Author: Brad Stager

Minerva Indian Restaurant Now Open In The New Tampa Center!

minerva-6-copy Your dining adventure begins as soon as you step inside Minerva Indian Restaurant. Suddenly gone is the bustle outside at the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center at the corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and New Tampa Blvd.

Inhale the fragrance of jasmine incense and come face-to-face with a figurine of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh.

This initial stimulation of sight and smell will warm up all of your senses to enjoy the wide range of flavors featured on Minerva’s menu, which spans India’s cuisine from south to north, and even includes some Indo-Chinese fare.

Owner Venkat Reddy has gathered the ingredients he needs to offer a taste of Indian home-style cooking to New Tampa gourmands and foodies.

“We have our own recipes from India and all of our spices come from India,” says Reddy, who grew up in Hyderabad, India.

minerva-gn Minerva has only been open since June — in the location previously occupied by Sushi Ko — but it’s already gaining a loyal following of repeat customers, like David Britton, who says he typically eats there once-a-week for lunch.

“It’s got some of the best Indian food in the area,” Britton said. “I can’t always pronounce what I’m eating, but I really like the spiciness.”

How spicy to prepare the food is one of the toughest culinary calibrations a chef can make. According to Reddy, guiding first-time visitors through the menu to accommodate their preferences and tolerances is part of the customer service at Minerva.

“We have a lot of varieties and I’ll ask them first how spicy they like their food,” says Reddy, who also is a New Tampa resident.

While consideration is given to the varied palates and expectations of patrons, Minerva stays true to delivering an authentic Indian dining experience, according to Perry Compton, who lived in India as a religious missionary and learned to cook in the local tradition. He sampled the lunch buffet for his initial visit to the restaurant and vowed to return.

minerva-1 “It’s my first time here but it won’t be my last,” Compton, a Wesley Chapel resident, says. “This food is some of the best I’ve ever eaten.” Compton was particularly impressed with Minerva’s butter chicken. “I make a pretty good one myself, and it takes so many ingredients to make.”

Butter chicken may qualify as comfort food for fans of Indian cuisine, and is a popular item on Minerva’s extensive lunch buffet. The spiciness manifests as a creamy assortment of subtle flavors rather than a searing burn to the taste buds. Allowing diners to savor those flavors is characteristic of the dishes at Minerva, especially the buffet items, which are all prepared in the mild-to-medium range of spiciness.

The lunch buffet is offered seven days a week and is changed daily, offering a good introduction to Indian cuisine. A la carte items can be ordered during lunch as well as dinner hours.

There are no beef or pork dishes on Minerva’s menu, but meat eaters have plenty of chicken, lamb, goat and seafood options. Goat curry is a good introduction to the red meat, which is a staple of diets around the globe, if not so much in the U.S.

The Cuisine For Vegetarians

Vegetarian dining takes on a whole different aspect with Indian food.

minerva-4 Vegetables are often main dishes and are cooked with spices that imbue them with appetizing flavors, such as bagara baigan, which has eggplant as its basis. Even humble lentil beans take on a bold taste when served as the curry dish tadka dal.

Masala dosas, which are thin rice crepes filled with curry-glazed vegetables, also are featured as part of Minerva’s lunch buffet.

Chinese foods like fried rice and chow mein assume an Indian flavor with the addition of ingredients like cumin and chilies. Minerva combines rice and soft noodles with vegetables, chicken and shrimp for the various Indo-Chinese entrees like hakka veg chowmein and mixed fried rice.

Neighborhood News publisher and dining reviewer Gary Nager raves about the Indo-Chinese chicken fried rice. “It has a uniquely peppery, mild spiciness,” Gary says, “and lots of veggies.” Gary also enjoyed the garlic naan bread and the medium-spicy tandoori-style chicken.

Beverages include American and Indian soft drinks, juices, tea, coffee, wine and domestic and Indian beers like Taj Mahal, Old Monk 10000 Super Beer and Kingfisher. There also is a great selection of authentic Indian desserts to sample.

The wine list is actually pretty extensive, ranging from Clos du Bois chardonnay to 14 Hands Hot to Trot red blend.

Minerva offers a spacious and comfortable environment with light, modern decor and instrumental Indian pop music providing the soundtrack. The successful pairing of food and space is key to creating a positive dining experience, and according to the McCoy family of Wesley Chapel, Reddy has put it all together at his Minerva.

