Happy fall! Yesterday was the first official day. Granted, here in St. Pete, we measure fall not in the changing of the leaves, but in the changing of the menus. Prepare yourself for pumpkin spice everything! Let’s dive in.

Love sake? Celebrate World Sake Day at a sake festival hosted inside the largest pottery studio in the Southeast.

Sake Block lands at the Morean Center for Clay on Thursday, October 1 from 6 to 11 PM. Your $80 general admission gets you a "Sake Passport" with 10 tastings from participating vendors, including a few visiting Japanese brewers you can actually meet and talk to. Want to go deeper? The $120 VIP ticket adds a private tasting with Noah Sain, the Lead Sake Educator for the State of Florida through the Sake Sommelier Association, before the doors open to the public.

Noah is the force behind this festival and the beverage director at In Between Days, St. Pete's Tokyo-inspired vinyl listening and sake bar. He built Sake Block to make sake feel welcoming instead of intimidating.

Beyond the tastings, you'll find ceramic artist booths, vinyl vendors, local food pop-ups, and live music that starts as an intimate jazz trio and builds into a full DJ set.

Optional workshops include Sake 101, Raku pottery firing, and Gyotaku fish printing.

Get your tickets for goodness sake.

Step aside, Dave Portnoy. 50 Top Pizza, the Italian guide whose anonymous inspectors rank pizzerias worldwide, put Fabrica at No. 24 on its 2026 list of the 50 best in America. The review is written in Italian, so you know it’s legit.

The reviewers visited the Tampa location and went for the Funghi and called the quality-to-price ratio unbeatable. Their scoring weights the pizza first, then service, ambience, wait time, and the wine and beer list.

Fabrica opened in Tampa in 2015 and came to St. Pete (downtown, under the Hermitage Apartments) a few years later. Neapolitan dough, very hot oven, very short bake. There is also build-your-own, oven roasted meatballs, cheesy bread, salads, wine and beer on tap, and a Nutella pizza if you want dessert to also be pizza.

See the review here.

Taste of the Beaches runs October 3-11, giving you a chance to try more than 50 beach restaurants. Each $10 ticket gets you one popular dish or combo during that restaurant's normal hours across the whole nine days.

A few of the deals: Coco's Crush Bar & Grill is doing a crab cake sandwich, a side, and an Orange Crush. Mastry's Brewing has two street tacos plus two four-ounce pours. Boca Ciega Waterfront is running Yucatan Shrimp with a draft or a mocktail.

The kickoff party is free, Friday, October 2, 6-9 PM at Horan Park on St. Pete Beach.

Tickets can be purchased online but are pickup-only at four locations (one on St. Pete Beach & Indian Rocks Beach, two in St. Pete). A portion of proceeds goes to Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside.

Check out all the participating restaurants and get your tickets here: deals taste delicious.

Green Bench is celebrating its lucky 13th birthday with the Grand Opening of Upstairs at Webb’s.

On Friday, September 25 at 4 PM, Green Bench throws open the doors to Upstairs at Webb's, a new extension of their Webb's City Cellar location in downtown St. Pete. If you haven't been to Webb's City Cellar, it's Green Bench's second tasting room, named after the legendary 1920s-era drugstore that once called itself "The World's Most Unusual Drug Store."

Upstairs at Webb’s will have familiar Green Bench favorites paired with unexpected presentations and new beer, wine, cider, and port-infused cocktails. The theme is TEXTURE, inviting guests to see how presentation, technique, and atmosphere transform the experience.

Follow Webb’s here.

The ribbon-cutting for the historic Manhattan Casino was last Saturday, following a $4.8 million renovation.

The casino is a super important piece of St. Pete history, acting as the social center for the Deuces neighborhood and St. Pete’s Black community. Elder Jordan built the Manhattan Casino in 1926, and it became St. Pete's stop on the Chitlin' Circuit. James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Little Richard and Otis Redding all played it.

Upstairs is now the Jordan Ballroom. Downstairs is the Legacy Room. Saturday's ceremony included a rededication of the Elder Jordan statue, an original poem by City Poet Laureate Denzel Johnson-Green, live music, and the unveiling of a 14 by 23 foot mural by artist Egypt Hagan.

St. Pete Catalyst has a great writeup on the history of the building. Check it out.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are passing through right now on one of nature's most jaw-dropping commutes. The main wave arrives in early October, and a huge portion of them will fly 500+ miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico in a single stretch. They need every calorie they can find before that crossing. Keep your feeders filled (1 part sugar to 4 parts water, no food coloring) and look for them at firebush, salvia, and coral honeysuckle at dawn and dusk.

🤖 City Council voted unanimously Thursday to start looking into sidewalk delivery robots, at the request of Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders, who pitched it as a parking and small-business play. It heads to committee next, where transportation and legal will weigh in on questions like how a robot gets around a sidewalk full of patio tables.

🏛️ Pinellas commissioners agreed to hold a fall workshop on selling naming rights to county facilities, after a department director was approached by a private party willing to put money toward a building. Nothing is on the table yet, and any deal would need commission approval and an expiration date. Welcome to “Sunny St. Pete Hall!”

