Following our story about the state’s best new restaurants, our USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Dining and Entertainment Team surveyed favorite dining spots that have remained beloved for generations.
Yes, Florida’s dining scene is ever-evolving, but some restaurants have stood the test — and taste — of time. From historic seafood shacks to iconic steakhouses, these legendary eateries have been serving locals and visitors for decades, preserving flavors and traditions that define the Sunshine State’s culinary landscape.
These institutions have witnessed Florida’s transformation while remaining true to their roots. Some have hosted presidents and celebrities, while others have gained fame on TV shows like “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” But they all share a common legacy — exceptional food, a rich history, and an undeniable sense of place.
Hungry for a taste of Florida’s past and present? These are our favorite legendary restaurants that we regularly visit and recommend in our respective communities across the state — places that continue to define Florida dining.
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Bern’s Steak House | Tampa
Bern’s Steak House, open since 1956, is at 1208 S. Howard Ave., Tampa.
Details: 1208 S. Howard Ave., Tampa; 813-251-2421; bernssteakhouse.com
Open since 1956, with decor often likened to “Dracula’s bordello,” Bern’s Steak House has attracted everyone from mafiosos to at least one sitting U.S. president, thanks to its dry-aged cuts of beef and legendary wine collection.
Must-try menu items include the Delmonico steak and French onion soup au gratin. Be sure to secure a seat upstairs at the cozy Harry Waugh Dessert Room to indulge in desserts like Bananas Foster or Baked Alaska, both flambéed tableside. Serious steak enthusiasts and oenophiles should consider booking a room at the Epicurean Hotel, Bern’s sister property located just across the street. ― Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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Columbia Restaurant | Tampa
Details: 2117 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa; 813-248-4961; columbiarestaurant.com
There are few, if any, things more famous from Tampa than the Cuban sandwich and no better place to enjoy one than at Columbia, which just happens to be recognized as the oldest restaurant in the Sunshine State. Founded in 1905 and honored for the best sandwich in Florida by Food & Wine magazine, Columbia’s Cubano contains baked ham, Genoa salami, mojo-marinated roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on freshly baked Cuban bread from La Segunda Central Bakery, which was established in 1915.
Columbia’s many excellent examples of Cuban and Spanish cuisine (with Italian influences) include the “Original 1905 Salad,” the paella, and the roast pork “a la Cubana.” For beverages, be sure to try the sangria. Better yet, just order a pitcher; there’s probably no better sangria served this side of Spain. Also, consider visiting the Columbia Cafe at the Tampa Bay History Center along Tampa Riverwalk, or, if you’re venturing south of the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge, there’s the beautiful, largely open-air Columbia location that opened in 1959 on Sarasota’s famed St. Armands Circle. ― Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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Dixie Crossroads | Titusville
People come from all over for The Dixie Crossroads in Titusville.
Details: 1475 Garden St., Titusville; 321-268-5000; dixiecrossroads.com
Customers have raved about their oysters and rock shrimp since 1983. Dixie Crossroads always serves their famous powdered-sugar-dusted corn fritters, along with other unique staples, such as sweet potatoes and lobster bisque, to accompany everything from crab cakes to New York strip.
Find a seat in the gazebo; you’ll feel the classic ol’ Florida ambiance. And remember that the Crossroads started as a 30-seat venture: It’s now a 400-plus-seat establishment. That’s pretty iconic in itself. — Amber Olesen, FLORIDA TODAY
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The Dock at Crayton Cove | Naples
The Dock At Crayton Cove is one of the oldest restaurants in Naples.
Details: 845 12th Ave. S., Naples; 239-263-9940; dockcraytoncove.com
For a true Naples waterfront dining experience, head to The Dock at Crayton Cove. A popular restaurant that sits right on Naples Bay, it’s among the oldest still standing in the city, opening in 1976. Food options run the gamut, from red curry mussels to Key lime grouper to stone crab claws (when in season). The Dock also was known for years as home to the Great Dock Canoe Race, an annual post-season tradition that began in May 1977 and lasted until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. ― Dave Osborn, Naples Daily News
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Farmers Market Restaurant | Fort Myers
Farmers Market Restaurant has been serving Southern-flavored comfort food in Fort Myers since 1952.
