Obviously, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the wave of the future, but if you’re old school like me, it’s probably been hard for you to embrace.
However, although I still find errors when I use Google AI to do research for stories, I am now a lot more interested in the other ways that AI can help my business — thanks to the husband-&-wife team of Josh and Michelle Stanaland of Shark Branding Solutions.
In addition to Michelle and Josh, the Shark Branding Solutions team includes chief operating officer Tiffany Fancher (at left in photo, with Michelle and Josh), “who makes sure everything runs smoothly,” Michelle said. “We couldn’t do this without her.”
Michelle, Shark Branding’s CEO, invited the Neighborhood News team to the company’s first-ever in-person “Hackathon” on May 26 (at Philena Worthington’s Worthington Agency, a AAA insurance office at 35366 Pure Water Way, Zephyrhills) — which wasn’t at all what it sounded like, at least not to me.
Josh, the company’s chief technology officer, created a simulation of the websites of each of the six businesses who attended the Hackathon. Each website was outfitted with an AI “employee” (“not a ChatBot,” Michelle emphasized) who served as each company’s receptionist.
In other words, when you logged onto your own simulated website, your AI receptionist (ours was named Nora) popped up to answer any and all questions about your business that someone visiting your website might have.
“I don’t know about you,” Michelle said, “but as a business owner, I love creating websites and helping companies build their brands. I don’t like having to answer the phone. But, I also know that I have lost potential clients because I didn’t answer the phone or get back to the person soon enough.
“If you hire a receptionist, which can cost you $40,000 a year, you have to train them, hope they will handle your customers as you would and that they will be reliable. Your AI receptionist is ‘trained’ by being programmed with all of the info about your business and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
She added, however, “That the goal is not to replace your employees, but to allow your entire team to avoid having to handle those customer inquiries so they can each do their actual jobs.”
At any rate, the idea of the Hackathon was for each of us to hack, or basically break, our own AI receptionist.
But, guess what? Without ever having to be trained by myself or Jannah, Nora answered every possible question anyone visiting our website could possibly ask — including about our editorial content, and especially, about advertising in the Neighborhood News.
In other words, Josh and Michelle, who have not yet rolled out their AI receptionist “package” to the public, are onto something big. And, you should definitely give them a call — and please tell them I sent you.
For Shark Branding Solutions, call (727) 269-7009 or visit SharkBrandingSolutions.com. For the Worthington Agency, call (813) 454-7388. — GN, photos by Charmaine George
As I was doing my New Tampa “rounds” in May, I couldn’t help but notice that a new restaurant is getting ready to open at 14915 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in the Oak Ramble Plaza (next to Papa John’’s Pizza).
Slap Burger is a family-run burger shop founded in Paterson, NJ, in 2023, that, according to SlapBurgersNJ.com, is “dedicated to serving juicy smash burgers, hot chicken sandwiches, loaded platters, creamy milkshakes and refreshing lemonades.
“Founded by two brothers with a shared vision, Slap Burger was built on the idea of creating something lasting, exciting and full of flavor. That vision quickly became a reality with the opening of our first location in Paterson, followed a year later by our second location in Clifton, NJ, designed to offer more space and seating for our growing customer base.
“With two thriving locations already serving our community in New Jersey, and four additional branches set to open in New York (with the Oak Ramble location the young chain’s first of its ‘bold expansion plan’ outside of those two states), Slap Burger is growing into a destination where bold flavors meet great times.”
The place inside looks a lot like a Five Guys store to me, but, whether or not the burgers are as good or better than Five Guys remains to be seen.
Based on what the contractor told me, the new Slap Burger should open within a couple of weeks after the time this issue reached your mailbox. — GN
Checking Out The Changes Since Mast Capital’s $92-Million Investment To Return The Resort To Its Former Glory
Gary & Jannah Nager started off a short staycation at the all-new Saddlebrook Resort with a glass of champagne in their recently redecorated two-room suite overlooking one of the completely revamped Saddlebrook golf courses. (Photos by Charmaine George & GN)
Pyramid Global corporate chef James Messinger (left) and Saddlebrook GM Jeff Mayers at GOAT.
The last time Jannah and I stayed at Saddlebrook Resort was the night we got engaged back in 2015. Our room was big, but dated and musty. The restaurants we both loved — especially Dempsey’s Steak House — were either gone or no longer worth the money. We didn’t tell anyone at the resort, but we did tell each other that this would probably be the last time we would visit Saddlebrook unless we had a very good reason to do so.
A little more than a decade later, the resort’s new ownership group — Mast Capital — has largely completed its $92-million revamping of Saddlebrook, and has finally given us that very good reason to return.
