CAO Bakery — Don’t Judge A Delicious Restaurant By Its Location! 

I’ll admit that the first time I happened to walk into the Kangaroo Express gas station at 17519 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa last year, I was actually looking for the Paris Baguette bakery — which is now located across BBD, but hadn’t opened yet. 

But, what I found was a section of the gas station’s convenience store that was a Cuban-style bakery that actually was open — known as CAO Bakery & Café— and you were definitely hit with a whiff of delicious baked goods in a large display case as you walked towards that case. 

“OK, great,” I thought, “I can always go for a guava pastelito, a beef or chicken empanada and/or a slice of cake — or all of the above.” 

CAO stands for Cuban American Original, but it also is the actual last name of one of the co-owners, Antonio Cao, who is a third-generation baker. Antonio and his partner and childhood friend, Carlos de Varona opened their first bakery together around 2000, in a very Cuban area of Miami called Westchester, not too far from Little Havana. 

Today, there are 20 CAO locations, mostly in South Florida — although there also is a full-service CAO Bakery on W. Hillsborough Ave. in Tampa — with more on the way. The BBD location is corporate-owned, but franchises are available, according to Antonio’s wife Yvette, who handles the marketing of the brand. 

“Most of our other locations are full-service bakery-restaurants of anywhere from 2,000-4,000 square feet,” Yvette says. “We were looking for a spot in the Wesley Chapel area and found that the previous vendor at this location had left, so we decided to open what we call an ‘express’ location there as a test market.” 

Even so, I had no idea how huge the menu at the New Tampa CAO was until I spoke with Yvette. Yes, there is a tremendous selection of freshly baked (from frozen) sweet and savory treats that are delivered from Miami to Tampa twice a week. But wait, there’s more. 

“You can tell that everything is freshly baked on premises,” Yvette says. “Once people find us, they tell us they love us!” 

And, despite being open for less than a year at this location, almost all of CAO’s Google reviews are 5-stars out of 5, including customer Omar Rodriguez-Hazan, who says he drives an hour from South Lakeland at least once a week, “to enjoy the flavors of Miami. The food and service are awesome. Don’t be fooled by the fact they are located in a gas station. They are a top-notch bakery which I highly recommend!” 

As for the non-pastry food options, CAO has delicious bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches (below left), a twist on the popular Media Noche sandwich called Medio Dia (above right; it’s a classic guava and cheese pastelito filled with ham and melted Swiss) and even a churrasco steak plate (top photo) of which customer Jason Hicks said in his 5-star Google review, “The meat was tender and the chimichurri sauce was great. The Cuban sandwich was good also and the prices are reasonable.” 

Other sandwiches include the frita CAO (a Cuban-style cheeseburger that is a house-made blend of beef, pork & chorizo, topped with crispy shoestring papitas, Swiss cheese and sazon aioli) and the Croqueta club (signature croquetas de la casa, layered with sliced turkey, crisp bacon, melted American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes & mayo) — and many more. 

Other satisfied customers have loved CAO’s catering options, like trays of assorted pastelitos and croquetas shown above. 

There also are more American dessert favorites like strawberry cheesecake (bottom photo on next page), carrot cake and Latin dessert staples like flan, cuatro leches, panetelita dulce de leche, flan cheesecake and so much more. 

And, many customers, including yours truly, rave about CAO’s cafĂ© con leche, including Oscar Olivera, who called it, “The best cafĂ© con leche in Tampa, no questions about it!!!” 

For more information about CAO, call (813) 280-9640 or visit CAOBakeryCafe.com to order pickup or delivery online. If you use code “CAOTAMPA” when you order, you’ll save $5 off any order of $20 or more. Or, mention the ad below or this story when you order in person to receive the discount. And, please tell them I sent you!

Sports Facilities Companies To Begin Managing Sports Campus Aug. 1! 

Pasco BCC Votes 4-1 To Bring In Veteran Management Company; Parking At The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus To Be Addressed 

Clearwater-based Sports Facilities Companies (SFC), which manages 90 sports facilities around the country, will take over the management of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus (WRSC) on August 1. That’s the good news. 

