North Franklin Street's Newest Doors Close at 3 p.m. Its Night Shift Is Still Coming Soon.

Tampa Heights' busiest block of North Franklin Street has two schedules this fall. The businesses that opened this year on the 1600 and 1700 blocks are daytime places. Every concept still announced for the block plans to run into the night, and as of the first weekend of October, none of them has confirmed it is open.

That split shapes how this month plays out. A weekday morning on North Franklin is fully set. A Saturday night there is still mostly on a rendering, so October's evening plans run through Armature Works and the riverfront a few blocks west.

The block, address by address

Walking north from the 1600 block, here is where things stand as of October 4, 2026.

The pattern in that table holds across most of the block. What is confirmed open on the block is a café, a tearoom, and a brewery. The four announced concepts are a vinyl bar, a dance club, a sports bar with a late-night lounge, and a taqueria with a speakeasy.

Behind the blue doors, the morning is already here

The Rialto Theatre opened in 1924 and turns 102 this year. In late May, a husband-and-wife team opened Café Rialto and Tea at The Rialto behind the theater's blue doors. That's So Tampa reported on June 15 that the pair had been open about three weeks. The espresso bar pulls King State coffee, all the pastries are baked in-house, and the drinks carry old-Hollywood names like The Sinatra and The Audrey. The 1924, named for the theater's opening year, combines chocolate ganache, house-made orange syrup and fresh orange zest.

The tearoom serves traditional English afternoon tea by reservation only, with petite sandwiches, pastries and scones. The almond-topped Orange Citrus Scone is the item That's So Tampa singled out. Reservations go through 813-807-2411 or [email protected]. The same address also houses the theater's event space, which hosts weddings, showers and private parties.

The café's hours tell you most of what you need to know about the block right now. It runs Monday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Two doors north, Hidden Springs Ale Works at 1631 N. Franklin keeps a live tap list and tasting-room hours on its own site. For now, the brewery is the block's steady evening stop.

What 1701 N. Franklin has been building toward

The building at 1701 N. Franklin St. last served the neighborhood as Hall on Franklin. That food hall announced it would close permanently on December 15, 2020. Founder Jamal Wilson said the site couldn't accommodate outdoor dining, private dining and other amenities that had become important during COVID-19.

The Tampa Bay Times reported in August that the 100-year-old building had been under construction for about 18 months. It is being split into three independent venues with separate entrances, expected to bring more than 120 hospitality jobs.

• Boogie Heights is a second-floor retro club built around the 1970s, '80s and early '90s. Its centerpiece is a 5-foot, 300-plus-pound disco ball imported from the United Kingdom, and it plans to run from happy hour into the night.
• Hail Mary Social Club is a sports bar that turns into a late-night lounge. It has a 360-degree LED screen over the center bar, 30 TVs, and a garage door that opens when the weather allows. Chef David Reyes wrote a menu of burgers and specialty wings.
• Uno Más is a taqueria with a hidden speakeasy split into two rooms, The Cantina and The Chapel. The taqueria plans to serve from early lunch to late night, and the lounges open at happy hour.

Partner Dor Haim described to the Times how he expects the three venues to work together:

"I see a scenario where people are going to come watch a game at Hail Mary and then go to have a craft cocktail at Uno Más lounge and then go break a dance at Boogie Heights and on the way home, grab a taco for the late-night munchies."

Haim's scenario describes a full night out on one corner, and none of it happens before happy hour. The Times reported in August that Boogie Heights and Hail Mary would open in September and Uno Más in October. As of early October, all three venue websites still say "Coming Soon to Tampa Heights." The project site is still hiring for all three and says "Opening 2026." The team also told the Times it plans a block party on Franklin Street around Halloween, but the Times report gave no specific date.

The fourth late-night door, at 1607

At the south end of the block, hospitality veteran Ty Rodriguez announced Peppermint Lounge in May. It's a vinyl and live-music lounge modeled on the 1960s New York bar of the same name, planned to run from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Creative Loafing lists the address as 1607 N. Franklin, and the Times gives it as 1605–7. Creative Loafing's location listing still says the lounge "hopes to open this fall."

With Peppermint Lounge, the block's announced lineup comes to four after-dark venues. Once they open, a 2 a.m. closing will sit three doors from a café that closes at 3 p.m. Until then, the block is mostly a daytime street.

Where October evenings are already on the calendar

Armature Works at 1910 N. Ola Ave. is carrying the neighborhood's fall evenings, and its dates are fixed.

1. Thursday, October 8: Show + Tell starts its October class run. More classes follow on October 13, 14 and 27, covering paint-and-sip, sourdough, doormat decorating, bouquet-making and purse-strap DIY.
2. Saturday, October 10, noon to 5 p.m., and Sunday, October 11, noon to 4 p.m.: The 9th Annual Fall Fest fills the West Lawn and Market Street with a local-vendor market, live music, a petting zoo, pony and camel rides, face painting and a bounce zone. Entry is free. The $20 all-day activity pass covers the bounce zone, and face painting and animal rides are paid separately.
3. Every Thursday through Sunday in October: The free pumpkin patch runs through its final day, Sunday, November 1.
4. Friday, October 16, 7 to 11 p.m.: Dishes & Wishes is held at Armature Works. The City lists it at $150, and preregistration is required.
5. Saturday, October 17, 1 to 10 p.m.: The 15th Annual Tampa Pig Jig takes over Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park at 1001 N. Boulevard, just across the river. The City listing says preregistration is required.
6. Wednesday, October 28, 7 to 8 p.m.: The Tampa Heights Civic Association holds its general meeting at the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association Community Center, 2005 N. Lamar Ave., with a Zoom option.

So for planning purposes, the morning can start at the Rialto and the evening can end at a festival lawn or a riverfront park.

The same split at the neighborhood's edges

The pattern repeats near the eastern edge of Tampa Heights. Double Six opened in June inside La Sétima Club at 815 E. 7th Ave., right on the line between Tampa Heights and Ybor City. It serves Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The menu includes a coquito latte, a $12 breakfast burrito and a $15 hangover burger, and barista Eileen Ramos, a past Best of the Bay winner, runs the bar. Parking is free inside the white fence on the north side of 7th Avenue, facing The Commodore comedy theater.

South along Nebraska Avenue, TOTUM Market & Eatery soft-opened on the ground floor of Harrison Residences at 1120 N. Nebraska Ave. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and a full grand opening is planned for later in October. The market carries bread from The Sourdoughist, bagels from Pete's Bagels, popsicles from The Hyppo, prepared meals from LS Organics, and Paradeco Coffee Co. beans at the café bar.

North of the neighborhood, in Seminole Heights, Coco's In the Heights is finishing work at 4815 N. Nebraska Ave., the former Nebraska Mini-Mart corner. The team is aiming to fully open by the end of October. The menu will include The Tampa Cuban, The O.G. Cuban and The Midnight Special, along with bowls, tacos, loaded tostones and empanadas.

What to watch between now and Halloween

Three dates would change the picture on North Franklin:

• A posted opening day at 1701 N. Franklin
• A first night at Peppermint Lounge
• A date for the Halloween block party

Until those land, the Franklin Street block opens with Café Rialto at 7:30 a.m., keeps Hidden Springs' taps pouring, and leaves its after-dark plans on the venue websites' "Coming Soon" pages.

As shops open on a street like North Franklin, they change what the homes around them are close to, and that's worth tracking if you live nearby or are thinking about a move in Tampa Heights. If you'd like to talk through how these openings fit your plans, The Goss Group would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.