Florida Eats · checked by hand, fall 2026
Florida's oldest restaurants
Restaurants, bars and lunch counters that have fed Florida from the same address since 1960 or before: 17 places in all, oldest first, each checked in fall 2026 against a 2025–26 source. 12 of them opened before 1950. The oldest, Columbia Restaurant in Tampa, goes back to 1905. The note under each place names what its year rests on.
Which year counts
We count from the year a place opened at its current address in its current form, going by the place's own history or a published one. A brand's earlier start somewhere else doesn't count, and neither do the years before a move; if two sources give different years, the later one wins. Some places bill themselves as the oldest in their town or county, and one calls itself Florida's oldest restaurant. Those are their claims, quoted as such in the note under each place. Know a Florida place from 1960 or earlier that's missing? Send us the source.
Other guides: Cuban sandwiches & cafecito, Stone crabs, Grouper & seafood shacks, Keys classics, Oyster bars, Fish camps & smoked fish, Latin & Caribbean, MICHELIN & James Beard, Restaurant inspections. City pages: Miami, Miami Beach, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Sarasota, Naples, Pensacola, St. Augustine, West Palm Beach, Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Coral Gables, Key Largo, Winter Park, Destin.
Oldest first
Columbia Restaurant
2117 E 7th Ave, Tampa
Cuban & cafecito On the menu: Cuban sandwich (house-baked ham, mojo pork, Genoa salami, Swiss, pickles, mustard on La Segunda bread), Spanish-Cuban plates, flamenco dinner show · Since 1905
Block-long Spanish-Cuban dining hall in Ybor City, run by the founding family and known for its tiled rooms, flamenco show and Tampa-style Cuban.
The restaurant says Casimiro Hernandez Sr. founded it in 1905 in a 1903 corner saloon that is part of today's block-long Ybor building; it calls itself "Florida's Oldest Restaurant℠" (its service mark, an attributed claim).
Joe's Stone Crab
11 Washington Ave, Miami Beach
MICHELIN RecommendedAmerica's ClassicStone crabKeys classic On the menu: stone crab claws, mustard sauce, hash browns, creamed spinach, fried chicken, Key lime pie · Since 1918 · Season: Seasonally closed Sept 14 – Oct 16, 2026 (reopens Oct 16 for its 114th season); stone crab claws Oct 15 – May 1 (FWC season).
South Pointe institution where stone crabs were first served chilled and cracked in the 1920s, run by the Weiss family's fourth generation; Joe's Take Away next door sells claws to go.
Joe Weiss opened a lunch counter at Smith's bathing casino in 1913; in 1918 he and Jennie bought a bungalow on Biscayne Street and opened Joe's Restaurant, and the restaurant's history says it still operates in the family's house. The tourism bureau calls it Miami Beach's oldest restaurant.
Bradley's Country Store
10655 Centerville Road, Tallahassee
On the menu: homemade smoked sausage, sausage dog, country milled grits · Since 1927
Family-run country store on a canopy road north of Tallahassee that still makes its sausage and grits on site and sells sausage dogs; a store, not a sit-down restaurant.
Visit Tallahassee says the family store has operated at this same location since 1927; its own site says "since 1927." It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cap's Place Island Restaurant
2765 NE 28th Ct, Lighthouse Point
Fish camp On the menu: house-smoked fish dip, fresh local fish, Okeechobee hearts of palm salad, raw oysters, steaks · Since 1928
Former Prohibition-era speakeasy and casino on an island off Lighthouse Point, reached by boat from Cap's dock, serving local fish and house-smoked fish dip.
Captain Theodore Knight moved his operation to the present site in 1928, building on a beached barge; it calls itself Broward County's oldest restaurant and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1990). The address is Cap's dock; the restaurant sits on an island reached by the restaurant's launch.
Reececliff Family Diner
940 Florida Ave S, Lakeland
On the menu: house-made pies, Southern breakfasts, daily specials · Since 1934
Lakeland diner on South Florida Avenue known for Southern comfort food and pies, open daily with shorter Sunday hours.
The diner says it has served Lakeland since 1934 from its location on South Florida Avenue and calls itself Lakeland's oldest restaurant (its own claim).
No Name Pub
30813 Watson Blvd, Big Pine Key
Keys classicFish camp On the menu: pizza, fish dip · Since 1936
Big Pine Key pub known for its pizza and fish dip, in a building that started as a 1931 general store.
The pub's own history says the building opened in 1931 as a general store and bait shop, and the owners added a restaurant room to it in 1936.
Sloppy Joe's Bar
201 Duval St, Key West
Keys classicFish camp On the menu: conch fritters with Key lime mustard, island smoked fish dip, the original Sloppy Joe sandwich, Key lime pie · Since 1937
Duval Street landmark bar with live music daily and a kitchen serving conch fritters, smoked fish dip and Key lime pie.