The better news is that SFC has six months to figure out the long-standing problem of not having enough parking at the facility. The not-as-good news, according to the only Pasco County commissioner who voted against entering into the agreement at the June 17 Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting, is that improving the parking situation isn’t in black-&-white on that agreement. 

When the BCC voted 4-1 to approve SFC as the new management company to operate the Sports Campus, District 5 Commissioner Jack Mariano cast the only dissenting vote — not because he doesn’t think SFC will do a good job of managing the facility, but because there is no official commitment regarding parking in place in the agreement, other than SFC has agreed to conduct a feasibility study, to determine the best way to add more parking at WRSC. 

Mariano also said that it was obvious that the county’s tourism department, which goes by the moniker “Florida’s Sports Coast,” did not do a thorough or correct enough job of looking for a new operator when it put out its Request for Proposals (RFP) for companies to take over the management of the Sports Campus. 

“You say you did it right,” Comm. Mariano said to deputy director of tourism Consuelo Sanchez before the agreement was voted on by the BCC. “But, we had only one bidder. If this company coming in says you need to do a feasibility study and you haven’t already done that, you can tell me you think you did a good job, but there’s a flaw there and they (SFC) exposed it.” 

Sanchez said that the RFP went out to 7,800 sports facilities operators around the country, with only four responses and only one company, SFC, that submitted a bid. 

Since June of 2023, the $56-million WRSC has been managed by Pasco’s Parks & Recreation Dept., after the BCC first voted to default (in Oct. 2022) and then bought out the contract of WRSC’s previous operator (RADDSports). According to RADDSports partner Anthony Homer, however, his company was on track to bring in 40,000 room nights when the agreement was bought out in 2023. 

In 2024, the first full year the county managed the facility, Sanchez told the commissioners that the events at WRSC only brought in 21,000 room nights and the facility was on pace for about the same number of nights this year. SFC has committed to bringing in 30,000 room nights annually. The county, which is still paying off the four-year, $3-million buyout of RADDSports’ agreement, also has incurred costs of about $20,000 per month for the Parks Dept. to run the WRSC. 

Under the newly approved agreement with SFC, the county will pay SFC $750,000 — an initial financial commitment of $500,000, which Sanchez called “bridge funding to offset potential revenue shortfalls,” plus a “management fee of $18,000 per month paid out of the Operating Account (an account to be managed by SFC which serves as the central fund to collect facility revenue and disburse expenses).” The 10-year agreement also calls for, “up to $250,000 for Facility Floor Resurfacing Reimbursement, since Sanchez said, “the gym floors [at WRSC] haven’t been resurfaced since the facility opened in 2020.” 

She added, “This necessary upgrade must be completed regardless of facility management to ensure athlete safety, event eligibility and competitive standards.” 

When Comm. Mariano raised the question of whether or not SFC was planning to provide additional parking for the Sports Campus, which already has a huge lack of proper available parking, Sanchez called Sullivan up to the microphone to confirm that his company is planning to conduct the study. 

Sullivan noted, “We are really excited about this opportunity. We’ve been working diligently with Consuelo, with Keith (Pasco Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources director Keith Wiley) and their teams to find out what’s been working at the facility and what needs to be improved upon — and parking has been one of the challenges. It does us no good to not have convenient and adequate parking and we have full intention of solving the parking solution. We have proposals from three parking garage developers — two from here in the Tampa Bay region — and we know [parking] is going to be the number one thing we need to address.” 

Wiley said that it appears that the only available space for more parking at the facility is an 18-acre lot located north of the 98,000-sq.- ft. AdventHealth Sports Arena, which already is north of the five outdoor fields. 

“It is a bit of a walk from that location to those fields,” Wiley admitted. Dist. 3 Commissioner & Board chair Kathryn Starkey asked if golf carts could possibly shuttle people back and forth from the parking area to and from the fields. 

The resolution passed 4-1, with Mariano’s the only “Nay” because of the parking concerns. 

Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter, who attended the June 17 meeting, but was not asked to speak, told the Neighborhood News after the meeting, “We are very pleased with the approval by the Board of the outside operator. From our conversations and research, they [SFC] seem more than capable of running the facility, as the donation agreement outlines, as an upper echelon sports tourism facility. We look forward to [SFC] raising the bar of the tournaments and tax dollars brought into Pasco County.” 

