Author: Gary Nager

Host Your Next Event At Omari’s Grille At Lexington Oaks GC!

When classically trained chef Anass El-Omari and his wife Susana Herrera purchased Lexington Oaks Golf Club about three years ago, I was excited about the prospect of having another real restaurant in Wesley Chapel.

And, although Anass at first revamped the existing golfer-oriented menu at the golf course’s restaurant, which he re-named Omari’s Grille, he ended up scaling back his everyday offerings of fresh fish, pasta and filet mignon, and has kept the menu smaller and simpler since reopening Omari’s after the Covid-19 pandemic shut it down for a few months in 2020.

But now, while Omari’s regular menu is still mainly comprised of burgers, sandwiches, wings and other fast, simple foods favored by the golfers who frequent his completely renovated golf course, Anass has brought back some of the dishes I loved on his original Omari’s menu as specials on Friday evenings.

Anass loves both cooking and talking about cooking. So, in conjunction with this article, we recorded our second “Cooking With Anass” segment that was released a few days before this issue arrived in your mailbox, where he made an amazing Cajun pasta (above), with both Andouille sausage and top sirloin steak in a semi-spicy cream sauce that’s as good as anything you’ll find in any fine dining establishment.

“Good food is actually really simple to make,” he said as he set some hot oil on fire before sautéeing the steak and sausage together. “The key is knowing what ingredients and how much of each to use. I love sharing my secrets.”

And, I love tasting his recipes, because Anass is a true culinary artist who serves up some of the best food in our area, even if many locals still don’t know it. So, whether you want to start with authentic Colombian empanadas, crispy calamari or shrimp tempura salad, or enjoy a great grilled chicken caprese or salmon teriyaki entrée, you can’t go wrong at Omari’s.

Great Events, Too!

Now that things have gotten a little more normal in this Covid-crazy world, people are again looking for great places to host events like weddings, quinceañeras, baby showers, anniversary parties and even memorial gatherings and you can’t go wrong if you host your next event for 20-80 people at Lexington Oaks.

Omari’s offers a complete appetizer catering menu — featuring burger sliders, mini-croissants stuffed with chicken and tuna salad and more — as well as a sit-down dinner menu for events, so you can serve London broil with mushroom sauce, orange chicken and a variety of shrimp dishes, plus a dessert bar. Anass and his staff also can custom-design pretty much anything else you’d want to serve.

And, while the indoor space currently is limited to 80 people, Anass says he plans to extend the room out to the existing patio area, so that up to 120 people could fit in the air conditioned, indoor space. And, there is an additional covered outdoor space that can fit another 60 or so people.

“I think Wesley Chapel really needs an event space like this,” Anass says, “and the food will always be good. “Plus, we have the area down by the water (photo above) for weddings (as in the photo above) and the people love it.”

Omari’s Grill at Lexington Oaks Golf Club (16333 Lexington Oaks Blvd.) is open Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m., 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m., and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday & Sunday. For additional information, call (813) 929-4217, visit LexingtonOaksGolf.com. Or, call the golf course’s main number — (813) 907-7270 — to talk to a catering specialist about scheduling, and designing a menu for, your event.

Lexington Oaks

Nibbles & Bites: Balanced Foods Opens, Wolf’s Den Closes, Another First Watch Planned.

In case you missed it, Balanced Foods, the six-store chain which started in Woodlands, TX, is now open in the former La Prima Pizza location next to Super Target in the North Woods Plaza at 1211 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (just north of County Line Rd.).

I’ve already visited multiple times and enjoyed both lunch- and dinner-sized portions of fresh, healthy, house-made entrées like the roasted vegetable and tenderloin entrée (pictured) and the city grilled chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans. There are different lunch and dinner entrées, and all come in small, medium and large sizes to fit your diet, taste and budget.

Balanced Foods also offers a variety of snacks, from its own freshly made chunky chicken salad dip (served with gluten-free crackers, apple and celery sticks), to packaged items like yummy ChipMonk banana chocolate chip sunflower Keto Bites and addictive ICON Meals peanut butter vanilla Protein Popcorn. For more info, visit BalancedFoods.com or call (813) 778-4874 and please tell them you read about them in the Neighborhood News. We also plan to do an update on the explosion of healthy eating locations in Wesley Chapel in a future issue. — GN

Wolf’s Den Closes; First Watch To Open 2nd WC Location?

For those of us who prefer mom-and-pop restaurants to chains, this may not be great news for you, as Wesley Chapel recently lost the always-popular Wolf’s Den Restaurant located on S.R. 56, but will apparently soon have a second location of First Watch, The Daytime Café, on S.R. 54, about a mile east of BBD, in the same plaza as Baybreeze Dental (see story below left).

Wolf’s Den owner Tony Carbone, who had to close temporarily a couple of times earlier this year because of a lack of help in the kitchen, closed for good before the end of August. “It was time,” he told me. “It’s been a real struggle with employees this year.”