“What really enhances the food here is the ambiance,” says Anthony McCoy. His wife Rita also enjoys eating at Minerva, which has helped her become a fan of Indian cuisine.

“I’m trying all the different flavors because this is something I’m going to be cooking with more,” she said.

The McCoys’ son, Shawn, appreciated the low-key spiciness of the buffet.

“This has spice, but it’s within my tolerance,” he said.

Reddy named his restaurant Minerva after a popular cafe chain of that name in his hometown. He says he earned his certificate as a foodservice professional and moved to the U.S. Reddy comes to New Tampa after owning and operating restaurants in Dallas and Temple Terrace.

As word gets around about Minerva, people like Sam Abrahani are coming from as far away as Zephyrhills to dine at his restaurant.

“I drive 20 miles to eat (here),” Abrahani said. “You don’t have to go to India to get authentic Indian food. You can come to New Tampa.”

In addition to the inviting sit-down restaurant, Reddy provides catering services, including onsite food preparation to ensure optimal freshness. But, whether he’s serving a wedding party of a thousand guests at the India Cultural Center or the lunch crowd at Minerva, Reddy says he sticks to basic principles to achieve customer satisfaction.

“Good service, good food and maintain a high-quality of product,” he says.

Minerva Indian Restaurant is located at 19050 BBD Blvd. and is open daily, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. for dinner. Be sure to check the ad in this issue on page 51 of our latest New Tampa edition for coupons offering 15-percent off your check or $2 off a lunch buffet. For more information, visit MinervaTampa.com or call 978-8586.

Minerva Indian Restaurant

Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube Growing Fast

Moses Pomales, the general manager at Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube’s “express” location just south of County Line Rd., monitors the traffic through the express wash tunnel.

Setting out on a cross-town, rush hour drive doesn’t have to be an onerous journey if your car is looking good and running right. Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube can help by cleaning your car’s finish to a spotless shine, detailing the interior to look, feel and smell great and ensuring that all of your vehicle’s life-giving fluids are refreshed, all in one visit.

And, an automotive makeover at Bay Breeze all but guarantees that your view will be through a clean windshield.

Bay Breeze has seven locations in four counties, from Polk to Pinellas, including three that are within minutes of most Wesley Chapel residents.

The company’s flagship location is the full-service operation in the heart of New Tampa on N. Palms Village Pl., off of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just north of I-75. The second New Tampa location is an express wash and lube operation on Trout Creek Dr., off of BBD, north of Paul R. Wharton High (next to Burger 21). Many Wesley Chapel residents have found the Land O’Lakes express wash and lube facility located a little west of the Tampa Premium Outlets on S.R. 54 at Foggy Ridge Pkwy.

The hands-on detailing provided at the N. Palms Village facility (referred to as the New Tampa location on Bay Breeze’s website) provides bumper-to-bumper, carpet-to-headliner, sidewall-to-sidewall cleaning. Lube services include oil and filter changes and preventive maintenance on cooling systems and transmissions.

Bay Breeze’s express wash and lube facilities offer quick, efficient, hands-free, machine-operated cleaning as well as basic upkeep. A free express wash is included with each oil change and express washes include free customer use of vacuums to clean their interiors and air to inflate their tires.

The family that owns the business has made being the Tampa Bay area’s premiere car wash and lube destination its goal. VP of operations Scott Barone says achieving that means making a strong commitment to customer service.

“We like to say ‘above and beyond,’” Barone says. “That means the place looks good and things are operating at the Bay Breeze level of quality.”

Keeping Customers Satisfied

Barone identified five areas the company emphasizes when conducting business: “Quality, service, cleanliness, friendliness (being easy to do business with) and safety.”

Abiding by these high standards has earned Bay Breeze recognition from readers of the Tampa Bay Business Journal, who voted the company “Best in the Biz” for the years 2012, 2013 and 2015 in the Favorite Car Wash & Detailer category.

There’s also praise from locals like Pam Cazes, who has been a longtime Bay Breeze customer and whose entire family of six drivers also use the New Tampa locations.

“We take our cars there for detailing and oil changes,” says Cazes, who lives in Cory Lake Isles. “The service is excellent and they treat the cars with respect.”

