TAMPA, Fla. — Starting Friday, Tampa's Super Bowl LV Host Committee and Business Connect are celebrating "The Road to Game Day" Restaurant Week.

Forty locally and diversely owned restaurants are being featured that offer a wide array of dishes and desserts.

What You Need To Know

All of the restaurants were hit hard by Coronavirus and restrictions, and owners are hoping the name recognition will reinvigorate local business.

"With a restaurant you need a few years to kind of establish yourself and make a name for yourself, but for us that wasn't the case. We were new and we really didn't get that opportunity," said Atheer Naif, co-owner of Harvest Bowl Eatery and Market.

Naif and her sister opened Harvest Bowl on North Florida Avenue in Tampa in January, unaware of the coming restrictions due to Coronavirus.

She says between March and August their sales took a hard hit, making it tough to keep the doors open.

As business bounces back, Naif is hoping the feature in Restaurant Week will help bring even more customers in the door.

Not too far away is Thee Burger Spot, a locally owned burger shop that features the Challenger Burger.

It's made with six quarter pound patties, cheese lettuce and tomato.

Customers have 15 minutes to eat the whole burger, plus the fries that come along with it.

Co-owner of Thee Burger Spot Tivona Bradford-Hill says before the pandemic the restaurant was usually packed.

And even though the local community in Seminole Heights worked hard to support local businesses, it was still struggle to keep the business open and workers employed.

For Bradford-Hill, restaurant week is a relief and a sign that customers are coming back.

"We think it's very fortunate," Bradford-Hill said.  "We pride ourselves on being a local restaurant.  All of our food and ingredients are local and from Florida, so we are a true Tampa restaurant and we are just really happy to showcase that." 

A portion of the proceeds from "The Road to Game Day" Restaurant week will be donated to Feeding Tampa Bay, to help people in the community struggling with hunger.

For a complete list of featured restaurants, visit https://tampabaylv.com/restaurantweek/Restaurants