College Survival Tips: Off-Campus Study Spots Near the University of South Florida (Tampa Campus)

List of off-campus study spots near the University of South Florida, Tampa:

• Felicitous Cafe
• Mojo Books & Records 
• Blind Tiger

Felicitous Cafe (51st Location)

Need a cozy cafe to study? Felicitous Cafe has your back for a studious environment. Felicitous Cafe locations are: 51st street & 42nd street. The 51st street location is housed in a cozy bungalow with plenty of tree coverage to sit comfortably outside. While their 42nd street location can be found on the first floor of the Lark Apartments, off-campus student housing. For this review, I will be describing my experience for their 5st street location. The Felicitous Cafe has been serving coffee since 2011 and caters to students within the Tampa Bay Area. When visiting, there is a large USF community presence for in-house coffee and live events from local artists. The environment is welcoming regardless if you choose to sit outdoors or inside the cafe. The cafe offers a wide variety of coffee, tea, pastries, and snacks. My beverage of choice is their Floridian Latte to pair it with a gluten-free mini cake. Coffee is made in-house and promote local artist to feature their work. This is my most visited, off-campus study spot while I was an undergraduate student at the University of South Florida.

Photo 1. Outdoor setting area at the Felicitous Cafe with spacious tables for visitors. 

Photo 2. Indoor area of the Felicitous Cafe with a cozy and quaint feeling.

Photo 3. Sitting near the entrance of the door, where printing services are offered. 

Mojo Books & Records

The Mojo Books & Records store is located in Fowler Avenue. The store is an iconic shop that features a plentiful selection of records and books. Mojo's atmosphere is relaxing and diverse for customers to browse collections of vinyl. This is Tampa's largest independent record and book store with a handful of brewed coffee, teas, and snacks. Tables are available for visitors to use, which makes this store ideal to study for upcoming exams or read a thrilling novel. My favorite beverage of choice when visiting the Mojo Books & Record store is their Thai Chai Latte. I have visited this store for a few occasions with a purpose to study or view their astronomy books selection. For their vinyl, I enjoy their selection of The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Mild High Club, and Cocteau Twins. Live music shows are also available for musicians and music artists. I would recommend anyone to check this place out if you enjoy physical copies of books (new or used), vinyl, and CDs. 

Photo 4. The storefront of Mojo's Books & Records where you can buy new and used items.

Photo 5. Bookshelves at Mojos' for people to browse and read prior to purchasing.

Photo 6. The astronomy section of Mojo's Book & Records store, featuring Across the Airless Wilds by Earl Swift and Roving Mars by Steve Squyres.

Photo 7. The second-half of Mojo's Book & Record store dedicated for music vinyl and CDs.

Photo 8. Music vinyl and CDs are organized by bands or genres.

Blind Tiger (Ybor Location)

The Blind Tiger is a coffee roasters cafe. The first Blind Tiger location was founded in Ybor City of Tampa, Florida. This review will be primarily based on their Ybor City location. The cafe prides itself as a speakeasy-inspired roaster for quality and richness for the small pleasures of brewed coffee. Blind Tiger also offer non-caffeinated beverages and pastries such as macarons, cookies, or teas. My go-to orders from Blind Tiger are their Matcha Green Tea, and Black Coffee. The atmosphere is historical with a unique twists of urban style. Blind Tiger is iconic for their orange colors throughout the cafe. At their Ybor location, there are large windows, allowing for natural lighting to enter while you sit inside the cafe. The Blind Tiger has up to seven locations to visit within the Tampa Bay Area. I have visited their Ybor City & Westshore (closed, moved to International Plaza) locations. After drinking their coffee, I have done all-nighters to study for midterm and finals. If you have a love for Ybor City and cafes then I would recommend this off-campus study spot. 

Photo 9. The storefront of Blind Tiger in their Ybor City location.

Photo 10. The Blind Tiger's iconic orange chairs for outdoor seating.

Photo 11. Inside the Blind Tiger cafe during the month of October, decorated for Halloween.