The capital city of Florida, Tallahassee, is known for its thriving restaurant industry, which features a wide variety of cuisines and dining options. Foodies visiting or residing in Tallahassee are spoiled with choice, with options ranging from inventive fusions and flavors from around the world to farm-to-table Southern cooking.
For its talented chefs and restaurateurs, locating the freshest local foods is made simple by the city’s proximity to farms, ranches, and the Gulf of Mexico. This region’s cuisine culture is characterized by a warm, friendly attitude that is exclusive to the Southern way of life.
The list of the top 13 restaurants in Tallahassee includes everything from classy dining rooms ideal for special events to laid-back cafés and family-friendly eateries that are highly recommended by locals. Awaiting hungry diners are tantalizing Lowcountry cuisine, succulent barbecue, and classic Southern staples prepared to perfection. Get the inside scoop on the best tables that highlight the colorful, delectable side of Florida’s capital city by reading on.
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[Stock] Restaurant
[Stock] The restaurant is located in a light-filled, contemporary eating area downtown and offers worldwide fusion cuisine made with premium, locally produced ingredients. The menu is divided into two sections: the three-course Market Menu and the seven-course Chef’s Selections, which both highlight the best seasonal ingredients Tallahassee has to offer.
Owner and chef Yianni Sefanidis is committed to serving his customers the best local foodstuffs and sustainably farmed seafood; in fact, he named the restaurant in honor of these local and regional food suppliers. Choose the Chef’s Selections for special occasions or an absolutely amazing experience. Chef Yianni skillfully crafts each course to create a culinary tale utilizing surprising taste combinations based on the best ingredients available that week. His recipes, such as the sous-vide pork belly with whipped avocado, blood orange fluid gel, and sweet potato chips, always masterfully balance flavors and textures.
Get a handcrafted drink or wine at the chef’s counter before or after your meal from their carefully chosen, large selection. They also have unique locally brewed craft beers on tap that are rotated often.
With seasonally inspired dishes that chef Sefanidis painstakingly creates to showcase the area’s flavors and bounty in its purest form, [Stock] offers Tallahassee cuisine at its best. It’s elegant and understated yet nevertheless casual and welcoming. Your taste will be humming after each course as you savor the true farm-to-table experience.
Chantilly’s Cafe and Fine Pastries
Run by pastry chef Danielle Revord, Chantilly’s Café and Fine Pastries is a charming restaurant, bakery, and patisserie that serves freshly created cakes, tarts, biscuits, and other sweet treats every day. For those who enjoy carbs, the brunch and lunch buffet features a plethora of hearty, handmade dishes produced using local ingredients. Notable dishes include the fried green BLT with goat cheese and green tomato jam, the red velvet waffle, and the jalapeño bacon Benedict covered with avocado Hollandaise. Visitors are taken to a neighborhood cafe in rural France when they enter the historic cottage with its flowing white drapes.
Nestled at your table with steaming coffee, taking in the handcrafted pastries showcased in elaborate glass cases, this little bakery—which specializes in exquisite wedding cakes—offers a delightful haven. Go to the bakery case to pick from a variety of exquisite treats, such as chocolate, raspberry, or blueberry macarons or vanilla bean cream puffs. The chocolate peanut butter cream pie is so decadent and delicious that it might earn you an eternity sentence in the afterlife. Or stop by one of the tiny bistro tables and pick up a French dessert, such as an eclair, fruit tart, or almond croissant, to go with your tea.
When visiting on a weekend, diners should plan on indulging in the restaurant’s famous sticky buns, which are drenched in a warm caramel glaze that is enough to cause sugar overload. The petite bistro satisfies all desires and sweet tooth hankerings in a warm, inviting setting decorated with delicate feminine details that go well with the delicate taste profiles.
