Lumbre Is Open in North Hyde Park — and Worth Every Reservation
Lumbre, the new wood-fired Spanish restaurant from Tampa's Michelin-pedigreed Tastes Pretty Good group, opened July 15 at the Rome Collective. Here's what to order.
On the map
The exact spot — handy for figuring out which neighborhood you're really in.
I drove past the Rome Collective last Tuesday evening and the parking lot told me everything I needed to know: full, with a line of people waiting near the host stand just visible through the glass. Lumbre had been open for less than a week and North Hyde Park had already decided it was a hit.
Lumbre officially opened on July 15 at 220 N Rome Ave.
It's the newest concept from
Tampa-based hospitality group Tastes Pretty Good — the same team behind Rocca, a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in Tampa Heights; Streetlight Taco, a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient on Henderson Blvd; and Bar Terroir, the hugely popular French restaurant in South Tampa.
In other words, this group doesn't open restaurants — they open contenders.
What Lumbre Actually Is
The name translates to "fire" in Spanish
, and the cooking philosophy backs that up completely.
The menu focuses on Spanish cooking built around wood-fired grilling, traditional paella, tapas, seafood, imported cheeses and hams — and the restaurant features a bar serving Spanish wines, cider and sangria.
The new Spanish restaurant is led by Executive Chef and Co-Founder Nick Orr, who previously helmed the kitchen at Rocca.
This isn't a lateral move for Orr —
in 2024, he cooked in Spain and trained on traditional grills in Getaria while also working in kitchens in Madrid, San Sebastian, Barcelona and Valencia.
The guy did the research. You can taste it.
The Menu, Section by Section
The dinner menu is organized into four sections: cheese and charcuterie, bocados, entrantes and platos principales.
If you're going with a group, start in the bocados section.
Pan con Tomate is $8, Croquetas de Jamón run $11, Tartare is $12, and Tortilla de Patatas is $13
— all shareable, all designed to buy you time while the grill does its work on whatever you ordered next.
The Mushrooms ($16) bring four types cooked over wood fire with egg yolk and pancetta.
For the main event,
diners can watch chefs work the fire-centered grill through an open kitchen setup — and the Ibérico ($55), a pork collar cooked medium-well so the fat melts just right, is widely regarded as the star of the menu.
Cannelloni ($18) gets topped with veal demi-glace, while the Paella ($69) arrives in a big pan that serves four.
If you go with four people, order the paella. Don't negotiate. Just order it.
The Space and the Setting
The Rome Collective is a nearly 40,000-square-foot retail development at the northwest corner of North Rome Ave and North A St in North Hyde Park, just west of downtown Tampa.
Early diners on OpenTable describe it as offering a "fabulous evening" with an "incredible food" and "impeccable service" — the ambiance is vibrant, featuring an open kitchen, and the staff is "knowledgeable and welcoming," with the tapas, desserts and cocktails drawing particular praise, and easy parking making it accessible for any occasion.
That last point matters more than people give it credit for. The Rome Collective has surface parking, which is a genuine luxury when you're headed out to dinner in Tampa proper.
Hours and Reservations
Hours run Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m.
Reservations are live on OpenTable now, and they're moving. Book before the weekend if you want a table that isn't at 5:15 or 9:45.
What Comes Next at the Rome Collective
Lumbre isn't the only thing to watch here.
Tastes Pretty Good is also planning Kingfish, an ingredient-focused sushi and sake restaurant, at the development.
Other businesses announced for the Rome Collective include Handel's Homemade Ice Cream, The NOW Massage, and V Modern Italian.
This block is turning into one of the more compelling dining clusters in the city — and it's still not finished.
Tastes Pretty Good also just announced its first Pinellas County location
, which tells you the group is thinking regionally. Tampa Bay is where they're building, and they're not slowing down.
From a real estate perspective, I can tell you that the Rome Collective's momentum is exactly the kind of commercial energy that reshapes how buyers think about a neighborhood. North Hyde Park sits just west of downtown Tampa, and streets like North Rome Ave are quietly becoming the kind of addresses people start Googling. If you're curious what that kind of development does to home values in the surrounding area, the Hyde Park and Davis Islands ZIP code page is a good place to start — and if you're weighing Tampa versus St. Pete as a base, the downtown Tampa vs. downtown St. Pete comparison breaks it down pretty honestly.
Lumbre is at 220 N Rome Ave, Tampa. Walk-ins are welcome but reservations are the move right now.