Cheers Liquor Store Is Open In The Village At Hunter’s Lake, Despite The Owner’s Untimely Passing.
Cheers Liquor Store offers free tastings.
When the Cheers Liquor Store opened a couple of months ago at 8606 Hunters Village Rd. in the Village at Hunter’s Lake plaza (next to Starbucks), Jannah and I met the owners and discussed the possibility of the store advertising in the Neighborhood News.
I ended up not writing about Cheers in that issue and when I went back to take pictures for a write-up a month or so later, the store was closed — on a Saturday — so I put it off for another issue.
When I went back to Cheers last week, the owner’s son, Ajay Bathija, informed me that his father had passed away the day before I visited when the store was closed.
“The store was my father Daleep’s baby,” Ajay told me, getting understandably emotional. “He designed the store, chose the inventory and then passed away less than two months after it opened.”
Ajay and his family continue to operate Cheers, which has a nice selection of not only unique liquor bottles, fine wines and craft beers, but also gift items like toy cars, fine chocolates like Ferrero Rocher and more. The store also offers free tastings.
For more information, call Cheers at (813) 360-1984 and tell Ajay and his family I sent you. — GN
New Latin Fusion Cuisine Coming To Cross Creek Blvd.
It’s been something of a rough ride for the former pizza place on Cross Creek Blvd. (behind the Mobil gas station) which originally opened as Hawkeye’s NYS Pizza, and later became Deano’s Pizza, Fish Fiesta and (very briefly) Halal Café. The restaurant is in the process of getting ready to re-open as Macaw, a Latin Fusion restaurant co-owned by the same owner as New Tampa Auto Care, which is located in the same plaza.
Mike, the co-owner, is from Venezuela, but he promises to also have Cuban, Mexican and other Latin cuisine items available.
He says he hopes to open in the next month or two, but based on the picture I was able to take (right) when I visited last week, it looks to be a super-cute new place to eat.
We’ll update you as soon as we have more information.— GN
Here & There, This & That — New Tampa Comings & Goings
• In a previous issue, we told you that Gu Wei Noodles & Grill, the authentic Chinese restaurant that opened in the former location of Sukhothai on Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. at Galbraith Rd. (near the AMC Highwoods 20 movie theater) was closing temporarily to revamp the concept.
Well, when I visited recently, it didn’t appear that the restaurant was getting ready to re-open, so I checked the Chinese restaurant’s website, which thanked its customers for their support the past two years but said, “We’re sorry to announce we’re permanently closed.”
We had no word at our press time what, if anything was moving into the space.
• Meanwhile, it looks as though the final two spaces in the Village at Hunter’s Lake plaza will be filled within the next couple of months, as Woof Gang (pet) Bakery & Grooming (which has a location on S.R. 56) will open between The Coder School & Poke Island Plus, and Caribbean Mystique Massage & Wellness Spa, which currently is located in the New Tampa Professional Park in Pebble Creek, will open next to the UPS Store in Hunter’s Lake. We’ll update you as to when these will open soon. — GN
Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill, located on the north side of S.R. 56, just west of I-75, has been my favorite Japanese restaurant in our area since the day it opened.
I love sushi, and Zukku-San has an incredible variety of some of the best sushi in our area, but for me, it’s always been more about everything else on Zukku-San’s delicious menu that sets it apart from its competition.
Co-owner Ferdian Jap and co-owner/executive chef Gia Tran have created something special in their unassuming space next to Crumbl Cookie. And, while Zukku-San is an elegant, but still casual, sit-down restaurant with a full premium liquor bar (with craft cocktails like the lychee nut martini and coconut mojito shown center right on this page), Ferdian and Gia actually started together with more of a fast-casual poké-bowl-and-sushi-“burrito” concept in Tampa’s Armature Works, with a similar location also open in Charlotte, NC, and they are getting ready to open a similar concept called “Ato” in the KRATE Container Park at The Grove (Ferdian says Ato likely won’t open until late May or early June).
And, since they’re obviously not busy enough with just those eateries, Ferdian and Gia also have an Astro Craft Ice Cream location in Armature Works, and plan to open a second Astro location where Great Clips closed on the north side of S.R. 56. next to Mellow Mushroom. The signage is up at the new Astro Ice Cream, but Ferdian says the new location likely won’t open until June or July (more on that below).
But, this article will focus on Zukku-San, which continues to add new favorites to my list every time I try anything new.
The Best Starters!