Meanwhile, First Watch, which has a Wesley Chapel location in the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza on BBD south of S.R. 56, as well as in the new Village at Hunter’s Lake plaza on BBD in New Tampa and on S.R. 54 in Lutz, has not yet confirmed that it will open next to Baybreeze Dental, but we’ve been told by multiple sources that the currently empty end cap in that plaza (also home to a BayCare Medical Group office) will be a First Watch. — GN

Baybreeze Dental Hosts A Chamber Ribbon Cutting!

Congratulations to Ronak Parikh, D.M.D. (Doctor of Dental Medicine), the owner of the new Baybreeze Dental office at 28868 S.R. 54 (call 813.377.1822), and his family and staff, for celebrating the Grand Opening of the office with an outstanding North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon-cutting event Photo) on Sept. 8. Attendees got to enjoy tours of the modern new cosmetic dentistry office, great food by Glory Days Grill (located almost next door), plus delicious desserts from Nothing Bundt Cakes & Crumbl Cookie. — GN

WC Quick Bites

• Cluckin’ Fun To Replace Hardee’s?

A month or so ago, a new banner sign went up on the former location of Hardee’s on Wesley Chapel Blvd. (next to Goodyear Auto Service) announcing that Cluckin’ Fun, an apparent chicken restaurant, was going to replace the burger chain, but as of the day before we went to press with this issue, the sign was gone and we have no further info about Cluckin’ Fun.

• Shake-A-Salad To Open At KRATE

We told you last issue that Provisions Coffee & Kitchen was the first former shipping container to open at the KRATE container park at The Grove. It looks like the second crate to open, within a month or so, may be Shake-A-Salad, a new salad-and-wrap concept from fellow transplanted New Yawkas with fresh, tasty and healthy food options and homemade dressings. Visit ShakeaSaladfl.com. — GN

Check Out This New Service We Are So Proud To Offer!

Although I have owned and been the editor of the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News for more than 27 years, about ten years ago, I started noticing that a number of businesses had plaques on their walls that displayed the Business and Dining Feature stories we’ve written about them.

Gary Nager
Editorial

Because my staff and freelance writers have always done such a great job writing these Business Feature stories, I certainly could understand why those businesses were proud to have our masthead and the stories we worked hard to create displayed on their walls.

But, yours truly? Not so much.

I just couldn’t understand why those businesses wouldn’t just ask me if I could create plaques for them, since my hyperlocal business was the one that did the interviews, took the pictures, wrote, edited, published and directly mailed those stories to tens of thousands of their neighbors — and virtually all of those stories brought those businesses in new customers and stimulated interest in their businesses that they never had before.

Instead, a big part of the reason they never thought to ask me was because there have been businesses out there — at least two that I know of (more on them below) — who (originally) would purchase a subscription to the Neighborhood News and send those businesses proofs of the stories that we sweat blood to create in order to sell them those plaques.

The more of these plaques I’ve seen in those offices, restaurants and retail establishments — and there have been hundreds of them I’ve seen personally over the years — the more my blood boiled. Plus, we made it even easier on these not-local businesses to use our work to create those plaques by posting electronic versions of every New Tampa and Wesley Chapel edition of our publications on our website.

I was at one of my advertiser’s locations when my blood boiled over. Although that advertiser admitted that she “wasn’t sure” if the person from the company that reprinted our work on the plaque at her office represented their company as being “affiliated” with us, she was under the impression they were and went ahead and spent nearly $200 to have them create the plaque that so ticked me off.

The two companies who seem to be lying in wait for us every time we publish a new issue are “That’s Great News” and “In The News” and I have had words with the local sales reps for both companies, because whether or not it’s illegal for them to use our published content without our permission (it’s not), I am tired of them using our masthead, logo and content we work so hard to publish to make money in a business that we could do ourselves. And, I’ve warned both companies that the time was coming when I would do just that.

Well, that time is now. I want all of our advertisers and readers to know that you no longer have to utilize either of these two companies to preserve our business, dining and news stories — and we will even do it for less!

The plaque (right) preserving the Dining Feature story about Acropolis Greek Taverna that appears on pgs. 38-39 of this issue is the first sample of what we can and hope to do for everyone who wants to display our work.

We offer a variety of plaque and border colors and have the ability to modify the story to fit on any size plaque to fit in any space you have on your wall. And, you don’t have to be a current advertiser to have a plaque created. We guarantee professional work direct from its source and 100% satisfaction.

To order your plaque of any story from any issue of Neighborhood News, email me at ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com.

plaque story

Acropolis Greek Taverna — If It’s Been A While, Try It Again Now!

Acropolis New Tampa owners Eddie Nasr & Stacy Esposito.

When Acropolis Greek Taverna opened a dozen or so years ago in the Oak Ramble Plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (just south of Tampa Palms), it became an instant hit, with its great Greek and Mediterranean cuisine and entertainment every weekend.

Neighborhood News readers and yours truly both kept Acropolis at or near the top of our respective annual surveys for “Favorite Restaurant in New Tampa,” as there were few, if any, other places in or near zip code 33647 for authentic Mediterranean food or the great vibe you felt every time you visited Acropolis.

The last few years, however, several other less expensive Mediterranean restaurants began opening in New Tampa, and while some of that competition has since closed, Acropolis had started dropping both with our readers and with a certain hungry editor.

