Author: Gary Nager

Las Palmas Earns The Title Of Best Cuban Restaurant In Tampa Bay!

Ramses Garcia, the owner/chef at Las Palmas Latin Grill off County Line Rd., just south of the Pasco County line (near Five Guys Burgers & Fries), is a pretty confident guy — confident about his food and his restaurant’s entrenched position in our community — and that confidence has been boosted in recent years, as Las Palmas has won a couple of impressive titles.

After being named as the purveyor of the “World’s Best Cuban Sandwich (Tampa historic style)” at the Cuban Sandwich Festival held in Ybor City the last two years, and with the shocked reaction he received from the community when he closed his former Las Palmas location (in the Pebble Creek Collection, a little further south on Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) nearly two years ago — as well as the overjoyed reaction he and his wife Ana got when Las Palmas resurfaced in its new location earlier this year — it’s easy to understand why he feels so strongly about what he does.

But, even the big man with the bigger personality couldn’t possibly have expected to win the title bestowed upon him recently by another well-known (even though I’d never heard of it before…just kidding) local publication — Best of the Bay Cuban Restaurant, by Creative Loafing.

Or did he?

“Hell yes, we deserve it,” Ramses says proudly. There were at least 75 other Cuban restaurants throughout the Tampa Bay area that received votes, so that’s not something you can win by accident. You and the Mrs. love my food, don’t you?”

Heck yes, we do. I’ve enjoyed so many dishes over the years at both of Ramses’ Las Palmas locations — from the ropa vieja (shredded beef) to the breaded palomillo steak to the lechon asado (roasted pork) and the crispy beef, aka vaca frita (which is marinated in garlic-lemon mojo sauce sautéed to a delicious crisp), to the deep fried pork chunks drizzled with garlic mojo (masitas).

But, the dish that hooked Jannah on Las Palmas that also has been my long-time favorite is the merluza a la Russe (whitefish with Russian sauce, made with chopped eggs, parsley and spices; left photo on next page). Well, maybe it used to be my favorite.

New Favorites?

The reason is not because I don’t still love this flaky, white fish (also known as hake), lightly breaded, flash-fried and topped with chopped egg and delicious spices. It’s because Ramses recently added a few new menu items that are now vying for attention as my favorite.

Ramses has a unique take on the traditional Peruvian-style fish ceviche tapas. Not only does he marinate raw whitefish in lime juice and spices, he places chunky pieces of it into edible cups made out of plantains and tops this tapas with onions and red and yellow peppers. Other favorite starters/tapas on the menu include yuca fries, empanadas, deviled crabs, stuffed potatoes and croquettes.

Las Palmas also has a great café salad, topped with smoked ham, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, green olives and banana peppers and his creamy herb dressing is outstanding, although he also has great balsamic vinaigrette and ranch dressings, too.

Ramses also recently added thick-cut loin pork chops (costillas de puerco; photo above) that are available breaded and deep fried or marinated and grilled (as in the picture) and are tender and super-tasty.

But, my favorite of the new menu items is an amazing churrasco steak (above), topped with one of the best homemade chimichurri (green) sauces I’ve ever tasted. And, even though the churrasco is flank steak, it is amazingly tender and cooked to perfection.

“Of course it’s tender,” Ramses says proudly. “That’s prime flank steak — the best you can buy. It costs a little more, but I want people to know that when they eat here, they get top quality at great prices.”

For those looking for a quick and delicious lunch (served 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday only), many of Las Palmas’ Cuban favorites are available with one side dish for $8.49 to no more than $9.49, including the roasted pork, ropa vieja, picadillo (minced beef), fried butterfly shrimp and the chef’s selection “Tour of Havana,” a classic sampler trio of ropa vieja, roasted pork and picadillo.

Available lunch sides include black beans, boiled yuca, sweet or green fried plantains, green beans, peas, a side house salad and even French fries.