Details: 2736 Edison Ave., Fort Myers; 239-334-1687; farmersmarketrestaurant.com
This unassuming wonder has been a Fort Myers staple since opening in front of the State Farmers Market in 1952. It began as a place for produce-delivering farmers and truck drivers to eat before heading back out. It became a comfort-food lover’s dream and is still going strong 70-plus years later. Fresh produce and southern favorites are and have always been a menu fixture. Think fried green tomatoes, fresh cut collard greens, fried okra, black-eyed peas, fried chicken, smoked ribs, pulled pork, meatloaf and so much more. Only three families — Christine and R.V. Green, Claire “Doll” Williams, and currently, the Barnwells — have owned it, passing recipes down for generations.
Over the decades, it has hosted presidents, governors, local folks and their families who have grown up there. The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore recently stopped in, leaving behind a secret sauce recipe that’s been added to the time-tested menu. It goes perfectly with those fried green tomatoes. Oh, and save room for a homemade dessert — maybe some pecan, sweet potato, pumpkin or strawberry pie? We could keep going on and on, just like Farmers Market — the oldest restaurant in Fort Myers — has. — Robyn George, Th News-Press
McGuire’s Irish Pub | Pensacola
One of several dining rooms at Pensacola’s legendary restaurant McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
Details: 600 E. Gregory St, Pensacola; 850-433-6789; mcguiresirishpub.com/pensacola
When McGuire’s Irish Pub first opened in 1977, it was a neighborhood pub built with the community in mind. When it relocated to its current location in 1982, an original 1927 Old Firehouse, the now 615-seat restaurant was taken to new heights. The inside, lit with a deep red lighting and over a million signed dollar bills hanging from the ceiling and the sound of bagpipes in the background, is modeled after a “turn-of-the-century, New York Irish Saloon.”
Since then, the restaurant has become a Pensacola landmark for “feasting, imbibery, debauchery,” according to the company’s slogan. When visiting, you can either score one of the restaurant’s Irish specialties, like the Irish boxtys, corned beef and cabbage and Irish steak and mushroom pie, but you’re not limited there on menu choices. McGuire’s is branded as “one of America’s great steak houses” for a reason and offers U.S.D.A. certified prime steaks that are char-grilled over hickory wood fire, along with three-quarters of a pound steak burgers custom made from the steak trimmings. ― Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal
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Ocean Deck Restaurant & Beach Bar | Daytona Beach
Ocean Deck Restaurant in Daytona Beach.
Details: 127 S. Ocean Ave., Daytona Beach; 386-253-5224, oceandeck.com
Ocean Deck, the quintessential beach bar, has been feeding the Daytona Beach area community for more than 65 years now.
After opening as a hotdog stand in 1957, the nautical spot has become a local watering hole offering the beachfront, craft cocktail, live entertainment experience that longtime locals enjoy on the regular and generations of vacationers look forward to year after year.
The “no shirt, no shoes, no problem” eatery sits directly on the sandy shores of The World’s Most Famous Beach, and offers a slew of funky cocktails and seafood staples, including grilled grouper and Caribbean lobster tail, alongside a variety of 10-ounce burgers, fish sandwiches, salads and more. — Helena Perray, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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Okeechobee Steakhouse | West Palm Beach
Curtis Lewis (R) and his son Ralph Lewis (L) are the second and third generation to helm Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach. The restaurant was originally a drive-in when it opened in 1947.
Details: 2854 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561-683-5151; okeesteakhouse.com
What does Billy Joel have in common with Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer? They and so many dignitaries of every industry are patrons of this family-owned steakhouse founded by husband-wife Ralph and Norma Lewis in 1947 as Okeechobee Drive-In with a charcoal pit for cooking, an era when cocktails could be delivered to your car.
Flash forward 78 years as two successive generations of Lewises helm the steakhouse that attracts Palm Beach County’s power brokers at lunch and generation after generation of families for dinner.
