Over the past few years, the 600 block of Central Avenue has turned into a foodie paradise. The block is already home to local favorites such as Pacific Counter, Maple Street Biscuit Company, The Lure, and Brass Bowl. Next year, burgers and beer will join the mix.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar recently submitted construction plans to the city for the buildout of a 3,672 square foot restaurant located at 670 Central Avenue, replacing the offices of Peregrine Construction Group. 

The fast-casual burger joint was founded in Austin, TX in 2010. With a focus on free ingredients, antibiotic and hormone-free beef ground in-house, thick shakes, and hand-cut fries, Hopdoddy built a following that has allowed them to expand into California, Colorado, Arizona, and now Florida. There are over 30 locations nationwide.

As one taco joint falls, another joins the fray. Poppo’s Taqueria now open in the EDGE District at 1033 Central Avenue, formerly Designer’s Consigner.

Started on Anna Maria Island in 2013, Poppo’s Taqueria is a family owned and operated Mexican-inspired restaurant that traces their roots to the street food of San Francisco’s Mission District. The St. Pete location will be the restaurant’s seventh outpost.

The menu is simple, offering build-your-own tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or bowls. Protein selections include ancho chicken, carnitas, morita steak, and tempeh. There are around twelve different fillings including pico de gallo, jalapeño relish, and honey-lime slaw.

While the rest of America was grilling burgers and relaxing by the pool on July 4th, Josie Barber and her daughter April Lupkey received devastating news. A fire had broken out at their Downtown St. Pete restaurant, Karma Juice Bar & Eatery, located at 209 1st Street NE.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but Barber estimates it’ll take 2-3 months and $200,000 to rebuild. “We are already drawing up the plans to make it safer,” says Barber. “This is an opportunity to make Karma better than ever.”

As a gesture of goodwill after hearing about the fire, real estate owner Jon Daou offered Karma discounted rent inside one of his properties. So until the original location reopens, Karma will temporarily operate out of Intermezzo Coffee and Cocktails at 1111 Central Avenue.

New window decals were installed last week revealing another concept coming soon to the recently completed ONE St Petersburg condo tower in Downtown St. Pete. Social Roost Kitchen and Bar will be a poultry lover’s paradise, featuring chicken in every way, including fried, grilled, blackened, roasted, and more.

The upscale casual restaurant concept is the creation of Jason Teabout and Rob Bowen, both of whom grew up in St. Pete. Rob is an interior designer, who started a design firm in Downtown St. Pete 12 years ago and Jason just retired from 24 years in the military.

Jason and Rob describe Social Roost as a personal passion project and a love letter to St. Pete. “We adore Downtown St. Pete,” says Rob. “This is our way of giving back to the community.”

Burgerim, which translates to "many burgers" in Hebrew, will be opening on the ground level of ONE St. Petersburg, Downtown St. Pete’s tallest tower.

Started in Tel Aviv in 2011, founder Donna Tuchner discovered a way to set Burgerim apart from the other burger eateries – variety. Instead of the typical 7oz burger, Burgerim specializes in 2.8oz mini burgers that are completely customizable.

Build a simple burger for the kids and an unconventional masterpiece for yourself. Burgerim offers three buns, six sauces, ten patties, and nine toppings. The choice of patties includes beef, turkey, lamb, dry-aged, chicken, chorizo, salmon, merguez (spicy beef), wagyu, and veggie.

Dress your burger with traditional toppings like mixed greens, grilled onions, and sautéed mushrooms and then add specialty toppings such as pineapple, avocado, or a sunny side up egg. Each burger meal comes with a side of either fries, sweet potato fries, or onion rings.

Have you ever craved fine dining cuisine, but didn’t have time to sit at a table for over an hour? A new Downtown St. Pete restaurant wants to give you the best of both worlds — flavor and speed. And they open Monday April 1st.

Brass Bowl is a new kitchen and juice bar concept located at 656 Central Avenue. Their aim is to offer one of the best chef-driven, organic, flavorful, and gourmet menus St. Pete has ever seen.

"We believe in protecting the environment, responsibly sourcing our ingredients, and supporting as many local businesses as possible,” says Executive Chef Jason Gordon, who was previously the chef at Sunset Grill in Ruskin, FL.

Brass Bowl is a 100% gluten-free scratch kitchen, so there isn’t anything pre-made coming into the restaurant. Everything from the almond butter to the hummus is made in-house. Even more impressive, there are no freezers, no fryers, and no heat lamps. All food is made-to-order with the freshest ingredients.

Soon you won’t have to travel far to eat like you are in Puerto Rico. WEPA, St. Petersburg’s first authentic Puerto Rican restaurant, opens to the public this Saturday March 16th in the Warehouse Arts District. Located at 2149 3rd Ave South, WEPA is situated directly across the street from 3 Daughters Brewing.

“WEPA” (pronounced weh-pah) is a Spanish colloquialism used to express excitement, similar to “Wow!” or “Oh Yeah!” And as customers take their first bite of food, owner Jean Totti hopes to hear this exclamation all day, every day.

The menu at WEPA is inspired by Totti’s memories of growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he spent many afternoons by his mother’s, aunt’s and grandmother’s side in the kitchen. Many of the dishes available at WEPA come from hand-written recipes passed down over three generations. “Working with these recipes for months, we’ve selected a range of dishes that will represent our culinary history,” Totti adds. 

With a plethora of grilled cheese, burgers, and pizza in Downtown St. Pete, it’s not always easy to eat healthy — especially if you are in a hurry. A new fast-casual restaurant from Tampa is hoping to change that. SoFresh will be opening this summer on the ground floor of 200 Central Avenue, Downtown St. Pete’s tallest office tower, in a space recently vacated by Subway.

The addition of SoFresh is one of many upgrades the office tower has planned for 2019. “As they embark this year on a multi-million dollar renovation to the building, our leasing team felt that SoFresh would be the perfect addition to the building and Downtown St Pete,” says Wendy Giffin, director at Cushman & Wakefield, the tenant representative.

“SoFresh is locally owned, offers healthy and creative fresh bowls and wraps with pressed juices and smoothies and creates a good mix of dining options with our other two great restaurants at the building, The Mill and the Craft Kafe,” says Giffin.

Can we take a moment to appreciate all of the new cuisine that has come to Downtown St Pete recently? Over the past few years, Iberian Rooster introduced us to Portuguese fusion, 11 Chicks brought us Venezuelan, Renzo’s specializes in Argentine asado, and Avocado Valley serves Middle Eastern fare. By the end of February, a Puerto Rican eatery named WEPA! will open. And in late 2019, Baba, a Greek-Lebanese restaurant and bakery from the owners of Bodega will join the Grand Central District.

But perhaps most exciting is the introduction of Indian cuisine in the EDGE District. For the past four years, Lokesh Vale has operated The Twisted Indian, one of the most popular food trucks in St. Petersburg. Over the years, the truck has gained a loyal following and become a staple of the Saturday Morning Market and Localtopia.

Today marks the next step in The Twisted Indian’s journey as Vale pulls back the curtain on a new pop-up storefront located at 1113 Central Avenue inside Baum Avenue Market (or BAM for short), a multi-concept space showcasing local makers of fresh fare. At long last, we no longer need to wait until Saturday to enjoy The Twisted Indian’s delicious food.