Nibbles and Bytes

Full Circle Pizza Gets New Owners!

It’s always difficult to know how a popular local mom & pop restaurant will go once the original owner sells the business. However, in the case of Full Circle Chicago Pizza, located in the Pebble Creek Collection, it seems that new owners Julia and Freddy Nova are off to a great start.

Freddy, who previously worked as a sous chef at the historic Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ, and Julia, continue to serve New Tampa’s most authentic Chicago-style deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas (and they now serve deep-dish pizza every day), but they also have expanded Full Circle’s already impressive menu.

My favorite dishes so far are the chicken & broccoli with garlic & oil shown above (with garlic knots) and the Chicago Italian beef sandwich with melted mozzarella. I’ve also been told that the jumbo wings and the Italian sausage parmigiana sandwiches also are excellent.

Full Circle Chicago Pizza (19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit B-2) is now open every day for lunch and dinner. For more info, call (813) 994-3700 or visit FullCircleChicagoPizza.com.

Why You Should Be A Samantha Taylor Fitness Sister!

As we’ve chronicled in these pages several times, Samantha Taylor Fitness (STF) now has five Tampa Bay-area locations — including one at 26908 Ridgebrook Dr, Suite 101, off S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel.

Since all five locations are for women only, it can be tough for a man to understand why so many women love and appreciate Samantha and her amazing staff.

I understand it a little more clearly now, because I joined my wife Jannah (who trains at the Wesley Chapel STF studio) for Samantha’s most recent celebration for her six-week challenge participants. Held at the Hilton Garden Inn near the Suncoast Pkwy. (off S.R. 54), Jannah and I were among 220 people in attendance, including many husbands/significant others of the participants, and Samantha said she had a waiting list because she had to close off attendance at that number. 

Challenge participants from all five studios were on hand (having lost about 1,500 pounds between them in only six weeks!).They enjoyed a special Keto die-friendly dinner, but there was electricity in the air as Samantha and her sorority of women who work out together in classes (many also do one-on-one personal training), and her compassionate staffers, received a variety of honors. 

Which women won which prizes (there were some great ones) wasn’t particularly important to me, but if you’re a woman who wants to get in better shape, feel and look better, in the company of others who share your goals, I now know that you can’t beat Samantha Taylor Fitness. What a great night!

For more info, visit SamanthaTaylorFitness.com or call (813) 377-3739.

Here & There, This & That

‱ I wasn’t particularly surprised to learn that Primebar in the Shops at Wiregrass mall had closed (the always-changing menu was never great and the drinks were the priciest in our area), but I was a little stunned that Union 72 BBQ next to and owned by members of the same group that also owns The Brass Tap, closed the same week. 

‱ Speaking of the mall, our friend Wendy O’Neill recently moved her Creativity Unpinned store from the former Gymboree location to the former Crazy 8 location. Congrats on the move, Wendy!

‱ If you’re looking for something fun to do with the kids this summer, I suggest a visit to the Licciardello Stables equestrian center, located at 3007 Sunset Ln. (just east of Livingston Ave.) in nearby Lutz. 

I was on hand for the North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting event at the stables, judging by the multitude of happy kids in attendance (photo, right), it’s worth checking out this summer! For more info, call (813) 951-1690 or visit LicciardelloStables.com and please tell them that Gary from the New Tampa Neighborhood News sent you!

The Morgan Auto Group is one of the biggest in the state, with 36 total dealerships, and certainly one of the biggest in the Tampa Bay area, with WC Nissan being the 12th under the Morgan umbrella (which also includes MINI of Wesley Chapel).  — GN

BayScape Bistro At Heritage Isles — Best-Kept Secret No More!

The husband-and-wife team of Eddie and Lourdes Bujarski have helped hundreds of young people learn how to safely prepare and cook food from all over the world during their 18 years of running the Culinary Arts Program at New Tampa’s Wharton High. 

That era ended at Wharton in December of 2017, after the Bujarskis took over the newly revamped restaurant at the Heritage Isles Golf Club the month before. When Eddie told me that during my most recent visit to their BayScape Bistro, I wondered why they continued to work at Wharton even though they had already taken the reins at the open-to-the-public eatery inside Heritage Isles.

“Well, when you’re a teacher,” Eddie told me, “you definitely feel obligated to finish out the semester. We couldn’t just leave those kids like that.”

That kind of commitment to their students is the same dedication the Bujarskis have brought not only to BayScape Bistro, but also to the local community — especially the residents of Heritage Isles.

“We found that the residents weren’t really eating at the restaurant unless they were golfers,” Eddie says. “Lourdes and I decided that we would have to change that to be successful here.”