A Fresh Approach

But, on April 1 of this year, new owners Stacy Esposito and her husband Adib (Eddie) Nasr took over the New Tampa location of what is now a five-restaurant mini-chain (with other locations in South Tampa, Ybor City, Riverview and St. Pete) and have brought new energy to what was already a great concept.

Together with new general manager (but long-time employee and manager) Jason Stiger, the New Tampa Acropolis is definitely waking up taste buds once again in our area.

Eddie, who is Lebanese, has upgraded this location’s fried kibbe appetizer and a couple of other dishes with his mother’s recipes, but he and Stacy also have improved other dishes simply by selecting the finest produce and quality meats available — and it shows.

My two favorite dishes at Acropolis always have been (and still are) the Frenched rack of lamb lollipops, which are all-natural, antibiotic-free and no added hormones) and the Athenian fish, which is a lightly breaded and seasoned filet of whatever fresh fish is available each day and topped with a dollop of a unique fresh pesto sauce. The lamb chops are served over lemony Greek-style potatoes and the fish is served with fresh roasted seasonal veggies over Greek-style orzo rice. Both of my favorite dishes are even better now than they were when Acropolis first opened.

Another long-time favorite on the menu is the yummy saganaki cheese appetizer, which is set on fire and served with perfect pita triangles.

We also loved the authentic spanakopita (spinach pie) appetizer, the calamari and photographer Charmaine George gave thumbs up to the shrimp appetizer in a creamy lemon sauce, topped with cheese and served with toast points. Those seeking more adventurous, authentic tastes should try the grilled octopus, Ouzo mussels, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), tirosalata (a creamy blend of feta cheese and garlic topped with oregano and extra virgin olive oil), avgolemono (lemon) or lentil soups, hummus or baba ghanouj.

Among the other great dishes to try are the gyro trio (traditional lamb, pork and chicken, served on pita and with crispy fries), the authentic “Yia Yia’s Recipe) mousaka (Greek-style lasagne, but with potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, ground beef and creamy bechamel sauce with tomato sauce and feta cheese), the whole grilled red snapper, or the pork, chicken, beef or kefta (ground beef) kabobs. Mine and Jannah’s newest favorite is the chicken Rhodes — two grilled breasts in a garlic parmesan wine sauce sautéed with artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and olives, topped with crumbled feta. It’s a true taste sensation!

Do not skip dessert at Acropolis, either. Stacy and Eddie are rightfully proud of the decadent chocolate “bombe” (filled with white and milk chocolate mousses), the outstanding baklava (topped with Haagen Dazs ice cream), baklava cheesecake and the addictive pineapple upside down cake that also is set on fire to give it a creme brulée-style outer crust. OMG!

And yes, Acropolis still has weekend entertainment like George, the buzuki player, the incredibly talented and lovely belly dancer Gypsi and Stacy promises that the dancing servers and plate-breaking will be coming back soon. Stacy and Eddie also are proud of the recently revamped outdoor patio, which offers a variety of your favorite hookah water pipe flavors. And, both indoor and outdoor bars offer the finest in Greek beers and wines, plus premium alcohol and so much more! Can you say “Opa?”

Acropolis Greek Taverna is located at 14947 BBD Blvd. and is open Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight) and 11 a.m.-1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit DineGreek.com or call (813) 971-1787.

Acropolis

Nibbles and Bites: Sweet Party closing.

Very soon, New Tampa will have no party stores, as the Sweet Party store located at 20310 Trout Creek Dr., west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (behind Burger 21) will close, most likely sometime immediately after Halloween (Sunday, October 31).

Owner Maher Alagal says that although Sweet Party is still making money, he is ready to retire and spend more time with his family. He also has been looking to sell the store, which became the only party store in New Tampa after the Party Scene store in the Pebble Creek Collection on BBD closed in 2017.

“People said I put Party Scene out of business when I opened, but I actually tried to buy that store from its owner before it closed,” Maher says. “I honestly believed that there was room for two party supply and costume stores in this area.”

But now, with Halloween less than six weeks away as this issue arrived in your mailbox, Maher says that everything in his store must go, including his huge selection of Halloween costumes for men, women and children. And yes, at our press time, the selection of available costumes at Sweet Party was still pretty sizable, but moving fast, especially with the entire inventory of costumes up to 70% to 80% off their regular prices.

Maher says similar savings are available on party supplies, balloons and other unique merchandise — but don’t blame me if anything mentioned here is gone before you get there!

For info, call Sweet Party at (813) 994-4900 or visit SweetPartyTampa.com. — GN

Jeremiah’s To Expand To Wesley Chapel

Congrats to partners Pete and Dru Patel, who opened their first Jeremiah’s Italian Ice franchise earlier this month at 7936 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, which was opened at its original location in Winter Park, FL, in 1996 by founder and Philadelphia native Jeremy Litwack, now has 60 locations in Arizona and throughout Florida.

The good news for Wesley Chapel isn’t just because of Jeremiah’s unique gelati (Italian ice layered with soft-serve ice cream), but also because the partners also plan to open two Wesley Chapel locations. Visit JeremiahsIce.com or call (813) 438-5754 for more info.

Sweet Party