Tampa Restaurant Equipment & Supply

Restaurant Equipment and Supply for Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Lakeland

Tampa Bay eats like a cigar town. Ybor City grew up in the 1880s around Vicente Martinez-Ybor's cigar factories, and the Cuban, Spanish and Italian workers who rolled the cigars left the city its signature sandwich, its Cuban bread, its Spanish bean soup and its devil crab. The Columbia has served Ybor since 1905, and La Segunda has baked Cuban bread there since 1915.

Across the bay, Clearwater Beach is grouper sandwich country, and key lime pie has been Florida's official state pie since 2006. Outback Steakhouse was founded in Tampa in 1988 and still has its headquarters there. An hour east on I-4, Lakeland is home to Publix, which started in nearby Winter Haven in 1930.

Cuban sandwich, devil crab and Spanish bean soup on the Tampa Riverwalk

Since 2015, The Restaurant Warehouse has shipped to thousands of commercial kitchens in every state. Tampa Bay orders ship from our Orlando warehouse, so Tampa Bay restaurants get the same low prices and freight delivery right to Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, and Lakeland. The most common orders here are reach-in refrigerators, freezers, sandwich prep tables, griddles, fryers, ice machines, and food truck equipment.

Ybor City, the Historic Tampa Cuban and Cuban Bread

The earliest recorded mentions of a Cuban sandwich come from workers' cafes in Ybor City and West Tampa around 1900. In 2012, Tampa City Council named the "Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich" the city's signature sandwich: sweet ham, mojo-marinated roast pork, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard and Genoa salami. The salami is the Tampa marker, a gift from Ybor's Italian immigrants, and Miami's mayor objected to it. The bread has its own history. La Joven Francesca, opened in Ybor in 1896 by Sicilian-born Francisco Ferlita, was most likely the first commercial bakery in the US to make Cuban bread, and its brick oven survives at the Ybor City Museum State Park. Traditional Tampa bakers lay a wet palmetto frond on top of the loaf, which leaves the trench in the crust. Juan Moré founded La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor in 1915. Its wholesale side bakes more than 20,000 loaves a day, Wikipedia calls it the highest volume producer of Cuban bread in the world, and fourth-generation owner Copeland Moré runs four Tampa Bay locations, including one in St. Petersburg.

Cuban sandwich shops live on sandwich prep tables for ham, pork, salami and pickles, flat griddles for pressing, ovens for bakeries, and work tables for shaping dough, with reach-in refrigerators for roast pork and mojo.

The Columbia, Spanish Bean Soup and Devil Crab

Casimiro Hernandez Sr. founded the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City in 1905. Tasting Table calls it the oldest operating restaurant in the Sunshine State, and the Tampa Bay History Center calls it the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. It covers a city block, with 52,000 square feet, 15 dining rooms and seating for up to 1,700, and the family's fourth and fifth generations run it. Its Cuban sandwich follows Casimiro Sr.'s 1915 recipe. The Spanish bean soup dates to the early 1900s as "Sopa de Garbanzo," a version of cocido madrileño with garbanzos, ham, chorizo and potato in chicken and ham stock with saffron. Devil crab is Tampa's street snack: crab seasoned with sofrito and red pepper, wrapped in a crust made from stale Cuban bread. It caught on during the roughly 10-month cigar strike of 1920 and 1921, when strikers caught crabs in Tampa Bay and sold the croquettes on the street. Vendor Francisco Oscar Miranda sold them from the 1920s to 1953 for 10 to 15 cents, to calls of "jaibita caliente!"

Soup kitchens and croquette counters need heavy-duty ranges for big stockpots, fryers with fast recovery for devil crab, freezers for crab and chorizo, and chef bases under the line.

Grouper Sandwiches, Clear Sky and Key Lime Pie in Pinellas County

Michael "Frenchy" Preston opened Frenchy's Original Cafe in Clearwater Beach in 1981, and the company calls its "Super Grouper" sandwich its signature. In downtown Clearwater, Clear Sky on Cleveland is a New Orleans-inspired tavern on Cleveland Street, and its menu includes PB&J Brussels sprouts and pork schnitzel. Its sister cafe, Clear Sky Beachside, is on Mandalay Avenue. For dessert, key lime pie became Florida's official state pie under a bill the Governor signed in June 2006.

Beach grills and taverns run on fryers and charbroilers for grouper, ice machines and bar refrigeration for busy patios, back-bar coolers behind the bar, and reach-in refrigerators for pie and fresh fish.

