There haven’t been too many times this year that you would see Andrea Ramos smiling as she pumped gas into her 2020 Jeep Sahara.
On August 1, however, the West Meadows resident and about 100 other people were grinning from ear to ear as they filled their vehicles with gas priced at just $2.38 a gallon.
The cheaper gas at the Flatwoods Marathon on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was offered for one hour only by the Americans For Prosperity (AFP) as part of its “The True Cost of Washington” campaign.
Ramos (pictured above) said that it usually costs about $90 to fill up her Sahara. She had about a quarter of a tank when she got in line for an hour wait, and then spent $42.10 for 17.6 gallons to top off her tank.
“That’s cheap. I’ll take it any time I can get it, especially with this,” Ramos said, pointing at her Jeep, which she says gets just 14 miles to the gallon.
Jeeps, vans and pickup trucks were the most common vehicles filling their tanks. Brandon Azzolini saw the event advertised on Instagram in the morning and drove all the way from Riverview to fill his 2022 Jeep Gladiator Mojave. He used some of his $50 savings to buy a pizza at the Sbarro inside the gas station before heading back to work.
Michelle Saffor said she drove up from South Tampa in her 2017 Dodge Caravan to put $30 in her tank, getting 12.5 gallons worth.
“I ain’t seen 12 gallons in a loooong time,” Saffor said. “You can’t beat that these days.”
Brandon’s Taylor Solomon had one of the biggest trucks to show up, a big-wheeled 2015 Chevy Silverado. She filled it up, with 24 gallons for $58. “It usually costs me $120-$130 to fill up,” she said. “That’s a big hit, so it was worth the trip.”
Making a shorter trip was Wesley Chapel’s Michael Rogers, who found out about the cheaper gas that same morning. He decided to take his chances anyway.
Although the line at one point extended to the I-75 interchange, turned right at the 7-Eleven and wrapped past the Home Depot and Steak ‘n Shake, Rogers got in before it backed too far up.
“It was a great deal, so I didn’t want to miss it,” Rogers said. “When I got here (about an hour before the event), I realized I had a chance.
Rogers filled the tank of his Ford F-150 truck, which was 75 percent empty, for about $40. He said it usually costs him $110 to fill it.
Another Wesley Chapel resident, Amanda Harrison, put 19.9 gallons of gas in her 2021 Dodge Caravan for $47.71, saving about $63 from her usual $120 fillup.
“I was practically on ‘E,’” Harrison said. “So, I was committed once I was in line.”
Afterwards, the workers from AFP paid their bill inside. They managed to serve 101 vehicles in an hour, while turning away dozens of cars. Those lucky enough to get the discount paid a total of $3,241.56 to fill their tanks with 1,362 gallons of gas.
The Marathon station was charging $4.07 at the time of the fillup event, leaving AFP to pick up the $2,301.78 difference — the cost of spreading their message (along with a few free hats) about government waste.
So, even though I’m from New York and lived and/or worked in Manhattan for about 10 years, I never remembered seeing a Nepalese restaurant featuring the cuisine of Nepal, a small country located in the Himalayan mountains between China and India.
So, when I found out that Gorkhali Kitchen (named for a soldier from a certain region in Nepal), located at 10044 Cross Creek Blvd. in the Cross Creek Center plaza (in the former location of India Gate restaurant), was going to be the first Nepali restaurant to open in the entire Tampa Bay area, I had to check it out.
Veggie Momo dumplings (left) and tandoor oven lamb shop.
And, while the menu also features many dishes from India (including delicious tandoor oven lamb chops), I had to try at least one of the most authentic dishes from Nepal, the pan-fried chicken and veggie momo dumnplings (photo). Momos also are available steamed, deep-fried, in a soup broth and just with veggies. I also really enjoyed the Nepalese fried rice with egg, veggies and soy sauce.
Please tell my new friends Menora, Reena, Ponam and Rajesh that I sent you.
For more info, call (813) 388-6404 or visit GorkhaliKitchenTampa.com.
Meanwhile, even though it didn’t open until the day after we went to press, Nova Pizza is now open in the Pebble Creek Collection at 19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in the former location of both Windy City Pizza and Full Circle Pizza.
And, even though some folks aren’t happy that Nova Pizza doesn’t offer Chicago-style pizza, yours truly and others are thrilled it has NY-style ‘za and Italian fare. — GN
Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute is also ready to begin construction in Wiregrass Ranch.
Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital is coming to town, which will give Wesley Chapel three hospitals.
If that seems like a lot, it’s not, says Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter.
“Quite honestly, I doubt it’s the last announcement of something of that nature that you will see before end of the year,” Porter says. “A lot of people want to be here.”
For now, Orlando Health has made it official — it will be Wesley Chapel’s hospital No. 3, joining AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) and the soon-to-be-finished BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, which is scheduled to open in 2023. AHWC and Baycare are both located on Bruce B. Downs Blvd., a few miles from each other.
