Daily Loaf

Yet again, CL readers turned out in droves to pick their favorite restaurant among the five regional Top 50 winners. And yet again, the restaurants up for the honor mobilized a huge get-out-the-vote drive. Quickly enough, Backfin Blue and Guppy’s slid out of contention, with Bamboozle struggling to stay in sight of  front-runners Bin 27 Bistro and Council Oak Steakhouse.

Who had the stamina to win this marathon of voting? Find out after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

We released our list of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants (link goes to the expanded story) last week here on the site, and asked our loyal readers to pick their favorites in five different regions. The results held a few surprises.

Reader’s Poll winners (back when we asked you guys to pick the final five entries on our Top 50 list) Backfin Blue, Bamboozle Cafe and Bin 27 Bistro all mounted strong get-out-the-vote campaigns that put them on top, but so did traditional picks Council Oak and Guppy’s on the Beach.

Now’s your chance to pick the best out of those Top Five Readers’ Poll winners. You have until Monday, June 22, at 3 p.m. to get your votes in.

Vote in the poll after the break —

Read the rest of this entry »

Yet again, you’ve spoken. And yet again, some restaurants are more popular than others. Or are better at getting out the vote.

We asked you to vote for the best restaurant in each of our five regional categories, to winnow CL’s list of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants down to a mere five, the best of the best regional favorites. This coming Wednesday we’re going to ask for your help once again, as we give you the chance to pick among our Top 5 to determine which place you believe should be Tampa Bay’s Top Restaurant.

But, for 48 hours, everyone can relax and allow these five eateries to bask in their victory -

Results after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Clearwater features two of the Bay area’s finest chefs — Chris Ponte of Cafe Ponte and David Miller of Savant — while the beaches and islands have some incredible seafood spots. Which restaurant is the best of the bunch? That’s for you to decide. Scroll past the list to the poll and cast your vote!

(Check out next week’s food issue — Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants — for more detailed information on each restaurant. And don’t forget to vote in the four other regional top tens.)

ABC Seafood, 2705 54th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, 727-522-1888
Cabana Del Tio, 1709 Drew St., Clearwater, 727-466-0504
Café Ponte, 13505 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, 727-538-5768 or cafeponte.com
Caretta on the Gulf, 500 Mandalay Ave., Clearwater, 727-674-4171
Floridian, 4424 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-287-6662; 230 Treasure Island Causeway, Treasure Island, 727-367-6662; floridianrestaurant.com
Greektown Grille, 1230 Cleveland St., Clearwater, 727-230-6850 or greektown-grille.com
Guppy’s on the Beach, 1701 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach, 727-593-2032 or 3bestchefs.com
Kelly’s For Just About Anything, 319 Main St., Dunedin, 727-736-5284 or kellyschicaboom.com
Maritana Grill, 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach, 727-360-1881
Savant Fine Dining, 2551 Drew St., Clearwater, 727-421-9975 or savantfinedining.com

VOTE AFTER THE BREAK! Read the rest of this entry »

Central Tampa is the only region where two chains made the list — Ocean Prime and Roy’s. But there are also restaurants that touch upon numerous nationalities and styles of cuisine. Which one is the best of the bunch? That’s for you to decide. Scroll past the list to the poll and cast your vote!

(Check out next week’s food issue — Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants — for a detailed look at each restaurant. And don’t forget to vote in the four other regional top tens.)

Arco Iris, 3328 W. Columbus Dr., Tampa, 813-879-1357
Bamboozle Café, 516 N Tampa St., Tampa, 813-223-7320 or bamboozlecafe.com (Reader’s poll entrant.)
Donatello, 232 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, 813-200-7701 or donatellorestaurant.com
El Taconazo (The Taco Bus), 913 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, 813-232-5889
Fly Bar and Restaurant, 1202 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-275-5000
La Teresita, 3204 W Columbus Dr., Tampa, 813-879-9704 or lateresitaplus.com
Mise En Place, 442 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-254-5373 or miseonline.com
Ocean Prime, 2205 S. West Shore Blvd., Tampa, 813-490-5288 or ocean-prime.com
Pelagia Trattoria, 4200 Jim Walter Blvd., Tampa, 813-313-3235 or pelagiatrattoria.com
Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion, 4342 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Tampa, 813-873-7697 or roysrestaurant.com

VOTE AFTER THE BREAK! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a huge area to cover, and there are a lot of fine restaurants from Carrolwood to Brandon. Well, maybe not Brandon. But only ten could make this list, and two of restaurants are the dynamic duo of Chinese cuisine in the Bay area — Yummy House and China Yuan. Which restaurant is the best of the bunch? That’s for you to decide. Scroll past the list to the poll and cast your vote!

