RFK Rankings · Tampa
Best Wine Lists in Tampa 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Tampa · 6 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 17, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Half a million bottles sit in a climate-controlled warehouse across the street from a South Howard Avenue steakhouse, and that one number explains most of Tampa wine. Bern's Steak House has held Wine Spectator's Grand Award every year since 1981, the publication's top tier, and it anchors a city whose wine runs from a 1905 Spanish dining room in Ybor City to a row of Westshore steak rooms and a new wave of Italian cellars. Here is who each list suits, what to expect walking in, and how to book it. Six, ranked on depth, the by-the-glass program and value rather than trophy labels alone.
1.Bern's Steak House
Tampa's Grand Award giant, half a million bottles deep and held since 1981. Book it when the cellar is the occasion.
Bern's Steak House is the wine anchor of Tampa and one of the deepest restaurant cellars in the country, with more than 6,800 selections on the list and roughly half a million bottles in storage across the street. It has carried Wine Spectator's Grand Award, the magazine's highest tier, every year since 1981. Order a dry-aged steak downstairs, then climb to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room upstairs for an old fortified pour. This is the city's grand wine occasion, the booking for a couple marking something who want the floor to build the night around a bottle with real age. Plan on a top-end spend before wine. Reserve two to three weeks ahead, name your grape and your number, and ask for a tour of the cellar.
Book on the Bern's site; ask the floor for an aged bottle in your range.
2.Columbia Restaurant
Florida's oldest restaurant and its deepest Spanish list, run by the Gonzmart family since 1905. Reserve ahead for Rioja.
Columbia Restaurant opened in Ybor City in 1905 and is the oldest restaurant in Florida, a tiled, fountain-courtyard landmark whose wine list runs past a thousand selections weighted heavily toward Spain. The Gonzmart family travels to Rioja and Ribera del Duero several times a year, and the depth in Tempranillo and Spanish sparkling is unmatched in the city. Come for the original 1905 Salad mixed tableside, the paella and a serious Spanish red, with flamenco on the calendar most nights. This is the room for a couple who want a sense of occasion and a list you cannot drink anywhere else in town. Plan on a mid-to-upper spend before wine. Reserve a week ahead, and ask the floor to walk you through the Riojas by age.
Book on the Columbia site; ask the floor to compare Riojas by vintage.
3.Charley's Steak House
A 500-label steakhouse cellar with Best of Award of Excellence pedigree since 2005. Try it once for an oak-grilled ribeye.
Charley's Steak House on West Cypress Street in Westshore has held Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence since 2005, the middle tier, built on a list of around 500 selections strong in California Cabernet and Bordeaux. The kitchen grills USDA Prime over orange and oak wood, and the cellar is tuned to drink with big, smoky steak rather than to chase obscure growers. This is the straightforward steak-and-Cabernet booking, the room for a couple or a small group who want a recognizable great bottle next to a serious piece of beef. Plan on an upper-end spend before wine. Reserve a week or two ahead, tell the floor your budget, and let them point you toward a Napa red that is drinking well now.
Book on the Charley's site; name a number and let the floor pick the Cabernet.
4.Ocean Prime
Cameron Mitchell's polished steak-and-seafood room with a Wine Spectator list. Pencil it in for a by-the-glass-led night.
Ocean Prime sits at International Plaza in Westshore, the Tampa outpost of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, and carries a Wine Spectator-honored list built for breadth rather than depth. The strength here is the by-the-glass program and the smooth, occasion-friendly service, which makes it the easy modern booking when you want good wine without a trophy-cellar bill or a long study of the list. Order the surf and turf or the sea bass, finish with the smoking Berries and Bubbles, and let the floor pour a flight. This is the room for a polished night out, a business dinner or a birthday where the wine should be good but not the whole event. Plan on an upper-mid spend before wine. Reserve a week ahead, and ask the floor for the best glass pours of the night.
Book on the Ocean Prime site; ask the floor to build a by-the-glass flight.
5.Rocca
Chef Bryce Bonsack's Tampa Heights Italian with a thoughtful, Italy-spanning list. Settle in for handmade pasta and a Nebbiolo.
Rocca is chef Bryce Bonsack's modern Italian room in Tampa Heights, a young, design-led dining room that has become one of the city's most serious tables for both food and wine. The list travels the length of Italy and leans into the country's good but lesser-known growers, the connoisseur's pick rather than the trophy hunter's. Come for the handmade pasta and wood-fired cooking, and let the floor put a Nebbiolo or a coastal white next to it. This is the room for a couple who want a contemporary, food-driven night and a list with genuine point of view. Plan on a mid-to-upper spend before wine, with bottles starting around 80 dollars. Reserve two weeks ahead for a weekend table, and tell the floor what you are eating before you choose.