On July 12, Orlando Health announced it would be building a multi-level hospital in the Wiregrass Ranch master-planned community. Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch will be a 300-room facility at the northeast corner of the S.R. 56 and Wiregrass Ranch Blvd.
The property purchase is expected to close later this fall. The hospital has filed plans with Pasco County and had a pre-app meeting with county planners on July 25.
The new hospital is expecting to break ground by the end of the year.
“At Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital, we will provide a broad range of health care services, all in one convenient location,” said John Moore, senior vice president of Orlando Health’s West Region. “Patients will receive exceptional emergency and inpatient care from clinical experts in multiple specialties, the highest quality diagnostic services, and seamless access to all of Orlando Health’s trusted primary and specialty care providers.”
Porter is thrilled to be bringing Orlando Health to Wiregrass Ranch. He said landing AHWC in 2012 was one of his proudest accomplishments, and Orlando Health is another.
As plans for the long-awaited Wiregrass Ranch Town Center progress, Porter was hoping to make a big splash for something to anchor the town center that will both be a job provider, produce daily foot traffic and provide a higher quality of life needed to make the town center a one-of-a-kind success.
“For us to make it successful, we needed something good as an anchor,” Porter says. “Not apartments, not retail, and we need daytime traffic. Having Orlando Health on that corner within walking distance of the town center is an absolute game changer, and it’s what we’ve needed for the past 5-6 years.”
Orlando Health, founded more than 100 years ago, is headquartered in Orlando, and is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8 billion in assets. The 3,200-bed system includes 10 award-winning hospitals, 9 hospital-based emergency rooms and 7 free-standing ERs.
“Their phasing plan and aggressive style and size of the facility they are going to put in makes a big statement, from our perspective,” Porter says.
The five-story Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch will be the largest hospital in Wesley Chapel. Its 300 planned rooms are more than AHWC (148) and the upcoming BayCare Hospital (60) combined. AHWC has room to expand to 300 rooms, which could eventually give the Wesley Chapel area 660 total hospital rooms.
A fourth hospital, or specialized medical facility, in Wesley Chapel could be announced by the end of the year. Porter says he can’t say which brand it is, or where it will be located. It appears that it will likely be in the north end of Wiregrass Ranch, and Porter would only say “the Bruce B. Downs corridor will have a strong medical presence.”
According to Porter, the accelerated growth in Wesley Chapel warrants the additional hospital. Before tabbing Orlando Health to build Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital, he says several healthcare analysts told him the Wesley Chapel area, which has 10s of thousands of new homes already being built or in planning, was ripe for more hospital beds.
“We didn’t want to oversaturate, but after going through and working with a couple of medical office folks that survey every market throughout the country, they said they have never seen a place that has the potential for growth on the medical, office and hospital side like Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch,” Porter says.
Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch will also have a new neighbor. Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) has filed plans with Pasco County planners for a two-story, 56,559-sq.-ft. medical facility about a quarter mile east of where new hospital will be located.
FCS will be located at the southwest corner of Hueland Pond Blvd. and S.R. 56. and will be the second major cancer center facility in Wiregrass Ranch. The 28,000-sq.-ft. Moffitt Cancer Center at Wesley Chapel opened on the AHWC campus in May 2021.
FCS was founded in 1984 and has nearly 100 locations in Florida. According to its website, FCS utilizes a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment and specializes in innovative clinical research and cutting-edge technologies. FCS claims to offer patients access to more clinical trials than any other private oncology practice in Florida. In the past five years, most new cancer drugs approved for use in the U.S. were studied in clinical trials with FCS participation prior to approval.
Porter says that along with the nearby North Tampa Behavioral Health hospital, residents of Wiregrass Ranch will have access to a variety of top medical options.
“It’s really creating an entirely different sector than what you have at Advent and what you have at BayCare,” he says. “We’re going to continue to grow that as long as the market remains solid.”
Bishop Carl Curry, who also is a Chaplain at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, came to Tampa from New York City with his family and started a new church — The Cathedral of Worship & Praise, located in the Healing Plaza building next to AHWC. (Photos provided by Bishop Carl Curry)
The Cathedral of Worship and Praise Christian Center started as a way for people to connect virtually online during the pandemic in December 2020.
Once it was safe to do so, Bishop Carl R. Curry — who prefers to go by “Bishop Carl” and is the independent Pastor of the church — says, “God presented the opportunity,” and The Cathedral began holding services in person on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. in the Healing Plaza building next to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. The first service was held on Easter Sunday of this year.
He says the services are “concentrated” to last no more than an hour and 15 minutes, and focus on the Word of God, instead of the big production elements (such as lights and smoke) that are often popular in big churches.
