Things To Do in Tampa

Northeast of downtown, Ybor City, the city's historic Latin district takes its name from Don Vicente Martinez Ybor (Eeee-bore), a Spanish cigar maker who arrived here in 1886 via Cuba and Key West. Soon, his factory and others in Tampa were producing more than 300,000 hand-rolled stogies a day.

It may not be the cigar capital of the world anymore, but Ybor is still a smokin' part of Tampa, and it's one of the best places in Florida to buy hand- rolled cigars. It's not on par with New Orleans's Bourbon Street, Washington's Georgetown, or Miami's South Beach, but good food and great music dominate the scene, especially on weekends when the streets bustle until 4am. Live-music offerings run the gamut from jazz and blues to rock.

At the heart of it all is Centro Ybor, a dining-shopping-entertainment complex between 7th and 8th avenues and 16th and 17th streets (tel. 813/242-4660). Here you’ll find a comedy club, an arcade, several restaurants and bars. The Ybor City Chamber of Commerce has its visitor center here, and the Ybor City State Museum’s gift shop is here as well.

Tampa Bay Tours (tel. 813/406-2180) offers four fascinating tours of the area, including the Ybor City Ghost Tour, taking you to the sites of the strange and creepy happenings of Tampa’s historic Latin district. Cost is $30 for adults, $10 for kids 6 to 12.  For a different kind of sinister, the Tampa Mafia tours (tel. 813/358-3455), is a 90-minute tour led by Scott M. Deitche, author of “Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld & The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr.” and or Tampa historian Manny Leto through some of Tampa’s shadier alleys, street corners, and spots where alleged wise guys conducted business. You’ll learn about the rumored tunnels of Ybor and area’s so-called Era of Blood. They also do happy hour tours with booze. Cost is $30 per person.

Even if you’re not a cigar smoker, you’ll enjoy a stroll through the Ybor City Museum State Park, 1818 9th Ave., between 18th and 19th streets (tel. 813/247-1434), covering about half of a city block and consisting of the Ybor City Museum, an ornamental garden, and several restored worker’s “casitas.”  The museum is housed in the former Ferlita Bakery (1896–1973). You can take a self-guided tour to see the collection of cigar labels, cigar memorabilia, and works by local artisans. Admission is $4, free for children 6 and under. Admission includes a 15-minute guided tour of La Casita, a renovated cigar worker’s cottage adjacent to the museum; it’s furnished as it was at the turn of the 20th century. The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm, but you have the best chance for the guided tour if you visit between 11am and 3pm. Better yet, plan to catch a cigar-rolling demonstration (ongoing; no specific schedule), held Friday through Sunday from 10am to 3pm.

The Ybor City Museum Society also operates the Tampa Baseball Museum in the historic Al Lopez House, 2003 N. 19th St. (tel. 813/247-1434), featuring over 125 years of ball history.

Hyde Park Village  (813/251-3500), centered around 1602 W. Snow Ave.,  is a terrific alternative to cookie-cutter malls. Its cluster of 50 upscale shops (Gorjana, Rag & Bone) is set in a village layout in one of the city’s most historic and picturesque neighborhoods. There’s a free parking garage on South Oregon, Rome, and Swann Avenues. Most shops are open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. Throughout the year, the village hosts events, from concerts to art festivals.

The centerpiece of the downtown seaport renovation is Sparkman Wharf, 615 Channelside Drive (tel. 813/618-5844). It has stores, restaurants, bars, and a Splitsville Lanes bowling alley. The Wharf is open Sunday through Thursday from 11am to 9pm and 11am to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

In Ybor City, Centro Ybor, on 7th Avenue East at 16th Street (tel. 813/242-4660), is primarily a dining-and-entertainment complex, but you’ll find a few retail shops. While Ybor City is no longer a major producer of hand-rolled cigars, but you can still watch artisans making stogies at the Columbia Restaurant Cigar Store. Rollers are on duty Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm. You can stock up on domestic and imported cigars at King Corona Cigars Bar and Cafe, 1523 E. 7th Ave. (tel. 813/241-9109); and Tabanero Cigars, 1601 E. 7th Ave. (tel. 813/402-6316).

