By the time this issue reaches your mailbox, the new Qdoba Mexican Eats should either be open or within just a few days of opening in the former location of Moe’s Southwest Grill in the Highwoods Preserve area at 17509 Preserve Walk Ln. (off Bruce B. Downs Blvd., next to EggTown).Â
Considering that Moe’s was pretty popular for years in the same spot, I’m guessing Qdoba will do pretty well there, too, even with a Chipotle located less than a half-mile north (Chipotle is in the same outparcel building in the Walk at Highwoods Preserve as Panera Bread).
“We make everything fresh and have no freezers,” franchise owner Mike Montante, who also owns the Qdoba franchise on Falkenburg Rd. in the Brandon area (but not the closest location to us on E. Fowler Ave., next to MOSI, where I took the photos below), told me when we met him at the North Tampa Bay Chamber’s Final Friday event at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux on Jan. 26.Â
For my bowl (right), I chose grilled steak, white rice, red beans, romaine lettuce, pico de gallo, chile corn salsa and the chile crema sauce and everything did indeed taste very fresh.Â
The New Tampa Qdoba was still hiring at our press time, but I can’t be sure whether or not positions will still be available as you’re reading this, but you can text “116A” to 31063 to find out for yourself. For more information, call (813) 761-0005 or visit Qdoba.com.
Here are a couple of updates on restaurants we’ve written about before. In New Tampa, Oishi Express, a decent fast-casual Japanese place, lasted only about a year in the spot in Highwoods Preserve between Taste of New York Pizza and Lapels Cleaners (behind EggTown), as a sign in front of the location says that Namaste Express (or XP) is “Coming Soon.”
According to the restaurant’s website (NamasteXP.com), Namaste Express’ vision is to bring the varied rich flavors of Indian cuisine to cater to Tampa area communities…We will present a menu featuring authentic Indian delicacies which includes North Indian, South Indian, Street side food, kids favorites and fusion dishes (Indo-Chinese) – all crafted with fresh, locally sourced and sustainable ingredients. Executed by a highly skilled chef who is specialized with decades of experience in Indian cuisine, we aim to provide high-quality, fresh, affordable and convenient flash chilled grab & go and take out options, including catering services tailored to your needs. We prioritize your dietary preferences, offering options including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices.
We do not yet know how long it will be before Namaste Express is expected to open, but we will keep you posted.
Meanwhile, according to Jon Mott of plaza developer Paradise Ventures, the new 8,000-sq.-ft. building to be called The Shoppes at Cypress Creek that will soon be home to the only Tampa-area location of Fazoli’s (since the only other Tampa-area link in the fast-casual chain on E. Busch Blvd. closed a couple of months ago) on S.R. 54, less than a mile west of the Tampa Premium Outlets, should be completed within the next couple of months and turned over to the tenants, who will then have to build out their respective spaces.
And, while Mott says that Fazoli’s is still among those tenants, he also says that Barberitos, the fast-casual Mexican place that was previously announced as the three-space plaza’s other restaurant tenant — but is still listed as “Coming Soon” at Barberitos.com — is no longer going to open in that location. Mott says that among the interested tenants to take over for Barberitos are a popular juice bar chain as well as a “well-known national taco place.”
It seems unlikely that the taco place would be another Taco Bell, considering that there already is one less than a mile to the east, next to the coming-soon Shake Shack across S.R. 56 from the Outlets, and another on Collier Pkwy., or less than two miles west of this new plaza. There also already is a Taco Bus in the Shell gas station located between the S.R. 56 Taco Bell and The Shoppes at Cypress Creek.
Mott also says that the space between Fazoli’s and whatever restaurant takes over for Barberitos in the plaza will be an orthodontic office. We’ll keep you posted when we get any additional updates.
Although it is located ten miles west of Wesley Chapel off S.T. 54, the new BellaBrava New World Trattoria Bexley has connections to both of our distribution areas.
We’ve been visiting the newest BellaBrava location in The Hub at Bexley since it’s pre-opening last month & our most recent visit was for the restaurant’s North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting on Jan 30.
All three Bella Brava locations are owned by 2B (it’s actually 2 over B but I have no idea how to write that here) Hospitality, which is led by president Thomas Sanborn. Sanborn was the original chef at Stonewood Grill & Tavern in Tampa Palms under then- (and long-time former) proprietor Dave Rathbun. Rathbun, who left Stonewood a few years ago, is now a manager at BellaBrava Bexley.Â
In addition, Sanborn says that before finding the Bexley location, he actually negotiated with two separate locations in Wesley Chapel.Â
“We looked at the space where Azteca D’Oro is now in the Shops at Wiregrass,” Sanborn says. “We also looked at the (still-open) space next to the new Cooper’s Hawk on State Road 56, but we couldn’t come to an agreement on either site, so we went with the Bexley location.”
The 7,000-sq.-ft. BellaBrava at Bexley is an elegant restaurant with a premium full-liquor bar and is definitely worth a visit — especially if you’ve ever dined at the original BellaBrava location on Beach Dr. in downtown St. Petersburg or the recently opened Midtown Tampa restaurant. Sanborn’s 2B Hospitality also owns Stillwaters Tavern two doors down from the original BellaBrava.Â
Anyway, our first couple of visits to the Bexley location have been excellent. We all agreed that our favorite dish was the hot honey pepperoni pizza (top left photo), although we also enjoyed the Bella bruschetta (top middle; which has a unique layer of goat cheese between the diced tomatoes and Jamison’s breadhouse ciabatta toast points), the bucatini with meatballs (top right), the lasagna Bolognese and the Trattoria chicken parmesan. Oh, and BellaBrava’s wine list is HUGE (and fairly priced), too!Â
Photographer Charmaine George (who took all of these pictures) also gave high marks to her seafood fra diavolo (not pictured) and Italian gimlet cocktail (right).Â
BellaBrava also offers wonderful-looking sandwiches, Rhode Island-style calamari fritti and a prime NY strip steak.