At the Trout Creek express location (called the Bruce B. Downs store on Bay Breeze’s website), general manager Moses Pomales is responsible for providing customers an optimal Bay Breeze experience. Pomales came up through the ranks of the company, starting out as a lube greeter and working in a succession of supervisory positions over nine years before assuming his current position.

Pomales says his approach is to always put customer needs first.

“I walk the facility and interact with customers to see what they need,” the Cross Creek resident says. “We’re here to give them the best experience they can have, from beginning to end.”

That experience starts as soon as a customer enters a Bay Breeze driveway, with a greeter providing directions to the appropriate service area. If maintenance is on the agenda, the car’s VIN is scanned on an iPad and its service history is available to the technicians.

The customer waiting area is decorated and maintained like a bank lobby in terms of cleanliness and comfort. But, Barone says, it’s not as if express lube customers have a lot of time to settle in for a long stay.

“As soon as we start working on a car, our goal is 15 minutes or less for an oil change,” Barone says.

Bay Breeze acquired the Trout Creek location about a year ago. The company closed the facility down for a few weeks to re-configure the express wash tunnels and make other improvements. Barone invites people who had been customers of the previous business to check out the changes.

“Come on back and see us,” he says.

For drivers who like to maintain their cars in spotless condition, Bay Breeze offers monthly VIP package memberships that save frequent customers money.

“We get customers who come in every morning to get a car wash,” Pomales says.

Bay Breeze also offers discounts to members of the military and the law enforcement community.

Since opening in North Palms Village in 2004, Bay Breeze has grown to its current seven locations and about 100 employees, according to Barone. The full-service New Tampa location is the largest facility, with 55 employees.

Achieving that growth means investing in people and technology, as well as real estate for locations. The company has an established training program for new employees who may be new to the car wash and lube industry, including certification for technicians through the Automotive Oil Change Association.

Computers track everything from traffic flow through the wash tunnels and chemical usage to sales of wiper blades. That information is even available via mobile devices, so Bay Breeze managers aren’t tethered to a computer to stay on top of things and can be available to maintain the company’s high level of customer service.

When it comes to the actual cleaning of their cars, customers benefit from the latest car wash technology, especially when it comes to protection from the harsh environment of Florida’s sunshine and thunderstorms. Various sealants and protectants are available, including a new Nano-polymer protective sealant. Barone credits using the premium product with keeping his car’s appearance at its best.

“I personally have not had my vehicle hand-waxed in over two years, but because I use our Nano product an average of once a week, it still looks like I just drove it off the showroom floor,” he says.

Barone adds that people need to wash their cars more often in the summer to combat the effects of both the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and the wearing effects of rain on a car’s finish.

While Bay Breeze provides car wash and lube services, Barone says what the company really is offering its customers is actually much more valuable.

“It comes down to time,” Barone says. “Time is something you can’t get back. I can take 30 minutes in my driveway or three minutes in a car wash.”

Bay Breeze Car Wash & Lube is open daily, with hours varying by location. You can learn more by visiting BayBreezeCarWash.com or contacting one of the following locations: New Tampa – 17501 N. Palm Village Pl., 615-1333; Bruce B. Downs – 20306 Trout Creek Dr., 973-0033; Land O’Lakes – 24124 S.R. 54, 949-7297.

Bay Breeze Car Wash

The Grout Doctor Is In & Making House Calls In New Tampa!

Bill Porter, who has owned his local Grout Doctor franchise for eight years, can handle even the hardest grout cleaning jobs, as well as offering many other services, like tile repair.

Bill Porter travels the paved arteries of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel healing the distress that homeowners experience with mold-infected and broken grout and tile.

Porter is The Grout Doctor.

But, instead of working in a clean, well-lit operating room, a typical house call for Porter involves a long day on his hands and knees in a cramped, moldy shower stall, scraping and cleaning away accumulated soap, shampoo and mold. He is succinct in describing the task “It’s a very labor-intensive job,” Porter says.

Porter has been a Grout Doctor franchise owner for eight years — one of more than 85 in the U.S., including seven in Florida — following a career as a heavy equipment operator in the Florida phosphate industry. He says lessons taught to him by his father and grandfather growing up in Canisteo, NY, have served him well in both careers.

“It’s like my father told me,” Porter says, “‘if you’re going to do something right, do it right the first time.’”

Routine services Porter provides are grout cleaning or regrouting, repairing or replacing broken tiles as well as caulking. He applies his skills to a variety of tile surfaces, including marble, terrazzo, travertine and limestone.

