Vallarta’s Tampa Palms Is Gearing Up For Another Fun Cinco De Mayo!

EVEN THOUGH I’ll never try to convince you that Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant, located in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center, is the best Mexican food you’ll ever eat, I do enjoy the food (especially at Vallarta’s reasonable prices), the service and the atmosphere at this local chain of family-owned eateries.

Because I’m the adventurous type, I always try to sample something new whenever I visit Vallarta’s, skipping only the shrimp dishes that I’m allergic to, and I keep finding new favorites to go with my old ones.

On my most recent visits, I first tried the semi-spicy steak a la Mexicana and although the thin rib eye steak is a fatty cut, the blend of onions, tomatoes and sliced jalapeños definitely make it a flavorful choice for me. There also are seven other non-fajita steak dishes on the menu, all under $15, unless you get a steak and shrimp combo. I can recommend the batter-dipped steak milanesa and the Vallarta’s special steak, topped with grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers.

Next, I tried the pork chunks with onions, or carnitas, and found what truly is now my new favorite dish at Vallarta’s.

The pork is obviously marinated and the chunks literally melt in your mouth. Pedro, the general manager, says that the chunks are made from pork leg or butt. All I can say is that I’ll be sampling this one again. For the same price ($13), you can add salsa roja (red) or verde (green), but these beauties don’t really need any sauce. The carnitas are totally tasty as is.

Shrimp Avocado Rice

Vallarta’s no longer serves its fajitas sizzling on a metal dish, but they’re still pretty tasty and I prefer the chicken to the steak fajitas.

Starters at Vallarta’s include the cheese (queso) dip, guacamole Vallarta, a mushroom quesadilla and five varieties of nachos,  so whether you like them just with cheese ($6) or the nachos Vallarta (with grilled steak, avocado, onions and cheese, $11), you’re sure to find one that suits your fancy — just bring plenty of friends, as the nacho orders are huge!

And although I can’t eat the Cocktel de Camarones (shrimp cocktail, $14) due to my shellfish allergy, I saw someone enjoying it the other day. The large shrimp are served “swimming” in a tasty hot sauce, in a gigantic margarita glass. I also enjoy the Mexican chicken soup, which was perfect for those cold days we had in March.

Jannah also recently found a new favorite, as she really enjoyed the chicken fajita salad, which also is available with beef or shrimp and served in a monstrous tortilla shell that is overstuffed with fajita chicken, plus grilled peppers and onions, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico de gallo, guac and cheese. It’s not served with dressing, but it honestly doesn’t need additional toppings, as Jannah ended up not needing to use her side of ranch dressing.

There also are plain grilled chicken dinners (pollo a la Parilla, $11) and a fried chicken breast (pollo Empanisado, $13).

And of course, Vallarta’s also has lunch and dinner-sized combinations of all of your Mexican favorites. So, whether you like hard or soft tacos, enchiladas, chalupas, burritos, tamales, tostadas, taquitos, flautas, chimichangas or tostaguac (I honestly don’t know what that last one is), you’re sure to find your favorites on this huge menu, with most lunch combos from $6-$9 and most dinner combos at around $10.

I’m not the biggest quesadilla fan, but they also are available for $8-$11 and the one I definitely will try in the future is the chicken, bacon and cheese variety.

Oh, and of course, even though I’m usually a chunky salsa kind of guy, Vallarta’s purĂ©ed salsa, served in wine carafes (you pour the salsa into a bowl for dipping), is highly addictive, especially with the restaurant’s fresh, hot, super-crisp tortilla chips.

Don’t Forget Cinco!

Another great thing about Vallarta’s is that it offers a full liquor bar with a variety of Mexican and domestic beers, a selection of top-shelf tequilas, as well as lots of margarita varieties that, according to the Vallarta’s menu, are “truly bigger than your head,” all at much lower prices than you’ll find at most sit-down Mexican eateries.

So, if you’re looking for a place to spend Saturday, May 5 — aka Cinco de Mayo — look no further. Vallarta’s will have music, food and drink specials and a big crowd for Cinco, although the place is crowded for dinner almost every day all year-round (and even many days at lunch time) and continues to receive lots of votes every year in our annual Reader Dining Survey & Contest. In other words, when you serve good food at very fair prices, people will keep coming back for more.

And, speaking of more, there also are Vallarta’s locations in the Wesley Chapel Village Market, one near the Suncoast Pkwy. off S.R. 54, one at Collier Pkwy. at 54, one on S.R. 54 in Trinity/Odessa, plus Temple Terrace and Carrollwood. The family that started Vallarta’s also opened a more upscale San JosĂ© Mexican Restaurant on Land O’Lakes Blvd. (U.S. Hwy. 41 in Lutz), as well as the new El Pescador Mexican seafood restaurant in the New Tampa Center plaza on BBD Blvd. We plan to feature El Pescador in our next issue.

Vallarta’s of Tampa Palms is located at 16023 Tampa Palms Blvd. W. It is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information, including some great regular coupon specials, visit VallartasRestaurants.com or call (813) 978-3761. The Wesley Chapel Vallarta’s is located at 5335 Village Market. For more info, call (813) 907-5161.

Family Of Christ Christian School Offers A Great Education & Life Lessons, Too

If you want to see smiles like these on your children’s faces, arrange a tour today to check out Family of Christ Christian School off BBD Blvd. in Tampa Palms, no matter what denomination or religion or your family may be.

