In case you missed it, Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant is now under new ownership, as Jordan and Jason Scott (top photo) have purchased the popular eatery and night spot from the former partnership trio of Lee Bevan and brothers Jamie and Joe Hess.ย
Jordan and Jason, the latter of whom is an accomplished pianist and musician himself who previously booked the dueling piano players that perform every Friday and Saturday (and now Thursday night, too) at Treble Makers, formally introduced themselves to their customers on June 20.
โWeโre committed to making sure the food, service and entertainment meet and exceed your expectations,โ Jason said. โWe do have some menu changes coming up but first, weโre working as hard as we can to make sure you always enjoy your visit to TrebleMakers.โ
In the meantime, the restaurantโs cool robot server (below right) will still bring you the same delicious menu items (like the baked Imperial crab dip below left) many of you already know and love. And, donโt forget to try the new $8 lunch specials!ย
For more information about Treble Makers (6034 Wesley Grove Blvd.), including the new $8 lunch menu items, call (813) 406-4371 or visit TrebleMakersofWC.com.
Scenes from ABC Action Newsโ โGood Morning Wesley Chapelโ segments on June 14: (above) Anchor Deiah Riley visits with our friends from Retro Dogs and Bakery X at the KRATE at the Grove Container Park (below right).(below left) Roving reporter Sean Daly visits Pasta di Guy. (bottom right) Co-owner Adel Youussef of the Garden of Eden Olive Oil Co. at the KRATEs was featured in a segment. (bottom left) Daly interviews the owners of Sorbo Wesley Chapel coffee shop.ย (Above photo by Charmaine George; the others are screenshots from the โGood Morning, Wesley Chapelโ segments).
Great job, Deiah & Co.! On June 14, WFTS-TV โABC Action Newsโ anchor Deiah Riley brought her roving โGood Morningโ show back to Wesley Chapel, as she set up on the main stage at the KRATE at The Grove Container Park from 6 a.m.-10 a.m.ย
There were the usual great previously recorded segments with the likes of North Tampa Bay Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy and members of the Boyette family (one of the original citrus farming families that settled in the Wesley Chapel area) being interviewed, as well as a discussion of whether โDowntown Wesley Chapelโ will actually be located in Avalon Park or the Wiregrass Ranch community and a feature about the increased amenities at the Wesley Chapel District Park.
But of course, what got our attention the most were the live dining segments with Riley interviewing the owners of several of the KRATEs, and roving reporter Sean Daly (right) visiting with some of the better- and lesser-known eateries in Wesley Chapel, including (top photo) the new Retro Dogs, Garden of Eden Olive Oil Co., Bakery X (middle right), Sorbo Wesley Chapel coffee shop (bottom left), Moschellaโs Italian Eatery & Market, Florida Ave. Brewing Co., Pasta di Guy (top left photo) and several more.
Although there are, of course, so many other places in Wesley Chapel, I really enjoyed this full morning of local businesses being featured on TV. Again, great job! โ GN
Congratulations go out to co-owners Victor (at right in top photo) and Armando (not pictured) Ramos and general manager Cristina Casimiro (left in same picture) of Azteca DโOro Mexican Restaurant, which celebrated its one-year anniversary in The Shops at Wiregrass on a rainy June 29.
The authentic Mexican restaurant celebrated with live DJ Rico Smooth (below left) and an outdoor bar in front of the restaurant at 2000 Piazza Ave, Unit 170.ย
โWe were packed earlier today,โ Victor said, โbut once the rain hit, it definitely kept away a lot of people, even though it let up.โ
We tried to help out by posting on our Facebook page that the anniversary party was still going on โ which reached about 5,000 people โ but thankfully, Azteca is still open every day for lunch and dinner (we love the made-tableside guacamole, the chicken taquitos and fajitas) and still has mariachi and Latin DJ music every Thursday night and more DJ music every Saturday night. .
For more info, call (813) 527- 6033 or visit Aztecadoro.com.
The crowd for the R&B Only Night at the KRATE at The Grove Container Park on June 28 was still building as the music started. (Photos by Charmaine George)ย
For everyone on local Facebook community pages who claimed that not just the R&B Only Nights, but also the KRATE at The Grove Container Park itself, were โover,โ letโs just say that, in the words of Mark Twain, โthe reports of (their deaths) are greatly exaggerated.โ
On June 28, neither the heavy rains that started shortly after the gates opened at 5 p.m. and continued off and on for two+ hours and kept the music from starting promptly at 7 p.m., nor the new $5 pre-sale (and $10 day-of) admission fee that was implemented for the first time for that evening could โdampenโ the enthusiasm of the people who have loved the R&B event for more than a year now โ nor keep them away.ย
While waiting for the rain to subside, the Groveโs VP of operations Vance McAllister told the Neighborhood News that there were already about 3,000 pre-sold tickets at $5 a pop when the online sales shut down at 11:59:59 on Thursday night.