When you take a good look at most homes in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, there’s usually plenty of tile, from interior spaces like bathrooms, kitchens and high-traffic floors to outside lanais and pools. Porter will work on all of it, wherever it may be located. “There’s a lot of tile everywhere,” Porter says.

Since people tend to take tile and grout for granted — until neglect and sometimes even abuse becomes all too apparent — Porter is often confronted with a substantial professional challenge.

“People don’t do anything for years and years, until the work needs to be done,” Porter says. “You go to some jobs and it’s learn as you go.”

Elbow grease and sweat may be the main ingredients for successfully completing any assignment, but knowledge and focus also are required, Porter says.

“You have to mix the grout properly, you have to apply the grout properly and you have to take your time.”

It’s not just a diminished sense of ownership pride that occurs as a result of dingy showers afflicted with soap scum and mold. One of the most common molds that finds tile grout to be a hospitable medium is cladosporium, which is olive-green to brown or black in appearance and has been associated with allergies and asthma, according to the website for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) & Prevention website.

In addition, GroutDoctor.com identifies other potential grout-related problems besides mold. Cracked and missing grout can lead to damaged walls from leaking water and underlying floor surfaces also can be damaged. Checking for those kinds of problems is one of the first things Porter does when he starts a job.

“I go around and touch the walls and if I feel sponginess, that means the wallboard has gotten wet,” Porter says, noting that replacing small sections of wallboard and wood framing are part of his services.

While Porter cleans and repairs grout and tiles and refreshes the appearance of tiled spaces, he does not perform complete tiling jobs, although he will replace small sections if the correct tiles are easily available. He says people should hang onto any extra tiles they may have after construction or a major tile installation since they are produced in limited runs and generally not available afterward.

Porter also suggests taking a good look inside your boxes of leftover tiles, as he has often opened them only to discover nothing but a pile of broken tiles inside. He says trying to repair broken tiles usually yields disappointing results.

“It just never really looks that good compared to an unbroken tile,” he admits.

A full work day is usually needed to clean and regrout a routine shower assignment, followed by a 48-hour dry period, so customers need to plan accordingly, Porter says. Time to complete other projects will vary, especially when it comes to pools, since outdoor assignments are weather-dependent. Before leaving your home, Porter will take the time to explain how to properly care for the rehabilitated surfaces. He also will leave samples of Grout Doctor cleaning products, like the Grout Doctor Shower Cleaner and the Grout Doctor Neutral Cleaner, for customers to use.

“They’re very good products,” said Porter. “They’ve done the research and know what works.”

Porter has earned an A rating on the consumer website Angie’s List and the endorsement of customers such as Live Oak Preserve resident John Martel, who called upon Grout Doctor to work on his home’s pool. “Bill did a really nice job,” Martel says. “My pool was 10 years old and had a lot of grout that needed replacing. He replaced the grout and some broken tiles and sealed all the grout when he was done. He got it looking like new again.”

Franchise Opportunities, Too!

Porter says there are franchise opportunities with Grout Doctor available for people who are willing to apply themselves toward being successful.

“(The company) is always looking to expand and there are opportunities in Florida,’’ Porter says. “But you better be prepared to work hard and go the extra mile. The phone isn’t going to ring by itself, you have to make it ring.”

As for compensation, Porter says it’s a good way to make money, and more.

“It’s a good feeling when I’ve done a good job,’’ he says. “I want to see them smiling when I walk out the door.”

Call Bill Porter for a free estimate at 782-2277, or visit GroutDoctor.com, where you also can find out about franchise opportunities and Grout Doctor products. Or, see the ad on pg. 37.

Grout Doctor

Running Great Automotive Of North Tampa Keeps Your Car On The Road

running-great-1 — Owner Glen Yudman of Running Great is usually on-hand to check in your vehicle.

The quest for reliable bumper-to-bumper auto repair services has led many drivers to consumer dead ends, or back to dealerships. Glen Yudman, the owner of Running Great Automotive on N. Nebraska Ave., just south of Skipper Rd., stakes his reputation on providing comprehensive, dealer-quality automotive repair and restoration services at neighborhood mechanic prices.

Yudman’s guiding principle is straightforward. “Staying honest,” he says. “Everybody will say that, but we truly are. My guys do not work on commission. They are on salary, so it’s not like the more repairs they do, the more they make.”

