Tampa, Florida has been spiffing up in the last few years. The Riverwalk along the Hillsborough River is an inviting place to walk day or night, joining neighborhoods and attracting more business. Vegans are benefiting by an influx in money, population and new thought as well–more restaurants are remembering us and coming up with delicious animal-free dishes. If you’re looking for a getaway that combines sunshine, beach access and big city amenities, I recommend Tampa. Here are a few places to eat when you’re in town.

Dixie Dharma

I lucked out the week the Dixie Dharma debuted in Tampa. The Orlando-based vegan spot now serves its vegan takes on Southern classics inside Armature Works, a beautifully renovated streetcar barn that houses a public food market. General Manager Ashley Simmons and Sous Chef Gustavo Vasquez temporarily relocated from Orlando to launch the Tampa branch. Gustavo, who worked for Disney and Universal Studios before his work life took a vegan turn, loves that Dixie Dharma makes everything in-house. “This is a scratch kitchen so it’s really fun to work here.”

• 

• 

• 

Ashley says their orange bird – a sloppy joe with orange barbeque sauce and house slaw served on a toasted potato bun – is the top seller in Orlando. “It’s known worldwide,” she said. “Our chili dogs are one of the up and coming very popular items. And then our Carolina jackfruit is totally a top contender as well.” When I visited on day three of Dixie Dharma’s stint in Tampa, the jackfruit was a top seller. I can vouch for its goodness. So far, Ashley says, Tampa is embracing DD. “They’re all smiles and they tell us how great the food was, and the next day they come back with more people.

Bamboozle

Local Vietnamese chain Bamboozle has vegan pho, vegan tofu lemongrass banh mi sandwiches, and, get this, three types of vegan fresh rolls – avo, veggie and tofu. I got one of each roll. Part of the reason I chose the rolls was I was in a hurry and figured they’d just hand them to me. Nope. They make each roll fresh! Nice fat rolls with thin-sliced cucumbers and other vegs that haven’t sat around for hours waiting for takers. Impressive. And they gave me three different sauces, which I think were variations on soy, onion and mustard.

Fresh Kitchen

A bowl specialist, the local Fresh Kitchen chain lets you customize your own. For example, if you pick a Four Bowl you get to choose two bases, one veggie, one protein and one sauce. A six bowl gets you two bases, two proteins, two veggies and one sauce. I know, that adds up to five and seven but I figure they’re not counting the sauce. Hot base items include cauliflower potato mash and brown rice, cold bases include kale slaw and sweet potato noodles. For the veggie options, you can get roasted mushrooms, braised lentils (I know, lentils are a protein-filled legume, not a veg), roasted sweet potatoes and/or sesame green beans. The only vegan protein is teriyaki tofu. Vegan items are all clearly marked. It took me a couple of minutes to make sense of all this, but suffice it to say you can get a fast and healthy vegan lunch here for about 10 bucks, with lots of choices. The patio has darling pink tables and is dog-friendly.

Taco Dirty

Taco Dirty is owned by the same restaurateur as Fresh Kitchen, and has a similar customization concept. But this time the bowls and plates let you choose combinations of bases, vegs, proteins, sauces and “Mexi things.” Mexi things of interest to vegans include line jalapeno sour crema and vegan cauli queso. I didn’t get to try Taco Dirty this visit, but it will be on the top of my list for next time I’m in Tampa.

Sweet Soul SoHo

If there’s vegan ice cream in a city, I consider it my journalistic duty to find it. Sweet Soul SoHo is the place for vegan soft serve, acai bowls and smoothies. I went straight for the brownie sundae—a generous bowl of soft serve topped with chocolate granola, cacao nibs, brownie chunks and your choice of drizzle. I choose peanut butter. It was way more than I needed to eat, but eat it I did.

Owner and Tampa native Taylor Winter left med school to follow her dream of opening Sweet Soul. “Everything here has a nutritional benefit,” she told me when I asked her about the vanilla bean charcoal soft serve that is, well, the color of charcoal. It was the only time my vanilla has ever been darker than my chocolate. “The charcoal doesn’t add flavor, but it adds a detox benefit,” she said. At first she worried that kids might be leery of dark gray ice cream. “But they think it’s cool,” she said. Indeed, I saw one little guy dig right in without hesitation. The other two flavors when I visited were matcha and coconut algae. I was put off by the latter, but Taylor convinced me to try a sample. It’s made with Blue Majik algae and is an incredible ice blue color. Sure enough, no algae taste.

Sweet Soul is extremely family-oriented, and even has a garden aimed at inspiring kids. “There’s no farms in South Tampa,” Taylor explains. She encourages kids to water, plant and dig. Phyllis the rooster oversees the garden.

Teresa Bergen owns the Veg Travel & Fitness site. Vegetarian since childhood, she’s an expert in traveling while vegetarian or vegan. Teresa’s the author of Vegetarian Asia Travel Guide, is the vegetarian editor for Real Food Traveler, and regularly contributes to Chic Vegan.