And, of course, Ramses sells a lot of his “World’s Best” Cuban sandwiches at lunch, too. He also serves a Miami-style Cuban (without salami), a roasted pork sandwich, breaded or grilled palomillo steak and a breaded basa (freshwater fish) sandwich, all served on artisanal Cuban bread.

At dinner time, you can have your choice of yellow or white rice and black or red beans, in addition to the lunch sides mentioned above. You also can substitute a cup of one of Las Palmas’ premium soups — black bean, white bean and collared greens, garbanzo beans or black beans and rice soups — for only 45 cents additional. Other dinner entrées not mentioned earlier include chicken and yellow rice, grilled chicken breast and two shrimp dishes I sadly can’t sample — breaded, fried shrimp and shrimp in garlic sauce.

What About Dessert?

You definitely should save room for dessert at Las Palmas.

The sampler pic above features items that are available every day in the beautiful display case at the front of the restaurant, including (l.-r.) the tres lechés (sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk, including evaporated, condensed and heavy cream), a traditional chocolate layer cake, Cuban-style flan and a light and delicious creme brulée, which has that perfectly crisp topping even though it’s not flambéed tableside. A second display case located near the cash register offers a variety of perfect pastries, all with flaky crusts and delicious fillings like guava and (I believe) some kind of berry.

And of course, there’s amazing espresso (aka café Cubano) and some of the best café con leché in town.

Las Palmas’ catering menu is extensive but never expensive, with corporate events and large parties a specialty, and Ramses says beer and wine is definitely in the restaurant’s future.

Las Palmas Latin Grill is located at 6431 E. County Line Rd., New Tampa. It is open Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., and Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. It is closed on Sundays. Reservations are never required. For more information, call (813) 803-3903 or visit LasPalmasLatinGrill.com.

Las Palmas

Congrats To The North Tampa Bay Chamber & A Tip Of The Hat To Mike Moore!

NTBC president Hope Allen shows off the Florida Chamber of the year award. (Right, l.-r.) Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, Hope and NTBC Board chair Karen Tillman-Gosselin at the Chamber’s Monthly Business Breakfast held Oct. 1 at PHSC’s Porter Campus.

(Big congratulations go out to the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) and its president and CEO (and, I’m proud to say, my good friend) Hope Allen for bringing home some impressive hardware from the annual Florida Association of Chamber Professionals’ annual conference.

The NTBC was named the 2019 Chamber of the Year from among the 300 Chambers of Commerce throughout the state of Florida. “This designation is an absolute honor, as we are able to showcase our organization, its members, and the entire team as an elite chamber,” Hope said in her formal email announcement to the NTBC membership about the award.

“Among the many accomplishments our organization has had over the years, the three major initiatives that set us a part were the development of AdventHealth Center Ice, Metro Development’s Connected Cities, and the RADDSports project (aka the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County).”

Along with those accomplishments, Hope said she and her team of Chamber professionals were excited to be recognized for the acquisition of two chambers within the last five years that led to an official logo and name change. “This award is a testament to not only our staff and our Board of Directors, but to our amazing members who make up our thriving community.”

Hope also was recognized as an individual who has dedicated 15 years of service to the chamber profession.

The hard-working NTBC president showed off the Chamber of the Year hardware (left photo above) at the Chamber’s September 27 Final Friday networking event, which was held the afternoon we went to press with this issue (on Sept. 27) at Grillsmith in the Shops at Wiregrass mall. NTBC chair-elect Dr. Kevin O’Farrell of Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch gave Hope big props for her efforts on the Chamber’s behalf and Hope actually gave yours truly and this publication some love, telling me that, “Without you and the Neighborhood News always promoting everything we do, we would never have been able to win this award.”

I’m not sure I agree, because Hope and the NTBC have been so influential and ever-present with regards to everything that is happening business- and development-wise in New Tampa and especially, Wesley Chapel, that it definitely deserved to win on its own merits — but I will definitely take it!

Great Job, Commish!

