St Petersburg (Downtown and the Pier) ★ 4.5
St Petersburg downtown runs a stronger waterfront restaurant scene than Tampa, with the Pier complex carrying Fresco's, Doc Ford's and Teak waterfront grills.
More food day trips in Tampa
Tarpon Springs (Sponge Docks Greek) ★ 4.5
Tarpon Springs on the Greek sponge docks runs the largest concentration of Greek restaurants in the country, with Hellas, Mykonos and the bakeries.
Dunedin (Craft Beer Crawl) ★ 4.4
Dunedin on Pinellas has Tampa Bay's densest craft brewery row, with Dunedin Brewery, 7venth Sun Dunedin and Cueni Brewing in a Scottish-American village.
Plant City (Strawberry Capital) ★ 4.4
Plant City east of Tampa is Florida's strawberry capital, with Parkesdale Farm stand and a strawberry festival every March that pulls 500,000 visitors yearly.
Clearwater Beach (Grouper Sandwich) ★ 4.3
Clearwater Beach runs the Tampa Bay grouper sandwich circuit, with Frenchy's Cafe, Crabby's and the Palm Pavilion serving fresh Gulf grouper.
Ybor City (Cigar Day with Food) ★ 4.5
Ybor City just east of downtown Tampa runs the National Historic Landmark District with working cigar rollers, the Columbia Restaurant since 1905.