(Check out next week’s food issue — Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants — for more detailed information on each restaurant. And don’t forget to vote in the four other regional top tens.)

China Yuan, 8502 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa, 813-936-7388 or chinayuanrestaurant.com
Council Oak, 5223 Orient Rd., Tampa, 813-627-7625 or seminolehardrock.com
First Choice Southern BBQ, 10113 Adamo Dr., Tampa, 813-621-7434 or firstchoicebbq.com
Grass Root Organic Restaurant, 2702 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 813-221-7668 or thegrassrootlife.com
Oystercatchers, 2900 Bayport Blvd., Tampa, 813-207-6815 or oystercatchersrestaurant.com
Pho Quyen, 8404 Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, 813-885-9424 or phoquyen.com
Rice Korean Restaurant, 7525 W. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, 813-889-7766 or ricekoreanrest.com
Thai Sweet Basil, 3875 Northdale Blvd., Tampa, 813-961-8898
Udipi Café, 14422 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, 813-962-7300
Yummy House, 2202 W. Waters Ave., Tampa, 813-915-2828

VOTE AFTER THE BREAK! Read the rest of this entry »

South Tampa is known as a big party spot, but it’s also home to some interesting restaurants — including the only two Ethiopian joints in town. And then there’s Bern’s, of course. Which restaurant deserves to be at the top of this list? That’s for you to decide. Scroll past the list to the poll and cast your vote!

(And don’t forget to vote in the four other regional top tens.)

Bern’s Steak House, 1208 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, 813-251-2421 or bernssteakhouse.com
Bin 27 Bistro, 2702 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-878-2700 or bin27bistro.com (Reader’s Poll Entrant)
Ceviche, 95 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-209-2302; 1502 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, 813-250-0203
Datz Deli, 2616 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa, 813-831-7000 or datzdeli.com
Paci’s Pizza, 2307 S. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, 813-253-2973 or pacispizza.com (Reader’s Poll Entrant)
Pane Rustica, 3225 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa, 813-902-8828 or panerusticabakery.com
Queen of Sheba, 3636 Henderson Blvd., Tampa, 813-872-6000 or ethiopianrestauranttampa.com
Restaurant BT, 1633 W. Snow Ave., Tampa, 813-258-1916 or restaurantbt.com
SideBern’s, 2208 W. Morrison Ave., Tampa, 813-258-2233 or bernssteakhouse.com
Smoke Barbecue & Grill, 901 W. Platt St., Tampa, 813-254-7070 or smokeonplatt.com

VOTE AFTER THE BREAK! Read the rest of this entry »

St. Petersburg is home to some of the Bay area’s best mid-range and cheap eats, along with a few stars like Z Grille’s Zack Gross. Which restaurant is the best of the bunch? That’s for you to decide. Scroll past the list to the poll and cast your vote!

(Check out next week’s food issue — Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants — for more detailed information on each restaurant. And don’t forget to vote in the four other regional top tens.)

Atwater’s Cafeteria, 895 22nd Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 727-823-7018
Backfin Blue Café, 2913 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport. 727-343-2583 (Reader’s Poll Entrant)
Cappy’s Pizzeria, 2900 1st Ave. N, St. Petersburg, 727-321-3020; 3200 W. Bay To Bay Blvd., Tampa, 813-835-0785; 4910 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 813-238-1516
El Cap, 3500 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-521-1314
Mazzaro’s Italian Market, 2909 22nd Ave. N., St. Petersburg, 727-321-2400 or mazzarosmarket.com
Peg’s Pizza Cantina, 3038 Beach Blvd. S., Gulfport, 727-328-2720 or pegscantina.com
Primi Urban Café, 27 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-895-4909 or primiurbancafe.com
Red Mesa, 4912 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-527-8728 or redmesarestaurant.com
Wild Shrimp Company, 2005 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-209-0813
Z Grille, 104 2nd St. S., St. Petersburg, 727-822-9600 or zgrille.net

VOTE AFTER THE BREAK! Read the rest of this entry »

In general, I like St. Pete Times restaurant critic Laura Reiley. She’s rarely negative, has a bigger dining budget than me, and gets to jet off to Beard dinners in NY, but despite that I’ve found her to be a very nice person. Until now.