Speaking of the NTBC, Seven Oaks resident and Pasco County Commissioner (and someone else I am proud to call my friend) Mike Moore was the featured speaker at the Chamber’s Oct 1 Monthly Business Breakfast at Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch and Comm. Moore definitely rocked the packed house.

He touched on Pasco’s recent re-branding as Florida’s Sports Coast, thanks in large part to AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) and the Pasco County Sports Campus at Wiregrass Ranch (which will be operated by RADDSports, the company that now employs my wife Jannah) both being here in Wesley Chapel. Moore said the USA Hockey Disabled Hockey tournament at AHCI generated a Pasco record 2,000 hotel room nights and with nearly a million visitors and room nights countywide in 2018, he says that number will continue to grow.

Comm. Moore also touted the county’s many road improvements, especially those coming to the Wesley Chapel area — including the recent opening of S.R. 56 all the way to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills, the under-construction Diverging Diamond Interchange at I-75 and S.R. 56, the planned Overpass Rd. interchange off I-75, the in-progress widening of S.R. 54 from Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. and the widening of Wesley Chapel Blvd. north of S.R. 56.

Mike and I don’t agree on everything, especially his opposition to connecting Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe to Kinnan St in New Tampa, but I don’t think anyone could argue that he isn’t doing a great job.

Mike Moore

What (Teriyaki) Madness Is This?

Although we had been previously told to expect some sort of fried or grilled chicken restaurant in the space previously occupied by Wok Chi in the Shops at Wiregrass, the new restaurant that opened there earlier this month is called Teriyaki Madness, which is more of a Japanese experience, whereas Wok Chi was definitely more of a Chinese restaurant.

Please note that in our October 18 Wesley Chapel edition, I mistakenly called this new restaurant by a different name, which also was a fast-Asian concept that closed several years ago. I already have apologized to the general manager at Teriyaki Madness for my mistake, so I hope you will read this and go visit Teriyaki Madness soon. Feel free to make fun of me when you do visit.

Teriyaki Madness specializes in — you guessed it — dishes cooked with a teriyaki glaze (thicker than most sauces) that, to me, is more like BBQ sauce than something you’d get at a Japanese restaurant. This fast, healthier-than-most-fast-casual concept was founded in Las Vegas in 2003 and currently includes more than 100 locations being operated throughout the U.S. and now Mexico by M.H. Enterprises, which is based in Denver, CO.

In addition to beef, chicken and tofu teriyaki dishes, Teriyaki Madness also offers spicy chicken, spicy tofu teriyaki, orange chicken teriyaki, fried chicken katsu and yakisoba noodles with chicken, beef, tofu or all veggies. Appetizers include crispy chicken egg rolls, edamame (soybeans), crab Rangoon, chicken pot stickers and more.

The veggies are very fresh and you can customize which veggies you want, so yes, I’ll visit The Teriyaki Madness (28152 Paseo Dr.) again soon.

For more information, call (813) 803-3749, search “Teriyaki Madness” on Facebook or visit TeriyakiMadness.com.

shops at wiregrass mall teriyaki

Nibbles & Bytes

Check Out The Sake House!

The Japanese restaurant and sushi bar formerly known as Fong’s Sushi and Sushi Raw, in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms (next to Crunch Fitness) is under new ownership and my first visit to the new Sake House will have be going back for seconds.

I didn’t get to speak to the new owner but I did enjoy some tasty fried pork shumai dumplings (photo above), a unique chicken fried rice and some super-fresh snapper sashimi. Hopefully, I’ll be telling you more about the Sake House in a future issue. In order to help make that happen, please call or stop in and tell them you heard about the Sake House from Gary at Neighborhood News!

The Sake House is located at 15311 Amberly Dr., Tampa. For hours and more information, call (813) 977-3838 or visit SakeHouseAmberly.com.

La Berry Is Now Ice Spice Café!

