If you have lived in Historic Kenwood for more than a couple of years, your weekend probably has a shape. Sunday Market at the high school, coffee somewhere on Central, a walk under the oaks, maybe the porch by dusk. That shape is still intact. What has shifted, quietly, is almost every stop along the way.
Between January and July 2026, a handful of Central Avenue and 3rd Avenue North storefronts changed hands, changed concepts, or opened for the first time. If you have not looked up from your own block in a season, here is what the neighborhood you already know looks like right now.
The Sunday Market Keeps A Summer Clock
The Kenwood Sunday Market runs every Sunday at St. Petersburg High School, 2501 5th Avenue North, with 75+ vendors on site every week lined up along Devil's Drive. The detail most residents get wrong is the schedule. It changes twice a year and closes entirely for one month.
| Season | Hours |
|---|---|
| October–May | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
| June–August | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| September | Closed |
The earlier summer window matters. Market hours are 10am – 2pm October through May and 9am – 1pm June through August, and the market is closed for the month of September each year. Show up at 11 in July expecting a full slate of vendors and you have two hours left, not four. The trade-off is that mornings are still tolerable under the oaks around the high school lawn.
The market is not only produce. Rotating stalls carry sauces, jams, baked goods, and pet treats alongside fresh produce, plants, honey, and eggs, plus food trucks and live acoustic sets. Treehouse BBQ, which now has a brick-and-mortar plan of its own, first built its following in late 2020 as a frequent vendor at the Kenwood Sunday Market.
What Is Actually New On Central Since January
Consider this the short list of storefronts that were not there, or were something else, the last time you did a full walk. Everything below is inside Kenwood proper or in the Grand Central District blocks that include the neighborhoods of Palmetto Park, Kenwood, and Downtown.
- Pepe's Cantina Mexican Grill, 3118 3rd Avenue North. Opened April 11 at 3118 3rd Avenue North in the Shoppes at Kenwood in the space that had been Cider Press Vegan GastroPub and, before that, Georgie's Alibi.
- Say Coffee House, 2414 Central Avenue. A Vietnamese phin-drip café whose name "Say" translates to "obsessed" in Vietnamese, in the former Crisp Waffle Company space.
- Dads' Kitchen and Co., 2105 Central Avenue. Comfort-diner menu in the former 2D Cafe, which opened in the Grand Central District in the former home of 2D Cafe, which closed in early 2025 after three years in business.
- Crispy Avenue, 2040 Central Avenue. Chef Dragan Pelevic's sub-and-danish counter with $18-$22 subs and burgers, $8-$10 danishes, and a robust coffee program, plus an array of international goodies for purchase.
- Jimmy's, 2534 Central Avenue. A Ybor birria-and-shrimp taco spot's second location, in the former Foundry vintage furniture store, which won "Best Guacamole" and "Best Ybor City Restaurant" in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's 2025 Best of the Bay awards.
- Coastal House Vintage, 2820 1st Avenue North. A Gulfport transplant that grew from roughly 500 square feet to about 1,700 square feet in a 1926-built home, adding a dedicated craft café where visitors can drop in at any time, purchase a project, and spend time making it on-site.
- FireWater Cuisine & Wellness, 2057 Central Avenue. The rebrand of Love Food Central, no longer strictly vegan; the updated menu now includes vegetarian and pescatarian options, while still offering a solid lineup of vegan and gluten-free dishes.
That is seven changes on a walkable stretch, in six months. If you have been driving past instead of walking, that is what you have been driving past.
The Bungalow That Turned Into A Kitchen
The single most Kenwood-specific opening of the summer is worth its own paragraph. The former Craftsman House Gallery, housed in a historic 1918 bungalow in the Grand Central District, will become Karma Kitchen and Bakery, a new concept from the owner of Karma Juice Bar & Eatery, and the reimagined property at 2955 Central Avenue will feature an indoor dining space, an outdoor edible garden, a bakery, and an expanded food and beverage program when it makes its debut in July.