“I grew up in big churches, where the lights and the glitz and the gospel singing were stirring and moving,” says Bishop Carl. “But, when it’s all said and done, my moment was good, but it did nothing for my spiritual journey, as far as something that I could take with me when I left the building.”
So, at The Cathedral, Bishop Carl says he focuses on “rendering experiences that are life-changing.”
He says his church is nondenominational, but that he sees all of humanity as the church’s denomination. While many denominations have been created because of disagreements — with some people splitting off to form a new denomination — Bishop Carl is all about unity and, he says, the power of God that comes from the Bible.
“I give people freely what I learned in seminary,” he says. “Sometimes, what you hear from the pulpit is opinion, not rightful interpretation.”
Bishop Carl was first ordained as a Senior Pastor 12 years ago in New York City and was consecrated a Bishop in August 2021 by Churches of The Body of Christ Fellowship. He is part of the Joint College of Bishops for the organization, which is a fellowship of believers, rather than a specific denomination.
Bishop Carl’s wife and Co-Pastor Yonnicka (left) also is an important part of The Cathedral of Worship & Praise, where everyone seeking the Word of God is always welcome to attend online or in person.
Curry holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Theology from New Life Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC, and a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Christian Family Counseling from New Hope Institutional Academy in Amityville, NY. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in psychology from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, and is currently working on a M.S. degree program in spiritual care from AdventHealth University in Orlando.
After 40 years of ministry in New York City, Bishop Carl says he and his wife (and Co-Pastor) Yonnicka moved their family to Tampa six years ago because God called them here.
They both took jobs at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel — Yonnicka as a respiratory therapist and Bishop Carl as a Chaplain — and then moved into Live Oak Preserve in New Tampa with their three children — 13-year-old Zidan and 6-year-old twins Mordecai and Aviana.
From their home to their jobs, to church, their entire commute is a total of six minutes.
“All of it happened effortlessly,” Bishop Carl explains. While he wasn’t seeking to move away from New York, he and Yonnicka felt called to the area and to starting a new church here.
The Light & The Pandemic
He says that starting during the Covid-19 pandemic was a way to meet people where they were, even as churches went into lockdown phase and some churches couldn’t survive it.
“We were able to help people deal with what was happening to them on a day-to-day basis,” he says.
Now, he’s bringing people together who are looking for more than just a “ritualistic worshipping of God on a specific day at a specific time.”
He says it’s all about relationships, and letting people know that everyone has value, and that both God and the people at The Cathedral are willing to meet you right where you are.
“We’re not called to be perfect or created to be perfect,” says Bishop Carl. “We’re called to be holy.”
Toni is a Wesley Chapel resident who attends church at The Cathedral and asked that we only use her first name.
“I started watching the church services on Zoom,” says Toni, who also said she had Covid early on in the pandemic and was mostly staying home, rather than attending services in person. “Then, when they had their first (in-person) service, I went and it was very good.”
Toni says she grew up in a church where she got there early in the morning and often stayed most of the day, but now, many people don’t want to sit in church all day. She says the 11 a.m. time on Sundays is perfect for her and that she likes that the service only lasts for a little more than an hour.
“The service is awesome,” she says. “I like the music and I like the preaching. (Bishop Carl is) very articulate, very knowledgeable and well-versed in the Word of God.”
Bishop Carl’s experience as both a counselor in New York and now as a Chaplain in Wesley Chapel has given him a lot of insight into how people are feeling about the world we live in right now, saying that many are feeling bombarded with local, national and global problems.
“There’s a lot of depression and anxiety with the rise in the housing market, inflation, parents feeling disconnected from kids, and kids are feeling disconnected from parents,” he explains. “There’s a lot of separatism going on, and we want to move the mindset and focus onto something greater than ourselves.”
Voices For Unity Concert
The Cathedral plans to be a voice for unity in the community, having hosted a program in downtown Tampa bringing Christians together to support Ukraine and co-hosting (with Churches of The Body of Christ) an upcoming Voices for Unity Concert (see ad below) on Friday, August 12, 7 p.m. (at the Healing Plaza), calling for people of every denomination to come together as one.
“The theme is ‘Many Denominations, One Voice,” says Bishop Carl. “It will be a fellowship concert of praise, worship, liturgical dance, prayer and coming together for all humanity. Come and receive your miracle!”
Previously, the church’s online services have been held via Zoom but, beginning in August, they will be live-streamed through a platform called FaithLife. Bishop Carl says links to the live stream will be posted on The Cathedral’s Facebook page, which you can find by searching “The Cathedral of Worship and Praise Christian Center” on Facebook.
The Cathedral of Worship and Praise Christian Center meets at 2950 Healing Way in Wesley Chapel in the Healing Plaza building on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. For more information, visit TheCathedralofWP.com, email TheCathedralofWP@gmail.com, call (813) 943-9773 or see the ad on page 30 of this issue.