Tell Sanborn, Rathbun and general manager Tina Stormer we sent you.
BellaBrava Bexley is open every day for lunch & dinner. For info, call (813) 489- 4890 or visit BellaBravaBexley.com.Â
Congratulations to co-founder/CEO Andy Sherrard and location director Rashonda Powe on the opening of the 50th location of O2B Kids, the preschool/ daycare that opened earlier this month, and held a ribbon cutting on Jan. 10, at 2400 Ashley Creek Trail, which is a side street off Wesley Chapel Blvd., where it meets S.R. 56 and S.R. 54 (next to the Wawa).
This is the 39th O2B Kids location in Florida and the second serving kids in our area, as there also is a location in Seven Oaks (at 27830 Summergate Blvd., between Sam’s Club and Bruce B. Downs Blvd.).
The new location has room for about 170 children, from infants through pre-Kindergarten, and also offers after-school care for elementary school-aged children.
O2B Kids locations are vibrantly colored, immaculate and offer play-based learning curriculums for preschoolers and lots of after-school activities for elementary-aged kids.
For info, call (813) 499-1150 for the new O2B or (813) 994-2700 for the Seven Oaks location. Or, visit O2BKids.com.
With so many bigger construction projects still on the horizon, here’s the latest on a number of new businesses now open or getting ready to open in the Wesley Chapel area:
Starbucks & Avis
These new buildings — Avis Car Rental (635 sq. ft.) and Starbucks (2,568 sq. ft; photo, above) — are located a few lots from each other, set in from Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54 (immediately adjacent to the southbound I-75 off ramp) at The Grove. Avis, which currently is only a wood frame, is located between the Cracker Barrel and the strip plaza that includes Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. (BWB); Starbucks is next to the Marathon gas station.Â
Construction of the Avis has been moving quickly, as it was just permitted in October, and is expected to be done this spring. Avis has more than a dozen locations across Tampa Bay, but currently the closest one to us is on N. Florida Ave., south of E. Fowler Ave., in Tampa.
We first told you about this Starbucks in May of 2022 and many locals have wondered when the project will be done. The plans were initially filed in 2022, but then withdrawn and resubmitted in the summer of 2023, hence the reason for the delay.
This large Starbucks will be unique and offer something not seen at any of the other stores in our area — double menu board ordering lanes (something you might normally see at a newer McDonald’s) and should make the drive-through more efficient.
The final touches are being put on the building’s exterior now, as the permits for the store’s illuminated signs were just approved at the end of December. A banner with the Starbucks logo that says “Coming Soon” is hanging on the front railing as a placeholder and a Starbucks spokesperson says the new location should be open by sometime in February.
Flying The Coop
In a Facebook post shortly before we went to press with this issue, the owners of King of the Coop, the Nashville hot chicken place that started in Seminole Heights, had closed its location at 27835 Wesley Chapel Blvd. (next to BWB) in front of The Grove as of Jan. 1.
King of the Coop also relocated its original Florida Ave. location to just south of the Front Porch restaurant on Florida Ave. in Seminole Heights, but that location also has closed.
The Facebook post blamed the closing of the Wesley Chapel restaurant on economic conditions across the Tampa Bay area that has indeed caused many businesses to be shuttered, but both several other new local fried chicken competition (Chick’n Fun, Slim Chickens, The Chicken Boss, etc.) and a difficult-to-read sign (at least from the road) may have contributed to its closing, too.
Spot X Hotel RenovationsÂ
The small (78-room) hotel that has had several other names at 5703 Oakley Blvd. is now the second privately-owned location of Spot X Hotel (the other is in Orlando).
Officially known as “Spot X Hotel Tampa Bay by the Red (Roof Inn) Collection,” the hotel is open and is expected to undergo a $1.2-million renovation that was originally supposed to begin in December but is now scheduled to start sometime next month.
For more information, call (813) 973- 1665 or visit RedRoof.com.Â
Paradise Grills Is Open;Â AutoNation May Be, TooÂ
Here are updates on two new businesses we have been telling you about for a while in these pages:
The new Paradise Grills (photo, left) opened at 2705 Creek Grass Way (on the south side of S.R. 56 east of Rock & Brews) on Dec. 21 and it is an awesome showroom that anyone who owns a house with a back yard should definitely check out.Â
Paradise Grills specializes in not just grills, but full-on outdoor kitchens that will be delivered and installed for one price. If you want a built-in bar, large-screen TVs, a fire pit, tiki hut and/or unique patio furniture, Paradise Grills — which has 45 showrooms in six U.S. states (including 29 in Florida) — is your one-stop shop.
Meanwhile, the AutoNation USA used car lot located at 2807 Creek Grass Way (just south of Cigars International, next to the Tampa Premium Outlets), wasn’t quite open at our press time, but appeared to be very close to opening, so it actually may be open by the time you receive this issue.
The huge lot already had a large collection of vehicles ready to be sold as we went to press and the big service department was buzzing with activity in anticipation of the opening.
