New Openings in St. Petersburg, Fall 2026: Familiar Places, Fresh Starts

"We thought we would be a space that helped people build pottery businesses. It turns out we're a space that helps people with life."

Beth Miranda said that eight months after a fire tore through St. Pete Ceramics, the community studio she runs with Ethan Fielder at 593 22nd Street South in the Warehouse Arts District. The studio quietly reopened September 18. It is one of a string of St. Petersburg stories since July that look like openings on a business roundup. Most of them are continuations. A restaurant that was supposed to close is serving burgers again. A bagel shop is moving into a building its own landlords' network offered. A coffee roaster outgrew a counter and took over a storefront next to a brewery.

In each case the room was already here and so was the operator. The handoff went from one local hand to another.

The Chattaway was under contract before it was saved

In March, St. Pete Rising reported that The Chattaway at 358 22nd Avenue South would serve its last meal in mid-July after more than 75 years. The property was under contract and expected to transfer in early August. The family planned a final "yard sale" of memorabilia.

That reads like the usual ending for an old corner property. The buyer turned out to be the start of a different story. Real estate investor Cullen Mahoney, who put the property under contract in March, joined Ferg's Sports Bar owner Mark Ferguson and Shrimpy's Waterfront owner John John Delladonna in an ownership group that kept the restaurant open. The group bought both the restaurant and the 0.70-acre property beneath it. The Chattaway reopened on September 25.

The changes are practical ones:

• Weather: A new overhead canopy with fans and a second outdoor bar let the patio stay open when rain once would have closed the restaurant.
• Bar: The Chattaway now has a full liquor license.
• Menu: The longtime burger stays, the one Mahoney has called "the holy grail" of the place. New additions include seafood inspired by Shrimpy's, Ferg's wings and vegan options.
• Interior: A new mural by Doodles by Lu is in the front restroom. Plans call for repairing the deteriorated tea room floor so the room can be used more regularly for dining.

The owners have also talked about live music, community events and weekend markets. Nothing has been scheduled yet, so these are worth watching for rather than planning around.

The building has changed hands before. It went up in 1922 on a pie-shaped lot at 22nd Avenue South and 4th Street South, and its first tenant was Four Corners Grocery, with a single gas pump out front. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, it became the Chattaway Drive-In, with carhops serving under strings of lights. The property changed owners several times in the 1940s before Helen Lund bought the business in 1951, the start of the family era that ended this summer. This fall's sale is another handoff in the building's history.

Pete's Bagels moves four blocks because a building owner called

On 1st Avenue South in the Grand Central District, the same pattern played out in a smaller way. Pete's Bagels was not looking to move, owner Steven Peterman told St. Pete Rising. Its landlord at 2361 1st Avenue South planned work on the property that would have forced a temporary closure. The owners of the building at 1900 1st Avenue South also own Pete's former production kitchen, and they reached out about their open space.

That space is a 4,200-square-foot repurposed Quonset hut. Most recently it was home to the vegan restaurant Good Intentions, which closed earlier this summer after four years. It is roughly twice the size of Pete's current shop. Pete's plans to close for one day on Monday, October 5, move overnight and open at the new address on Tuesday, October 6. Those dates were still a forecast at last report.

Regulars will find the booths, artwork, menu and Look Alive Coffee program moving along with the shop. The extra space gets Peterman closer to an idea he has had since opening in 2019. "I've always dreamed of having a vintage diner," he said.

On the same block, Sun Bear Specialty Coffee Roasters opened July 26 at 1942 1st Avenue South. It took over the former Adieu Glu space next to Pinellas Ale Works. Owner Kenny Beers spent two years running the coffee counter inside the zero-waste store Sans Market in the EDGE District before outgrowing it. The standalone café and roastery seats 20 to 30 guests. Sun Bear and Pete's, two of the biggest changes on this stretch of 1st Avenue South this year, are both businesses already working in St. Pete that moved into bigger rooms nearby.