The delicious grilled grouper at GOAT Kitchen & Bar.
Although Jannah and I had already visited (and I reported about it in these pages more than once) the new RARE 1981 steak house multiple times, there was so much other new “stuff” to do that we decided to take a short “staycation” in one of Saddlebrook’s recently revamped rooms to check out the upgrades to the legendary Superpool and Palmhaus pool bar & restaurant, and watch a Tampa Bay Lightning game at the new GOAT (aka “Greatest Of All Time”) Kitchen & Bar, which definitely has an upscale sports bar feel but with better food than any of the chain restaurants in Wesley Chapel.
Lorena the bartender making specialty drinks at the Palmhaus pool bar.
The only things we didn’t get to enjoy were the resort’s now-27 holes of true championship golf — since neither of us still plays at all; I was terrible when I did play — or the new eight beautiful, new pickleball courts or the European-style Esthetics813 “The Spa at Saddlebrook.”
The good news is that everything we did do was so impressive that we surely will be back!
In the meantime, you can check out everything we enjoyed during our return trip and all of the tasting and indulging we shared.
The bottom line is that the new Saddlebrook Resort is now well worth your time and money. If you haven’t been there recently, you honestly haven’t been there at all!
All of the carpeting & furnishings in every guest room at Saddlebrook have been updated. The Superpool now has a large number of cabanas & umbrellas.
Gary & Jannah Return To Saddlebrook — & Love Everything About It!
After experiencing the RARE 1981 steak house media preview and the separate Saddlebrook Media Day, both back in Nov. 2025 (both of which I reported about extensively in our Dec. 23 issue, so you won’t see RARE photos in this feature), and the much more recent media preview of the new GOAT Kitchen & Bar, Jannah and I decided to reserve one of the resort’s fully redesigned hotel suites because we wanted to experience as much of the all-new Saddlebrook as possible for this story about everything new.
GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) Kitchen & Bar! (Top to bottom & l.-r.) The GOAT Kitchen & Bar is all-new and features great elevated sports bar fare like fish & chips, double smash burger, Hall of Fame short rib nachos and a decadent bananas Foster cheesecake.
I then interviewed Saddlebrook general manager Jeff Mayers to make sure I wasn’t missing anything that the resort’s new owner Mast Capital had redone as part of its $92 million makeover. Bottom line? Although you can’t really do all there is to do at Saddlebrook in one day or even an entire weekend, you can get a pretty good taste of what was once a worn out “old lady “of a resort returned to her “Grand Dame” former glory.
Fully Renovated Hotel Rooms!
On these pages, I hope you’ll get enough of a feel for all there is for couples and families to savor at the all-new Saddlebrook to want to stay there yourselves, or at least have a great meal. Want more good news? If you do visit just to dine at RARE 1981, GOAT or the also-new Palmhaus pool bar, ask your server to validate your valet parking ticket (there is no more self-parking at the resort) and Mayers says your $30 valet charge will be waived!
“We have had much higher engagement and better response from both our members and the local community regarding all of the improvements,” Mayers says. “RARE 1981, in particular, has seen tremendous turnout for member events and from local residents, although GOAT and Palmhaus also have gotten great reviews.” He also told me that the number of memberships has increased significantly since the improvements have been open.
On a recent Friday afternoon, Jannah and I checked in to our completely overhauled two-bedroom, two-bath suite (one of 451 rooms at the resort) — which is bigger than some of my previous apartments. It not only had all-new carpeting and furnishings, but also new fixtures in the bathrooms, and the kitchen was full-sized, with a new freezer and ice maker, plus a full oven and four-burner cooktop, as well as a full coffeemaker (although there is also the BREW lobby café for artisanal coffee drinks and on-the-go bites). Unlike when we last stayed at the resort, everything smelled as clean and fresh as it looked. The bed was super-comfy and there were also bedside connections for electronic devices.
27 Holes Of Championship Golf!
Our patio looked out onto the 9th hole of the newly revamped 9-hole Oak golf course, one of three 9-hole Rees Jones-designed layouts (left photo) that have replaced the two 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed original courses. The former driving range, located just inside Saddlebrook’s front gate, is gone and has been replaced by a much better driving range and putting green using some of the former golf course space.
I was told by a guy at the golf and racquet sports pro shop that both the Oak and Pine courses are completely redone and together are now about a 7,000-yard, par-72 track. The Cypress, the third nine-hole course, is still having its renovations finalized. And yes, you can still play golf (as well as tennis and pickleball) at Saddlebrook without having a membership (see info below), whether you stay over at the resort or not.