In our last coupe of issues, we’ve told you about several new Indian restaurants that have or are going to open in New Tampa.

Well, add one more to the list, as the former La Berry Frozen Yogurt Café, located in the same Trout Creek Commons plaza as Burger 21 at 20304 Trout Creek Dr., off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., is now the Ice Spice Café. It is still a frozen yogurt shop that also carries Indian ice cream, milk shakes, smoothies, plus wraps, salads and Indian chaat, which is a savory snack I’ve never sampled or even heard of before.

What I can say with certainty is that Ice Spice Café has creamy frozen yogurt, with flavors like salted caramel (30 calories per ounce) and white chocolate (34) that are low-fat (1g per ounce), low-carb (5-6g sugar per ounce) and delicious!

Fore more info, call (813) 591-1758 or search “Ice Spice Café” on Facebook.

Coming Soon: Bubba’s 33!

Congrats also go out to Jeff and Crista Dean, the owners of Bubba’s 33, which is now going vertical between Ashley Furniture and Texas Roadhouse on S.R. 56, west of I-75, in Wesley Chapel. This will be the first location in Florida for Texas Roadhouse’s sports bar concept, which held a North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce-hosted groundbreaking (photo above) on Sept. 9.

For additional information, visit Bubbas33.com.

Congrats, Dr. Dave!

Congratulations to well-known local optometrist Dr. David Scamard and his office manager Eileen Popescu of Excellence in Eyecare on their August 14 ribbon cutting hosted by the Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce.

You can visit Dr. Dave’s two-year-old independent optometry office inside the Costco on S.R. 56 — even if you’re not a member of the wholesale club — and he provides a full-range of eye care services, including comprehensive exams, visual field analyses, retinal imaging and more, with walk-ins welcome.

Dr. Scamard opened his first optometry office in our area more than 17 years ago and I can personally attest to the fact that he’s a great optometrist and a really good guy.

If you need more details, or it’s been a while since you had your eyes checked, call (813) 279-7038, visit ExcellenceinEyecare.net or see the ad on pg. 12 of this issue.

— GN

OTB Delights Café Now Offering Fresh, Locally Prepared Meals & More

I have seen the highs and the lows over the last six years with my friend Dirson De Mesquita, the owner of OTB Delights Café, now located in Nye Commons, on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of S.R. 54.

Dirson had started his successful, healthy-eating-oriented restaurant concept in the same plaza as The Hungry Greek and Dickey’s BBQ a little further south on BBD (across from AdventHealth Wesley Chapel) when he decided to find anther location in 2018.

What he didn’t know was that he would be closed for several months (basically, from August until December) that year, as he agreed to leave his old space in order for the new tenant — Umu Japanese & Thai — to get started on their build-out while he began building the new OTB.

Bottom line? Dirson and his wife Ana weathered the storm of several months with no OTB income and have been thriving in their new location ever since.

“Our breakfast business has definitely picked up since we’ve been here,” Dirson says. “And our lunch crowd has been about the same.”

The new location is definitely a nicer layout and even though OTB is the only restaurant in Nye Commons, which doesn’t have a particularly easy entrance to get into either, people have been finding it (it’s located less than four miles north of the Pasco County line) — and loving many of the changes to the menu.

But, What About The Food?

At its old location, when OTB only served healthier turkey bacon for breakfast, I’ll admit I didn’t go out of my way to enjoy my most important meal of the day there.

But now, with the new OTB even closer to my office, Dirson has added not only real bacon, but a variety of delicious new breakfast menu items.

My favorite is still the “breakfast plate”, with your choice of three regular or chocolate chip pancakes, two eggs any style (over easy for me, of course) and three strips of that (extra crispy) bacon — a bargain for only $9.99. And, even though it comes with pancakes, I still add OTB’s tasty marble rye to soak up my egg yolks.