And, change that they have. Although BayScape Bistro has a simple and not overly diverse menu, the menu items are all made with the same commitment to quality the Bujarskis tried to instill in their culinary students, many of whom have gone on to post-secondary cooking schools like the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Johnson & Wales University, and on to professional culinary careers.

In addition, at least 20 of those former students have worked at BayScape Bistro and several of them have told me how much they appreciate the Bujarskis’ no-nonsense approach to the restaurant business. 

“They really know what they’re doing,” says Tristan, a former Wharton culinary student now working on his four-year culinary degree at Johnson & Wales while he hones his craft at BayScape Bistro. Tristan was the amazing young chef creating unique, made-to-order pasta dishes during BayScape’s recent Thursday night all-you-can-eat (for only $10 per person; $5 for kids under age 10!) sautĂ© station, one of the restaurant’s newer “Daily Signatures”..  

I can assure you that the smell of fresh garlic being heated in oil is enough to get you to try the pasta station, which gives you options like tender, grilled chicken, mojo pork, bacon, fresh spinach, tomatoes and much more, with your choice of pastas and a hearty marinara or creamy Alfredo sauce — or try it “Gary’s Way” (registered trademark pending), with just the garlic and oil.

According to BayScape’s online menu, Monday is “SautĂ© Night,” but Eddie says it has been so popular that the night Jannah and I were there (Thursday is also Trivia Night at BayScape) was the “tryout” for Thursday.

Tuesday is “Take-Out Tuesday,” where Eddie, Lourdes and their staff create different-each-week to-go packages which feed a family of four — for only $20! I unfortunately missed the recent fried chicken Takeout Tuesday, but Eddie promised me there will be more.

Wednesday is Ladies NIght (with $1 glasses of wine for the ladies), but it also is “Wings Wednesday,” where anyone can get six Buffalo or mojo wings for only $5.

On Fiesta Friday, which was mine and Jannah’s first experience with Eddie’s loyal crowd of super-fun regulars who come for dinner and stay for karaoke, you can enjoy tacos, fajitas and other Mexican favorites. It was our Fiesta Friday visit that convinced us to have both my birthday party in January and my “Gary’s 25 Years of Neighborhood News” celebration in April at BayScape, and I heard no complaints about the catering-style food at either of those events.

Saturday is “Live Music Night,” with a rotating lineup of artists and groups performing. Eddie says it’s also the night where he usually serves a steak or, occasionally, a fresh fish feature entrĂ©e, although he admits he hasn’t yet found a supplier with the kind of fresh fish he wants at the right price.

Sunday is “Family Night,” where one kid eats for free for each adult entrĂ©e purchased. The kids also are kept entertained with indoor games.

Jannah and I also have other favorites at BayScape, from the BayScape chef salad (with mojo pork, chicken and bacon and what Jannah says is the best ranch dressing around); the French dip sandwich with real au jus for dipping; the same tender roast beef also is available as a dinner plate with brown gravy; the grilled chicken club sandwich and the BayScape Cuban.  There’s even a grilled veggie and cheese sandwich on the menu.

Breakfast, Too?

The picture above is the best breakfast I’ve had in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel. The thick-cut brioche French toast with two eggs perfectly over easy and the tastiest thick-cut bacon around with truly amazing cottage-fried potatoes and super- fresh (and delicious) fruit costs only $9.99. If you don’t need the French toast, the cost is only $7.99 with regular toast! 

And, best of all, breakfast is served all day, so you can even have it for dinner if you have such a craving. Other breakfast dishes to try are the meat-lover’s hash, country fried chicken & eggs with pepper gravy, the “breakfast in hand” sandwich, pancake breakfast, create-your-own omelets and even a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and house-made granola.

Still More To Come!

Eddie and Lourdes promise that more items will be added to BayScape Bistro’s unique menu, based on customer demand and boy, considering the place hasn’t yet been open for two years, there are a lot of regular customers enjoying the restaurant and bar, which has some of the most reasonable premium alcohol mixed drink prices around.

Friday karaoke nights are always packed and most of the main portion of the restaurant was full for Trivia Thursday. And, with Takeout Tuesdays averaging at least 50 family-of-four meals every week, it’s obvious that Eddie and Lourdes are building something special in New Tampa, even though Heritage Isles is almost at the Morris Bridge Rd. eastern end of Cross Creek Blvd.

And, keep reading the Neighborhood News for more info about a family-oriented Back-to-School Business Expo, in conjunction with the North Tampa Bay Chamber, coming sometime in August! There will be food, games for the kids and booths available for kid-oriented business sponsors.

BayScape Bistro at Heritage Isles (10630 Plantation Bay Dr.) opens at 9 a.m. for breakfast (8 a.m. on Sat. & Sun.) and stays open for lunch & dinner until 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat.).