Whether your ride is a homemade swamp buggy or a late-model Mercedes Benz, Yudman and his crew of mechanics will do their best to keep you Running Great. The shop has 14,000-sq.-ft. of work space to provide services ranging from oil changes to complete overhauls of derelict and inoperable classic cars. That includes repairing and replacing transmissions, electrical systems, engines, brakes, air conditioning services and more.

“We do regular daily repairs and maintenance on any automobile and classic auto restoration,’’ Yudman says. “We have a full paint and body shop and collision center.”

As a National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) auto care center, Yudman says repairs from Running Great carry a nationwide warranty.

Yudman’s mechanics have diverse specialties but one thing they share is lengthy experience in the auto repair trade. Many of them started working on cars before they were old enough to drive legally. Yudman found his life’s calling at age 13, working in his family’s New York City gas station.

“I pretty much have always been in this business,” says Yudman, who came to Florida and bought the existing Running Great Automotive repair shop in 1997.

Most of the mechanics have been employed at Running Great for 10 years or longer. Chris Bach is certified as a Master Mechanic by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and has been working there for 32 years, starting out when Nebraska Ave. was a two-lane road and the business was called Mad Hatter Mufflers, Brakes & Transmissions. He’s witnessed how the business has evolved over three decades and three owners.

“The cars are so advanced now, you can go a hundred thousand miles before you need a tune-up,” says Bach.

The technicians are seeing a lot of cars with six-figure mileage at Running Great. Bach says people are keeping their cars longer and that vehicle longevity actually depends as much upon routine maintenance as any other factor. “The key to driving the same car for a long time is lots of (on-time) fluid and filter changes,” he says.

Yudman concurs, with what could be considered a car owner’s mantra: “Change your oil, change your oil, change your oil.” He also recommends fixing leaks and investigating strange noises as soon as they start.

“The longer you wait, the more it will cost,” says Yudman.

Kay Prudente of Tampa Palms likes to drive Toyota 4 Runners and get the most mileage possible out of them. Her current vehicle is a member of the 100,000-mile club a few times over.

“My first Toyota 4 Runner, I got 300,000 miles out of it, thanks to Running Great taking such great care of it,” she says.

Prudente adds that she is on her second 4 Runner and expects to get just as much mileage out of it.

“I faithfully bring it in every 3,000 miles and they stay on top of preventive maintenance,” she says. “I will not take my car anywhere else. They’re upfront, honest and not going to pull a fast one on you.”

Besides long-time customers, Yudman says a lot of Running Great’s business comes from car owners who want to get another opinion on a recommended repair.

“We get people who come in to ask us to take a second look at things after they’ve been to the dealership,” Yudman says.

Running Great Automotive also has the facilities to perform post-accident repairs. The body and paint shop can restore a car’s appearance and the collision center is equipped with a frame rack that applies up to 11-1/2 tons of pressure to straighten anything that gets bent out of shape.

Often it’s Steve Theis, a mechanic with 40 years of experience, operating the rack. He says it takes knowledge, skill and an acute awareness to apply just the right amount of pressure for any collision repair.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll ruin a car,’’ Theis says. “The harder it is to pull, the more stoked I get.”

Theis also takes pride in the welding performed at Running Great. “When we do a weld, we do a solid weld,” he says.

With a humid, subtropical climate like Tampa’s, Theis and his body shop colleagues encounter a lot of rust damage.

“We try to eliminate any kind of rust we see,” he says. “We don’t paint over anything. We always take it back to clean metal.”

Keeping Classics Classy

Classic car restoration is another service at Running Great. The definition of “classic car” has evolved with time and can now include anything from a 1978 AMC Gremlin to a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado or 1922 Ford Model T Roadster. Eddie Lee Gant works on a lot of the restoration projects at Running Great, and says a common factor is that owners will start working on a car themselves and discover the task is bigger than they thought.

Gant, who has been working on cars since he was, “knee-high to a grasshopper,” says a classic car can be restored to reflect its original design and components or be updated with modern comforts and accessories like new air conditioning or sequential turn signals. To him, the reward is more than a paycheck.

“It’s great seeing the customer’s face when you’re done,” Gant says, adding that he appreciates the variety of projects that come through the garage door. “It’s always something different. It’s never he same old routine here.”