✈️ Commissioners unanimously approved a five-year deal with Allegiant that runs through September 2031 and should bring St. Pete-Clearwater International $22.8 million, about 61% more than the last agreement. The county is also designing a 2,000-space garage on the Strawberry lot after PIE ran out of parking over the July 4 holiday in 2025.

🎗️ Commissioner Chris Latvala wants to wind down Social Action Funding, the county program that an advisory board recommended send $1.7 million to 17 nonprofits next year. Current recipients would get one more year out of reserves.

Want to spread the word about your business, a project you’re working on, an exciting event, or just want to say hi to 12,000+ neighbors? Partner with us.

DINNER CLUB: New dates just dropped! Sign up here!

SUNNY SAVINGS: The Library Happy Hour Menu Monday - Thursday, 3 - 6 pm, Friday - Saturday 3 - 5 pm. Wine Wednesdays ½ off bottles!

CATCH OF THE DAY: Adopt Russell the dog or Elsie the cat. See them here.

SUNNY CREWNECK: Florida fall is here! Bundle up!

LAST WEEK’S SCRAMBLE: Collection

FLIGHT DEAL: Tampa → Da Nang, Vietnam. $1,022 in December (48% less than usual). Visit the Marble Mountains and Dragon Bridge without the crowds and in cooler daytime temperatures!

‘BURG ABODES: 1932 Cade Allen Original $2,100,000 | 3 bd 2.5 ba | 3,591 sqft. Historic details and a spacious floor plan! Open house this Saturday!

A sampling of ten-ish fun things to do this week.

SUBMIT AN EVENT

Get creative under the evening lights at the second Make & Mingle Night Market, hosted outdoors and in-store at Coastal House! This interactive night out combines hands-on crafting pop-ups with food, drinks, and local community vibes for the ultimate Saturday evening hang.

Stroll through various station pop-ups where you can craft custom pocket journals, assemble beaded bag pins, pick out custom vintage postcard art, snap an aura photo, decorate candles, or get a henna tattoo. Plus, grab dinner from the onsite food truck, sample frozen drinks and Italian ice, and enjoy late-night shopping throughout the store.

Wednesday Comedy Show! | Grand Central Brewhouse | Sep 23, 8 PM | $15 🎟️
Craft beer and Florida comedians

Write Out Loud Workshop | Coastal House Vintage | Sep 23, 7 PM | $44 🎟️
Find your authentic writing voice

Michael Franti Trio | Jannus Live | Sep 23, 7 PM | Prices vary 🎟️
Uplifting acoustic soul reggae performance

Musical Bingo Nation | 3 Daughters Brewing | Sep 24, 7 PM | Free
DJ-led bingo featuring popular songs

Plant Swap w/ Lida’s Jungle | Webb’s City Cellar | Sep 24, 6-8 PM | Free
Monthly plant-focused gathering

Parents' Night Out | Boyd Hill Nature Preserve | Sep 25, 6-10 PM | $25 🎟️
Bioluminescence themed outdoor kids adventure

Oktoberfest | German-American Society | Sep 25-26, hours vary | $12 🎟️
German beer food and live music

Meet the Wildlife | Boyd Hill Pioneer Settlement | Sep 26, 9:30 AM | $5 🎟️
Discover native animals and habitats

19th Annual Superhero Fun Walk | Vinoy Park | Sep 26, 9 AM | Free
Community walk supporting a good cause

In Your Backyard: Build a Bat Box | Osprey Roost | Sep 26, 1 PM | $20 🎟️
Build habitats for helpful local bats

Sip & Sing St Pete | Good Fortune St. Pete | Sep 26, 1-4 PM | $30.52 🎟️
Sing throwback hits with friends

Craft Night with the Girls Who Get It | FloridaRAMA | Sep 26, 4-6 PM | $55 🎟️
Make mosaic coasters with refreshments

Zee’s Barbeque Benefit Night Market | Foodie Labs | Sep 26, 5-9 PM | Free
Vendors support Friends of Strays

Let's Get Batty | Boyd Hill Nature Preserve | Sep 26, 7:30 PM | $5 🎟️
Night hike exploring Florida native bats

Local Legends with Garden Grooves | Burnt Sugar Comedy | Sep 26, 8 PM | $20 🎟️
Improv inspired by community stories

Coffee & Crochet Coasters | Coastal House Vintage | Sep 27, 10 AM | $50 🎟️
Crochet mug rugs while sipping lattes

Hauntizaar | St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club | Sep 27, 10 AM-3 PM | Free
Dark art and haunted handmade bazaar

Page to Picture: Perks of Being A Wallflower | Green Light Cinema | Sep 27, 12 PM | $35 🎟️
Book club meets for film adaptation screening

Full list of events this weekend and in the coming months. Plus, local shows and concerts coming up.

Thanks so much for reading! As always, feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know how I did with today’s edition!

Stay Sunny,
Josh