On the mall front, there’s the upscale International Plaza and Bay Street (tel. 813/342-3790), near Tampa International Airport, where the shops include Gucci, Apple, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Racks in many restaurants and bars have copies of Creative Loafing Tampa, a free publication and excellent website detailing what’s going on in the entire bay area. You can also check the Friday edition of the Tampa Bay Times.

The Club, Bar & Music Scene in Tampa

Ybor City is Tampa’s favorite nighttime neighborhood. Stroll along 7th Avenue East between 15th and 20th streets, and you’ll hear music blaring from the clubs. On Friday and Saturday, from 9pm to 3am, the avenue is packed with people, the majority high-school kids and early-20-somethings; but you’ll also find something going on Tuesday through Thursday, and even on Sunday. The clubs change names frequently, so you don't need names, addresses, or phone numbers; your ears will guide you along. With all of the sidewalk seating, it’s easy to judge what the clientele is like and make your choice from there. Centro Ybor, on 7th Avenue East at 16th Street (tel. 813/242-4660), the district’s large dining-and-entertainment complex, also has nightlife, but it tends to be of a tamer, more family-oriented variety than what you’ll find on 7th Avenue, at least on nonweekend nights. You don’t have to pay to listen to live music in the center’s patio on weekend afternoons.

Hyde Park and SoHo (South of Howard), are two other nighttime downtown playgrounds, where restaurant bars buzz with late-night activity. This is especially the case at Hattrick’s, 107 S. Franklin St. (tel. 813/225-4288), Cru Cellars Wine Bar, 2506 S. MacDill Ave. (tel. 813/831-1117), Edge Rooftop Cocktail Lounge at the Epicurean Hotel, 1207 S. Howard (tel. 813/999-8731), and at Ciro’s, 2109 Bayshore Blvd., (tel. 813/251-0022), which is a speakeasy and set in a historic building.

Other Tampa hot spots at night include the Arts Club at the Tampa EDITION hotel, the bar at Boulon Brasserie, 1001 Water St. (tel. 813/768-9988), downtown rooftop bar M. Bird on the roof of the very cool Armature Works, 1903 Market St. (tel. 813/296-2702), CW’s Gin Joint, 633 N. Franklin St. (tel. 813/816-1446), and the bar at Olivia, 3601 W. Swann Ave. (tel. 813/328-8866).

The Performing Arts in Tampa

With a prime downtown location on 9 acres along the east bank of the Hillsborough River, the huge Straz Center (aka The Straz), 1010 N. MacInnes Place, next to the Tampa Museum of Art (tel. 800/955-1045 or 813/229-7827), is one of the largest performing arts centers in the country. This five-theater complex is the focal point of Tampa’s performing arts scene, presenting a wide range of theater, classical and pop concerts, operas, and special events.

The restored Tampa Theatre, 711 N. Franklin St., between Zack and Polk streets (tel. 813/274-8286), dates from 1926 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It presents a varied program of classic, foreign, and alternative films, as well as concerts and special events (and it’s said to be haunted!).

The 66,321-seat Raymond James Stadium, 4201 N. Dale Mabry Hwy. (tel. 813/673-4300), is often the site of headliner concerts, from Taylor Swift to Beyonce.

The Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Dr. (tel. 813/974-3111), on the University of South Florida campus, hosts major concerts by pop stars, rock bands, jazz groups, and other artists.

One of the busiest spots in town for live music, rustic-style, is Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Rd. (tel. 813/971-0666), a Key West–style former smokehouse turned blues, jazz, zydeco, ska, and reggae hot spot.

The city also hosts a number of live music festivals out of doors.