Author: Gary Nager

Try Tarek’s Café In Tampa Palms For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner!

If you love great food at very fair prices and you haven’t yet visited the new Tarek’s Café & Grill, located actually at our former address in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms, it’s definitely worth a visit no matter which meal of the day you’re eating.

Although his restaurant is a newcomer to the Tampa Palms dining scene, Tarek is no stranger to a lot of New Tampa residents — his original Tarek’s Café has been a fixture on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus, just south of Fletcher Ave. off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., for 25 years.

“I’ve actually been in this business 40 years,” says Tarek Elsayed, the owner of the two local Tarek’s Cafés, which are two totally different types of places.

The USF Café is geared to busy college students and faculty members, but Tarek warns that it is still “much more than just a sandwich shop.”

Even so, the Tampa Palms Tarek’s is spacious, with room for 140-150 seats (there’s a little more than 100 inside right now) and attractive wood booths.

But, the menu is significantly more geared towards the sit-down audience — local residents who want a truly delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner in a casual setting.

“We have all of the local proms and graduations happening now,” Tarek says. “Bring those parties over here. We want and can handle your group.”

I’ve only enjoyed breakfast at the Tampa Palms Tarek’s twice so far, but I didn’t post a pic of my favorite breakfast to date — the cinnamon French toast with crusty white bread — because I didn’t think my pics did it justice. Tarek says that virtually everyone who has tried his corned beef hash has raved about it.

“I hear it’s the best in this area…anywhere…all the time,” Tarek says proudly. “If it’s not, I’ll finish it for you.”

As for lunch and dinner, my favorite dishes so far are the braised (“for seven hours,” Tarek says) beef short ribs and smashed potatoes, the “Ooey-Gooey Ragout” (ask Tarek to describe it for you), the blackened (or grilled) grouper with buttery rice and perfect French-style green beans, the uniquely spicy Israeli-style couscous (available as a side), the turkey bacon cheeseburger, and the totally decadent, indescribable Oreo “balls” covered with rich white chocolate. They’re like the chewiest, most delicious brownie bites ever.

I also love the mini-baklavas Tarek is holding in the picture above and he usually has other great desserts,too.

There’s no alcohol served at Tarek’s Cafe (15345 Amberly Dr.), but it is open Tues.-Sat., 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. Call 252-3238 or visit
.

Shuayb Laser Dental — Top Dental Technology Plus Personalized Care!

Shuayb1 If you’ve been told you need a dental implant, the area’s best technology meets caring, experienced dentists at Shuayb Dental, which has two offices in Spring Hill, one in Brooksville and one in the Oak Ramble Plaza (same plaza as Acropolis Greek Taverna) on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of Tampa Palms.

Dr. Mohammad Shuayb, D.M.D. (Doctor of Medical Dentistry) first opened his practice in 2000 in Hernando County, and it was only five years later that his brothers and fellow D.M.D.s — Omar and Mujib — each opened their own dental offices within a few miles of their brother. Three years ago, Omar opened the Shuayb Laser Dental location on BBD and two years ago, Mohammad opened an office near his new residence in the newest section of Tampa Palms. He closed the Tampa Palms location a few weeks ago — “There was just no walk-in traffic at that professional park,” Mohammad says. “But here, we’re between Acropolis and Mr. Dunderbak’s, so a lot more people can find us.”

All three brothers now split time between the three offices in Hernando and the New Tampa location.

Shuayb2WEB All three Shuaybs also earned Bachelor’s degrees from the University of South Florida in Tampa and their D.M.D. degrees from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University.

With the three brothers at the forefront of the business, Shuayb Dental is obviously a family-oriented practice, but with technology to rival and even surpass what you get with the big corporate dental groups.

“We’re more than just a chain of offices,” says Dr. Mohammad Shuayb, the eldest of the three. “We provide top-quality, personalized dental care and all of the equipment we use is a top brand name.”

And, speaking of brand names, the Shuayb name is one that is well-established all across Hernando County and Mohammad says the brothers are working hard to build the same type of loyal following in New Tampa by combining personalized, quality care with the latest technology…and some great offers.

Dental Implants A Specialty

If you need dental implants, you won’t find a better place to make and fit your implants than Shuayb Dental.

Whether you visit the New Tampa office or any of the Hernando locations, the Drs. Shuayb utilize a high-end CEREC 3D Omni-Cam scanner and CEREC software, as well as the highest-quality Straumann implants, and Mohammad says he believes the BBD location is the only one in the New Tampa area to use both.

