Willa’s Restaurant in Tampa, Florida
A lovely little neighborhood restaurant and bar, Willa’s Restaurant is a great lunch or date night spot. With an adorable interior and casual ambiance, the restaurant allows for great conversation as well as great people watching. A relative newcomer to the Tampa restaurant scene, Willa’s has been winning accolades left and right for their great food, service, and ambiance. Southern Living recently named Willa’s “The South’s Best New Restaurant,” while Architectural Digest calls it one of the “Coolest Restaurants to Dine at Right Now.” Here, I’m adding my voice to the acclaim to say that Willa’s is 100% worth a visit!
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About the Restaurant
Willa’s is named for the co-founder’s great-great grandmother, a 19th-century Tampa pioneer who was devoted to her hometown. The restaurant was designed to create simple, great tasting food, with a sense of community here in Tampa.
Two-in-One: Willa’s Restaurant & Willa’s Provisions
Located in North Hyde Park, this neighborhood restaurant is really two great dining spots. First and foremost is the restaurant, which is what I am describing here in this review. Second, though, is the all-day cafe located in the same building as Willa’s Restaurant. In all, it’s a great restaurant to visit for anyone in the downtown-to-South Tampa areas of town.
The cafe is open seven days a week (whereas the restaurant is Wednesday through Sunday) and sells delicious coffee, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches, along with a selection of grab-and-go snacks and salads. Willa’s brews locally-roasted King Sate coffee, and they have a variety of unique coffee drinks that always get rave reviews.
What Willa’s Serves
With a scratch kitchen designed to serve simple and classic dishes, you can expect to find elevated classics. For example, with their lunch menu, you can choose from options like a Tahini Caesar, Rotisserie Chicken Frites, Croque Madame sandwiches, and a delightful spread of breakfast and brunch favorites. There are a number of overlapping entrees from the lunch to dinner menu, and I highly recommend the Rosemary Focaccia and Three Cheese Macaroni.
Reservations Recommended
Based on my experiences with the restaurant (more on that below), I would recommend making a reservation. It’s easy to do online and saves you any hassle with waiting for a table. Willa’s holds some tables for walk-in guests, but generally has a wide range of reservations available via Resy here.
Parking at Willa’s
I love trying new places around town, but finding parking can be intimidating. Luckily, Willa’s has a ton of parking now that the lot behind their building is opened up. There is neighborhood street parking along with a Willa’s-only parking lot around their building, plus a half-paved lot behind that with more than 70 spaces (which is good news for their neighbors, Rome + Fig, another favorite spot of mine!).
My Experiences at Willa’s
With an all-day brunch menu that is augmented with extra options on the weekend, Willa’s has lots of great salads, sandwiches, and small plates to choose from. I’ve been a few times now, for both brunch/lunch and dinner.
As far as sharable plates go, the Whipped Ricotta & Honey Toast (above) is absolutely delicious, and currently available for both lunch and dinner. The Rosemary Focaccia from the “snacks” menu is also delicious and great for sharing.
For brunch, you cannot go wrong with the Potato Onion Latkes and Avocado Toast. The Lemon Poppy French Toast was also decadent in all the right ways. The bread that they used for both the Avocado Toast and the French Toast was just amazing!
When it comes to heartier fare for dinner, their various sandwiches and burgers have always been delicious. These items tend to rotate on their menus more, so keep an eye out for what is currently available.
Visiting Willa’s
Address: 1700 West Fig Street Tampa, FL 33606
Useful Links: Website | Menu | Instagram
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*This post was originally published as part of my Tampa City Guide in November 2023. It was most recently updated on February 10, 2023.
