Rooftop Bar M. Bird opens at Armature Works in Tampa

Tampa restaurant and bar offerings have multiplied like crazy in recent years, but rooftop bars? Not so much.

The newest bar at Armature Works is changing that. The rooftop M. Bird restaurant and lounge offers tropical craft cocktails, a deep selection of rums and sugarcane spirits and, perhaps most impressively, a panoramic view of the Tampa skyline and nightly sunsets.

Named for Florida’s state bird, the mockingbird, M. Bird is a joint venture between Armature Works, Ciro’s Speakeasy & Supper Club, Boca, and Ichicoro.

It features a modern deco design, curated small plate menu that changes with the seasons and a live DJ playing music to give the feel of a sophisticated lounge

M. Bird joins an array of restaurants and bars -- the 22,000-square-foot Heights Public Market, Oak & Ola, and Steelbach -- that have helped transform the once dilapidated, 73,000-square-foot brick former warehouse into a hot destination spot for foodies and breathed new life into the Tampa Heights neighborhood north of downtown.

In a press statement, Armature Works co-owner and operator Taryn Bruck says M. Bird will distinguish itself from the other dinking and drinking options in the Armature Works.

“With live greenery and pops of color, guests will feel as if they are stepping into another city. … It will be a completely different and unique experience,” Bruck says in the statement.

With M. Bird open, Armature Works developer SoHo Capital is in the midst of additional projects that will showcase the location on the Hillsborough River.

“Armature Works is one step further to its complete restoration and phase one of SoHo Capital’s revitalization of the Heights neighborhood,” spokeswoman Lauren Mooser writes in an email. “A riverside pavilion bar and kayak rental, a 90-foot pier and the extension of the Tampa Riverwalk to North Boulevard are set to be completed in early 2019.”

Follow this link to a list of some of the Tampa Bay Area's most awesome rooftop bars.