โAlthough we really have no idea exactly how many people attended these before, since we didnโt sell tickets or control entry to the event,โ McAllister said, โwe heard estimates of as many as 8,000 people at the May event, so we knew something had to be done. We love this event as much as the people who have been showing up for it do, so we knew we had to do something to keep it safe for everyone.โย
A couple of issues ago, we mistakenly told you that the R&B Only Nights at the KRATEs were being produced by Tim Hancockโs Jazz Tyme Productions, but that was an unintentional mistake on my part.
The R&B Nights actually are being produced by Nico Brown of Nico Brown Productions and Nico called me to let me know of my mistake before the news hit that he was going to begin charging admission fees to attend his super-popular R&B Nights beginning with the June 28 event.ย
Nico Brownย (Source: Nico Brown Productions Facebook page)
Since the moment he announced on Facebook that he was going to start charging admission, Nico had been dealing with a lot of backlash but even more support, especially from The Grove management and the KRATEs.
On June 28, with virtually no one yet in attendance after 6 p.m. (when previous R&B Nights were normally already packed) and with the rain coming down hard, then subsiding, then pelting him (and anyone else outside) again, Nico was still hard at work setting up the event โ knowing that not only was the rain eventually supposed to end but also that he had at least 3,000 people who pre-paid the $5 admission fee by the night before to enjoy his first paid R&B Night.
When the rain did finally break for the remainder of the evening sometime after the intended 7 p.m. start time, Nico and his crew were scrambling to get the sound equipment set up for DJ Control. By sometime after 7:30, DJ Control not only got the music started, he also introduced saxophonist Marlon Boone, who got the early attendees going right away with some jazzy R&B sounds. Later in the evening (although we werenโt still on hand to verify it), DJ Psycho and guest vocalist Rubi Mar also were expected to hit the main stage.ย
But, everything else that both Nico and The KRATEs promised on their respective Facebook pages would be different about this first paid R&B Night also came true: there were 22 Pasco Sheriffโs Deputies on hand and the only way to get into the event was through the gates, which had plenty of tennis-ball-green-shirted attendants on hand to either take the $5 prepaid tickets or sell $10 day-of admissions. In addition, there was a clear path set up down the center aisle between the KRATEs on both sides between the stage and the admission gate (photo below left) and another blocked off path behind the first sea of personal chairs brought in by those early attendees.ย
Did anywhere near the estimated 8,000 people who attended in May or the 3,000 who prepaid their admissions end up showing up? I canโt answer that. All I can say is that those who were there seemed to once again have a great time, enjoying the music and each other, checking out the food from the KRATEs and dancing.
In other words, it was still very much R&B Only Night at the KRATEs, so donโt miss the next one on Friday, July 26, 7 p.m.!ย
The Florida โstate bird,โ also known as the โtall construction craneโ (photo) has been seen making its home at the corner of S.R. 56 and Mansfield/Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., as the foundation of the third hospital to be located in Wesley Chapel โ Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital โ has now begun vertical construction.
The 46.78-acre parcel, appraised at more than $9 million (at the northeast corner of the traffic signal), has seen activity for a while now, ever since the sign was put up announcing the hospitalโs pending construction back in April of 2023. A little over a year later, the vertical components of the building are beginning to take shape.
For large sites, such as a new hospital (and its two affiliated medical office buildings) now under construction, it typically takes a while to start seeing progress, as the land clearing, brine fill dirt, grading, drainage and underground utilities typically take up a significant amount of time. But now, the poured concrete foundational columns and the hospitalโs elevator & stair shafts, of at least part of the first floor, are visible at the site.
Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch, which is expected to open sometime in 2026, will be constructed in multiple phases โ the initial main building will be built first and then, the โFuture Phase 2โ for the areas to each side of the main building. Thereโs also an area in the rear part of the main building where the hospital can be expandedย in the future. Ultimate buildout would bring it to around 300 beds total, which will make it the largest of the three hospitals in Wesley Chapel. The hospitalโs parking lot will flank both S.R. 56 and Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. The natural wetland towards the rear of the property will remain untouched.ย
In April of this year, Orlando Health filed additional plans for two standalone medical office buildings โ one that will be 90,000 sq. ft. (called โMOB 1โ) and the other 60,000 sq. ft. (โMOB 2โ), with additional parking in part of the โFuture Phase 2โ area along Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. (east of the main building).
The vertical construction of the hospital comes on the heels of the announcement in Aug. 2023 that Florida Medical Clinic โ with 55 locations and 350 medical providers in 40 disciplines โ had merged with/ been purchased by Orlando Health and has been rebranded as โFlorida Medical Clinic – Orlando Health.โ
The new hospital joins Advent Health Wesley Chapel and BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, which are only 2.5 and 4 miles away, respectively. From a real estate perspective, the trio of local hospitals, plus the planned Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital (located off I-75 at Overpass Rd.), and the establishment of two locations for treating cancer patients โ Moffitt Cancer Center at the Advent Health site and Florida Cancer Specialists (see story on pg. 12) โ has made the Wesley Chapel area a hub for nearby medical care. This already has put Wesley Chapel on the map and will continue to bring everyone from young families to aging retirees to our area for that convenience.