For info, call (813) 994-3445, visit BayScapeFlorida.com or see the ad on pg. 39 of this issue.  

Neighborhood News Online Celebrates Six Months Of Google-Funded Videos!

When we received the first installment of our funding from the Google News Initiative on January 14, we made a number of promises to our benefactors regarding the number of videos we’d put online, the number of people we’d hire to shoot, edit and be on-air talent for those videos and the equipment we would need to fulfill our commitments.

As this issue is reaching you, it has now been six months since we received that funding and I’d have to say that we are right on track.

To me, the most important milestone for us to reach was the increase in the number of videos we would be releasing. Before our Google funding, we averaged one video every other week. But, we have now put out 41 videos in 21 weeks (with several videos in the can getting ready for release at out press time) since Jan. 14, or an average of at least two each week. 

And, more and more of you are watching those videos. In the nearly three years since we first started Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television (WCNT-tv) — which we now call NeighborhoNewsOnline.net (search “Neighborhood News” on Facebook or “WCNT-tv”  on YouTube) — we have flown past one million total views and nearly two million people reached on Facebook.

The 41 videos we have put online since January alone have been viewed more than 210,000 times and have reached more than 354,000 people. Perhaps even more important is that those 41 videos have received a total of more than 36,000 “engagements” (Likes, Shares & Comments), or an average of more than 900 per video! How many local videos/posts do you know of that have had 1,000 engagements?

We continue to reach our biggest audience whenever we put out videos about food, as our two videos about the opening of the new Chick-fil-A on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel each garnered more than 12,000 views and combined reached more than 35,000 people. Our biggest reach this year has been achieved by our video about the new Smallcakes Cupcakery in Tampa Palms, which also had more than 12,000 views, and a reach of more than 22,000 people!

Even more recently, my “Neighborhood Dining News” segment about Hummingbird Jerk House and Full Circle Pizza released on May 29 already has been viewed more than 7,000 times and reached more than 11,000 people.

En Español, Tambien?    

Although I also have several more lined up to start as this issue is reaching your mailbox, we currently have four print advertisers who have begun sponsoring our videos and online content, as part of their Video & Online “Subscription” program, where each of them will receive a Video Business Feature.

Those advertisers are Total Air Solutions, Creative Permanent Makeup by Pam Edmonson, Omari’s Grill at Lexington Oaks Golf Club and KAP Medical Group. We have not yet released the Video Business Features for Total Air or Omari’s, but only the video for Omari’s had not yet been produced at our press time.

However, Total Air, which was our first “subscriber,” has already been shown as a sponsor of eight videos in seven weeks, and those videos have been viewed more than 50,000 times, with a Facebook reach of nearly 89,000 people and nearly 7,000 engagements. Creative Permanent Makeup by Pam has sponsored seven videos in six weeks, and those videos have been viewed more than 40,000 times, with a FB reach of more than 68,000 and more than 6,000 engagements. Omari’s had only sponsored two videos at our press time, but they had been viewed more than 7,000 times, with a FB reach of nearly 15,000, with nearly 700 engagements.

And, thanks to Omari’s co-owner Susana Herrera, who spent 20 years as a reporter and anchor in her native Colombia, including eight years on the Colombian CBN Network, our KAP Medical video was shot in English (with yours truly asking the questions) and in Spanish (with Susana interviewing fellow Latina Dr. Karina Parilo en Español). We plan to do a lot more with Spanish language videos in the future, so stay tuned! For advertising information, call (813) 910-2575!     

End Of An Era at Wesley Chapel Nissan!

Although Wesley Chapel Nissan wasn’t the first auto dealership to open on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel (that was Heritage, now Parks Ford), owner Jay Rosario and his team have certainly been among the most community-oriented auto dealerships in our area since it opened 15 years ago (in 2004).

In one of the more unique business transitions I’ve ever witnessed, the public was invited to watch Rosario and his entire management team (including my friend and Wesley Chapel Rotary Club member Troy Stevenson) on May 20 to hand the baton (and the keys to the dealership) off to Wesley Chapel Nissan’s new owners — the Morgan Auto Group.

CEO Brett Morgan (at left in photo below), known for his TV commercials with Tampa Bay Lightning star Tyler Johnson, brought along new Wesley Chapel Nissan general manager Paul Snedic (right) and the dealership’s new management team to the event, which was attended by at least 100 people, including Pasco County clerk and comptroller Dr. Paula O’Neil, as well as many members of the Wesley Chapel Rotary and the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. Stevenson and the dealership have played integral roles in both organizations.

Wesley Chapel Nissan has hosted Casino Nights for the Rotary and many events for the chamber, as well as several fund raisers for Dr. O’Neil’s “Clerks for a Cure.” She even hosted her book signing for the release of her book Fighting Cancer Like A Girl at WC Nissan.