Those eager for a green grocer or something other than a Publix in the area, your best bet might be a future grocery store planned for Curley Rd. near the Epperson MetroLagoon.
Plans are in the final stage of permitting to begin a commercial project located at Curley Rd. and Overpass Rd., at the entrance to Wesley Chapel’s lagoon community neighborhood.
Originally reported in December 2019, the project will include an unnamed 55,401-sq.-ft. grocery store with 4,200-sq.-ft. of additional attached retail. The 35-acre site also includes an additional outparcel for future development.
Also at Epperson, the 7.5-acre MetroLagoon itself is getting some upgrades. An expansion of the amenities will include a 4,500-sq.-ft. clubhouse located at the north end of the lagoon, a 700-sq.-ft. restroom building centrally located on the east side of the lagoon (adjacent to the Epperson Lagoon Townhomes), five gazebo/pavilion shade structures, 97 additional parking spaces and 96 golf cart parking spaces.
SPORTS COMPETITION
Academy Sports + Outdoors (AS + O) has been one of the longest-rumored stores coming to the Cypress Creek Town Center North area. It was on some of the original maps touting the area long before many of the businesses that are up and running were ever mentioned. And finally, it’s just about here.
One of the nation’s largest sporting goods and outdoor sellers, AS + O is in permitting to open a 63,700-sq.-ft. store on the same lot as (and adjacent to) PopStroke, which already is under construction, behind the Chipotle and Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar on the north side of S.R. 56, across from the Tampa Premium Outlets.
AS + O, headquartered in Katy, TX, a suburb of Houston, has more than 260 stores, and says on its website that its 2021 sales exceeded $6.77 billion.
Academy is similar to DICK’s Sporting Goods, selling a variety of hunting, fishing, and camping gear, along with name-brand sports equipment and apparel, footwear and bikes.
The sporting goods chain opened its most recent store in Panama City, FL, but the Wesley Chapel location will be just the second in the Tampa Bay area and the 15th in Florida.
The first Tampa Bay store, in Pinellas Park, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Wesley Chapel location will open sometime in 2023.
“Tampa Bay is not only known for its enthusiastic sports fan base but also boasts renowned fishing, beaches and outdoor activities,” said Sam Johnson, Academy’s executive vice president of retail operations. “Whether you’re soaking up the sun on the beach, hitting the bay, or heading to a Lightning game, our team is eager to serve the local community and make it easier to have fun and gear up by providing great value and unmatched service.”
AS + O is one of a number of businesses coming up in the coming months near the Wesley Chapel Blvd. and S.R. 56/54 intersection, such as St. Luke’s Eye Center (next to Miller’s Ale House), El Dorado Furniture (across S.R. 56 from Miller’s, which is opening soon), Chicken Salad Chick (next to Zaxby’s; see story on pg. 44) and Harley Davidson of Wesley Chapel less than a half-mile north of 56 on Wesley Chapel Blvd.
DONE DEAL!
It’s official — Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant is coming to Wiregrass Ranch.
While we first told you back in early June that it was coming, the much-anticipated eatery finally submitted its plans to Pasco County in July for a 10,570-sq.-ft. restaurant. It will be located at the northwest corner of S.R. 56 and Lajuana Blvd. (the road that leads to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County), just east of the existing Culver’s restaurant.
According to its website, since it was founded in 2005 in Illinois by CEO Tim McEnery as that state’s first winery/restaurant, Cooper’s Hawk has received more than 500 wine awards from various local, national, and international wine competitions.
In 2021, Copper’s Hawk was named by USA Today as the top winery restaurant in the U.S. in a reader’s survey.
It is expected to open in Wiregrass Ranch sometime in mid-2023.
NEW CONVENIENCES
There are two Daybreak Market & Fuel convenience stores now either under construction or in permitting in Wesley Chapel.
One location is at the southeast corner of S.R. 54 and New River Rd., and a second store is being built at the corner of Hueland Pond Blvd. and S.R. 56, right across Hueland Blvd. from where the new Orlando Hospital Wiregrass Ranch (see story on pg. 4) will be located.
Both convenience stores will be roughly 4,800-sq.ft. Daybreak Market & Fuel was founded in 2019, and has six current locations, three of them in Port Charlotte, FL.
Daybreak Market & Fuel carries 76® fuel, which it touts as being top of the line.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
We’re not sure if the name is staying the same, but the Wesley Chapel Latin Market is being built on S.R. 54.
The only thing is, despite its name, the market is located in Zephyrhills, at 35500 S.R. 54.
However, it’s just a short drive (a little more than a mile) east of Wesley Chapel, and will be the area’s first Latin market. The 12,000-sq.-ft. market is in permitting, and there are no other details available at our press time.
