The Ultimate Florida Dining Guide 2026

By: The Local Palate

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Best Chef: Kayla Pfeiffer

As Naples’ first-ever James Beard Emerging Chef semifinalist (2025), Kayla Pfeiffer has transformed the city’s dining landscape with her bold, ingredient-driven approach at Bicyclette Cookshop. Trained under Andrew Carmellini, she coaxes remarkable flavor from Florida’s seasonal bounty—think hamachi collar with XO sauce or paddlefish caviar served with Bugles corn snacks.

Kayla Pfeiffer’s Recommendations:

Breakfast: Brooklyn Dough in a Hole

A well-made bacon, egg, and cheese is one of my favorite things. Brooklyn Dough sets the standard with fresh-baked bagels and exceptional hospitality.

Lunch: Neapolitan Gourmet

Old-school in the way I love—no fuss, just honest food made with care. The sandwiches are huge and can carry you for two days. My go-to is the tuna salad with lettuce, tomatoes, provolone, and hot peppers.

Dinner: The Bohemian

A place I know will deliver. You can pop in for a snack or settle into a full dinner. Consistently good—the kind of meal that sets the tone for the night.

Drinks: Nat Nat

My favorite of them all. Diego [Sanchez] and Ming [Yee] have it figured out—the food is exactly what I want, and the wine list shifts effortlessly. They create an experience you can’t find anywhere else.

Best Beverage Pro: Julio Cabrera

Café La Trova, Miami

Julio Cabrera is widely regarded as the godfather of the modern Cuban cantinero movement. His bar program at Café La Trova has earned national recognition, including three consecutive appearances on the World’s 50 Best Bars list (2021-2023). Named American Bartender of the Year in 2019 and inducted into the Bartender Hall of Fame in 2025, Cabrera is also a professor teaching the cantinero’s legacy to future generations.

Cafe La Trova Julio Cabrera Cantinero Flow Gallery

Julio Cabrera’s Current Favorites:

FLORIDA PRODUCT

Guava marmalade by Jorge Zaldivar of PG Tropicals [which delivers authentic Cuban taste and consistent flavor for Cabrera’s second-best-selling cocktail (right behind the mojito), El Guayabero].

BEVERAGE TREND

Low-ABV cocktails reflect a global shift toward mindful drinking.

DRINK SOMEWHERE ELSE

Negroni sbagliato at ViceVersa Miami [which serves them in oversized cups with large ice cubes—just like Bar Basso in Milan, where Cabrera spent Sundays during his four years living in Italy].

The Best of Florida

Best New Restaurant: Tigress Restaurant and Rooftop Bar, Naples

With standout dishes like dry-aged crown of duck with Hong Kong french toast and blue crab fried rice with jalapeño aïoli, this modern Cantonese chophouse located on the seventh-floor rooftop of The Perry Hotel Naples features cuisine by celebrity chef Dale Talde and executive chef Iggy Ortiz.

Best Culinary Hotel: Epicurean Hotel, Tampa

From its rooftop bar to the in-house Epicurean Theatre, every corner of Epicurean Hotel is an ode to taste. Guests can take cooking classes, browse the artisan marketplace, and dine at Élevage SoHo, where French technique meets Florida ingredients with serious finesse.

Best Bold Flavors: Ulele, Tampa

Ulele is a celebration of native-inspired dishes and Florida ingredients, all cooked over an open flame in a historic Tampa Heights waterworks building. Chargrilled Gulf Coast oysters, alligator hushpuppies, Florida grouper, and house-brewed craft beer make it one of Tampa’s defining restaurants.

Best Dock-to-Dish Dining: Tide Tables Restaurant and Marina, Cortez

Grouper, redfish, crabs, and shrimp come straight off the docks from local fishers who know these waters best. Since 2014, husband-and-wife team Bobby and Gwen Woodson along with Star Fish Company owner Karen Bell have connected diners directly to A.P. Bell’s wholesale operation and Cortez’s historic working waterfront.

Best Sugar Rush: Sister Honey’s, Orlando

Owner Evette Rahman earned 2022 James Beard Outstanding Baker semifinalist honors and became the first three-time World Dessert Championship winner. Her old-fashioned homestyle cakes—crafted with professional technique and deft decorating—transform classic Southern flavors into showstopping confections.

Best Carb Pilgrimage: Zak the Baker , Miami

Miami’s sourdough king, Zak Stern, built a James Beard-nominated kosher bakery that’s both a neighborhood staple and a national benchmark. From babka to rye, everything is meticulous, naturally leavened, and unmistakably Zak. This fiercely independent operation celebrates regional diversity while supplying wholesale accounts and walk-in devotees with bread that honors tradition.

Best Pour Decisions: Nat Nat Wine Bar, Naples

Diego Sanchez and Ming Yee, the duo behind this 30-seat wine bar, pair natural wines with a compact menu of comfort fare—think charcuterie, local catch, and proteins you’ll crave the next day. It’s the kind of intimate, knowledgeable spot that turns casual drinkers into collectors and evenings into education.

Best Date Night Investment: Il Lusso, Tallahassee

Il Lusso offers fine dining without pretension. Dry-aged prime steaks are cut and seared with the same care and craft as handmade pastas like duck agnolotti and bucatini alla carbonara. An ambitious wine list spans Italian estates and California producers, proving that politics aren’t the only thing serious in the capital.