We certainly know there’s no shortage of great eats in St. Pete, and a new top restaurants list is showing love for the Sunshine City, too. Yelp just dropped its annual top 50 restaurants in Tampa Bay, and six local staples made the cut on a list that spans from Sarasota to Tampa to Clearwater and everything in between.

We know, these lists can sometimes seem silly (and occasionally uninformed, when national outlets drop in), but we’re fully in favor of shining a light on local businesses, and the local Tampa Bay Yelp team does a great job of supporting the independent restaurants that we love to visit.

To compile the top 50 list, Yelp says they identified all area businesses in the restaurants category, then ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews between Summer 2022 and Summer 2023.

Many of our personal favorites made the list, including some longtime standouts and at least one or two hidden gems. The full top 50 list for the entire Tampa Bay region can be found here, with the six local spots listed below in order of their appearance.

• No. 3: Mio’s Grill & Cafe – The rare gem hiding in plain sight downtown, Mio’s has slowly built up an incredible reputation for legit (and healthy) Turkish and Mediterranean eats in a casual setting.
• No. 4: Mazzaro’s Italian Market – Are we at all surprised? It’s a madhouse during peak hours, but it’s a must-visit for locals and tourists alike.
• No. 13: Uptown Eats – The cult favorite may have risen above hidden gem status as its booming popularity has even led to an upcoming expansion, and the breakfast sandwiches alone make it a worthy inclusion.
• No. 15: Craft Kafe – We make visits to gluten-free Craft Kafe on a seemingly weekly basis, and we have yet to try anything that isn’t worthy of a five star review.
• No. 21: Pia’s Trattoria – The poster child for “If you know, you know,” Pia’s is one of our favorite reasons to visit Gulfport, a beautiful Italian dinner under the lights in the garden.
• No. 47: La Casa Del Pane – We love a beach day that starts with freshly-baked croissants and delicious coffee, our favorite pairing at this exceedingly enjoyable Italian cafe.