El Cap is the 4th Street burger bar with the red neon baseball sign. St. Pete Catalyst traces it to 1958, when Louis Joseph Svabek opened it in a 1948 building as one of his 'Cap' beer joints; Steve and Rose Bonfili of Pennsylvania took it over in 1963, and their son Frank turned it into what many call the city's first sports bar. Johnny Johnson has hand-formed the patties since 1992 and once made 2,300 in a day. Mary Jean Bonfili left the place to two longtime servers when she died in 2019, and in January 2023 Seed & Feed Hospitality, run by St. Pete natives, bought half while Cindy Nally kept the other half. The order is the World Champ cheeseburger.
St. Pete Bars: 4th Street North
The main road north out of downtown, and the street for long-running local rooms. El Cap's red neon, the Shrimp Store in a 1928 service station and Harvey's are all on it, and the newer taverns have filled in between them.
Chef Ted Dorsey opened Sunshine City Tavern on 4th Street North in late March 2025, per St. Pete Rising. The tavern added Saturday and Sunday brunch starting 7 June.
A Florida-themed gastropub owned by St. Pete natives Pete Boland and Ian Taylor. The full menu runs until 2am and a late-night kitchen menu carries on to the 3am close ... steaks, seafood, tacos and a Cuban sandwich. I Love the Burg calls it St. Pete's legit local pub, the place locals watch game after game.
A tavern in a century-old farmhouse on 4th Street North with a summer orchard and verandas, built around what it calls the spirit of Old Florida. Happy hour is half off drafts, house wines and wells. Its site also lists a Beach Drive Walk Up Cafe at 400 Beach Dr and a Gulfport drive-thru.