Pura Vida Miami Opens First Tampa Café at Water Street

Pura Vida Miami opened its first Tampa café on Thursday, September 10, at 1038 Water Street, bringing the Miami-based wellness chain's all-day breakfast, wraps, rice bowls and smoothies to downtown Tampa's fastest-growing dining strip.

The new location sits inside the Water Street Tampa development, next door to Wagamama, and spans more than 3,400 square feet with a mix of indoor and outdoor seating. The design leans coastal, with a pergola-covered patio for diners who want to eat outside.

It's open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, hours that put it in reach of both early commuters heading into downtown offices and families out for a weekend breakfast near the water.

What's on the menu

Pura Vida built its name on food with a health bent: acai bowls, breakfast plates served all day, wraps, rice bowls and made-to-order smoothies. Founded in 2012 by Omer and Jennifer Horev, the chain started as a single café in Miami before expanding across Florida, New York and California.

City filings for the Tampa build-out described a 4,209-square-foot interior plus 562 square feet of outdoor seating, new lighting and millwork, and electric rapid-cook ovens instead of open-flame cooking. Pura Vida had already moved into the Gulf Coast market with two Sarasota-area cafés opened since 2024, making Tampa its next Florida stop.

Another new name on Water Street

The opening adds to a restaurant and retail lineup that has been filling in fast along Water Street since Strategic Property Partners began building out the district. A 2023 economic impact study found the project's first phase created nearly 6,000 permanent jobs and generated more than $500 million in annual economic output for the region. The area is also home to four hotels: the Tampa Marriott Water Street, the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, The Tampa EDITION and ROOST Tampa.

For downtown workers and residents, it's one more sit-down option within walking distance of the office towers and apartments that have gone up around Water Street in recent years, part of a district that keeps adding restaurant names rather than losing them.

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