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Il Lusso
Rob Pietri, the Sicilian-American chef and proprietor of Il Lusso, is a fine dining Italian restaurant located outside of Tallahassee. The restaurant features a sophisticated décor and a seasonal menu that changes often. The stylish restaurant is sure to dazzle with its sweeping archways, flawless table sets, and ambient lighting. Additionally, there are outside tables that provide a very romantic setting with a view of a serene lake.
Ricotta gnocchi, wood-fired steaks, and squid ink fregola pasta are just a few of the dishes on the Evolution menu that highlight the greatest seasonal ingredients and traditional Italian cooking methods. The raw bar’s seafood offerings, such as the Alaskan king crab and oysters from both coasts, are particularly noteworthy to begin with.
The wine program includes a cellar that has been hand-picked by Il Lusso’s sommelier and contains over 200 labels from Italy and other important wine areas in Europe and the US. The staff is well-versed in the selection, enabling guests to discover the ideal match for Rob’s cuisine. Intimate seats and customized selections from their own collection are available in the private wine lockers for special occasions.
Come ready to stay and enjoy the meal—this is not the place for a quick snack. In the event that bookings are not fulfilled, this helps to avoid disappointing both employees and walk-in customers. Il Lusso offers world-class Italian cuisine of the highest caliber in the most elegant setting, perfect for a celebration feast with the entire family or an intimate date night.
Kool Beanz Cafe
The quirky, vibrant Kool Beanz Café serves inventive, seasonally-inspired food made with top-notch, fresh ingredients. At any time of day, the cozy ambiance makes for a fantastic dining experience. The menu is full of flavor and takes its cues from international comfort food favorites.
Discover delectable fare such as crispy Brussels sprouts tossed with nam pla prik (Thai fish sauce) and crushed peanuts, hearty vegetarian black bean chili packed with veggies, and exquisitely seared scallops served over cheesy polenta when you enter the eclectic dining room decorated with vibrant murals.
A local staple, the weekend brunch features inventive dishes such the BLTNC (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and fried nectarine sandwich), buttermilk biscuit benedict with andouille sausage gravy on top, and mascarpone-stuffed French toast with berries on top. Portions are generous and prices are fair.
There are wines by the glass or bottle to go with your dinner, with an emphasis on small, family-run wineries that showcase the finest in low-intervention and sustainable winemaking. If you would rather have a specially made beverage, such as a blood orange mimosa or a cool hibiscus margarita, there’s also a fantastic cocktail selection.
Not only is Kool Beanz a local favorite because to its warm ambiance and freshly prepared food, but it’s also a great place for visitors to experience true Tallahassee cuisine.
Backwoods Bistro
Chef Rob McGowan’s Backwoods Bistro is an award-winning Southern gourmet farm-to-table restaurant that features sophisticated Lowcountry flavors made with heritage pork reared on pasture, humanely raised beef and lamb, and heirloom vegetables. The inventive cuisine, influenced by the seasons, brings out the natural flavors of fresh foods. Their goods are sourced from local food artisans and farms that practice regenerative agriculture and animal care.
The taste is whetted with starters like the grilled peach flatbread with prosciutto and goat cheese or the heirloom tomato terrine with burrata, basil, and balsamic. The menu’s main courses include Lowcountry specialties like shrimp and creamy stone-ground grits, charred vegetable succotash, cured ham, sage, and provolone in chicken saltimbocca, or rainbow trout baked in an Iron Skillet with a gingered pecan crust. You’ll go to sleep feeling full after indulging in traditional Southern desserts like vanilla Chantilly cream, spiced sugar apple pie, or the popular favorite, Life-Changing Carrot CakeTM.
Savor your dinner at tastefully rustic tables beside a wall of wine racks, or settle in for a quiet moment at the Chef’s Counter with a view of the open kitchen in action. The 120-label wine list was created with the regional cuisine in mind. In sophisticated Southern cuisine, each dish is expertly seasoned to bring out the taste characteristics of farm-fresh ingredients. Florida’s capital comes alive with flavor thanks to Backwoods Bistro’s creative, seasonally-changing menu. It is a unique dining treasure in Tallahassee.