When customers come into the shop, they’re usually greeted by Yudman himself or service manager John Persing, Sr., who says he started his own auto repair business almost six decades ago, when he was 13 years old. He emphasizes paying attention to what the customer says as the first step in resolving any car problem, and then following up as needed.

“I ask them what the car is doing and I write it down as they explain it,” Persing says. “If we find something else is wrong as we’re working on the car, I’ll tell them.”

While there’s a lot of experience employed at Running Great, another generation of mechanics is already at work as well.

David Amman, with about 10 years of automotive repair experience, works alongside Persing at the front counter. Like a lot of the other mechanics, he started out sweeping the floor and doing oil changes. His interest is in classic car restoration and he handles much of the detail work customers want done.

“I change out the carpets, headliners, clocks and a lot of weird stuff people bring in, like replacing the emblem on a car,” the Wesley Chapel High graduate says.

Yudman says Running Great truly is a family business, as he has the satisfaction of sons Robby and Danny working with him.

Robby Yudman is a graduate of Hillsborough Community College’s Automotive Repair & Technology program and handles brake and suspension tasks, among others. He says solving a mechanical problem is akin to being a detective and a successful repair brings a true sense of accomplishment.

“When you fix a car, you feel like you did something,” Robby says. “You get to see it leave better than when it came in.”

His brother Danny is a junior at the University of South Florida and is studying economics while still working six days a week at Running Great, where he does welding and classic car restoration. While he’s eager to apply both his financial knowledge and mechanical skills to the business, Danny says customer service is his top priority.

“It’s a family business and we treat the cars like they’re our own,” Danny says. “We’ve been around for as long as we have for a reason.”

Service at Running Great Automotive is on a first-come, first-serve basis according to Glen Yudman. Oil changes come with a free inspection and topping off of fluids.

Running Great is located at 14513 N. Nebraska Ave. in Tampa, and is open Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday. For more info about all available services (all insurance plans are accepted), and a coupon for a discount on an oil change, please visit RunningGreatAuto.com. Or, call 971-0642 or see the ad on pg. 24 of this issue.

Running Great Automotive

Crosby’s Is A Place For Billiards And Darts Enthusiasts

The “billiards tabletop-green”-painted building that is home to Crosby’s Billiards & Darts stands as a testimony to Spring Hill’s not-so-long-ago status as the center of the professional pool competition universe.

Located on Spring Hill Dr., 45 minutes west of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel (about 25 miles north of S.R. 54 and U.S. 41 in Land O’Lakes), Tony Crosby’s business covers all aspects of billiards — he sells pool tables and a complete line of accessories, such as balls, cues, cue holders, retip kits, racks and even overhead table lights. He also provides related services to customers, like maintaining and repairing tables, moving them in a safe and professional manner and properly setting them up.

Crosby’s customers include suburban homeowners with rec rooms, community centers, resorts and military installations around the U.S. He says one reason his customer base is so varied is his philosophy of giving everyone the same high level of service. “As a customer, you’re going to be treated the same, whether you buy a $500 or a $5,000 pool table,” Crosby says. “I have a table for everyone’s budget.”

A lifelong player, Crosby (photo) says he learned the sport growing up in his family’s pub in Manchester, England. After establishing himself as one of the top snooker players in his home country, he came to the U.S. in 2001 to compete professionally in the American style of billiards. Crosby established a professional reputation in the Tampa Bay area and eventually made Spring Hill his home. With major tour sponsors like the Seminole Hard Rock Casino nearby, so did a lot of other pros.

tables “In 2007 and 2008, Spring Hill was the hotbed of professional pool in the United States,” Crosby says. “You had probably 10 of the top 16 players in the country living in the area.”

At that time, if someone who considered himself to be the 21st Century incarnation of Minnesota Fats or Cornbread Red stopped off in Spring Hill thinking the local crowd at Capone’s Billiard Hall offered a chance to make some quick cash in a “friendly” game or two, he would probably go home disappointed and lighter in the wallet.

“If you went into a pool hall on a Monday night, it was like being in the U.S. Open,’’ Crosby says. “This was not the place to come if you were looking to hustle pool.”

Crosby’s own playing achievements include being named 2001 U.S. Pool Association Rookie of the Year, Florida’s State Champion in 2010 and 2011, Top-10 world rankings in 2009 and 2010 and Seminole Pro Tour Player of the Year in 2011. His professional moniker is “The Sniper,” as a result of his sharpshooting playing style.

