5 Tampa Bay coffee shops that have truly great food

I spend a lot of time in coffee shops. As a millennial with a sometimes-remote job living in a hip metropolitan area, it is practically my destiny to frequent one of these spots every week for a little treat.

But there are rarely just coffee shops anymore. The coffee shop experience has transformed into the modern cafe experience, a gathering place that can serve just about anything: lattes, sure, but also kombucha and pastries and breakfast platters and salads and sometimes even beer and cocktails.

At St. Petersburg stalwart Bandit, they’ve got more than a dozen food items coming out of a recently expanded kitchen. The ambitious menu is helmed by vets of celebrated Tampa restaurant Rooster & the Till. King State in Tampa has offered light breakfast and lunch fare since it opened in 2019, and their food offerings have only expanded. Sugar Baby launched in Seminole just last year, a coffee shop serving beverages plus a solid breakfast and lunch menu.

When it comes to food, many of our local coffee standbys have outgrown the default pastry selection to offer robust menus cooked in full kitchens. And some of them are really good. Here are five of my favorites.

Sugar Baby

Yauhen Yurhelevich and Victoria Shivock opened this spot in September 2023 in a little strip off Park Boulevard. The couple live nearby and chose a Seminole location because they felt there was a lack of strong coffee options in the area. The cafe offers an all-day breakfast menu and some salads and sandwiches, plus standard coffee and espresso offerings and a rotating list of seasonal drinks like a Strawberry Espresso Tonic and a Lime Basil Lemonade. Yurhelevich, who has worked as a restaurant chef in the past, created the menu and cooks the food to-order. He always wanted to open a breakfast spot, and Shivock always wanted to open a coffee shop, and their interests merge nicely here.

I was lured by photos of their breakfast options on social media, particularly the bountiful Breakfast Plate made up of eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, roasted tomatoes, hash browns and toast. I ordered it to-go on a busy day, and it was delicious, each item clearly expertly made. (The roasted tomatoes were an especially nice touch.) I’m eyeing some other items for the next time I stop by, like the Breakkie Bowl served with kale, quinoa, bacon, avocado, a six-minute egg and a lemon vinaigrette; or the Kimchi Grilled Cheese with cheddar, bacon and everything bagel seasoning.

9191 Park Blvd., Seminole. 727-235-0011. oursugarbaby.com.

Bandit

What started as a humble coffee shop has grown and grown and grown, literally expanding in past years to make the kitchen bigger and (just recently) add a takeout window for food items and some beverages. Earlier this year, owners Sarah and Joshua Weaver announced another venture, Spitz, a wine bar opening just down the street in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. Wine has always been a big part of the offerings at Bandit, which first brought high-quality coffee to this part of downtown nearly a decade ago now and continues to surprise and delight.

The pastry offerings are strong, with a housemade focaccia that changes daily and plenty of sweets. On the savory side, the breakfast items shine. The OG Egg and Cheese (add bacon!) and the Simple Bandit Breakfast are some of their best options, simple food executed at a high level. Half of the menu rotates seasonally, usually offering a couple sandwiches (the chicken biscuit is always a strong contender), a bowl and a larger-format plate like the current Chicken and Grits (sous vide airline chicken over rice grits topped with a citrusy hollandaise).

2662 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. banditstpete.com.

Cafe Quiquiriqui

This is the coffee shop inside Ybor City’s Hotel Haya, but it’s so much more than a standard lobby coffee shop. With its own entrance off Seventh Avenue and 14th Street, the bright, airy space features a coffee bar serving up the classics, a case of housemade pastries (get the Guava Pastelito!) and breakfast and lunch fare that draws from the area’s rich Cuban history.

For breakfast you must try the Tortilla Espagnole, which takes inspiration from a Spanish tortilla, a dish that does not feature tortilla but more resembles what we know as an omelette. In this version, eggs and potatoes are cooked together into a thin layer, with wonderfully browned and crispy edges. The best part: It’s topped with crisped prosciutto and red peppers. There’s also overnight oats, Cuban rice pudding and a standard breakfast sandwich. Those items are served till 11 a.m., at which point they switch to lunch and offer things like avocado toast, a Cuban Cobb salad, and empanadas with mojo aoili.

1402 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa. 813-568-1200. hotelhaya.com.

Atria

I talk about this place a lot, but for good reason: You simply cannot go wrong at this cafe in Lakewood Ranch that started as a bread pop-up. When owners Jim and Weyli Angus opened their brick-and-mortar spot in 2020, the focus was on high-quality coffee and sourdough bread, which they still craft daily in-house. It’s since grown to be so much more, with a strong coffee program and an even stronger food game that includes some of my favorite bites in all of Tampa Bay. In the evenings, they’re serving up some truly stellar sourdough pizza.

The bread options, a classic crusty sourdough loaf and a softer Hokkaido milk bread, are still the stars here, but the pastry program is also next-level. In addition to standbys like a citrus cardamom cinnamon roll and ham and cheese croissants, there are specials like a recent Blackberry Lobster Tail with almond frangipane and fruit filling. Breakfast and lunch items range from a hearty egg sandwich to a wonderful B.L.T. to standbys like pancakes, avocado toast and a salad with chicken that vary slightly depending on the season. Oh, and for peak elevated coffee shop vibes, order a plain shot of espresso, which is served in a teeny glass with an orange peel and a cup of seltzer on the side.

4120 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch. atria.cafe.

King State

Recent wobbles aside, the Tampa location of King State continues to sling a wide variety of items: By day, it’s a coffee shop with a substantial food menu; by night it’s a bar serving cocktails and pizzas. The B.L.T. is a solid choice, crispy bacon on multigrain bread with spring mix and green tomatoes. It comes with a side of either grits, fruit or salad, which is a nice touch. For something more breakfasty, try The Bowl, which is absolutely loaded with chorizo, Cajun potatoes, scrambled eggs, peppers, onions and cotija cheese. The simple breakfast plate is also lovely, a homey dish of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, grits and fruit.

520 E Floribraska Ave., Tampa. king-state.com.