Cypress Restaurant
Cypress Restaurant, housed inside the historic Southern home Betton Place in midtown Tallahassee, is a culinary masterpiece that takes traditional Lowcountry food to a new level. The deep, regional flavors that Executive Chef and co-owner William Lawson grew up with in his home Savannah kitchen are showcased in their meals, which expertly mix rustic and polished.
In certain restaurants, staples like fried green tomatoes, smoked gouda mac ‘n cheese, or shrimp ‘n grits may seem unremarkable, but Chef Lawson elevates these Southern classics by cooking with a careful attention to detail. The finest local and regional meats, such as Tomahawk pork chops with bourbon peaches and pecan agro dolce and cast iron seared duck breast with Carolina Gold rice and strawberry preserves, are available at Cypress’s in-house butcher.
With options like crispy fried whole catfish with Cajun red eye sauce and cabbage slaw, grilled scallops over strawberry risotto, or salmon croquettes with Meyer lemon aioli, seafood is always in perfect condition. In order to optimize freshness and flavor for meals like their classic fried green tomatoes topped with crab salad and lemon basil aioli, Cypress even produces its own herbs and vegetables on site.
The 1918 Betton Place estate, now restored, provides a charming setting for a classy Southern dinner. While visitors enjoy Chef Lawson’s cuisine, the property’s historic attractions are preserved in the grand dining rooms and the rustically gorgeous outside pavilion. Cypress offers an outstanding Southern dining experience that is exclusive to Florida’s capital cuisine by fusing classic flavors with sophisticated recipes and immaculate regional ingredients.
Table 23
Seasonally prepared American cuisine lovingly made in a contemporary setting, Table 23 offers a degustation-style dining experience that highlights Tallahassee food and culture. Their tasting menus, which change often, feature the freshest and most delectable foods from the area combined with inventive plating techniques and unexpected flavor combinations.
Owner and chef Justin Brown has a clear, strategic vision for engaging guests in local tales through his modernist cooking methods and meals, in addition to providing them with sustenance. Every taste of his commitment to advancing Tallahassee’s culinary arts reflects his devotion. Easily coordinated by the service team, groups of two to twenty can choose from five or seven meals, with optional wine pairings. Admire Brown’s extraordinary skills, as he frequently uses a variety of cooking techniques to master the textures and proportions of every element on the plate.
Recent offerings were compressed watermelon with labneh, pickled red onion and marcona almonds, Napa cabbage sous-vide pig belly with bacon lardons, and Maine diver scallops with lemon beurre blanc and bacon lardons. Table 23 offers flavor-filled, artistic meals, well-considered wine pairings, flawless technique, and a contemporary dining area perfect for any special celebration of Tallahassee’s seasonal bounty. After little over a year of operation, Chef Brown is already becoming well-known for his innovative and critically acclaimed reimaginings of the city’s cuisine.
A La Provence
A La Provence has been Tallahassee’s favorite neighborhood restaurant for special occasion nights and informal daily meals for thirty years. It’s a local favorite, adored for both short and leisurely lunches, thanks to its attractive Provençal-inspired atmosphere, friendly service, and great classic bistro dishes. With classic bistro fare like buttery escargots on toasted baguettes, fresh mussels cooked in white wine, or bouillabaisse bursting with the day’s freshest seafood harvest, chef owners Cindy and Philippe Drouilhet use traditional French techniques to allow vivid flavors shine.
The menu of the French brasserie features specials that highlight seasonal foods in addition to classics like duck confit, pan-seared fish in lemon caper butter sauce, seared pork loin with bacon Brussels sprouts, and steak au poivre. Make room for their delicious chocolate pot de crème, fruity clafoutis, and smooth crème brûlée—authentic French pastries.
