OT: A Visitors Guide To Tampa: All Questions Here!

[Vasilevskiy]

The Budwiser Biergarten/Party Deck in the upper area of Amalie Arena is pretty cool with a great open air view from pretty much the top of Amalie and you don't need to leave the Arena or fight for a parking spot.

Ferg's is a bar/restaurant right across from Amalie that gets pretty packed after a game. There's also Hattrick's (hockey themed sports bar) a couple of blocks away that is a very popular pre and post game spot (sometimes for players too) and Yeoman's Cask & Ale that is also jumping after the game. These three are within walking distance.

There's other places (off of South Howard Ave in particular or anywhere in Ybor City) that are a little drive from the Arena. The Ybor City historic district can be rather rowdy any evening, but especially a weekend. The streetcar that stops by Amalie Arena goes to Ybor pretty regularly.

Super!

Hattricks sounds cool.
After listening to all those ads it's time to finally go

 

[Shoresy Snipes]

Super!

Hattricks sounds cool.
After listening to all those ads it's time to finally go

Hattricks is great! Usually have nice "talent" working there too. But it's small, so it gets packed. They really need to expand to the upper floors (I thought they were supposed to do that years ago)

 

[Doggy]

Hey Guys (and Gals), just finished reading through all the posts from 2016-present. Some questions and one suggestion (since y'all work so hard at this)...

***Anyone selling two tix for CBJ game on Jan 8th? Starting my search on TM and NHL website now.

1) The rooftop beer garden: is it open all season long? We will be there on Jan 8th. Temps in 60s don't scare us Northerners

2) Thunder Alley, I get the impression this is an outdoor plaza next to the arena. How long before game time do the festivities usually begin and what can we expect? Music, food, activities, etc?

3) After looking around for a place to stay, I nixed the Waterside...too expensive. Was looking at the Westin across the bridge and save a few bucks. Is it easy and safe to walk to the arena from there? I know there were a few other hotels farther up the River Walk, they seemed like more of a walk from the arena and was concerned it could be a bit sketchy as it goes underneath the highway. If you feel strongly about another hotel I am certainly open to suggestions but we did want to stay within walking distance of the arena.

4) Might be looking for a restaurant for before the game. Are there restaurants ON the River Walk? I saw some mentions of Middle Eastern food (meeting friends in Ybor City to go to Columbia's on Monday). Petra (someone mentioned it earlier in the thread) looks great but is it too far from the arena? We have lots of bars and pubs near us...don't need to hit one in Tampa.

Comment: I bet you could save yourself plenty of repeating if you took the very first post I this thread and kept it updated with all the info people normally ask (places to stay, restaurants, things to do, parking, etc).

Thanks again to everyone!

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

Hey Guys (and Gals), just finished reading through all the posts from 2016-present. Some questions and one suggestion (since y'all work so hard at this)...

***Anyone selling two tix for CBJ game on Jan 8th? Starting my search on TM and NHL website now.

1) The rooftop beer garden: is it open all season long? We will be there on Jan 8th. Temps in 60s don't scare us Northerners

2) Thunder Alley, I get the impression this is an outdoor plaza next to the arena. How long before game time do the festivities usually begin and what can we expect? Music, food, activities, etc?

3) After looking around for a place to stay, I nixed the Waterside...too expensive. Was looking at the Westin across the bridge and save a few bucks. Is it easy and safe to walk to the arena from there? I know there were a few other hotels farther up the River Walk, they seemed like more of a walk from the arena and was concerned it could be a bit sketchy as it goes underneath the highway. If you feel strongly about another hotel I am certainly open to suggestions but we did want to stay within walking distance of the arena.

4) Might be looking for a restaurant for before the game. Are there restaurants ON the River Walk? I saw some mentions of Middle Eastern food (meeting friends in Ybor City to go to Columbia's on Monday). Petra (someone mentioned it earlier in the thread) looks great but is it too far from the arena? We have lots of bars and pubs near us...don't need to hit one in Tampa.

Comment: I bet you could save yourself plenty of repeating if you took the very first post I this thread and kept it updated with all the info people normally ask (places to stay, restaurants, things to do, parking, etc).

Thanks again to everyone!

1. Yes, the Biergarten is open all season long. It's open air but somewhat covered.

2. Thunder Alley is indeed the outdoor plaza between Amalie Arena and the South Regional Garage (best place to park at $12 if you get there early enough). It has a statue of 2004 Lightning Captain Dave Andreychuck raising the Stanley Cup and another (right in front of the stairs to enter the Arena) of our Founder/Godfather Hall of Famer Phil Esposito. The yellow lightning bolt trio was brought over from the second home of the Lighting, the Thunderdome (now Tropicana Field and home of the TB Rays). There are banners/murals of our guys all over.

I usually get there about an hour before the doors open because I like the cheap parking at the S. Regional Garage for its convenience. lol There is a music stage where a DJ or a live band does music, a few food trucks and the Corona Beach Bar as well as the Tampa Sports Store (biggest Lightning goodies store). About a half hour before the doors to Amalie open (one hour before puck drop), the Bolt Brigade people (perky, peppy young adults with buckets of enthusiasm) appear and have a bunch of different games for kids/adults to play and there's often little kiosks set up of the various local radio stations/etc. with little freebies. Thunderbug is usually wandering around, visiting with fans. More stuff on a weekend game than weekday, naturally.

3 and 4. The Westin across the Harbor Island bridge should be fine. Close enough for a pretty straightforward walk and in a very good area. Should have no problems there. There's also a really highly recommended eating spot right there called Jackson's Bistro.

Lastly, I wouldn't mind keeping up with a first post as an updated Visitor's Guide, but the OP was a visitor him/herself. So none of us locals can update it. Mods, is there anyway to manage that?

 

[Doggy]

Tesla, the thread I think of is the one in the Habs forum (though even their's has not been updated in several years). See what they did (very thorough):

The ''What to do in Montreal'' Thread version 5.0

 

[Derby]

WHat section is near the visitors' bench? Thanks in advance.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

WHat section is near the visitors' bench? Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Section 101 is at center ice between the two benches so one half of it (higher seat #s) is near the visitor's bench. Section 102 is the main one near the visitor's bench.