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Those words from Luke 2:52 (New Testament, New International Version) delivered in the First Century AD come alive today in the Family of Christ (FoC) Christian School mission statement, which commits the faculty and staff to growing the knowledge and abilities of their students “in a manner that brings honor and glory to God.”

Putting those words into action is the job of the school’s faculty and administrators, including Jennifer Snow, who has been the principal at FoC since 2005.

“The priority of the staff is to work as a team to help our students develop their hearts, minds and souls,” Snow says, adding that the joy of learning is part of the educational experience at FoC.

“If you walk through the classrooms, you see how happy they are while learning.”

But of course, plenty of learning goes on beyond the classrooms of the tree-shaded campus nestled between Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Tampa Palms Blvd. W. in Tampa Palms.

Recent class field trips have taken students to places like the Florida Keys to explore marine science and Washington, D.C., to see firsthand and up close how the American political machine operates and the history of our government. Snow, who has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Education from the University of South Florida, says the students’ enthusiasm for learning makes it easy to give them a little more freedom in their pursuit of knowledge.

“We have such well-behaved students that you can kind of go out of the normal classroom realm a little bit and just have fun,” she says.

Snow adds that, in addition to a focus on core academic subjects such as science, language and math, FoC also provides instruction in art, music, computers and physical education and is an active participant in the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS).The school measures student progress by administering the Stanford Achievement Test each year for grades 1-8.

The genesis of FoC was almost two decades ago, at the end of 1999, when Family of Christ Lutheran Church embarked on its mission of bringing high-quality educational opportunities based on Christian values and beliefs to the New Tampa area with (at that time) Pre-K and Kindergarten instruction. The school took a gradual approach to growth, adding one grade at a time until it achieved its current K-8 status , now with 180 enrolled students.

The classrooms at FoC features staffers like Lindy Evans, a language arts teacher for middle school (grades 6-8), who says the emphasis in her class is on learning to live by high standards, as well as learning with high achievement. 

“We aren’t primarily focused on test scores,” Evans says. “We are more concerned with producing academically strong students, with a solid Christian foundation, who will be positive members of our community.”

And when FoC alumni transition to high schools, middle school science teacher Melissa Gembarowski expresses confidence that the graduating Family of Christ 8th graders will be well prepared for all of the challenges awaiting them.

“Our students are successful, whether at private or public high schools, due in part to the confidence and Christian foundation that is instilled in them during their years at Family of Christ,” Gembarowski says.

Graduating eighth-graders also can get a headstart on their high school educations by earning credits in advanced science, algebra and Spanish language courses at FoC that can be applied to a high school diploma.

Living Up To Its ‘Family’ Name

It’s an educational formula that FoC parent Yamira Soto says has benefited her children.

“We have been a part of the Family of Christ Christian School family for the past 8 years,” Soto wrote in her email. “Our school has the perfect combination of a superior curriculum, the best educators and a faith-based, nurturing environment.”

Similarly, Tom and Lori Lahart have experience as a long-term FoC family, with their two children attending there for nine years.“Mrs. Snow delivered on her promise to provide a safe, nurturing, fun environment while putting a world-class education as their primary focus,” the Laharts wrote in an email. “Our two children have now graduated and are flourishing in high school, thanks to the strong foundation they received at Family of Christ.”

While the school is affiliated with Family of Christ Lutheran Church and is accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Association (NLSA) (and by the district of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod), enrollment at FoC is open to anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation.

“There are Christians and non-Christians; there are Catholics, Baptists and non-denominational families here,” says Snow. “We have (children from) a variety of denominations that go to different churches but still come here for school.”

Snow adds that FoC’s “inclusivity” is based on common interests and helps the school achieve its purpose.

“To me, it’s about God’s word and what we can do to work in (and have) a positive effect on the community,” she says.

Some of the community projects the school has undertaken include feeding the homeless through Metropolitan Ministries and donating financial offerings to charities such as the Red Cross.

Further Expansion On The Way?

In the 13 years since Snow joined FoC,  its enrollment has increased from fewer than 80 students to its current level of 180, which is just about the capacity of the current facilities. Snow says she hopes expansion will occur, but that there are no firm plans to do so at this time.

“We don’t have a lot of spaces to give, but we want people to know we are here,” Snow says, adding that the school is tuition- and fee-based, but there are scholarships available to help in some situations.

For families with infants or toddlers through age four, their Christian school relationship can begin at Family of Christ’s Child Development Center, which was part of the original church mission that brought forth the school as a K-8 institution. In addition, Family of Christ Lutheran Church is hosting a Vacation Bible School (VBS) July 16-20, with a theme of “Rolling River Rampage.”

Athletics also are part of the FoC experience, with students in grades four through eight participating in a variety of sports, including flag football, golf, cross country, volleyball and basketball. The FoC Knights compete against other Christian schools throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Snow, who has more than 25 years experience as an educator, including as a teacher at Hunter’s Green Elementary when it first opened, says that she and her colleagues at FoC are committed to doing their best at this special career they have chosen.

“This is the most important job God could have given any of us, and that is to work with kids,” she says. “Our staff at Family of Christ is the school heartbeat and, daily, they go above and beyond their jobs.”

You can learn more about Family of Christ Christian School by calling (813) 558-9343 to arrange a tour of the school and its campus, located at 16190 BBD Blvd. com. For more info, see the ad on pg. 38 of this issue or visit FOC-Knights.com.