Sophisticatedly chosen French and Californian wine collection; perfect for big occasion nights out, neighborhood hangouts, and romantic dating. Pair any dish with a bottle. Visits are further enhanced by astute wait personnel who are ready to offer personalized service. A La Provence is that peaceful haven of real Provençal food in a neighborhood overrun by chain restaurants, which the people there treasure as their own little secret in the city.
Avenue Eat & Drink
Avenue Eat & Drink provides customers with a refined evening of inventive flavors and handmade cocktails in its elegant setting of dim lighting, sleek furniture, and unique cuisine. Owner and chef Anthony Kostelecky infuses small portions ideal for sharing with guests with tastes influenced by across the world, such as Indian and Korean. Before leaving the kitchen, dishes are handled by a minimum of three skilled chefs, which guarantees that every bite has a diverse flavor profile.
Start with gourmet bar bites like the duck fat fries with bacon ketchup, elote fritters with jalapeño ranch, or chicken liver terrine. Moving on, larger meals feature carefully chosen proteins such as duck fat gnocchi with sherry cream and mushroom confit, Southern fried yard fowl with biscuits and jam, or ropa vieja chimichurri. Indulge in pastry chef Kostelecky’s molten chocolate bomb cake with espresso ice cream after finishing with inventive cocktails like the Blood and Sand, which combine scotch, blood orange juice, and cherry heering.
Averie Eat & Drink will persuade even the pickiest diners that Tallahassee’s fine dining scene can compete with the nation’s best for exciting food, remarkable drinks, and unforgettable evenings out thanks to its chic atmosphere and superb, flavorful, modern American cuisine.
Paisley Cafe
Going to Paisley Café is like having lunch in a friend’s exquisitely designed kitchen. Local restaurateur Summer Myers serves up a succinct menu of freshly cooked, seasonal New Southern food at her cozy, elegant cafe. She does this by incorporating her own creative flair into historic family matriarchs’ recipes that span several generations. Summer does delicious soul food prepared from scratch, from heirloom tomato soup with grilled pimento cheese to crispy buttermilk fried chicken atop delicate angel hair pasta covered in homemade chicken gravy.
Summer’s fried green tomato benedict, topped with a smooth lemon-basil hollandaise, is highly praised by locals for breakfast, as is her shrimp and stone-ground cheddar grits cake Benedict. In the chilled bakery display, sweets such as hummingbird cake, which is topped with a cinnamon cream cheese icing and fresh pineapple and banana, hardly ever last a day. Her candied pecans and brown sugar bacon on her deviled eggs from the South put the sinfully wonderful in sinful.
Summer is a dinner party guru who loves to host and check on her guests while channeling her childhood memories of growing up in her aunts’ kitchens across the South. Her cheery, feminine decor reflects her kind demeanor.
Do you want comfort food that’s homemade but nonetheless elegant and charming? Summer’s new outlook, along with a dash of sass, brilliantly reimagines Tallahassee flavors in Paisley Café’s healthy Southern classics.
Going to Paisley Café is like having lunch in a friend’s exquisitely designed kitchen. Local restaurateur Summer Myers serves up a succinct menu of freshly cooked, seasonal New Southern food at her cozy, elegant cafe. She does this by incorporating her own creative flair into historic family matriarchs’ recipes that span several generations. Summer does delicious soul food prepared from scratch, from heirloom tomato soup with grilled pimento cheese to crispy buttermilk fried chicken atop delicate angel hair pasta covered in homemade chicken gravy.
Summer’s fried green tomato benedict, topped with a smooth lemon-basil hollandaise, is highly praised by locals for breakfast, as is her shrimp and stone-ground cheddar grits cake Benedict. In the chilled bakery display, sweets such as hummingbird cake, which is topped with a cinnamon cream cheese icing and fresh pineapple and banana, hardly ever last a day. Her candied pecans and brown sugar bacon on her deviled eggs from the South put the sinfully wonderful in sinful.
