Best Quaint Florida Restaurants

Chef/owner Marco Cudazzo works the kitchen at Adriatico Trattoria in College Park.

In-town hot spots

The biggest clusters are in the more urban small places, the pre-1960s midtown neighborhoods hidden amid Florida’s sprawl. They have old diners as well as artisan bakeries and yogurt shops. Plus busy sidewalks, coffee bars, dog-friendly outdoor tables and big Saturday brunches.

• College Park: Over the last 10 years, Fonzo has started three restaurants and wine bars. They range from sophisticated K to rustic Nonna Trattoria ed Enoteca; the tough economy has forced him to consolidate this winter to one location, but he wouldn’t think of leaving the neighborhood. He has just moved K three blocks south, where the menu will still be both imaginative and economical, like a three-course lamb dinner for $20. Again, he’s not alone. The neighbors include Harmoni, a foodie market and bistro, a rustic Italian seafood house called Adriatico Trattoria, and Paxia for 100 tequilas, scallop enchiladas and stunning Luis Barragan color.

• Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café in Seminole Heights offers a bacon-wrapped Angus beef and pork plate called Henry the Loaf.

  Tampa Bay: The clusters are in once-forgotten Gulfport, which has added Peg’s Cantina for homemade Mex and pizza, an Italian trattoria, a Brazilian churrascaria and global fusion to its menu, and a stretch of old retail in South Tampa that has yet to get a nickname. Food fans have flocked to MacDill Avenue and Bay to Bay Boulevard in the decades since it got an eclectic pub, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, and upscale bakery and trattoria called Delizie, and Pane Rustica, a beloved artisan bakery/restaurant. The strip also includes sharp sushi at Yoko’s, regional Italian at Osteria Natalina, clever Mexican at Chihuahua, punk pizza at Cappys, funky breakfast and sandwiches at Pinky’s, and a grand new gastro-deli named Datz. In Seminole Heights, high-priced bungalows are surrounded by tough streets, but here, too, there’s artisan beer, crusty pizza and a big new palace of local craft and food at Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café. It’s a big investment with homey details from the lawn lined with bowling balls to a menu of meatloaf and vegetarian napoleons.
• Jacksonville: The residents of Avondale, Riverside and Five Points may be the luckiest. They now have Orsay, the slick new French bistro, 13 Gypsies’ soulful Spanish/Mideast flavors, the little coffeehouse that grew into a foodie destination, Blue Fish Oyster Bar, and brick-lined Walkers bar for drinks and tapas.
• Miami: Even South Beach chefs prefer to live and eat on the upper east side in Morningside and retro cool MiMo on BiBo (Biscayne Boulevard). The heart is probably the old showroom that Mark Soyka of News Café converted into 55th Street Station that includes Soyka, the News Lounge, Andiamo pizza and a flower shop. Farther up Biscayne, you can spend a couple of bucks at Dogma Grill for hot dogs with attitude or live it up at Michelle Bernstein’s signature Michy, Red Light, Uva 69 and more.

Datz Deli in Tampa, a deli, bakery, wine bar and specialty food market

Tags: Dining & Travel