In case you missed the new sign that just went up, New Tampa’s shuttered Red Lobster in The Pointe at Tampa Palms is going to become Sushi Masa, the latest link in a nine-link chain of all-you-can-eat “premium” Japanese restaurants, with existing locations in Texas, Louisiana, Pensacola, FL, and the closest to us in Lakeland.
But, don’t expect Sushi Masa to open anytime soon, as the former Red Lobster has been completely gutted inside (photo below) and the manager we spoke with at the Lakeland location didn’t know when it was expected to be completed. Our best guess is sometime during/towards the end of the first quarter of 2025, but we’ll keep you posted.Â
For more information, including menus and photos of the other locations, visit SushiMasaUS.com.
The Geeky Ferret is a new hobby store located in the Freedom Plaza at 30044 S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel (next to the former location of Grey Wolf Armory in the plaza).
Geeky Ferret, which opened in Sept., offers Role-Playing Games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons, Collectible Card Games (CCGs) like Pokemon, Miniature games like Warhammer, Board games, Plastic Models (above), as well as paints and all the trimming to finish your models and miniatures. The store also has gaming tables for people to gather and play their games; one of them is configured for podcasting/streaming to the internet.
The store also sells geeky snacks and drinks for those long play sessions. With multiple 3D resin and filament printers in the store, the Geeky Ferret offers custom 3D-printed miniatures and other game-related products. Owner Nicole Webb says that the store will be expanding into the former Grey Wolf location (above, left) in its Phase Two, which will include radio-control products. For more information, stop in or call (813) 694-7997.
Neverland Toys & Krane Open AtThe KRATEs
While several of the restaurants have done pretty been well at the KRATE at The Grove, there’s no doubt it’s been tougher sledding for retailers at the container park.
One of the newest retail stores to open at the KRATEs is Neverland Toys, which has been open less than two months next to the Garden of Eden olive oil store. Although correctly billed as “Barbie Heaven” (photo right), it also is a great place for a large variety of Marvel and DC Comics action figures, Hot Wheels cars and trucks and games and toys for younger kids. Jannah and I found great gifts for all of our grandchildren, who range in age from toddlers through age 5.
For more information about Neverland Toys, search@never.land.toys on Instagram or “Neverland Toys”on Facebook.
Speaking of kids, if your kids love to try to grab toys and other prizes at those funky machines at fairs and arcades , the KRATEs now offer Krane, an unmanned arcade with about a dozen different machines, each with a different variety of toys and prizes, from Pikachu and other Pokemon to Hello Kitty items that the kids can pick up by operating a crane (or “The Claw” from the movie “Toy Story”). —GN
If you don’t feel like having to cook a big meal at home for Thanksgiving, why not check out the big Thanksgiving Buffet at the beautiful Hyatt Place Hotel Tampa/ Wesley Chapel (26000 Sierra Center Blvd., just west of I-75, Lutz), on Thursday, November 28 (obviously), with three seatings — one at 10:30 a.m., one at noon and the last at 1:30 p.m.
Starters include lobster & crab bisque and a butternut squash soup, Italian chopped salad, a “berry bliss” salad, as well as classic creamy potato salad and a “melody” of pasta salad.
Save room for dessert, as there will be (of course) sweet potato pie, traditional apple pie and rich cream carrot cake.
The meal also will include live music at all three seatings and bottomless mimosas (for ages 21 & older), although the Hyatt Place also will offer its full premium-liquor bar (Note-All bar drinks will incur an additional charge; soft drinks are included in the per-person price, however).
The price for this sumptuous meal with no post-meal cleanup at your house? It’s just $75 per person, $30 for children under age 12 and children under age three eat for free. The prices do not include tax or gratuity and an 18% gratuity will be included for all parties of six or more.