Just as delicious, but understandably more expensive ($12.99) is the steak and eggs breakfast, with a nice portion of thinly sliced steak and three eggs your way. Newer breakfast items include “Omelette’ing You Go,” a three-egg omelet served with your choice of side (try the fresh fruit) and toast. You can choose any three ingredients from the following list: any cheese, grilled onions, grilled peppers, tomatoes, baby spinach, arugula, red onion, diced ham, diced turkey, sprouts, pepperoncini, black olives and mushrooms — and all for only $8.99.

You avocado lovers will flip for the Good Morning Ciabatta, with two eggs your way, tomato, avocado and provolone on a tasty seeded, multi-grain ciabatta hoagie roll.

There’s also a breakfast burrito, chicken-quinoa eggs-travaganza and a tasty hash-and-eggs breakfast made with real corned beef and sweet potato home fries; an asparagus-bacon eggs Benedict; the Yolko Ono, with eggs, Black Forest ham, tomatoes and Havarti cheese on a multi-grain ciabatta; as well as an Acai bowl (with granola, bananas, strawberies, coconut flakes and organic Acai.

And, since Dirson is from Brazil, you know he’s serving great coffee, too.

Don’t They Serve Lunch, Too?

Although most people don’t think of a hamburger as a “healthy” option, Dirson’s grass-fed artisan burger is seasoned, hand-pattied, grilled to order and delicious. There’s also tasty veggie and turkey burgers.

OTB’s lunch selections also feature a variety of salads, including the Asian orange ahi tuna salad, with a generous portion of seared rare tuna, Mandarin oranges, toasted almonds and sprouts; a blackened portabella Caesar as well as a chicken Caesar; a seared steak delight salad and “salmon gone wild” salad. OTB doesn’t have the biggest selection of salad dressings, but all of them are pretty tasty. I especially enjoy the sesame ginger and spicy Santa Fe dressings.

Many of the salads also are available as “Rice Rice Baby” bowls. My favorites are the Shanghai chicken (with jasmine rice, sesame seeds, toasted almonds and the sesame ginger dressing), and the steak delight rice bowl (top right on this page), with black beans, jasmine rice, tomatoes, caramelized onions and blue cheese crumbles, with balsamic.

OTB Has Meal Delivery, Too?

Busy working adults, especially those with younger kids, are turning more and more these days to meal delivery services like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, but Dirson decided to get into the meal delivery business locally because he can promise the same dependable delivery of fresh meals with advantages over those other services.

“We don’t mass produce anything,” Dirson says proudly. Your meals aren’t taken out of a fridge and put into a box, they’re made to your order. You tell us what you want, we make it fresh and deliver it when you want it (guaranteed to arrive between 4 p.m.-9 p.m. on your chosen date to ensure freshness).”

The best way to get started is to call (813) 906-2229 or order online at OnlyTheBestDelivery.com.

You’ll find a huge selection of options online and even though there are actual menu items, Dirson promises that “everything is customizable. If the menu calls for an item to be served with broccoli, you can substitute asparagus, add sprouts, whatever you want.”

And, OTB’s portion-controlled meal delivery service has complete one-week meal plans, keto meals (like keto pesto parmesan chicken and veggies), plant-based meals (like mushroom taco lettuce wraps), special items for kids (kids’ sliced steak and sweet potato mash), desserts (like vegan, gluten-free cookies) and even raw, cold juices (try the cold press juice sampler, with green, yellow, red and bunny juice) available for delivery. There’s even a full catering menu that is fully customizable to your specifications, for events large or small.

Best of all, the food is delicious and guaranteed to arrive fresh, whether you like pulled chicken or ahi tuna with broccoli, quinoa or rice (two left photos on this page) or anything else on OTB’s extensive menu, Dirson’s delivery manager Jen will make sure your order is right — or she’ll make it right.

After six years, I’ve come to expect nothing less from Dirson and OTB!

OTB Delight Café, located at 4839 BBD Blvd., is open Monday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, call (813) 906-2229 or visit OTBDelightCafe.com.