Two tiny rooms carried the studio through the rebuild

St. Pete Ceramics shows how much those local connections matter when something goes badly wrong. The fire started before sunrise in late January, and responding firefighters believe an electrical issue caused it. It destroyed walls, shelving, tables, stools and equipment. Two rabbits that lived at the studio died.

The recovery that followed was a neighborhood effort:

1. Within about 36 hours, fellow artists who showed up with bagels, coffee, pizza and gloves had helped empty and clean the damaged studio.
2. A GoFundMe started the same day has raised nearly $30,000, which covered rent while the studio had no permanent home, plus replacement equipment.
3. A week after the fire, the studio moved into two small studios at Five Deuces Galleria owned by Three Daughters Brewing. Each was about 110 to 120 square feet.
4. Miranda cleaned the pottery that survived in her kitchen sink and dishwasher and sold it at markets the studio had already signed up for.

The rebuilt studio covers 1,800 square feet, about 15 times the size of either temporary room. With the interior walls gone, the owners chose an open floor plan with a large workshop area. The studio has eight members and plans to cap membership at 12. It still offers one-time workshops and flexible five-class packages for every skill level. The experience also led Miranda to start the Clay Collective of Pinellas, a new nonprofit that supports clay artists and businesses across the county.

The same pattern, address by address

The smaller openings this summer follow the same pattern. Each is a local operator in a space that already had a history.

• Upstairs at Webb's, 1133 Baum Avenue North. The second floor above Webb's City Cellar mostly hosted private events and overflow seating. Green Bench Brewing turned it into a beer bar, and service started September 25. St. Pete Catalyst confirmed the opening.
• Idyll Vice, 667 Central Avenue. This former Sorrento Sweets space opened August 18. It serves build-your-own dirty sodas, coffee, tea, wine and food, and Witney Dupree runs it with her husband Jeff and daughter Rene.
• Rewind St. Pete, 119 1st Avenue North. This retro-themed bar opened August 1 in the former Who's On First space. Before that, the address was home to Thirsty First.
• Sunshine City Paint, 909 Central Avenue. Founder Julie Gioscio's women- and veteran-owned paint-and-sip studio opened in July in the former Expedia Cruises space. It offers open canvas time, family classes and adult evening sessions.

Three handoffs still in progress

Three more openings were announced for this fall but had not been confirmed open at last report. Each one is also moving into a space with a past.

Belleair Coffee Company is taking over the former The Blend café at 1211 4th Street North for its third location. It targeted an early-October opening, with proposed hours of 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Lakeview Farm Store is opening a second location with an in-house bakery and juice kitchen in the former Indi-ED space at 1847 1st Avenue North. The latest estimate is mid-October.

Love Language 727 Restaurant & Lounge, from former USF basketball player Jimmy Devon Baxter, was announced for October at 3063 Central Avenue in Grand Central. The space was most recently 31 Grand and before that Punky's Bar and Grill.

Dates on the October calendar

A few dates this month line up with these reopenings, along with some city events in the same part of town:

• Saturday, October 10, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Autumn Harvest at the Pinellas Pioneer Settlement at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 3010 31st Street South. Admission is $5, and children 3 and under get in free.
• Saturday, October 17, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue's Haunted Fire House at Fire Station 10, 2800 30th Avenue North. Admission is free, and fast passes cost $10.
• Saturday, October 24, 5 to 9 p.m. St. Pete Ceramics' grand reopening party and Halloween carnival at 593 22nd Street South, with live music, local art, vendors, family activities and food from Zee's Barbecue, The Chef Upstairs and Eat Art Love.
• Saturday, October 24, 7:30, 8 or 8:30 p.m. Terrors in the Trees, an adults-only night hike at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way South. Participants must be 18 or older, and registration is required.

The Chattaway and St. Pete Ceramics both sit on the south side of the city, so on October 24 you can go to the ceramics party and then have a burger under the new patio canopy.

At Team Opulence, we follow which Pinellas addresses change hands and who moves in, from Grand Central storefronts to the 22nd Avenue South corner The Chattaway has occupied since the 1930s. If you're thinking about what's next for a property you own here, we would be glad to talk it through with you. Contact Us.