Two things are happening here at once. A neighborhood that treats its bungalow stock as identity is getting a public-access bungalow you can eat inside. And a decade-old local juice brand is choosing Kenwood as its third local outpost, joining existing Karma locations at 1804 4th Street North in St. Pete and 2095 Drew Street in Clearwater. If you were away in June, this is the July stop worth planning.
An Evening At The Kenwood
For anyone who has been in the neighborhood long enough to remember the old lineup of bars, the survival of a low-key one matters. The Kenwood, at 1721 28th Street North, was picked up in early 2024 by Ian Taylor, a St. Pete operator who has kept the format simple on purpose. He worked with Kyle Habershon of Wood & Bar on infrastructure improvements including a completely new wraparound wooden bar top and mounted TVs, planned a patio and backyard overhaul, and wanted to bring in a food truck to offer more food options to patrons.
That places it in a specific St. Pete lineage. Taylor's stated model is the disappearing neighborhood bar, the kind of room like Wilson's Lounge, Mastry's Bar, Emerald Bar, Flamingo Sports Bar, and Boardwalk Tavern, many of which have shuttered or been at risk of closing due to rising costs, rent increases, and pressure from developers. Read that list, notice how short it is getting, and the appeal of an unrenovated backyard on a Friday makes more sense.
The Art Weekend You Can Still Plan Around
Kenwood's identity as the Neighborhood of the Arts is not a marketing line, it is a neighborhood-association declaration. The Artist Enclave describes Kenwood as the first neighborhood in St. Petersburg to declare that art and artists are not only welcome here, but are important contributors to our vibrant, creative, diverse culture.
Two things anchor that identity on a resident's calendar.
The first is BungalowFest, which most people think of as a February event and forget until the fall. The 2026 tour on February 7 was the centennial edition, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate the neighborhood's centennial, with homes ranging from 97 to 106 years old and a high concentration of Craftsman Bungalows. Proceeds fund a specific list of programs worth knowing about if you own here, including its Tree Program, Garden Workshop, Compassion Project, Kenwood Kids, the Historic Kenwood Partnership that helps neighbors maintain their property's exterior, the PSTA Transit program and the Kenwood Salvage Garage. The Salvage Garage alone is the reason a lot of period doors and hardware stay in the neighborhood instead of ending up in a dumpster.
The second is the Tour of the Arts, held in March. It is a free, self-guided opportunity to explore the art-filled neighborhood of Historic Kenwood, browse and purchase local art, chat one-on-one with the creators themselves, and experience the inspiring settings where they work and live. If you moved to Kenwood after March, you have not seen it yet.
In summer, the art shows up quieter, in the form of studios open by appointment and Seminole Park's pavilion, which the neighborhood uses for outdoor movies and live jazz on summer nights.
One Weekend, Mapped
If you want the shortest version, this is what a Kenwood summer weekend looks like using nothing but 2026-current stops:
Saturday morning: Coffee at Say Coffee House, 2414 Central. Walk east to Coastal House Vintage's craft café at 2820 1st Ave N and make something.
Saturday evening: Dinner at Jimmy's at 2534 Central or Pepe's Cantina at 3118 3rd Ave N. Drink at The Kenwood, 1721 28th Street North.
Sunday morning: Kenwood Sunday Market at St. Pete High, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through August. Breakfast at Dads' Kitchen, 2105 Central.
Sunday afternoon: Karma Kitchen and Bakery, 2955 Central. Bungalow. Garden. Long lunch.
None of that itinerary would have read the same way last summer. Half of it did not exist. That is the useful thing to know about the neighborhood right now: the character has not changed, but the specific rooms you spend it in have.
For neighbors who like to know who is behind the local coverage of your street, the Silver and Welch Collective writes about Kenwood, Old Northeast, Snell Isle, Allendale, Euclid St. Paul, Woodlawn, Gulfport, and the rest of the St. Pete neighborhoods we work in. If you want to talk through anything about your block, whether or not a move is anywhere on the horizon, schedule a free consultation.
