Ybor City Before Dark: The New Lunches, Bookshelves and Dinner Tables Filling Its Fall Calendar
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Seventh Avenue "is the most historic street ever," Kenneth Emery told the Tampa Bay Times in August, shortly after his steakhouse opened in the old Kress building. He went on to say he would like to see more kinds of businesses on the street as Ybor's redevelopment continues.
Look at the hours of the places that opened in Ybor City over the past year and that shift is already happening. Most of the new openings run on daylight and dinner time: a fine-dining room that added weekday lunch, a neighborhood bar that added lunch service, a bookstore that pours coffee and wine in a bungalow, and a steakhouse whose owner was working the grill during dinner service. These businesses are building Ybor's hours from the morning forward.
Tommy's Chophouse opened July 31 on the ground floor of the Kress Contemporary building at 1622 E. Seventh Ave. More than a century ago that space was a five-and-dime. Until the early 2020s, part of the ground floor housed a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office. According to the Times, it took about three years to bring the space up to code. The kitchen has no gas or open flame and cooks on induction burners and an electric broiler. An old vault became a private dining room that guests enter and leave through the kitchen.
The sourcing is local wherever it can be. Shrimp come from Versaggi Shrimp, a Tampa shrimper with more than 100 years in the business. Oysters come from Calusa Oyster Company, and chicken comes from Red's Farm in Riverview. Sommelier John Isom, formerly of Ichicoro, runs the bar program, and Will Chastain, formerly of Ash, is the executive chef. The room is casual, with no dress code and no white tablecloths.
On the same block at 1632 E. Seventh Ave., Emery's Ocean Ink Raw Bar opened in September 2025. Its website now lists service Wednesday through Sunday from 3 p.m. to close, with happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. That puts an oyster happy hour and a steak dinner on the same block, both started well before the late crowd shows up.
Farther east, D'Rose Gastrobar at 2238 E. Seventh Ave. was open by mid-August. Owner and head chef Victor Lopez runs the kitchen with executive chef Osyamil Milian, as That's So Tampa reported. A block off the avenue, Bello Bar + Kitchen held its grand opening May 1 in the former Barterhouse space at 1811 N. 15th St. Owner Jason Page describes the food as modern-American Latin-Caribbean.
Lunch returned to Ybor through two businesses at opposite ends of the price scale.
Mise en Place, the fine-dining restaurant Maryann Ferenc and chef Marty Blitz ran for decades before the move, now fills the ground floor of Casa Gomez at 1229 E. 8th Ave. It seats about 130 across the dining room, bar and private dining room. According to Creative Loafing, it reopened quietly in late 2025. The public ribbon-cutting followed on Jan. 9, 2026. Speaking to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, the owners credited Ybor's cultural history and developer Darryl Shaw's respect for it as the draw. Ferenc described the move as joining the neighborhood's revival without taking on a Cuban identity.
The new format is what changes an Ybor weekday. In February, 83 Degrees reported lunch Wednesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It also reported a 4 to 6 p.m. cocktail hour Tuesday through Saturday and dinner until 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant's own homepage lists dinner and cocktail hours but not lunch or brunch, so call ahead before planning a midday visit around it.
On the west end of the avenue, The Bricks at 1327 E. Seventh Ave. changed hands on Jan. 9, 2026. Joshua Pardue's Ybor City Mixed Use LLC bought the property, according to Creative Loafing. The bar stayed open through the sale. By March, Creative Loafing reported better food, a lunch service and longer hours. Pardue said prices and the neighborhood-bar crowd would stay as they were, and so would the skateboarding ties, the original art and the SPoT afterparties. The posted hours at that point were noon to midnight Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.
The third daytime anchor sits south of the avenue entirely. Bookends: Literature and Libations soft-opened June 27 in a bungalow at 2208 E. 2nd Ave. Owners Laurie and Teresa Rodriguez, both Tampa natives, had been renovating it since the summer of 2022. The shop has a full coffee bar plus wine, beer, house-made baked goods and cheese plates. Its shelves lean heavily on romance and romantasy, Florida authors and Tampa history. According to That's So Tampa, a chalkboard sign out on the porch means it's open.
Put those hours together and a fall Saturday in Ybor can run from morning to an early dinner without any late-night stops:
None of this needs a ride home at 2 a.m. The TECO Line Streetcar is free and runs every 15 minutes. Its service extends to midnight Sunday through Thursday when there's a Lightning game or another weeknight or Sunday event at Benchmark Arena.
Ybor's fall dates follow the same pattern. Most happen in daylight, and the nightlife events are concentrated around Halloween.
The next round of additions is still in progress, and each item below remains a plan as of Oct. 11.
Tokyo Swim Club. A rooftop bar and izakaya was announced for 1229 E. 8th Ave., the same address as Mise en Place. It's backed by restaurateurs Jimmy and Johnny Tung, with Mike Western leading the project and Andrew Huang in charge of the food. The latest report gives a fall 2026 debut, and no newer date has been published.
Cigar City Brewing. The brewery's website says its Spruce Street taproom is now closed. Its Ybor location at Cigar City & Mead, 1812 N. 15th St., is under construction, and the brewery expects to open "later this year." When it opens, it will put a brewery taproom on the same 1800 block as Bello.
Gasworx. The 390-unit Stevedore welcomed its first residents April 1, 2026. In April, Florida YIMBY reported that the developers were targeting early 2027 for the project's 28,000-square-foot marketplace, and construction on the park was underway. Duckweed Urban Grocery is signed for The Luisa, which is expected to be finished in spring 2027. The office building anchored by Grow Financial is due for completion in December 2026. Ferguson plans to occupy 50,570 square feet there starting in April 2027, which would fill the office space completely.
If Ybor's new daytime hours and the Gasworx timeline have you thinking about living closer to Seventh Avenue, or about what this redevelopment means for a home you already own nearby, The Pithers Group is glad to walk you through how this part of Tampa is changing. Contact Us to start that conversation.
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