The bar dates its history to the end of Prohibition in 1933 and says it has been at the corner of Duval and Greene since 1937.
The Lodge at Wakulla Springs
550 Wakulla Park Dr, Wakulla Springs
On the menu: fried shrimp, crab cakes, shrimp and grits, soda fountain · Since 1937
Marble-and-tile 1937 lodge on the spring in Wakulla Springs State Park with a dining room and an old-fashioned soda fountain.
Edward Ball opened the lodge in 1937 per Visit Wakulla; the restaurant and soda fountain are inside the original lodge building in the state park.
Ocean Grill
1050 Beachland Blvd, Vero Beach
On the menu: seafood, steaks · Since 1941
Waldo Sexton-built oceanfront dining room in Vero Beach that has survived hurricanes since 1941, now run by the second and third generation of the Replogle family.
Its own history page says Waldo Sexton built it on the dune here and the first meal was served on New Year's Eve 1941; it served as a naval officers' club during WWII and the Replogle family has run it since 1965.
Green Turtle Inn
81219 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada
Keys classicFish camp On the menu: conch chowder, conch fritters, turtle chowder (traditional red chowder), house smoked fish dip, barbecue · Since 1947
Mile marker 81.2 roadhouse dating to 1947, serving conch chowder, conch fritters and house smoked fish dip, with a roadside barbecue stand.
The restaurant says it has been an Islamorada dining favorite since 1947 and a landmark on the Overseas Highway at mile marker 81.2 for over 75 years.
Dreamette
3646 Post St, Jacksonville
On the menu: soft-serve ice cream, dipped cones, frozen yogurt · Since 1948
Cash-only Murray Hill walk-up ice cream window serving cones since the late 1940s.
Visit Jacksonville says this Post Street walk-up has served ice cream since 1948; that year comes from the tourism listing, not an independent history.
Tropical Acres Steakhouse
2500 Griffin Rd, Fort Lauderdale
On the menu: steaks, prime rib, lobster · Since 1949
Family-run steakhouse on Griffin Road since 1949, with an on-site butcher shop; the last of what was once a small chain of Tropical Acres restaurants.
Gene Harvey converted an old frame house on Griffin Road into the original Tropical Acres in 1949; it was gutted by fire on April 1, 1964 and reopened on the same site that November.
Lee & Rick's Oyster Bar
5621 Old Winter Garden Rd, Orlando
Oyster bar On the menu: raw oysters, steamed oyster buckets (bar only) · Since 1950
Orlando's long-running family oyster bar, now run by the founders' oldest son, where oysters are shucked to order along an 80-foot concrete bar.
The family's history page says Lee & Rick's opened in 1950 as a nine-stool oyster bar, with the founders living in the back of the building; it describes growth to today's 80-foot shucking bar and mentions no move.
Ted Peters' Famous Smoked Fish
1350 Pasadena Ave S, South Pasadena
Fish camp On the menu: smoked mullet, smoked Spanish mackerel, smoked fish spread, German potato salad · Since 1951
Open-air smokehouse restaurant on Pasadena Avenue in South Pasadena (St. Petersburg mailing address) that smokes mullet, mackerel and other fish over red oak, still in the founding families' hands; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
The restaurant's history page says it was running at its current location by 1951, and the county tourism bureau says it has been in the same rustic building in South Pasadena since 1951.
Bern's Steak House
1208 S Howard Ave, Tampa
MICHELIN Recommended On the menu: dry-aged steaks, dessert room, wine list · Since 1956
South Tampa steakhouse famous for its huge wine cellar and upstairs Harry Waugh Dessert Room, with wine lists dated 2026.
Bern's says it was founded in 1956 and created from a business block on Howard Avenue that held a grocery, barber shop and dime store; it marks its 70th anniversary in 2026.
Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant
128 S Federal Hwy, Dania Beach
On the menu: house-made ice cream, sundaes, classic diner fare · Since 1956
Family-owned ice cream parlor on Federal Highway making 50-plus flavors on the premises daily, with walls full of license plates and antiques.
Monroe Udell opened Jaxson's at its present Federal Highway location, just north of Stirling Road, in 1956; the family still owns it.
Columbia Restaurant
411 St Armands Cir, Sarasota
Cuban & cafecito On the menu: Cuban sandwich, Spanish-Cuban plates · Since 1959
St. Armands Circle branch of the Ybor City Spanish-Cuban restaurant family, open since 1959 and listing regular daily hours after the 2024 storm flooding on the Circle.
Bay News 9 (July 2025) reports this St. Armands Circle restaurant opened in December 1959, the Columbia family's first expansion beyond Ybor, and calls it Sarasota's oldest restaurant; no move is reported.