The long run of Central Avenue west of 16th Street, and the busiest stretch on this site. It holds the heart of the city's LGBTQ+ nightlife, two bars that are also dog parks, a MICHELIN Recommended listening room in a 1925 bungalow and more coffee than seems reasonable.
Twenty taps of beer, wine and kombucha and a stage that the brewery says has full bands most nights of the week. Sister kitchen Kraken Joe's Pizza cooks in an oak-fired brick oven on site. I Love the Burg notes the covered and uncovered seating and the arcade games.
An LGBTQ+ bar and dance club at the historic Mari Jean property in Grand Central, which also holds an adults-only hotel and The Wet Spot pool bar and day club. Drag shows run through the week and Drag Bitchin Brunch lands on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Strictly 21 and up.
A Havana-inspired speakeasy hidden behind a laundromat-style cafe front, from Stephen Schrutt's Hunger Thirst Group. The cafe and the bar keep separate menus, and there is a dress code.
A two-story brewery, taproom and beer garden on Central that concentrates on lagers and pilsners, poured from European-style serving tanks. The second-floor terrace looks down over the beer garden. Food comes from LALA St. Pete, and the Brew Good program sends proceeds to local causes such as CASA Pinellas.
In Between Days opened in August 2021 in a 1925 Craftsman bungalow, the idea of Pinellas native Zach Ashton, a recording artist turned restaurateur. It is modeled on Tokyo's underground listening bars ... a pair of 1972 Klipsch Cornwall speakers behind the bar, two turntables, and records played a full side at a time under oil lanterns. The room is small on purpose: its own profile counts 7 tables and 6 bar stools. Beverage director Noah Sain leads a team of sake sommeliers over what local press calls Florida's largest sake collection, and chef Justin Shwetzer cooks a short rotating menu of gyoza, hamachi, oysters and a noodle dish. It joined the MICHELIN Guide Florida in 2026.
A Grand Central cocktail bar from Stephen Schrutt's Hunger Thirst Group, the same group behind Dirty Laundry. The site carries a cocktail menu dated February 2026.
A no-frills neighborhood dive tucked behind a liquor store in Grand Central. I Love the Burg lists it among the city's gay bars and describes strong pours, cheap drinks, regulars and an easygoing room.
One of two bars in the city that double as a dog park ... this one has a water park for dogs. It ran the 2026 World Cup with the sound on.
Opened in October 2025 on the ground floor beside the Tru by Hilton, from the team behind Noble Crust in north St. Pete and Fat Beet Farm Kitchen and Bakery in Tampa ... partners Jeff Strouse, TJ Thielbar and Chris Sweeney. The menu is all small plates and is built to change with the season; much of the produce comes from the group's own Fat Beet Farm. Chef Fernando Sanchez leads the kitchen.
PAW is the dog-themed brewery ... milk bones on the tables, charity nights for animal rescues and a Milk Bone Stout on tap. Brewers Matthew Brown and Dennis Decker started it, its Sweet Stout took silver at the Great American Beer Festival, and it turned 10 in May 2026. The site has a barrel aging room, a tap room and a beer garden with a food truck. On October 1, 2026 it soft-opened a second room, PAW Taps & Tails, in the former Dissent Craft Brewing building at 5518 Haines Rd N, welcoming dogs and cats.
Opened in December 2024 by Jason Ruhe and Hope Montgomery, who also own Brick and Mortar Kitchen and Wine Bar downtown and Sea Worthy Fish + Bar in Tierra Verde. Ruhe shares the kitchen with Jason Cline, formerly head chef at Birch and Vine. The menu runs to 20-plus small plates, charred octopus, Peruvian-style ceviche and two paellas, around a circular bar with a small stage for live Latin music. David Fischer of Zazoo'd designed the room.
A neighborhood piano bar in Grand Central with live music, a relaxed feel and bar seats out on the sidewalk. I Love the Burg lists it among the city's gay bars.
An LGBTQ+ lounge on the Mari Jean Hotel property, sister to Cocktail and The Wet Spot. The room is pop art, bold color and a ceiling of disco balls, with cocktails named after LGBTQ+ icons and a tapas menu. The bar says it favors conversation over volume, though Tampa Bay DJs play. 21 and up, service animals only.
A neighborhood burger-and-draft-beer bar that describes itself as 'Cheers-like'. The name is the whole idea: a great BURGer and a cold beer in St. PetersBURG. A different special runs each day, including a Cuban sandwich on Wednesdays and mahi tacos on Fridays.
An off-leash dog park with a full bar ... more than 4,500 square feet of fenced Astroturf with staff watching the play yard at peak times. Dogs need a membership, proof of vaccinations, to be over a year old and spayed or neutered. Humans must be 21 or older. Tuesday is bingo night and food trucks rotate through.
A down-to-earth gay dive bar in Grand Central with a come-as-you-are feel. There is a free pool table, drag bingo, drag shows and dance music nights, and karaoke on Thursday and Saturday.
The Oyster Bar spent 24 years at 249 Central Avenue downtown, from 1999 until it closed there in 2023. Owner Josh Cameron of Craft Hospitality Group brought it back on 14 October 2025 in a new 3,200 square foot Grand Central room with 120 seats, 22 of them outside. The old signatures came with it ... buffalo shrimp, bacon parmesan-crusted grouper and raw oysters, with a dollar-oyster 'Aphrodisiac Hour' from 4 to 5pm. The site now names Daniel Walter as executive chef.
A 'bait shop chic' fish house whose menu changes with the catch of the day ... snapper, grouper, tuna from local waters, simply prepared. It takes no reservations and tells guests to come early because the fish can run out. The bar invented its own category, 'boat drinks', and the site says the Tampa Bay Times named it Best Cocktail List in 2019. A second Trophy Fish later opened in Tampa's Seminole Heights.
A neighborhood bistro and cocktail bar opened by Matt Kaye, owner of The Bends, with chef Rob Reinsmith in the former NuMex space. The same pair later opened Slim Charmer, a 26-seat martini lounge in a 1940s building next to Wild Child's patio at 2706 Central. Sunday is brunch only.