“We create quality dental implants with laser precision,” Mohammad says. “We even show the patients exactly how their implants will fit with the CEREC, which is a $200,000 machine that also can help us create properly fitting crowns to go over the implants.”

Lasers are a big part of many of the dental services at every Shuayb Dental office. The Drs. Shuayb utilize lasers for everything from treating periodontal (gum) disease to drilling and filling. For gum treatments, the laser replaces the usual scalpel and sutures, which reduces bleeding, minimizes swelling and recovery times and Mohammad says that in some cases, there’s even been regeneration of healthy bone around the teeth.

And, he says that for many fillings, the focused laser beam can replace the drill, often without the need for anesthetics. The laser technology can even assist with tooth whitening procedures.

The CEREC system helps the Shuaybs place crowns with laser precision in a little more than an hour. This dental restorative system also allows the dentist to remove defective amalgam fillings and place cosmetic veneers in just one appointment. It eliminates the need for patients to endure messy, uncomfortable impression materials or wear temporary veneers, sometimes for weeks at a time. The office also offers dentures, bridges, tooth extractions and non-surgical root canals, as well as Invisalign orthodontics.

“Both of those are significant savings over our regular rates and won’t last too long,” says Dr. Mohammad Shuayb. “And, we know you’ll be happy with the quality of our work.”

Shuayb Dental has three offices, one in Brooksville, two in Spring Hill and the New Tampa office (above), located at 14954 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., just south of Tampa Palms. For office hours and more information, please visit ShuaybDental.com or call 632-9200.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Barewood Furniture

Longtime New Tampa resident Joe Grace and his artist wife Robin aren’t getting out of the furniture business, Joe’s just trying to consolidate his efforts at one location, instead of his current two locations.

Unfortunately for those of us who love the look and smell of real hardwood furniture, the location of Barewood Furniture that the Graces are closing is the one that is not only closer to where they live, it also was our area’s first independent furniture store. It has been a popular fixture on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in the Pebble Creek area of New Tampa for about 13 years.

But, that means that right now, there are some really great deals available off Barewood’s already fair prices, as the store is hosting a “Moving Liquidation Sale” from now through sometime later this month. How long the deals — which currently are at 20-50-percent-off everything in the store —last depends upon how fast the store’s inventory moves.

“But, we’ll definitely be out of the building by the end of May,” Joe says, as the New Tampa Barewood location is being leased out to Napa Auto Parts.

“They will be a tenant for life,” Joe says. “They don’t have 3,800 locations nationwide for nothing.”

Joe adds that he has now spent nearly 30 years in the furniture business — he and Robin opened their first store (a Bed & Brass mattress store) in Tampa in 1987. The first Barewood opened in 1992 or ‘93 in South Tampa and the Graces’ Barewood empire reached six stores at its peak. Once the New Tampa store closes, the only remaining Barewood location will be at 27360 U.S. Hwy. 19 N. in the Countryside area of Clearwater.

In the meantime, go and check out all of the cool all-wood beds, cabinets, shelving units, tables, chairs, kids’ furniture, accessories, some of Robin’s art and more, all 20-50-percent-off, while the supply lasts.

The New Tampa Barewood Furniture is located at 8904 Regents Park Dr., just off BBD. The store is open daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., until 5 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. and noon-5 p.m. on Sun. For more info, call 907-2031, or
visit BarewoodOutlet.com. — GN

Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon cancels the 2016 Freedom Fest

Rotary Prez — Incoming WC Rotary Club president Dr. Pablo Rivera (right) and current president Erin Meyer, at the club’s meeting at Quail Hollow Country Club in Wesley Chapel on May 11.

The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon has been forced to cancel the 2016 Freedom Fest, which had been scheduled for July 2, after the host site pulled out.

‘The Grove (at WC shopping plaza) just pulled out on us,” said Dr. Pablo Rivera, the club’s incoming president for the 2016-17 Rotary year & the event co-chair. “I literally have major sponsor checks inbound to us as we speak that I now have to return.” The club was hoping to have those sponsors instead sponsor the upcoming Duck Derby.

Rivera said the club tried to quickly relocate the event to a few other locations (including near the Tampa Premium Outlet Mall), “but we can’t pull off a (venue) change by July 2 (the scheduled date for the 2016 Freedom Fest).”

The event had previously been held at the Shops of Wiregrass mall, last year drawing an estimated 50,000 people to the July 3 event and raising more than $25,000 for the club’s selected charitable causes.

The club’s first-ever Duck Derby will be held on Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., lakeside at Hungry Harry’s BBQ on U.S.41 in Land O’Lakes. The top prize for the Duck Derby will be $2,500, with more than two dozen other prizes available.

