Taste of the Beaches Returns Oct. 3-11 With $10 Dishes at Nearly 50 Pinellas Restaurants

Nearly 50 restaurants along Pinellas County's coast, from Tierra Verde to Clearwater Beach, will serve up exclusive $10 dishes and drinks starting Saturday, Oct. 3, as the annual Taste of the Beaches event kicks off its nine-day run. The tour opens with a free kickoff party the night before, Friday, Oct. 2, at Horan Park in St. Pete Beach, with live music from 6 to 9 p.m.

The event runs through Sunday, Oct. 11, giving residents more than a week to work through a list of discounted specials that range from classic beach-bar fare to higher-end plates normally priced well above $10. The Copper Kettle, for example, is pairing its huevos rancheros with a latte for the $10 ticket price, a combination that would typically cost quite a bit more off the regular menu.

How it works

Each $10 ticket covers one designated "Taste" at a participating restaurant, and diners can buy as many tickets as they want to hop between locations. Tickets go toward whatever dish or drink that restaurant has chosen to feature, and participating spots serve during their normal business hours, so there's no set tour schedule to follow.

Tickets are sold online through the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber and at a handful of pickup spots around the beaches, including the chamber's own office on Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach, Wyne in Indian Rocks Beach, and two local real estate offices that are serving as ticket locations this year.

A slow-season tradition with a bigger purpose

Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber president and CEO Charlie Justice says the event started years ago as a way to draw visitors to beach restaurants during the slower fall season, and it has grown every year since. He described it as a chance for locals to try a restaurant they've never visited, or revisit one they haven't been to in a while.

This year carries extra weight for beach communities still working through hurricane recovery. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales goes to Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside, tying the food tour directly to ongoing rebuilding efforts in the same towns hosting the restaurants.

Restaurants are choosing their own featured items this year, with seafood heavy on the list: grouper nuggets, mahi tacos, ceviche, and a fish and chips "spice bag" among them, alongside non-seafood options like Cuban sandwiches, crab cakes, and street tacos with draft beer. The full restaurant list and ticket purchasing are available on the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber's event page.

Organizers haven't announced an end-of-event total for how much this year's tour will raise for Habitat for Humanity. That figure typically comes after ticket sales wrap up on Oct. 11.

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