Three exciting restaurants have changed Tampa’s dining landscape with creative dishes that blend international cooking styles with local flavors. The impressive new menu options stand out at Psomi, Blackbrick, and Ocean Hai.

Walk into Psomi to try their crunchy saganaki, fresh bread, perfectly grilled octopus salad, and the loaded treis platter. Every dish combines classic Greek recipes with fresh Florida coastal ingredients.

Blackbrick’s chef Richard Hales pours his international cooking experience into everything he makes. “It is not just one dish; it is the culmination of all the techniques I learned in the most unusual places sometimes,” Hales says while finishing another dish. His menu features tender three-bone smoked short rib and light shrimp dumplings. Customers love the truffle sticky rice siu mai and spicy kung pao tiger shrimp. Each creation brings a taste of Asia to the table.

At Ocean Hai, chef Nana Darkwah brings West African flair to Florida-inspired dishes. He smiles as he explains, “It was important to bring my ethnic roots to the main stage because I wanted people to understand the cuisine, the African cuisines, especially Ghanaian cuisine.”

Tampa’s food scene has come alive. While restaurants used to focus on one type of cuisine, today’s creative chefs mix flavors from all over the world. Their passion shows up in every dish.

People line up outside six nights a week. Diners don’t mind waiting 45 minutes or longer for a table. It’s no surprise these places keep making Tampa’s best restaurant lists.