She just posted a tidbit on her blog called “I’m laughing at Creative Loafing lovers” where she calls out the numerous voters in our recent Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants reader recommendation poll. Here’s what she said:

I happened to take a gander at their Tampa Bay Top 50 Restaurants Reader Recommendation Results post (seeing as we’ve been running a reader poll of our own, it seemed only fair) and feel that Creative Loafing readers must be smoking something. Their top recommended restaurants? In order: Paci’s Pizza, The Floridian, Bin 27, Green Springs Bistro, Backfin Blue and Bamboozle. Huh. The top-most, super-special, gotta-try-it restaurant in the whole area is PACI’S PIZZA?

Maybe our readers are cool because they are smoking something, Laura, did you consider that?

Admittedly, I spent a few hours making fun of Paci’s ballot-stuffing efforts yesterday — which is why we only let you pot fiends pick 5 while I picked 45 –  but that was before I tried their pizza. Now? I’m kinda happy they won a spot in the Top 50. That pie is very, very good.

Stick it to Reiley by voting for the best of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants, in five different categories, later today.

We put it to you, the readers, to help us fill out our list of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants, and you spoke. Repeatedly.

Through the six days of voting, many people left heartfelt recommendations in support of their favorite spots, with restaurants ranging from Sarasota to Tarpon Springs. Some were neighborhood haunts, while the big names like Bern’s or Pelagia Trattoria received a few nods from the faithful. But in the end, only five restaurants could ascend to the list.

In first place — thanks to an obvious, perfectly legal, incredibly effective ballot-stuffing campaign — is Paci’s Pizza of Tampa. There were some negative comments about the profusion of Paci’s votes, but there’s no denying the volume.

Second is new (and old) cuban sandwich shop The Floridian, which recently expanded to Tampa from Treasure Island. Bin 27 in South Tampa mounted a final push to easily take the third spot, but the final two spots were much tighter. In a tie, with runner-up Green Springs Bistro a mere single vote behind, was Backfin Blue in Gulfport and Bamboozle Cafe in downtown Tampa.

The full list of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants will appear this Wednesday at our Top 50 landing page, a full week before it hits the newstands. Why so early? We want your help, again.

We’ve split the Top 50 into five categories, and need your votes to determine the best in each. Check back this Wednesday to support your favorite restaurants and propel them to victory. Voting will end Monday, June 15, at 3 p.m.

You eat, so you make the call.

When friends or relatives visit town, everyone has that mental list of go-to restaurants we always recommend, the kinds of places that are either iconic Bay area spots or just so damn good we know they won’t disappoint. For this year’s Food Issue, Creative Loafing is doing that list one better.

On June 17, we’ll print the definitive list of Tampa Bay’s Top 50 Restaurants. High-end to low-down, crab cakes to pancakes, we’re going to give you a rundown of the absolute must-visit food destinations our fine metropolitan area has to offer. Think you know the local restaurant scene? We need your help.

Below, in the comments section, we want you to recommend restaurants to go on that list. We’ll reserve five spots on the Top 50 for the restaurants that get the most recommendations (no matter what I think of your choices). There’s no limit to the number of times — or restaurants — you can recommend, so go to town. We’ll shut down this post on Monday, June 8, at 3 p.m.

Then, starting on June 10, we’ll reveal the entire list on CL’s Food Site, a week before it hits the stands, so you can vote for the best of the best in five different categories. Log on, vote in the poll, and make sure your favorite spot makes it to the top of the rankings.

Finally, on June 17, you’ll have the opportunity to pick the Bay area’s most outstanding restaurant from among the five category winners.

Who do you think neeeds to be on the list? Will your favorite spot make the list? Use your power to make it happen. Comment now!