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Dining out

By Times Staff
Published May 5, 2006

The City Times dining guide is a selective listing of Tampa restaurants recommended by St. Petersburg Times food critic Chris Sherman.

Price: Cost of a dinner for two with tax and tip is indicated by the number of dollar signs: $ - Inexpensive (less than $25); $$ - Moderate ($25 to $50); $$$ - Expensive ($60 and up).

CHEAP THRILLS

EVOS $

This millennial burger stand takes fast food back to a hipper, healthier future in a blaze of warm curves and cool colors. Team Evos fuels the apres-gym crowd with veggie burgers, salmon patties, air fries, vegan chili, tacos, wraps, smoothies and even nonmeat corn dogs. Five flavors of ketchup, plus a vibrant staff to go with it all. 609 S Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 258-3867.

PANERA BREAD $

leek chain of bread bakers brings hip taste and ancient crunch to the malls: peasant breads, fancy pastries, bright salads and all manner of bagels and sandwiches. 701 S. Howard Ave., (813) 253-5888; 112 West Shore Blvd., Tampa (813) 286-7119.

WRIGHT'S GOURMET HOUSE $

Monster sandwiches, fantasy cakes and originality have made this a landmark on Tampa's lunch and takeout menus for decades. Try the Golden Gate pork sandwich with peach chutney, beef martini or turkey pecan salad. Get a half-size order so you can eat a little cake: chocolate, rum or hummingbird. 1200 S Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa; (813) 253-3838.

FIRST WATCH $

The biggest Florida chain to make brunch a daily specialty, it serves eggs, omelets, pancakes, waffles and crepes as well as sandwiches and salads, spiced from Italian to Cajun. It draws a big-city line Sunday mornings in downtown Tampa and crowds anywhere it opens. Open breakfast and lunch only. 520 Tampa St., downtown Tampa, (813) 307-9006; 11610 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, (813) 961-4947; 2726 E Fowler Ave., Tampa; (813) 975-1718.

MAIN COURSES

BIG CITY TAVERN $$

This is the grandest space in Ybor, the top floor of the 1912 Centro Espanol. In it, Big City serves straightforward modern American classics. Ask for a pork chop, and you get a thick one, juicy pink as ordered. Pasta? Linguine with clam sauce or whole wheat penne with porcini mushrooms. Or you can have a big burger (with hand-cut fries) or tuna salad (with basil and capers). Centro Ybor, 1600 Eighth Ave., Ybor City; (813) 247-3000.

THE COLONNADE $ to $$

Tampa has stopped here for a bay view and plain food for 50 years with good reason. Seafood is varied, from grilled salmon to Florida's fried favorites, and comes with good trimmings such as spinach salad and fresh muffins. 3401 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa; (813) 839-7558.

JO-TO $$

Tampa's pioneer sushi bar packs 'em in with lively chefs who do their tricks with salmon (fresh and smoked), mackerel, eel, conch, shrimp, scallops, sea urchin and roe as well as fried shrimp, grouper and softshell crab. Plus a full Japanese menu. Beer and wine. 310 S Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa; (813) 875-4842.

DATE NIGHT

ASHLEY STREET GRILLE $$$

Come to this quiet room with a view of river and minarets for the kind of secrets discreet hotels keep: some of the best modern cuisine in town, all subtlety, no flash. The menu sounds simple, but the chefs get the best seafood, heirloom vegetables and fine cheeses and design ways for them to shine, including good service and bargain wines. Baking is first-rate, from peasant bread to pastry. Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel, 200 N Ashley Drive, Tampa; (813) 223-2222.

BERN'S STEAK HOUSE $$ to $$$

Owner Bern Laxer has passed the torch, but his passion for quality still brings connoisseurs of red wine and red meat to his legendary steakhouse and cellars. A new generation is adding subtle innovations in desserts and trimmings. Steak haters can have fish fresh from the tank, tour the kitchen, sample the caviar, marvel at the wine list and luxuriate in the dessert room. Red velvet alert: The taste that counts is in food, not decor, although revamping is under way. Full bar. 1208 S Howard Ave., Tampa; (813) 251-2421.

OYSTERCATCHERS $$$

The best contemporary seafood around is served with a picture-window view of Tampa Bay, and the open kitchen and display of fresh fish are just as eye-catching. The spread includes egg dishes and waffles, plus pasta, hot entrees and an abundance of the restaurant's specialty: seafood. Hyatt Regency West Shore, 6200 Courtney Campbell Parkway, Tampa; (813) 281-9116.

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 08:59:08]