Tampa eats best in the open air. The Ybor City Saturday Market in Centennial Park — the city’s longest-running open-air market — layers local produce, baked goods, artisan foods and crafts under the oaks of the Latin Quarter every Saturday, steps from the free streetcar and a café con leche.
Across the season, the Tampa Downtown Market and neighborhood markets from Seminole Heights to the Riverwalk’s holiday markets rotate hundreds of local makers through the city’s parks: food trucks and farm stands beside jewelers, plant nurseries and Tampa-made everything. It’s the local way to stock a picnic for Bayshore or a beach day.
Bring a tote, graze strategically (samples are a food group here), and let lunch assemble itself.
In Tampa, the market is the restaurant — with better people-watching and a river breeze.