27 Holes Of Championship Golf!
You also don’t have to be a member to play on Saddlebrook’s fabled 41 tennis courts that include every championship surface (even Wimbledon-style grass) or its eight gorgeous, new pickleball courts. You might, however, get to see some current and future tennis or golf pros training at the Saddlebrook Golf Academy, Happy Hopman Tennis Academy and Saddlebrook Preparatory School, all of which train at the resort, which also is the home of both the Professional Tennis and Professional Pickleball Registries. There’s also an amazing fitness center that resort guests can use as part of their $28 per night (per room, not per person) resort fee. And of course, there’s also the renowned Saddlebrook Superpool, now made even better by the addition of the Palmhaus Pool Bar, which also features live entertainment on the weekends. Don’t want to deal with kids running around? The resort also has an adults-only pool.
Palmhaus Pool Bar!
(Top-bottom & l.-r.) The Palmhaus Pool Bar also features delicious food, like the ahi tuna poké bowl, a poolside burger, grilled mahi-mahi tacos and a variety of frozen drinks.
“The Superpool now offers DJ music on the weekends,” Mayers says, “and there are sound system enhancements being added out there.”
He adds that there already are new sound systems installed inside GOAT and RARE that have outdoor patio broadcast capabilities, “even for sporting events.”
You also don’t have to be a member or even a resort guest to indulge yourself at the Spa at Saddlebrook, also known as Esthetics813, operated by Kyymara Rose Wickiser, an Aveda Spa alum and long-time aesthetician in the Wesley Chapel area.
Kyymara says, “Esthetics813 is a premier holistic wellness and spa program. We are proud to be among only two resorts in Florida offering a fully curated, comprehensive wellness program that goes far beyond traditional spa services.” She adds that the Spa’s philosophy is “Bare-Faced Naked, which has nothing to do with the absence of makeup. It is the courageous, beautiful act of being fully comfortable and confident in who you are.”
Spa services include customized facials, therapeutic massages, body treatments, manicures and pedicures, yoga, stretch and aqua classes, guided meditation and more.
Memberships & Club
Saddlebrook offers a variety of memberships, from social to racquet sports to golf, and each membership type comes with its own set of privileges.
Mayers says that although there have been ongoing discussions about converting or replacing the building that formerly housed Dempsey’s Steak House as a private club for Saddlebrook members, “nothing has been finalized yet. But, we will provide updates as those plans solidify.”
In other words, if you last visited Saddlebrook before all of these improvements came online, you owe it to yourself to visit again. Don’t expect anything to be “cheap,” but I believe it is now well worth the money you’ll spend.
For reservations and more info about Saddlebrook Resort (5700 Saddlebrook Way), call (813) 973-1111 or visit Saddlebrook.com. To book services at Esthetics813, visit Esthetics813TheSpaatSaddlebrook.com or call (813) 474-4486. Or, see the ad below. — GN
Now open (since Mar. 21) in Wesley Chapel, the new Beef N’ Buns restaurant, located in the space previously occupied by Balanced Foods (at 1211 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., next to the Target store) is a non-chain specializing in halal smash burgers and fresh-battered chicken sandwiches, wings, fries and desserts.
Photographer Charmaine George and I sampled a few items at the new Beef N’ Buns, which is the restaurant’s second location (the original is in Orlando), with the third location in Plantation, FL, also having just opened.
And, oh yeah, we enjoyed everything we tried. The smash burgers are available as singles, doubles and even triples (we ordered the B&B Smash double; left photo), with caramelized onions, American cheese and old-fashioned pickles on a brioche bun. Other burgers include the Karachi Fire (with “cashew fire” sauce), the Gaucho Burger (with cilantro lime aioli and a sunnyside-up egg) and many more.
We also liked the extra-crispy O.G. Chicken Sandwich (top photo; we ordered the garlic aioli on the side). There are also Mango Habanero, Nashville Hot and Buffalo Ranch chicken sandwiches. We paired our sandwiches with crispy sweet potato fries, but there also are Cajun and truffle fries and even onion rings. I’ll be back to try the Steak N’ Cheese and Birria Bomb sandwiches, and the Cookie Caramel Sundae for dessert. For more info about Beef N’ Buns, call (813) 345-8116. Or, search “beef.n.buns” on Instagram. — GN, photos by Charmaine George
It’s been another busy few weeks for the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC)’s giant scissors, as there were four NTBC ribbon-cutting events just between Apr. 21 and Apr. 29, including the Face Foundrié, Hale Law Accident Attorneys and Drybar Wesley Chapel.