Reservations are definitely suggested, as the hotel believes that all three seatings are likely to sell out. To reserve your table, call (813) 803-5600. For more information, visit Hyatt.com/WesleyChapel. — GNÂ
Although, as of the day this issue went to press, Morris Bridge Rd. between Cross Creek Blvd. and S.R. 56 was still closed (as it has been since Hurricane Milton blew through our area on Oct. 9-10), based on my conversations with more than one Hillsborough County Sheriff ’s Office (HCSO) deputy on duty at the Hillsborough side of the closure, the road itself and a storm drain in that segment were both damaged by the storm.
The second deputy I spoke with said that despite reports that the road would reopen by sometime between Oct. 30-Nov. 4, he had no idea when the storm drain repairs would be completed or how long that segment of Morris Bridge Rd. would remain closed (top photo).
K-Bar Ranch residents who normally take Morris Bridge Rd. to work and/or take their kids to and from school were still being diverted away from Morris Bridge at our press time, but the hope here is that they would be able to resume using the two-lane roadway by the time this issue reached your mailbox, but there were no guarantees. Morris Bridge Rd. is already a dangerous place to drive because of people attempting to pass slower-moving vehicles, so please don’t make the situation worse by ignoring or attempting to move the barricades.
Flatwoods Park Reopens, But…
Speaking of damage from Milton, both entrances (at 18205 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. at 14302 Morris Bridge Rd.) to the Wilderness Conservation Park Flatwoods Site (aka “Flatwoods Park,” bottom photo) reopened on Oct. 25, even though other county parks along or off Morris Bridge Rd. in the Lower Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area — including Dead River Park and Trout Creek Conservation Park — remained closed at our press time.
While Flatwoods Park itself is now fully passable along the 7-mile paved loop from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and 8.25-mile loop from Morris Bridge Rd., park ranger Matthew Parejko said on Nov. 3 that many of the hiking and off-road biking portions of the park were “still not safe to use due to damage from Milton” nearly three weeks after the storm.
A little south and east of Flatwoods, Morris Bridge Park (13630 Morris Bridge Rd.), best known for fishing along the Hillsborough River, also has reopened, although most of the areas closest to the river also remain unusable due to damage from Milton.
For more information about Flatwoods and the other parks along Morris Bridge Rd., call (813) 426-5583. There is a regularly updated recorded message and the park rangers do return calls, too.
When I lived in Manhattan, New York, in the 1980s, my apartment was a couple of blocks from the original TGI Fridays on 1st Ave. Not only was it the location where Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown served drinks in the movie “Cocktail,” it also was a truly great non-chain restaurant.
Then, when I moved to Tarrytown, NY, one of the first TGI Fridays franchises opened and I was disgusted by the “chain-ing” of this fabled eatery. My favorite potato skins on earth went from giant, crispy spuds filled with real cheddar cheese and topped with crumbled hunks of real bacon to mini-potatoes with low-quality American cheese and fake bacon bits. I swore to never visit a Fridays again.
But, when the Fridays on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Highwoods Preserve opened nearly two decades ago, I still visited fairly frequently, as it often had live music, a hoppin’ bar and the food seemed better than it was in Tarrytown, even though the potato skins were still less than overwhelming.
So, I wasn’t surprised to hear that the New Tampa Fridays was one of nearly 50 to close its doors on Oct. 24 (see notice, above), following a purge of 36 locations in January, leaving the chain with 164 remaining links and the parent company reportedly ready to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Â
Hopefully, something good will replace Fridays in this prime BBD location, but can a mom-&-pop even afford to move in there?
The better news is that zip code 33647 is about to get its just desserts, as Nothing Bundt Cakes (NBC) will open a location about eight miles south of its popular location in The Shops at Wiregrass. Although NBC is limited to moist bundt cakes with amazing icing, it will still be a better choice in the former Subway location next to China City in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center.
The most interesting news is that Cookie Plug, which also is getting ready to open in The Grove at Wesley Chapel (next to the Ice Dreammm Shop), also is getting ready to open in the former Weight Watchers location about 11 miles to the south in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve plaza.
We had no further information as to when NBC or Cookie Plug were expected to open, but we will keep you posted. — GN
