Bosco’s Owners Celebrate Two Years In Wesley Chapel With New Menu Items!

WHETHER YOU LIVE in Meadow Pointe II or Epperson, the husband-and-wife owners of Bosco’s Italian-to-Go, located in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54 (near Curley Rd.), are proud to deliver their pizza and Italian specialties to your door.

“We’re one of the only pizza places that delivers both to Epperson and to all four areas of Meadow Pointe,” says co-owner Charles Frankulin. “If you have a Wesley Chapel address, we’ll deliver to your door.”

Charles and his wife Nancy, whose first date was their senior prom at Wesley Chapel High, took over a reasonably successful little pizza place two years ago next month and continue to put their own imprint on Bosco’s already pretty good menu.

Go Gator!

The most recent additions include some that are, well…pretty unique.

“We wanted to have something that no one else in Wesley Chapel was offering and we decided to give gator a try,” Nancy says. “We now serve gator fettuccine Alfredo, gator on pizza and even something we’re calling ‘Swamp & Turf’ pizza, with both gator and steak.

Gator Alfredo

Charles is quick to point out that, “People who say they don’t love gator because it’s usually too tough are usually talking about gator tail, which is tougher because their tails are so muscular. We’re bringing in tender gator belly, farm-raised in Louisiana.”

I certainly have always been one of those folks who has never been too impressed with the chewiness of gator tail, but I’ve also always been at least somewhat adventurous when it comes to food, so I gave both the Cajun-style gator fettuccine and Swamp & Turf pizza a try, and offered samples to senior video producer Gavin Olsen and sales assistant Janet Levins.

We all agreed that the gator is indeed tender and sweet, almost like a cross between lobster and calamari, but I definitely enjoyed it more with Bosco’s mild (not overly thick or cheesy) Alfredo sauce.

I definitely recommend giving it (or the chicken fettuccine Alfredo) a try.

I also really enjoyed Bosco’s new Tuscan-style tater tots, which are basted with a small amount of oil and baked in Bosco’s conveyor belt oven and come out crispy, with a hint of garlic (third photo from the top on the next page).

Garlic knots.

And, speaking of crispy, although they’re not a new menu item, I wanted to give a shout out to Bosco’s garlic knots. I’ve always preferred regular, crispy Italian bread to knots with my lasagne, meatballs (photo, left) or chicken parmigiana, but Bosco’s come out super-crispy, without overdoing the garlic. Nice!

Another tasty new menu item is the smoked mozzarella raviolis (photo, right), which are stuffed with the flavorful, smoky cheese and covered with Bosco’s zesty red sauce and fresh (not smoked) mozzarella.

Meatball sub.

The only new menu items we haven’t sampled yet are Bosco’s crispy boneless or bone-in wings with Frank’s Redhot Sweet Asian chili hot sauce. I’ve always loved sweet Thai chili sauce, so I’m sure Bosco’s oven-baked wings will be great with them.

And, even though Bosco’s hasn’t yet toyed with keto pizza, they do offer 14-inch gluten-free pizzas, for those who are reactive to gluten.

“We sell quite a few gluten-free pizzas every week,” Nancy says. “There’s a pretty steady number of regulars asking for them.”

Speaking of demand, although I didn’t get a great picture of them either, you have to try Bosco’s crispy cinnamon sticks with cannoli icing for dessert. Decadent! There’s also cannolis, cheesecake and tiramisu on the dessert menu.

To celebrate their second anniversary, the Frankulins are offering one-topping, 14-inch pizzas for only $7.99, with the coupon from Bosco’s ad on pg. 35 of this issue. Congrats, Nancy and Charles!!

Bosco’s Italian-to-Go (30122 S.R. 54) is open every day but Sun. for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 11 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. For takeout or delivery orders or for more info, call (813) 907-2440 and tell Nancy and Charles I sent you. Or, visit BoscosItalianFL.com!

One New Hospital Is Announced As WC’s First Hospital Gets A New Name

A second hospital could be coming to Wesley Chapel .

Officials from BayCare Pasco, a newly created not-for-profit organization established to develop and operate a proposed new 60-bed acute care hospital, met with county planners about opening its first Wesley Chapel location on an 111-acre site in the northeast quadrant of the planned I-75 and Overpass Rd. intersection.

Prior to meeting with Pasco County, BayCare received preliminary approval for its application to build the new hospital. 

The BayCare location will be ideal for the thousands of homes being built in the neighboring “connected city” (which is already home to residents in the Epperson development) as well as future growth on the west side of I-75.

“We know that the demand for health care services will continue to increase in that (Wesley Chapel) community, and we’re eager to bring more of BayCare’s clinical excellence to residents in this area,” said Tommy Inzina, president and CEO of BayCare, in a statement.

While it operates 15 hospitals in Tampa Bay — BayCare also operates a HealthHub in the Publix in Hollybrook Plaza on S.R. 54 — this will be the company’s first hospital located in Wesley Chapel.

BayCare Pasco says the proposed hospital will be state-of-the-art and have 30 medical/surgical beds (all private rooms with bath and showers), including 18 progressive care/intensive care beds with full capabilities, including eICU (virtual) monitoring; and 12 women’s services beds, including postpartum obstetric beds and nursery capabilities; as well as 30 observation beds to accommodate patients who need to be assessed for next steps in care.

The proposal also says the hospital will have an emergency department with 30 ER beds and four operating rooms

IT’S OFFICIAL: All Florida Hospital facilities made it official on Jan. 1, becoming AdventHealth as part of what the healthcare giant is calling a “new consumer-centric brand launch.”

The announcement of the name change was made in August, and became official with the new year.

The former Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is now AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC), one of 30 Advent Health hospitals and freestanding departments in Florida. 

Based in Altamonte Springs, the company’s hospitals and other facilities are all now displaying the new name.

“This is an exciting time as we elevate our ability to connect communities with our expanded network of care,” said Mike Schultz, president and CEO of Advent Health’s West Florida Division. “This name change reinforces our commitment to provide a viable, affordable health care system and to continue our unique brand of inspired, compassionate whole-person care through clinical expertise and leading-edge innovation.”

AHWC currently is the only hospital located in Wesley Chapel. It opened as FHWC in 2012, and it continues to expand. 

In 2017, a massive expansion was completed that doubled the number of operating and emergency rooms, while adding 62 private inpatient rooms.

The hospital most recently completed a $2.8-million women’s health center, called Inspiration Place (see ad on pg. 2 of this issue), in December of 2017, and earlier this year, opened a 24-bed offsite emergency department on S.R. 54 near the Suncoast Pkwy.

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel’s adjacent 50,000- square-foot Health & Wellness Center continues to receive overwhelmingly positive reviews from local residents.

AdventHealth recently met with Pasco County planners to propose an additional three-story medical office building and future parking garage on nearly nine acres off Legacy Blvd., adjacent to AHWC.