Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, FL

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
This is 1 of those places that we love to find and frankly makes all the rolling around worth it. It's a place that was made up mostly of immigrants and cigar rollers. Thankfully they left a lot of the original buildings and just repurposed them into places of entertainment, libations and nutrition. There are a few hand rollers plying their trade in shop front windows. There's ample parking, easy access from the highway and a street trolley runs through the neighborhood.

Like many towns in the US, it fell on hard times after WWII. But thanks to some savvy business people, it's now a vibrant community and a great tourist spot. 7th avenue, where most of the bars and restaurants are located, is 1 of the 10 great American streets per some association that cares to list such streets. The streets are well lit. It looks like there is a party going on somewhere with the strands of lights that criss cross the streets.

There are quite a few tattoo parlors dotting the streets. We watched a few of the cigar rollers. They make it look easy. The bar that we stopped at, Tequilas, has a brick facade but is actually an al fresco bar in a court yard. Chatting up the bartender, we got a local's opinion of the area on things to see & do. There's no shortage of places to grab a bite to eat or enjoy a relaxing beverage. Plenty of hispanic and Italian influence in the dining choices.

Now that we know this place exists, I'm looking forward to going back and getting to know it better.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
We had dinner at Carmine's and that is one cozy cool joint. :yay: Ybor is like a (way) less grungy Fells Point with more interesting stuff - tons of bars and restaurants and shops. It has that Fells Point vibe, though. It would never have occurred to us to visit except that my Mom's cousin lives in Tampa and we had dinner with him and his wife, and because he knows things he chose Ybor City.
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Ybor used to be real bad, and can still be, but stay on 7th and 8th Ave, 13th-18th street, and it is a lot of fun, but does get crazy alot late. Good food, good clubbin' if that is your thing, and you just missed the Gasparilla Sant Yago night parade last weekend. That's wild, and really loud! You're about 20 miles from me when you're there. Have fun.
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
We had dinner at Carmine's and that is one cozy cool joint. :yay: Ybor is like a (way) less grungy Fells Point with more interesting stuff - tons of bars and restaurants and shops. It has that Fells Point vibe, though. It would never have occurred to us to visit except that my Mom's cousin lives in Tampa and we had dinner with him and his wife, and because he knows things he chose Ybor City.

Maybe there will be time to go there while I'm visiting!
 

TPD

the poor dad
Ybor City was just mentioned in the Travel section of the Washington Post this morning as a place to visit while in Tampa. You guys are on the cutting edge of travel!!
 
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