Following the vote, the Neighborhood News emailed Sullivan a number of questions about SFC’s plans for the Sports Campus, including: 

1) Will SFC have management on-site at the facility? 

2) How many weekend events are already on the books at WRSC for the rest of 2025? 

3) Are there any weekends available this year for SFC to book events? If not, when will SFC (or its LLC created to run the Sports Campus, WRSC SFM, LLC) be able to start adding new weekend events? 

4) Will you be retaining all of the existing employees at the Sports Campus or will you be deciding on a case-by-case basis which of those employees you will retain? 

5) Will you be continuing the local programming that’s currently in place or will SFC be replacing that programming with programs of its own? 

6) When will the parking feasibility study actually begin? 

7) Have you spoken with JD Porter and/ or Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch, LLC, since being awarded the contract? 

8) Have you been in contact with the Peachtree Group about the Residence Inn that shares the Sports Campus site to address any concerns the hotel company may have? 

Sullivan’s response to our email was: “We do not take over operations until Aug 1. I would like to kindly decline any media interviews/discussions until we are formally engaged. I appreciate your understanding.” 

Cookie Plug Opens 3rd Florida Storefront In The Village At The Grove! 

Nicole (left) and Sommer Cholnik were first in line to buy a dozen cookies at the new Cookie Plug store in The Grove at Wesley Chapel on June 28. (Photos by Charmaine George)

Cookie Plug, an edgy, innovative bakery with more than 25 locations nationwide (and growing), has opened its newest storefront in The Village at The Grove at 6013 Wesley Chapel Grove Blvd., Suite 102 (next to the Ice Dreammm Shop). A nice crowd of locals lined up outside the new Cookie Plug at 11 a.m. on June 28, where they received free samples of the different flavors. There also was a DJ and a great Opening Day special — eight free giant-sized cookies when you purchased four, plus a drink. 

Cookie Plug Wesley Chapel is owned and operated by Florida resident David Johnson, who says he is eager to introduce the uniqueness of the bakery to locals. With support from his wife Jackie, Johnson plans to open more locations in the state, including one in Highwoods Preserve in New Tampa, which is at least a couple of months behind the Wesley Chapel store. 

“I was initially drawn to the creativity of the concept and the nod to hip-hop culture that Cookie Plug brings to the table, but then, the minute I tasted the cookies, I was hooked,” Johnson said in a press release. “We are particularly excited to serve the Wesley Chapel community in a space that is surrounded by thriving businesses, shops and homes. We are eager to bring this sweet addition to the area, offering thick-cut cookies in a variety of flavors that are unlike anything else you can get in Tampa Bay and beyond.” 

Originally founded in Riverside, CA, in 2019, Cookie Plug was inspired by graffiti and street art with the aim to add a unique twist to the conventional bakery. Offering cookies made fresh daily that are part cake, part brownie, part cookie and 100% delicious, the brand’s inventive menu offers 12 different flavors, including: s’mores, chocolate chip, sugar, triple chocolate, strawberry cheesecake (Charmaine and I both loved this one), red velvet, snickerdoodle and two rotating flavors, including this months “Black Ops,” the brownie-flavored cookie with red, white & blue star sprinkles shown in the box held by Nicole and Sommer Cholnik, who were first in line on June 28. 

Cookie Plug also has keto cookie options available, as well as mini “plug popper” cookies, ice cream sandwiches and custom cakes to satisfy any sweet tooth. 

“We have an incredible product and I can’t wait for locals in Wesley Chapel and Tampa Bay to experience it for themselves,” said David Denker, president and chief growth officer of Cookie Plug. 

Cookie Plug Wesley Chapel is open Mon.-Thur., noon-11 p.m.; noon-midnight on Fri. & Sat.; & noon- 9 p.m. on Sun. For more info, follow Cookie Plug on Instagram or Facebook @cookie.plug or visit CookiePlug.com/wesleychapel. For franchising opportunities, visit Franchise.CookiePlug.com. — GN 

WCTG Presents A “One-Act (Play) Festival” 

Theater lovers: mark your calendars for an afternoon of creativity, laughter, and powerful storytelling! The Wesley Chapel Theater Group (WCTG) is proud to present its “One-Act (Play) Festival” on Saturday & Sunday, July 12-13, 2 p.m., both days. The Festival will be a vibrant celebration of local talent that brings original one-act plays to life on stage. 