“When I first came over (to the U.S.), I was used to playing on the 12-foot tables in England, so making the long shots on a nine-foot table was easy,” Crosby recalls.

As the recession forced American companies to end pool sponsorships, the tournament action and money moved to Asia. Preferring the comforts of home with his wife Natalie and their growing family, Crosby began devoting more time to the business of buying used tables and fixing them up for resale.

Refurbishing a pool table can involve replacing the table’s slate top, felt covering and bumpers, as well as refinishing the wood. The result is a piece of recreational furniture that plays well and, just as important, says Crosby, also looks good.

“Most of the guys I talk to would love to have a pool table but they have to compromise with the wife and get a nice-looking table that doesn’t look like it belongs in a bar,” Crosby says.

One of the refurbished tables in Crosby’s showroom that looks like an exceptional piece of home furnishing is an eight-foot American Heritage model with carved features and leather pockets with tassels that is in mint condition. Crosby is selling the table with accessories, delivery and setup for $2,000.

If the designated pool room is your garage, man cave or kids’ play room, Crosby says, a durable Valley Bar table, known as a workhorse of entertainment venues, might be the perfect addition, for about $1,100.

There’s even a bit of billiards history to be found at Crosby’s.

A restored Brunswick Centennial 10-foot table made in the early 1940s, with aluminum sides that harken back to the time when a chrome look was a designer’s best friend, is available for $13,000.

Crosby says the Centennials were poolhall favorites until the need arose to direct aluminum supplies toward making airplanes for the military in World War II. At the time of manufacture, the tables sold for less than $1,000, but are now considered antiques and are highly sought after, according to Richard Broumpton, who helps Crosby manage the business.

“They (sell for) up to 25-grand,” says Broumpton, who, like Crosby, is an Englishman who came to America to ply his trade as a professional pool player. “They’re pretty expensive to buy, even in bad shape. That kind of retro look has a lot of appeal.”

Crosby says tables available at any particular time will vary, and popular models or bargains are usually quickly sold.

While Crosby has customers all over the country and says he even recently shipped a pool table to Australia, he’s interested in serving pool and dart players closer to home. In order to help attract customers from the Wesley Chapel and New Tampa areas, Crosby is offering a special deal to Neighborhood News readers. “I’ll give a 10-percent discount if they bring in the ad from the paper (see pg 10),” he said.

One Wesley Chapel businesswoman and professional billiards player who speaks highly of Crosby’s work is Stephanie Mitchell, owner of The Corner Pocket billiards parlor on Starkey Rd. in Largo. She counts on Crosby to maintain her establishment’s 10 pool tables in tournament-level condition, since she often hosts high-level competitors, as well as neighborhood players.

“He buys tables and restores them, so in my opinion, somebody who can completely break them down and refinish and redo every aspect of them has to have a lot of knowledge to make them work correctly,” says Mitchell, a resident of New River Township here in Wesley Chapel. Mitchell also says Crosby has been very pleasant to work with from Day One.

Refurbished pool tables are the biggest sellers for Crosby, but he also sells new ones, especially models manufactured by Diamond Billiard Products, Inc.

Darts, Anyone?

For people who prefer a game of darts over pool, Crosby’s has a wide selection of boards, soft and steel-tip darts, shafts, flights (the fins, or wings on the back of a dart) and cases. Broumpton says the inventory available to dart enthusiasts is plentiful.

“We’ve probably got more dart supplies than anybody else in the Tampa Bay area,” Broumpton says.

Crosby’s business has grown to the extent that it sells just about anything a home or commercial game room might need, including bar furniture, memorabilia and even its own line of new poker tables. But, whatever goods or services he provides to a customer, Crosby has one guiding principle: “We stand behind everything that we do.”

Now a business owner, with membership in the Hernando Chamber of Commerce, Crosby’s career has evolved to where he now sponsors events like the Florida Pool Tour for players who are competing, much like he did 15 years ago when he first came to America following his dream of playing professional pool.

Crosby’s Billiards & Darts is located at 10551 Spring Hill Dr. It is open Mon.-Sat., 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and by appointment on Sun. For info, visit Facebook.com/Crosby’sBilliardsandDarts or call (352) 556-4855.

Crosby's Billiards & Darts