St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the largest city in the state that is not a county seat. Along with Clearwater, these cities are part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-largest in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million. St. Petersburg is on the Pinellas peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected to mainland Florida to the north.
Tampa is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County. With an estimated population of 398,173 in 2022, Tampa is the 49th-most populous city in the country and the third-most populous city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami.
Ybor City is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City's cigar factories rolled hundreds of millions of cigars annually.
Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in American-style Mexican cuisine, as well as American foods such as burgers, fries and shakes. Del Taco is led by Brand President Tom Rose, and is headquartered in Lake Forest, California. On December 6, 2021, Jack in the Box announced it was acquiring Del Taco for $12.51 per share. The acquisition was finalized in March 2022. Del Taco has approximately 600 locations in 16 US states.
Taco Cabana is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves Tex-Mex cuisine. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTC Enterprises LLC, and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Taco Cabana is recognized for its "pink" color scheme and semi-enclosed patio dining areas. Many menu items are handmade daily on-site, in open-display cooking areas.
A food truck is a large motorized vehicle or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food.
Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently, under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and was then sold to STEN Corporation. As of April 2024, the company operates 1 location in Michigan. The majority of the chain's locations focused entirely on drive-thru service, featuring a small-footprint building with a tall, slanted roof style. Some previous locations were more traditional fast-food locations, complete with seating, and others were combined with gas stations.
Robert Earl is an English-American film producer, investor, restaurateur, and television personality. He is the founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood, chairman of the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, and host of Robert Earl's Be My Guest television program which airs weekly on the Cooking Channel.
Pollo Tropical is a South Florida-based restaurant chain and franchise specializing in food inspired by Latin-Caribbean cuisine. Founded in 1988, the chain has its headquarters in Doral, Florida, It is best known for marinated and grilled chicken and various sides including black beans and rice, mojo roast pork and more.
Guy Ramsay Fieri is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owned three now defunct restaurants in California. He licenses his name to restaurants in cities all over the world, and is known for hosting various television series on the Food Network. By 2010, The New York Times reported that Fieri had become the "face of the network", bringing an "element of rowdy, mass-market culture to American food television" and that his "prime-time shows attract more male viewers than any others on the network".
Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.
Melt Bar and Grilled is a restaurant with six main and three satellite locations in Ohio that specializes in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and other comfort food favorites. The restaurant was founded in 2006 in Lakewood, Ohio by Matt Fish, who currently owns and operates the restaurants as the chief executive officer.
Korean tacos are a Korean-Mexican fusion dish popular in a number of urban areas in the United States and Canada. Korean tacos originated in Los Angeles, often as street food, consisting of Korean-style fillings, such as bulgogi and kimchi, placed on top of small traditional Mexican corn tortillas. Korean burritos are a similarly themed dish, using larger flour tortillas as a wrap.
Don Chow Tacos was a Chinese-Mexican fusion food truck based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on April 22, 2009, by Dominic Lau and Lawrence Lie with the motto, "Where Chino meets Latino", representing their Chinese heritage and Hispanic influences. Don Chow Tacos ceased operations on February 16, 2015.
La Teresita is a historic Cuban cuisine restaurant with affiliated market and bakery in Tampa, Florida, in the West Tampa region. La Teresita opened in 1972 as a market. La Teresita is owned by the Capedevila family. A grocery market is located on the other side of the side street off West Columbus Drive from the restaurant and the bakery.
Ray Lampe is a BBQ pitmaster, author and television personality known as "Dr. BBQ."
Papi Chulo's is a restaurant with two locations in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The original taqueria in the Pearl District was opened by restaurateur Ramzy Hattar in December 2019, with Antonio Javier Palma Caceres as the chef and Davide Bricca overseeing cocktails. The trio had previously worked together at River Pig Saloon and Two Wrongs, two neighboring establishments also owned by Hattar. A second location opened in northeast Portland in 2023. Papi Chulo's serves Mexican cuisine, such as tacos, burritos, nachos, birria, margaritas, and micheladas.
Quesabirria is a Mexican dish comprising birria-style cooked beef folded into a tortilla with melted cheese and served with a side of broth for dipping. The dish, which has origins in Tijuana, Mexico, originally made with goat meat, gained popularity in the United States through Instagram. It is now made also with other meats, such as beef and chicken.
Seoul Taco is a Korean-Mexican fusion fast-casual restaurant chain originally from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As of April 2024, the chain had nine locations in the Missouri and Chicago metropolitan areas.
