Lakewood Elementary class pictures from the 1960s (a lot of unfortunate haircuts), on the walls are tacked-up, and down-home, morsels of wisdom and on Tuesdays every table is topped with the fried chicke …

Skipper's Smokehouse

Editor's pick

Tampa : 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, 33613

Skipper's is an institution. Generations of music lovers have called themselves regulars at this classic, Old Florida-themed establishment. Not only does it provide a spacious outdoor concert area, communal benches and beachy sand add even more charm, and its restaurant serves some of the best F …

Sukhothai Restaurant

Tampa : 8201 N Dale Mabry Highway # A, Tampa, 33614

Reserve a spot in the side room with low tables, where you have to sit on the floor on vibrant satin cushions. Kick off the shoes and get comfy, all the while taking an array of stimulating spices and smells of their curries, tom ka gai lush with coconut milk and pad Thai with its rice noodles a …