Summer is a dinner party guru who loves to host and check on her guests while channeling her childhood memories of growing up in her aunts’ kitchens across the South. Her cheery, feminine decor reflects her kind demeanor.
Do you want comfort food that’s homemade but nonetheless elegant and charming? Summer’s new outlook, along with a dash of sass, brilliantly reimagines Tallahassee flavors in Paisley Café’s healthy Southern classics.
Lucy and Leo’s Cupcakery
For those in the mood for delicious handcrafted desserts, the well-known Lucy and Leo’s Cupcakery in the capital is a must-visit, especially for their famous sweet cream cheese buttercream frosting. For more than ten years, the vibrantly decorated, airy bakery café has been turning out beautiful artisan cakes and cupcakes, gratifying the collective sweet taste of Tallahassee.
The shop’s owners, Jessi and Matt Lindsay, named their darling daughter the inspiration behind the business. They create each lovely confection with delight and passion, two emotions you’ll probably feel from the very first mouthful. Their Boston cream pie and red velvet cupcakes, covered in fluffy frosting, resemble muffins in height.
A pair of small cake pops are the ideal little treat for yourself. Flavors include well-executed classics like chocolate explosions or vanilla with sprinkles, as well as inventive monthly creations like lemon blueberry in the spring or s’mores with graham cracker toppings in July. Along with standard dairy-free options, there are always options that are gluten-free and vegan.
Beyond cupcakes, if choosing just one flavor sounds overwhelming, Lucy and Leo’s giant slices are amazing. You may also order one of their stunning tier cakes for events and get-togethers. To ensure that every guest is happy, their kitchen also creates mouthwatering Whoopie pies, biscuits, macarons, and cake truffles. For amazing candies that are brimming with flavor, happiness, and memories, both locals and visitors will find that Lucy and Leo’s vibrant, flavor-filled creations strike the spot.
Tupelo’s Bakery and Cafe
Visit Tupelo’s Bakery and Cafe for a warm and inviting place serving genuine Southern hospitality along with traditional bakery fare and comfort meals prepared fresh every day. For two decades, this Midtown Tallahassee neighborhood institution has been loved for its hearty breakfasts and lunches.
After working side by side for ten years, country cooking queen Lee Gunby succeeded her mentor Brenda Barry in 2016. She carried on their history of creating homemade pies, layer cakes, gravies, biscuits, and barbecue that are brimming with flavor. Get up and enjoy the flaky croissant French toast drenched in amaretto maple syrup or the cheddar bacon ranch omelets covered in ranch hollandaise, all accompanied by bottomless coffee.
Simple dishes like Southern shrimp po’boy with tangy boom boom sauce or fried chicken livers with caramelized onions are elevated by Lee’s mastery of classic Southern cuisine. Legendary is her grandmother’s recipe for banana pudding, which combines rich cream cheese icing and crispy vanilla wafers. With overindulgent treats like Georgia pulled pork heaped on a sesame seed bun, or with grilled pimento cheese and fresh peach preserve on cinnamon raisin toast, you can create the ideal picnic sandwich.
Tupelo’s warm atmosphere and genuine warmth set any visit apart, even in addition to its delicious forever comfort meals like mashed potato casserole, heavenly coconut cream pie with toasted coconut topping, and Lee’s unique thick cut fried pork chops. With their warm grins and characteristic down-home hospitality, the staff at Tupelo’s makes visitors feel like they are part of the family right away, making it a must-visit destination for Tallahassee residents.
Conclusion
For both locals and visitors, Tallahassee’s dynamic and always changing food scene offers a delectable variety of excellent cuisine. The diverse array of eateries shown here, from charmingly offbeat cafes to five-star fine dining establishments, highlights the range of unique flavors made possible by committed chefs drawing from the abundance of agriculture surrounding Florida’s capital. These 12 gastronomic creative strongholds perfectly convey the delicious side of Tallahassee.