Book on the Rocca site; let the floor match an Italian bottle to the pasta.
6.Eddie V's
A prime-seafood room with a tidy list and a few statement bottles. Worth a trip for oysters and a cold white.
Eddie V's at International Plaza is the polished, jazz-soundtracked end of Tampa seafood, a reliable special-occasion room with a compact but well-built list and a handful of statement Napa bottles for when the night calls for one. The wine follows the food, crisp and white-leaning to drink with oysters, the seafood tower and the signature Georges Bank scallops, with enough big reds for the steak side of the menu. This is the dependable date or celebration booking, the room for a couple who want fresh shellfish, a cold serious white and live music rather than a cellar to study. Plan on an upper-end spend before wine. Reserve a week ahead, sit near the bar for the jazz, and ask the floor for the best white by the glass.
Book on the Eddie V's site; ask the floor to match a white to the raw bar.
Avoid for a wine night
Great pour, wrong room
Cru Cellars. Palma Ceia's celebrated wine bar is one of the best places in Tampa to drink by the glass, but it is a bar with cheese and small plates, not a destination dinner cellar. Go for the pour and the patio, and keep a full wine dinner for Bern's or Columbia.
The Westshore chain steak rooms. The national-brand steakhouses around International Plaza pour reliably, but their lists are mark-up-driven and short on real depth. For a true cellar night, point yourself downtown or to Ybor instead of the mall.
How to drink well in Tampa
Name a number and let the floor work inside it; at Bern's and Charley's that conversation reliably turns up a better, often older bottle than the label you would have reached for, and Bern's is deep enough to pull rare verticals on request. Book the destination rooms two to three weeks ahead through their own sites, where the best weekend tables go first. For anything rare at Bern's, call a day ahead so the bottle is confirmed, pulled and standing up before you sit down, and leave room for the upstairs Dessert Room.
The value sits where the list has a point of view rather than a trophy shelf: Rocca for Italy, Columbia for Spain, Ocean Prime and Eddie V's for a strong by-the-glass night. Tell the floor what you are eating and roughly what you want to spend, and match the room to the cuisine driving the meal. And wherever you go, if you are celebrating, say so when you book so the room can make a night of it.
Frequently asked
Which Tampa restaurant has the best wine list?
Bern's Steak House on South Howard Avenue holds our top spot, and it is not close. The steakhouse has carried Wine Spectator's Grand Award, the magazine's highest tier, every year since 1981, with more than 6,800 selections on the list and roughly half a million bottles in storage across the street. It has the depth to pull an aged trophy or a quiet grower alike, paired with dry-aged steak. Reserve two to three weeks ahead, name your grape and budget, and ask for a cellar tour.
Where can I find the best Spanish wine in Tampa?
Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Florida's oldest restaurant, opened in 1905 and runs the deepest Spanish list in the city, well past a thousand selections. The Gonzmart family travels to Spain several times a year, so the depth in Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Spanish sparkling is genuine. Drink it with the tableside 1905 Salad and paella, and ask the floor to walk you through the Tempranillos by age.
How much does a good bottle cost at Tampa restaurants?
Plan on 60 to 130 dollars for a genuinely good bottle at most of these rooms, with the ceiling far higher at Bern's, whose reserve cellar runs into rare and aged territory. Rocca and Columbia are the value-minded picks for a list with character. The smart move everywhere is to set a number with the floor and let them find the interesting bottle inside it.
Do you need a reservation for these Tampa wine restaurants?
Yes, and well ahead for the destination rooms. Bern's, Columbia and Charley's release tables ahead and the best weekend slots go first, so book two to three weeks out. Ocean Prime, Rocca and Eddie V's are a little easier but still worth reserving. For a rare or aged bottle at Bern's, call a day ahead so it is confirmed, pulled and ready before you sit down.
Which Tampa restaurant is best for a serious steak and a big red?
Bern's and Charley's are the two steak-and-cellar rooms. Bern's is the grand occasion with the deeper, older list and the upstairs Dessert Room; Charley's is the more straightforward Best of Award of Excellence room with about 500 labels and oak-grilled Prime. Both reward telling the floor your budget and letting them choose the Cabernet.
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