23 of the Best Restaurants Near MacDill AFB

Introduction

Location, location, location! Tampa Bay, known as the heart of Florida’s Gulf Coast, is home to fresh seafood and farm-to-table fare paired with a long history of ethnic diversity that enriches our lives in many ways, but none more flavorful than its influence on food.

Ybor City, the historic neighborhood once home to Cuban and Spanish cigar-factory workers, is now home to an energetic nightlife and dining scene full of Latin flavor easily accessible from the trolley and South Tampa.

Seminole Heights and Tampa Heights have craft breweries that lure in hipsters and beer-lovers alike.

If you know what you are hungry or thirsty for, click any of the links below to go straight to the information.

(1-2) American Restaurants on MacDill AFB
(3-7) Exchange Food Court on MacDill AFB
(8) Seafood Restaurants on MacDill AFB
(9) Fast Casual Restaurants on MacDill AFB
(10-11) Yelp’s Top 2 Best Restaurants Near MacDill AFB
(12-13) American Restaurants near MacDill AFB
(14-15) Breweries near MacDill AFB
(16) Coffee near MacDill AFB
(17-18) Veteran Owned Businesses near MacDill AFB
(19) Cuban Restaurants near MacDill AFB
(20) Fast Casual Restaurants near MacDill AFB
(21) Mexican Restaurants near MacDill AFB
(22) German Restaurants near MacDill AFB
(23) Steak Restaurants near MacDill AFB

Suggested Read: MacDill AFB: In-Depth Welcome Center

Restaurants on MacDill AFB

And, because there is no place like home, we’ve included a few choice restaurants on MacDill AFB.

American Cuisine

1. Diner’s Reef

Address: 8118 Hillsborough Loop Drive, Building. 263, MacDill AFB, FL 33621
Phone: 1 (813) 828-4998

When hunger hits, head to Diner’s Reef. Big City Grille, Super Sonic Subs, Ciao Pizza and Grains & Greens salads for tasty food served from breakfast time to midnight.

2. Rickenbacker’s Café & Bar

Address: 7637 Bayshore Blvd., Building 350, MacDill AFB, FL 33621
Phone: 1 (813) 828-7425

Rickenbacker’s Café & Bar, inside the MacDill Inn, is open to all. Gourmet coffees and teas, espresso, breakfast sandwiches, snacks, and deli sandwiches are available from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Plus, patrons can soak up local suds and cocktails when the bar opens at 3 p.m.

Exchange Food Court

Address: 3108 N. Boundary Blvd., Building 926, Tampa, FL 33608
Phone: 1 (813) 840-9005

Sometimes you just need something simple to stave off hunger pains. A quick trip to the Exchange Food Court for Dunkin Donuts, Charley’s, Taco Bell, Subway or Starbucks will have you covered. Check the Exchange website for more info about restaurants on MacDill AFB.

3. Dunkin Donuts

Phone: 1 (813) 840 0511

4. Charley’s

Phone: 1 (813) 840-9005

5. Taco Bell

Phone: (813) 840-9005

6. Subway

Phone: 1 (813) 840 – 9005

7. Starbucks

Phone: 1 (813) 840-0511

Seafood Cuisine

8. SeaScapes Beach House

Address: 9951 Marina Bay Drive, Building 682, MacDill AFB, FL 33621
Phone: 1 (813) 840-1451

At the Beach House, you can enjoy seafood like a mahi-mahi wrap, fish tacos, shrimp po’boys and beer-battered fish and chips as well as burgers, salads and sandwiches all with a scenic view of Tampa Bay on the side. Cocktails and sunsets are served up daily.

Fast Casual Restaurants

9. Raw Smoothie Co.

Address: 6102 S. MacDill, Suite F, Tampa, FL 33611
Phone: 1 (813) 835-8555

Veteran-owned Raw Smoothie Co. slings all organic, green smoothies and smoothie bowls in Tampa. With a motto like “Actually Healthy,” you can bet every nutritionally dense smoothie or bowl is served with a full serving of leafy greens, whole fruit, and omega-rich seeds.

Restaurants Near MacDill AFB

Yelp’s Top 2 Best Restaurants Near MacDill AFB

10. Big Ray’s Fish Camp

Address: 6116 Interbay Blvd., Tampa, FL 33611
Phone: 1 (813) 605-3615

From Tampa Bay’s Ballast Point neighborhood, Big Ray’s Fish Camp serves up some of the best seafood in town. Ranked No. 1 on Yelp’s Best Restaurants Near MacDill AFB, the restaurant’s fresh grouper sandwich earns high praise — as well as the conch fritters and lobster corn dogs — among reviewers.

11. Salt Shack on the Bay

Address: 5415 W. Tyson, Tampa, FL 33611
Phone: 1 (813) 444-4569

The Salt Shack’s fresh, seasonal seafood includes favorites such as fish tacos, lobster bisque, tuna tartare, crab cakes, and grouper sandwiches. Ranked No. 2 by Yelp’s Best Restaurants Near MacDill AFB. Head to Rattlesnake Point off the Gandy Bridge in South Tampa for good food and to soak up the natural beauty of the bay.