Free freight delivery with lift gate to a Tampa restaurant

Restaurant Supply Store in Tampa

We ship straight to your Tampa restaurant. Most Tampa Bay orders arrive in 1 to 3 business days from our Orlando warehouse, with free freight and free lift gate service. Will-call pickup in Orlando is available for verified restaurant businesses, but most kitchens skip the trip and let us ship it. Most Tampa Bay calls are for a fast replacement, like a reach-in refrigerator or ice machine that quit before a busy weekend, or for a full equipment package for a new Cuban sandwich shop, beach grill, bakery or food truck. Tell us what you are cooking and how much space you have, and we will help you size the line.

Why Tampa Restaurants Buy From The Restaurant Warehouse

Every piece of new Atosa equipment we sell is run-tested for 24 hours at the factory before it ships. It carries Intertek's ETL Sanitation and cETLus listings, which certify it to the NSF/ANSI food equipment standards and US and Canadian safety standards that inspectors from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels and Restaurants look for. Refrigeration comes with a 3-year parts and labor warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty, gas cooking equipment comes with a 1-year parts and labor warranty, and extended warranties are available.

Free freight on qualifying orders, no lift gate fees
Built for scrappy startups, food trucks and independent kitchens
Founder Sean Kearney answers calls, texts and email at (206) 419-5801 or therestaurantwarehouse@gmail.com

Serving Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Lakeland

Tampa is our hub for Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk County. Restaurants across Tampa Bay get the same equipment, free lift gate freight, and warranty, and they talk to the same team.

Tampa and Hillsborough County

From the Columbia and La Segunda in Ybor City to La Segunda's South Tampa and Seminole Heights locations, operators searching for a restaurant supply store in Tampa usually need a fast replacement, so we ship reach-in refrigerators, freezers, sandwich prep tables, and fryers.

St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo and Pinellas Park

La Segunda opened its St. Petersburg cafe on Fourth Street North in March 2022, Frenchy's has served Clearwater Beach since 1981, and the Columbia runs a location at Sand Key. Pinellas County kitchens in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo and Pinellas Park order ice machines, charbroilers, bar refrigeration, and undercounter refrigerators.

Lakeland and Polk County

George Jenkins founded Publix in Winter Haven in 1930 and moved its offices to Lakeland in 1945. The company had 1,440 stores as of August 2025, and its deli subs are popularly called "Pub Subs." Lakeland sits on I-4, about an hour from both Tampa and Orlando. Restaurants and delis in Lakeland order sandwich prep tables, griddles, and countertop display cases.

Tampa Restaurant Equipment FAQ

Do you ship restaurant equipment to Tampa?

Yes. The Restaurant Warehouse ships commercial restaurant equipment to Tampa and the rest of Tampa Bay by freight, with lift gate delivery to your door.

Do you deliver to St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park and Lakeland?

Yes. We deliver across Tampa Bay, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, and Lakeland.

How fast is delivery to Tampa?

Most Tampa Bay orders arrive in 1 to 3 business days from our Orlando warehouse, depending on item availability and carrier routing. Contact us if you need equipment urgently.

Do you offer free freight?

Yes. Free freight is available on select models and qualifying orders. Contact us to confirm freight options for a specific item.

Do you charge lift gate fees?

No. We do not charge lift gate fees.

What types of restaurant equipment do you sell?

We sell commercial refrigerators, freezers, prep tables, griddles, charbroilers, deep fryers, ovens, ice machines, bar refrigeration, and food truck equipment, plus many other categories for professional kitchens.

Can I get help choosing the right equipment?

Yes. If you can't find what you need, call or email us and we'll help you source the right product for your kitchen.

Can I pick up my order?

Yes. Verified restaurant businesses can arrange will-call pickup at our Orlando warehouse. But why lose a day renting a truck, strapping it down and unloading it yourself? With free freight and free lift gate service, most Tampa Bay orders arrive at your door or curb in 1 to 3 business days. Call (206) 419-5801 to set up either option.

To the south, our Sarasota page covers Sarasota, Bradenton and North Port, and east on I-4 our Orlando page covers Orlando, Kissimmee and Central Florida.

Restaurant Equipment Across Florida

The Restaurant Warehouse delivers commercial restaurant equipment across Florida from our Orlando warehouse. Find the page for your region:

Tampa Bay Restaurant Equipment