This exciting event showcases the power of community-driven art, featuring short plays that have been written and will be directed and performed entirely by local artists. From heartfelt dramas to witty comedies, each one-act play promises a unique and captivating experience, all within a single afternoon. 

The Festival performances will be held at the Starkey Ranch Theatre Library Cultural Center (12118 Lake Blanche Dr., in nearby Odessa). The doors will open at 1:40 p.m. both days, so arrive early to grab your seat and settle in for a memorable ride through the imaginations of our hometown playwrights. 

“This festival is all about celebrating the incredible talent we have right here in our own backyard,” says WCTG Board member Samantha Grahn. “We’re giving local voices the spotlight and inviting the community to come together to laugh, feel and be inspired.” 

Whether you’re a seasoned theatergoer or new to the stage, this is the perfect opportunity to support local artists, enjoy original performances and be part of something truly special. Gather your friends, grab your tickets and get ready to be swept away by the magic of live theater! 

Featured Plays At WCTG’s ‘One-Act Festival’: 

“A Rainy Night in Hollywood,” by Tom Erb 

“ClichĂ©,” by Keith Whalen 

“Three Years,” by WCTG’s Samantha Sacasa 

“Full Frontal Transparency,” by Jenna Jane 

“The Oatmeal,” by Robert Grogan 

“Love, Lost (Rings) & What We Wore,” by Jessica Burchfield 

Tickets to WCTG’s “One-Act Festival” cost just $25 and can be purchased online at Simpletix.com/e/wctg-presents-one-act-festival-2025-tickets-218617. For more information, follow “Wesley Chapel Theater Group” on social media, visit WesleyChapelTheaterGroup.org. — Submitted to the Neighborhood News 

Appeals Court Ruling Stops Pebble Creek Golf Course From Being Rezoned!

Although the Pebble Creek Golf Club has been closed for several years, members of the group called Save Pebble Creek, organized by long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green, have been doing everything they could to have the golf club reopen, rather than become single-family homes.

Yesterday, the group and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) won a significant victory in their efforts to prevent golf course owner Bill Place and his Ace Golf from rezoning the 149-acre property and selling it to GL Homes, which was planning to build 250 single-family homes on the golf course site.

In July of 2023, the attempt to rezone the golf course property was denied 5-2 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), after Comm. Hagan said he had received 1,800 letters from residents of the community, the vast majority of which were in opposition to the rezoning. 

But, in October of last year, the home builder appealed the county commission’s denial of the rezoning request to Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Paul Huey and, on June 24, 2024, Judge Huey “quashed” the BOCC’s denial of the rezoning petition which means, in legal terms, “to set aside or void.” Judge Huey’s ruling on the developer’s appeal was that, “The court cannot find that the Board of County Commissioners relied on competent, substantial evidence when it denied GL Homes’ proposal.” 

The county appealed Judge Huey’s decision to the Second District of the District Court of Appeal of Florida, which overturned that decision and quashed the lower court’s order that would have allowed the rezoning.

Commissioner Hagan said of yesterday’s ruling, “I am very pleased to report that the Second District Court of Appeal agreed with the County’s rezoning denial and overturned the Circuit Court’s decision. I would like to thank you for your support and vigilance throughout this difficult ordeal.  We would not have won without you!” He also previously said that the county would consider buying the golf course “if the price were right.”

Green echoed Hagan’s sentiments regarding the latest decision: “Thanks to the rallying of the community and to our Commissioner Ken Hagan’s efforts, we have accomplished our goal of no rezoning that will keep the golf course land around which our entire neighborhood is based protected from development. I hope that we can now work with the landowner to find a more mutually agreeable solution. Ultimately, we would wish to have another golf course operator step in. Commissioner Hagan had mentioned in a Townhall meeting that the county would consider buying it  for a municipal golf course. This would meet another goal of ours, which is to avoid having the toxins that lie under the ground dug up for remediation.  Now, the land can be used for its intended purpose. I personally look forward to the next step.”

Place said that he would have no comment on the most recent ruling “until GL Homes reviews its options early next week.”

We also had not yet received comment from either of the homeowners associations in Pebble Creek.