O’Neil made a presentation of a plaque to Rosario and dubbed him an “Honorary Deputy Clerk” a month or so before she officially retires from her position.

“You have always stood with me, always supported me,” O’Neil (at right in right photo) told Rosario. “You’ve shown us what it means to be invested in a community. Wherever you go, know that we’re always on your side.”

But, the dealership’s internet sales director Crystal Enger (top right photo on next page) stole the show — and the hearts of everyone in attendance — when she gave Rosario a framed card with messages from every employee. The gift was nice, but many tears were shed when Crystal said, “You gave everyone a chance — whether it was somebody who had been sleeping in their car, whether it was someone who used to clean houses or someone who didn’t know where they were getting their next meal — you are the root of why we’re able to grow. We thank you for who you are, and for your heart.”

No, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place after that one. Rosario, who has won many awards for his business acumen, also is an Orange County Reserve Deputy who was one of the first on the scene after the Pulse Night Club shooting.

Of course, the Morgan Auto Group is one of the biggest in the state with 36 total dealerships, and certainly one of the biggest in the Tampa Bay area, with WC Nissan being the 12th under the Morgan umbrella (which also includes MINI of Wesley Chapel).

“We’re all local, we’re all right here in Tampa Bay,” Morgan said at the event of Snedic and the new Nissan management team. “And, the reality is, we do want to continue the relationships in this community.”

Neighborhood News Online Video Content Keeps Adding Viewers — And Sponsors!

If you’re somehow still not watching our ongoing online video content, you’re part of an ever-dwindling minority. Our team of videographers and video editors, led by Charmaine George, with Richard Nasrallah and Matt Tsvetkov, have been providing the residents and businesses of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel with a wide variety of videos, all with beautiful footage and outstanding editing.

And, there’s no doubt that businesses are starting to take notice and are getting on our video/online bandwagon.

Our very first video partner is Total Air Solutions, which was the first business to sign up with us (in April) for this new “subscription” program.

From the first video we posted on April 7 with Total Air’s sponsorship, the air conditioning company’s logo has appeared on eight videos in less than six weeks. Among those videos were:

1) the groundbreaking for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (6,733 views, 11,204 FB reach & 262 engagements);

2) my interview with the owners of Smallcakes in Tampa Palms (12,153 views, 22,575 FB reach & nearly 1,000 engagements);

3) the groundbreaking for Pasco’s Performing Arts Center in Wesley Chapel (8,709 views, 12,223 FB reach & 950 engagements); 

4) Our most recent News Desk, about new openings on S.R. 56 and the Crystal LagoonsÂź amenity opening to the public (8,856 views, 14,461 FB reach & 1,925 engagements).

In just those four videos, Total Air Solutions’ logo has been viewed more than 36,000 times, reached more than 60,000 people, with more than 4,100 engagements — and that’s before Total Air’s Video Business Feature airs in early June! Not bad, right?

And now, our second video sponsor, Creative Permanent Makeup by Pam Edmonson, has had her logo sponsoring at least  four videos, with her best one being the opening of Chick-fil-A on S.R. 54 (above), which has had a Facebook reach of 18,198 and has been viewed more than 12,200 times.

Pam also sponsored our video about the groundbreaking for the Blue Heron Adult Living Facility in Seven Oaks (5,291 Facebook reach, 2,600 views) and not only sponsored, but also appeared in, our video about my “25 Years of Neighborhood News” celebration, which reached more than 5,700 people and had been viewed more than 3,200 times. For those three videos alone, Pam’s logo has been viewed more than 18,000 times and had reached nearly 30,000 people. Look for Pam’s upcoming Video Business Feature, which will be released in late-June.

However, Pam is currently only sponsoring our videos, which costs her business only $100 per month in addition to her print advertising cost, and includes that 2-3-minute-long Video Business Feature.  

Total Air, however, also has a “clickable” ad our website, NTNeighborhoodNews.com, which costs only $50 per month, on top of Total Air’s video sponsorship of $100 per month and the cost of Total Air’s print advertising.

And, there is value in sponsoring our website, too. Managing editor John Cotey posts different news items each day on our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page, which get online readers to click through to our website at a fairly impressive rate. Our top posts over the last few months include “Chick-fil-A Sets a Date” (17,705 FB reach & 2,800 link clicks), “Cypress Creek Town Center Lands Three Restaurants” (16,886 FB reach & 2,457 link clicks) and “Sprouts/Hunter’s Lake” (12,913 FB reach & 2,077 link clicks). 

To sponsor our online and video content, call (813) 910-2575 or email me at ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com.