“We’re now focused on making the first Duck Derby another major fund-raising event for our club’s selected charities,” Rivera said.

Current club president Erin Meyer added, “We still plan to host a fifth annual Freedom Fest next year.”

Ginza Endless Sushi & Hibachi — Great Food & An Even Better Value!

Ginza rainbow ALTHOUGH MANY more people these days enjoy sushi than they did when I first started loving it in New York City in the 1980s, the biggest complaint I hear about most sushi places is that they’re just too expensive to enjoy too often.

Well, the new Ginza Endless Sushi & Hibachi restaurant, located between LA Fitness and Winn-Dixie in the plaza just south of County Line Rd. and west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa, is bringing great value, as well as delicious sushi and other Japanese and Asian fare to our area (it’s located a few hundred feet south of Wesley Chapel), especially for lunch.

Ginza’s all-you-can-eat $12.95 lunch special (for ages 15 & older) really is as good as it gets if you’re looking for value, and the sushi is always freshly made to order and delicious — whether you get the all-you-can-eat special (which costs $24.95 per adult for dinner) or order off of Ginza’s extensive a la carte menu.

Here’s How It Works…

Whether you get the all-you-can-eat special for lunch or dinner, you have a selection of more than 200 items and yes, you can get as much as you want of almost every item. The Zheng family, which owns Ginza, reserves the right to limit certain items, and can even charge you for unfinished sushi.

Ginza tataki Although I also enjoy the clear and hot & spicy soups, my favorite appetizers on the all-you-can-eat menu include the truly delicious pan-fried dumplings, the Japanese-style green salad with ginger dressing, the super-crispy pork egg rolls and vegetable spring rolls and my surprise favorite, the chicken and vegetable tempura. The tempura green beans are better than any fried green bean appetizer you’ll find at the average chain sports bar.

I really love a lot of the available all-you-can-eat entrées, too. The hibachi steak (served with fried rice and creamy “yummy-yummy” sauce) is very tasty, if sometimes a little bit tough (and it’s not prepared tableside), and I also like the spicy chicken chow fun (back left) entrée, too, although the nicely spicy Mongolian beef (which is not available with the $12.95 lunch) and Mongolian chicken entrées are surely my favorites.

The portions shown in the pictures on this page — which also includes a hibachi shrimp entrée that other folks in my office tell me is pretty good (since I’m allergic to shrimp myself) — are all the actual portion sizes, whether you have the all-you-can-eat lunch or dinner. The Mongolian chicken and beef both have lots of fresh broccoli, snow pea pods, carrots and other veggies, all in a zesty sauce t Ginza2 hat brings both heat and a little crunch to your mouth, and are served with a pretty good fried rice. Yum.

And yes, while you can have all you care to eat of all of the aforementioned items, you also enjoy nigiri-style sushi (over rice) or sashimi (slices of fish without rice), and the rare tuna (which is one of the items Ginza limits on the all-you-can-eat specials) and snapper are definitely my favorites.

I also did really enjoy the spicy white tuna (escolar) hand roll, the regular and “golden” California rolls, the rainbow (tuna, snapper, salmon and avocado-wrapped California roll) and the spider (soft shell crab) rolls. There are plenty of other favorites on the all-you-can-eat list, but some items — like a really tasty seared tuna tataki with wasabi cream and the grilled octopus with hot peppers, to name a couple (both are pictured on the next page), have to be purchased a la carte. And, I have noticed that most of Ginza’s a la carte sushi rolls sell for $1-$2 less than you’ll find at most other Japanese places.

No Liquor License? No Prob!

Although Ginza doesn’t currently have its liquor license, the Zheng family — which also owns the Ginza in Sarasota but was not involved in the Land O’Lakes Ginza which closed — invites you to bring you own alcoholic beverages until it does, and New Tampa Ginza general manager Andrew Zheng says he believes that should happen this month.

Ginza also has great kids’ favorites on its all-you-can-eat menu, which costs just $6.95 for kids ages 4-10 and $8.95 for kids 11-14 for lunch, and $8.95 for ages 4-10 and $12.95 for ages 11-14 for dinner.

Ginza’s décor is casual and modern, with separate bar (with a nice flatscreen TV) and sushi bar areas and the place is quickly becoming one of my favorites in the area.

For more info about Ginza Endless Sushi & Hibachi (6417 E. County Line Rd.), which is open Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & noon-9:30 p.m. on Sun., call 907-1688, visit GinzaFlorida.com or see the ad on pg. 46 of our latest Wesley Chapel issue for some great coupon offers.