American Cuisine

12. Datz

Address: 2616 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa, FL 33629
Phone: 1 (813) 831-7000

Bacon-jalapeno mac-n-cheese buns you say? Datz’s Cheesy Todd burger is celebrated by Good Morning America for its “buns” partnered with a delectable short rib and ground brisket burger. Other house specialties include cheeseburger ravioli, stuffed meatloaf, waffles-n tweet, spaghetti-in-meatball, s’mores funnel fries, frozen cheesecake cones, and more.

13. Ulele

Pronounced You-lay-lee, this Tampa Riverwalk restaurant in the 1903 Tampa Heights Water Works building, features Native American fusion. At Ulele, you can enjoy expertly prepared local fare plucked from the Gulf Coast waters and Florida farms. Baracoa-grilled charbroiled oysters, alligator hush puppies, Florida pompano and Gulf grouper are all on the menu as well as the classics – like burgers, chicken and salads.

If you are game for an uninhibited dish, try the Native chili for a taste of wild boar, venison, duck, alligator and cranberry beans.

And, of course, craft brews from Ulele Spring Brewery are on tap.

Breweries

14. Cigar City Brewing

Tampa International Airport Location
Address: 4100 George J. Bean Parkway, Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: 1 (813) 348-6363

Downtown Tampa TapHouse Location
Address: 3924 W. Spruce Street, FL 33607
Phone: 1 (813) 348-6363

Boasting one of the world’s two active breweries inside an airport, Cigar City Brewing offers an experience unlike any other at Tampa International Airport. Travelers can enjoy beers brewed steps away from Gate C 43. Latin-inspired cuisine is offered at the bar and in the full-service dining room where guests can watch the next batch of CCB beer being brewed. Check the website for more locations.

15. Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Ybor City Location
Address: 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Tampa, FL 33605
Phone: 1 (813) 247-1422

Westchase Location
Address: 13937 Monroes Business Park, Tampa, FL 33635
Phone: 1 (813) 247-1422

Tampa Bay Brewing Co. boasts “flavorful and hop-centric IPAs, APAs, expressive sours, and juicy, fruit-forward Florida-weisse.” TBBC taprooms rotate year-round favorites and seasonal releases to keep up with the demand for fermented favorites.

In the heart of historic Ybor City, near the streetcar line, and minutes from downtown Tampa and Seminole Heights, TBBC’s brewhouse offers dozens of taps, beer-infused food with an outdoor bar and dog-friendly patio.

The Westchase production brewery and eatery off Race Track Road, about 20 minutes from downtown, features 24 rotating taps and an outdoor patio with fire pits and a covered bar as well as beer-infused and locally-influenced eats.

Coffee

16. Blind Tiger

Address: 1901 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa, FL 33605
Phone: 1 (813) 540-CAFE

The Blind Tiger’s signature drink, The Dirty Thaiger, is a double shot of espresso, Thai tea and sweetened condensed milk iced and topped with cinnamon. Other popular choices are the Café Bombon’s rich, latte-style drink made with steamed sweetened condensed milk and the Espresso Bombon, a layered double-shot of espresso over equal parts sweetened condensed milk.
From breakfast tacos to pastries baked in-house to caprese sandwiches and salads, there are plenty of tasty bites at Blind Tiger. You can find food options and location-specific menus online.

Veteran Owned Businesses

17. Cool Mo’s Coffee

Address: 11406 Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, FL 33618
Phone: 1 (813) 302-9391

You can find rave reviews online for Cool Mo’s made-to-order empanadas. This veteran-owned café’s hospitality attracts patrons, many via the drive-thru, with a craving for café con leche, beignets, Cuban sandos, and more.

18. Raw Smoothie Co.

Address 1: 408 N. Howard Ave., Tampa, FL 33606
Phone: 1 (813) 512-8081

Address 2: 6102 S. MacDill, Suite F, Tampa, FL 33611
Phone: 1 (813) 835-8555

A second, off-base location of the veteran-owned Raw Smoothie Co., with all the same delicious and nutritious health food options.

Cuban Cuisine

19. Columbia Restaurant

Mexican Cuisine

21. Taco Bus

Tampa – Gandy Location (Closest to the base)
Address: 4308 Gandy Blvd. Tampa 33611
Phone: 1 (813) 831-0550

Tampa – Hillsborough Location
Address: 913 East Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, FL 33604
Phone: 1 (813) 234-0294

Downtown Tampa Location
Address: 505 Franklin Street, Tampa FL 33602
Phone: 1 (813) 397- 2800

Keeping it chido for decades, school is in session at the Taco Bus. Celebrated for its fresh Mexican flavor in burritos, tostadas, empanadas, quesadillas and housemade agua fresca, Taco Bus is a Tampa staple.
Not only does the Taco Bus serve up much-lauded grub and horchata, but it also supports veterans in need, recently feeding weekly meals to more than 50 vets at five local Liberty Manor for Veterans.
With locations across the Metro Tampabay Area, visit the website to find a Taco Bus near you.

German Cuisine

22. Mr. Dunderbak’s

Steak Restaurants

23.  Bern’s Steak House