Ralph’s son Curtis is the restaurant’s longest employee who started as a dishwasher at 12. Curtis’s son Ralph, not a junior, started in the late 1970s and is a third-generation proprietor with his wife, Laura. Add a few nephews representing the fourth generation working at the restaurant.
Canadian whiskeys and beer have given way to premium Bourbons and fine wines from a deep cellar with more than 600 selections. Fried catfish served with hush puppies and soup was the most popular dish during the early days and priced $4. As American palates have become more sophisticated over the decades, pan-seared seabass is a modern-day guest’s go-to for $51.
Filet mignon remains the top seller cut, followed by the Delmonaco, a boneless ribeye. To this day, the all-time best-selling side remains classic baked potatoes. — Diana Biederman, The Palm Beach Post
Shell Oyster Bar | Tallahassee
Leroy Milligan, owner of Shell Oyster Bar, holds a plate of oysters inside his restaurant Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
14 FAMU Way, Tallahassee; 850-224-9919; Facebook
Oysters, a salty sea delicacy and Tallahassee tradition, are enjoyed at longtime establishment Shell Oyster Bar located on FAMU Way. The dive style oyster shack and restaurant started in a former gas station on South Monroe Street in 1945, selling only raw oysters and small bottles of soda until 1992. When it moved to FAMU Way, still in the shadow of the Capitol, owner Leroy Milligan added fried oysters, plus scallops, shrimp, grouper and other seafood to the menu. The generous grouper sandwiches are a favorite. It’s all devoured by students, families, legislators and lobbyists alike. Cash only. — Kyla Sanford, Tallahassee Democrat
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Singleton’s Seafood Shack | Jacksonville
4728 Ocean St., Mayport, facebook.com
Generations of Jacksonvillians have eaten shrimp and hushpuppies in the shack along the St. Johns River, which first opened in 1967. You’re not going to find a fresher shrimp po’boy anywhere — the trawlers unload their daily catch right there on the Mayport docks. Singleton’s, which was featured on Season 9 of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” underwent an extensive facelift in 2022 after closing for the Covid crisis.
Waldo’s Restaurant & Bar | Vero Beach
Waldo’s Restaurant & Bar is located inside the historic Driftwood Inn in Vero Beach.
Details: 3150 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach; 772-231-7091; historicwaldos.com
Waldo’s Restaurant & Bar, located inside the historic Driftwood Inn, is one of Vero Beach pioneer Waldo Sexton’s historic landmarks. Sexton first came to Vero Beach in the 1920s and started building the Driftwood Inn out of the timbers of a dairy barn destroyed in a storm. Finished in 1935, it was supposed to be a family beach house. However, after many requests for rooms because of limited hotel options in the area, it expanded into the Driftwood Resort with an oceanfront restaurant and bar. It has indoor and outdoor seating with a guest-only pool in the middle, live music on the weekends and a wooden deck that sits on the beach. ― Laurie K. Blandford, TCPalm/Treasure Coast Newspapers
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Walt’s Fish Market Restaurant & Tiki Bar | Sarasota
Details: 4144 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-921-4605; waltsfishmarketrestaurant.com
Owned and operated by fourth-generation commercial fisherman Brett Wallin, Walt’s boasts more than a century of history in Sarasota and lives by the saying: “The fish we sell today, slept in the Gulf last night.” Each meal at Walt’s, which offers indoor as well as open-air seating, begins gloriously with a complimentary serving of their smoked fish dip, made in-house with mullet and mahi-mahi.
For entrees, Walt’s has served some of the best red snapper — try it flame-broiled with a side of lemon cream for occasional dipping — that you will find in Florida. They also offer one of the Sunshine State’s best grouper sandwiches, the humorously named Square Grouper Sandwich. Looking for another way to enjoy fresh grouper at Walt’s? Try the lightly panko-fried Firecracker Grouper Bites, which are indeed fire whenever I have them. ― Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 12 iconic Florida restaurants dishing out tasty traditions for decades