On Apr. 21, the Face Foundrié not only cut a Chamber ribbon but also opened its doors for the first time at 28249 Paseo Dr., Unit 190, in The Shops at Wiregrass. Its Grand Opening will be held on Saturday, May 30, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Local franchise owners Brenda and her daughter Elle Vansteenburg (right) welcomed Chamber members to tour the beautiful new facial spa, one of nearly 90 Face Foundrié locations in 25 U.S. states (10 in Florida). The company was founded in Edina, MN, in 2019 by CEO Michele Henry, and the Wesley Chapel Face Foundrié offers a variety of facials, lashes, brows & skin care products, with memberships available. For more info about the Face Foundrié, call (656) 246- 5141 or visit FaceFoundrie.com.
Next, on Apr. 23, Hale Law Accident Attorneys cut an NTBC ribbon at the firm’s office location at 6408 E. Fowler Ave. in Temple Terrace. Founded by Patrick Hale (at right in photo, left) in Sarasota in 2018, Hale and co-managing partner Patrick Iyampillai (with microphone in same photo), fellow partner Rose Kasweck and attorneys Patrick Barnes, Maxwell Shrem, James Tanton and Kristi Paschall, are all dedicated to representing everyday Floridians who have been wrongfully injured by someone else’s negligence.
As the official accident law firm for USF, Hale Law does not take on corporate clients or insurance company defense work — “just people who need someone to fight for them,” Hale said. The partners in the highly-rated firm (the Temple Terrace office has a 5.0-star rating on nearly 30 reviews on Google) told everyone who attended the ribbon-cutting event that they should “Go to Hale (Law)” if they’re ever injured.
For more info, call (813) 547-4980 (24 hours/day) or visit HaleLaw.com.
Later that same day, Drybar Wesley Chapel hosted another well-attended NTBC ribbon-cutting event. Already open for several weeks, the location at 28163 Paseo Dr., Suite 135, is an elegant-looking salon that specializes in styling and blow-drying all different types of hair, with catchy cocktail-copying names (putting the “bar” in “Drybar”) for the styles, like “The Cosmo” and “The Old Fashioned.”
Franchise owners LeShundra Haughton (in Drybar yellow in photo, right) and her son Xavier (with sunglasses) and LeShundra’s husband August Haughton (left) and her sister LaTonya DeShazier (far right) welcomed Chamber members to check out all that Drybar has to offer, including not only the blowout services, but also braids, clip-in hair extensions, hair care products, memberships and gift cards.
Drybar, which today has nearly 200 locations (15 in Florida), debuted in Brentwood, CA, in 2010. As LeShundra said, “We want to help everyone have their best hair day.”
For more info, call (813) 702-1066 or visit DrybarShops.com. — GN; all photos by Charmaine George
PTSD Foundation Also Cuts A Chamber Ribbon
The following week, on Aug. 28, the PTSD Foundation of America Florida Chapter also hosted a Chamber ribbon-cutting event at its office in the Mango Coworking Space at 2831 Allegra Way (off Wesley Chapel Blvd.) in Lutz.
Florida PTSD Foundation Chapter general manager Luis Pancha (at right in photo with NTBC president and CEO Hope Kennedy), a Marine Corps veteran, told attendees that the Foundation isn’t made up of therapists, but it does provide much-needed services for veterans and their families, including in-person peer mentoring and putting those who are at risk of becoming another one of the 44 U.S. military veterans each day who commit suicide in touch with licensed therapists. Foundation volunteers also help vets with writing grants and even with finding jobs.
“This office is a place where veterans and their families can come for support, connection and hope,” Pancha said.
Pancha clearly is the right person for the job. He told the attendees, “I’m not here to ask for donations. I ask for word of mouth because that’s how our Foundation can grow. So, I hope five people here will talk to five people to spread the word.”
He also said that the local chapter actually started back in 2023 because, “As a veteran, I know that the need is great. It’s very difficult for people to understand what PTSD really is, but I suffer from PTSD a lot myself and my wife Samantha helped pull me out of the darkness. Now, I get to reach into people’s darkness and help pull them out as well.”
The need is clearly great, as two veterans I met during the event told me that they had attempted suicide more than once.
The event included huge donations of food from multiple sources, and Craving Donuts co-owner Vanzelle Nibbs parked his donut truck at the event and gave each attendee at least one free donut. I had enjoyed these gourmet donuts at previous events, but until you’ve had them hot and crisp outside and soft inside, you haven’t really tasted them! For more info about the PTSD Foundation, call (813) 940-0015 or visit PTSDUSA.org. For Craving Donuts, call (813) 466-9365 or visit CravingDonuts.com. — GN
