Downtown St. Pete's Winter Openings Arrive One at a Time. Here's the Order.

At 937 Central Avenue, the long bar is gone. The former No Vacancy space has been split into three small rooms, one of them looking into a fully rebuilt open kitchen, and the patio now looks like a rustic farmhouse. Casa Origen opened its doors there on Saturday, October 24, serving breakfast and lunch only. It runs from 8 am to 3 pm with a short menu, organic coffee, smoothies and homemade gluten-free pastries. Dinner isn't planned until early January.

That staged start fits the rest of downtown this winter. Between now and early 2027, new places reach Central Avenue and the blocks around it one at a time, weeks apart. Each fills a different part of the day. The coffee cafe plans to stay open past midnight. The pinball bar sells a pass you can use all day. The taverna is coming back with a lounge downstairs.

Already open as of this week

Three places have opened since late summer, and each one covers a different part of the day.

Casa Origen, 937 Central Avenue. The opening was a soft one, and I Love the Burg reported that the team asked guests to be patient. The first weekend was counter service only, and Halloween On Central took place right outside the door that Sunday. The rebuild took more than a year. Some of the art inside was painted by the mother of one of the owners. For now it's a morning and midday stop. The evening version is still about two months off.

The Sterling at Noble Tavern, 1650 Central Avenue. This event space opened in September at the far west end of the corridor. It was designed by Noble Tavern marketing VP Bradley Elia and run as a partnership with Tru by Hilton, according to the St Pete Catalyst. It's a room you book for a private gathering, not one you walk into on a Tuesday. That makes it a different kind of addition from everything else on this list.

The Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Learning, 533 4th Street North. This 14,000-square-foot building held its ribbon-cutting on October 25. Programming had already started in April, St. Pete Rising reported. Founders Rabbi Alter Korf and Chaya Korf celebrated the opening.

The calendar from here, in order

Every date below is the target the business has announced, and targets in a buildout can move. In order:

1. Before Thanksgiving: Mocha Bay, 401 1st Avenue North. This Yemeni coffee cafe is going into the ground floor of the Princess Martha, in the space Deja Vu Café left. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the window is about three weeks from publication.
2. Early December: The Lucky Flipper, 915 Central Avenue. A pinball bar in the former Machine Shop Barber Company space in the EDGE District.
3. Mid-December: Acropolis Greek Taverna, 475 Central Avenue. The grand opening is planned for the former Concrete Jungle space.
4. Early January: Casa Origen's dinner menu, same address, same kitchen, longer hours.
5. Early 2027: The Sourdough Co., 895 Central Avenue, and Rosemary House, 325 1st Street South. Both are targeting early 2027 without a specific month.

Ice & Cream Creamery is also coming to 648 Central Avenue, in the former Brutique space, but it has no opening date yet.

What each one adds to the downtown day

Here is the same list sorted by the hours each place will cover.

Mocha Bay covers the late hours without a bar. Hours aren't final yet. Hamdi Ali told St. Pete Rising the cafe could open early for morning customers and stay open as late as 2 a.m. or later on weekends. It won't serve alcohol or offer hookah. It's aimed at students, remote workers and anyone who wants a place to gather early in the morning or late at night. The menu pairs espresso drinks with traditional Yemeni coffee made from medium-to-dark beans sourced from Yemen. It also has qishr, a lower-caffeine drink brewed from dried coffee-cherry husks, and Adeni tea, a Yemeni milk tea usually spiced with cardamom or cloves. "Yemen actually is known as one of the birthplaces of coffee," partner Tony Baker told the outlet. The cafe has no social media pages yet. Buildout updates will be shared through the Arab Tampa Official Instagram account.

The Lucky Flipper prices by the day. Owner Matthew Scott is building a 1,600-square-foot room with 16 to 18 pinball machines, three to six classic arcade cabinets and a bar focused on local and Florida-made beer. Admission is currently planned at $14 a day for unlimited play, and you can come and go. That pricing means you can leave for lunch down the block and come back on the same pass. Scott told St. Pete Rising he's considering discounted date nights, memberships and military discounts. He wants the space bright rather than neon-dark, branded in coral and teal with a roseate spoonbill. It will sit a few doors from Casa Origen, so the 900 block will have daytime food at 937 and an all-day game room at 915 by the middle of December.

Acropolis brings back a dinner table and adds a late room below it. The taverna spent 12 years at 515 Central Avenue before closing in 2023. Its new 6,000-square-foot home is one block from the old one, with the Greek restaurant on the ground floor and a separately named, upscale lounge in the basement. Sam Waez co-founded Acropolis in 2001. He spent the three years since closing looking for a way back. He told St. Pete Rising:

"This is my backyard. All my people are here, all my friends. I like being here."

The timing has only recently firmed up. On October 21, I Love the Burg reported no public timeline yet. A day later, St. Pete Rising reported the mid-December plan.

Why the 2027 openings are the slowest

The two openings set for next year are moving into the spaces that need the most work.

The Sourdough Co. has spent nearly three years in the EDGE District at 1113 Central Avenue. Now it's moving into the historic Union Trust bank building at 895 Central, a building that has had no tenant since its last bank left in 1996. Owners Ariana and Ryan Duksa will take nearly 11,000 square feet across the ground floor, mezzanine and basement. They're building out the two existing kitchens and adding more coffee, food, grab-and-go and retail items. According to St. Pete Rising, Ariana Duksa said they hope to open in early 2027 but that permitting and construction could affect that timeline. The business started as a cottage bakery in Ariana Duksa's home in Seminole before opening its first storefront in 2023.

Rosemary House will bring yoga, pilates and a wellness shop to the ground floor of the Saltaire at 325 1st Street South, also in early 2027, St. Pete Rising reported on October 26. It's the one opening on the list built around a morning workout instead of a meal or a drink.

The near-term openings look different. Mocha Bay is moving into a cafe space that held a cafe earlier this year. The Lucky Flipper is fitting a 1,600-square-foot former barbershop. Acropolis is taking over a restaurant space. Each of those is aiming for this year. Casa Origen fell in between. It reused a restaurant space but rebuilt the inside completely, and that work took more than a year.

The weeks to circle

For someone already living within walking distance of Central Avenue, the season breaks into three stretches. Through November, Casa Origen is a breakfast and lunch counter at the west end of the EDGE District, and Mocha Bay is aiming to serve qishr and late-night coffee on 1st Avenue North before Thanksgiving. In December, the 900 block gets its game room and the 400 block gets Acropolis back, with its new basement lounge. In January, Casa Origen's kitchen stays on past 3 pm for dinner, and the bank building at 895 Central gets closer to its first tenant since 1996.

Harvey Petty tracks downtown St. Pete openings block by block, because a new taverna or bakery down the street is part of what a condo or townhome nearby is worth. If you own near Central Avenue and want to see how this winter's openings fit into your home's value, start with a home valuation.