I have been raving about the Starters at Zukku-San from Day One, including the most perfect deep-fried gyoza (pork dumplings) with house-made Ponzu sauce, crispy vegetable spring rolls served with an amazing semi-spicy orange chili sauce, skewered traditional Japanese chicken and beef tenderloin yakitori (with fresh veggies; there’s also shrimp and veggie-only varieties) served with teriyaki sauce, steamed or garlic edamame, crispy fried Karaage chicken served with spicy mayo and a wonderful tuna tataki, plus it’s the only place I know of that serves Tempura a la Carte options.
The tempura is lightly battered and fried to golden perfection and allows you to order individual portions of your favorites.
Our most recent order (left) included four pieces each of carrots, sweet potatoes and zucchini (only $2.95 per order each), as well as a whole soft shell crab ($9.95), which was cut into bite-sized pieces for us.
Other a la carte tempura options include shrimp, tofu, broccoli, while giant squid, avocado, hamachi (yellowtail snapper) collar, asparagus, onion, red and jalapeño peppers and whole lobster tail. So good!
On our most recent visit, we also ordered the chef’s special spicy bluefin tuna chu-toro crudo, which has thin slices of bluefin tuna (which is a fattier tuna they call medium-fatty, than their regular ahi tuna tataki appetizer), topped with jalapeños and scallions in an incredible sriracha/chili-based spicy sauce. It’s also served with a side of seaweed salad.
The Best Entrées!
We’ve usually stayed pretty basic when it comes to our favorite entrées “from the Wok & Grill” at Zukku-San, but on our most recent visit, we tried three new dishes (in addition to our usual chicken fried rice) and no one was disappointed.
Grilled short ribsUdon Noodles with fried tofuSoy butter glazed baked salmon
My favorite was my grilled short ribs, which are marinated in Asian pear juice, grilled to perfection and served with jasmine rice and sautéed veggies. These aren’t your fall-off-the-bone short ribs; they’re more like Chinese-style BBQ spare ribs, but the flavor is definitely unique.
Photographer Charmaine George ordered the wok-fired Udon Noodles with fried tofu and we all raved about the sauce covering the chewy soft noodles, the tofu and the sautéed broccoli, onion, carrot, red peppers and zucchini. Like Zukku-San’s fried rice and wok-fired hibachi (egg) noodles, you can order them with just veggies, chicken, tenderloin steak or shrimp, too.
Of course, Jannah and I also had to bring our granddaughter Rosie with us, since Zukku-San has been her favorite restaurant since she was just over a year old. Rosie and her mom Lauren love all the starters we order (the carrots are her favorite) and the perfect California roll, but her dad Albert also raved about the soy butter glazed baked salmon entrée. Lauren also always gets a Mexican roll, with tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, sesame seeds, masago (fish roe) and spicy mayo.
For those who only crave sushi, try Zukku-San’s Masterpiece sushi rolls like the shrimp volcano and lobster Masterpiece roll.
Zukku-San also has a wide variety of nigiri (sliced fish on rice) and sashimi (no rice), hand rolls, as well as sushi and sashimi palettes with from 24 pieces of up to four different sashimis (for $50) up to small and large sushi palettes with as many as six Masterpiece rolls or 8 classic or hand rolls for $120.
For lunch, Zukku-San has make-your-own poké bowls with rice or mixed greens, up to two proteins (try the panko chicken and ahi tuna), up to two sauces and up to three toppings, as well as Bento Box lunches with short ribs, chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura or sushi-only, served with ginger salad, pork gyoza and miso soup.
Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill is located at 25916 Sierra Center Blvd.) and is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner (although the lunch menu isn’t available on weekends). For more info, visit ZukkuSushi.com or call (813) 419-1351.
Astro Ice Cream Set To Open!
For those of us who love ice cream, the announcement that Zukku-San’s owners also are opening a second location of their Astro Craft Ice Cream in our area is very much welcome news.
The Armature Works location features a variety of unique flavors that, according to its website, “feature new twists of traditional flavor combinations that reflect the diversity of our Tampa Bay community & honor its rich history.”
Ferdian says no one else has flavors like creme brulée café con leche, whiskey cookie dough, Tampa guava cream cheese or banana pudding peanut butter cookie, Ybor spiced run toasted coconut meringue pie, or options like ice cream sandwiches made with real pressed Cuban bread from La Segunda Bakery (photo above). “The bread gets crispy and the ice cream stays cold,” says Ferdian. Wow!
Stay tuned to these pages for updated on Astro Ice Cream’s expected opening.
MOJO FUSION: Although it wasn’t quite open when we went to press (it is open as you’re reading this), Jannah and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Friends & Family pre-opening of Mojo Fusion, the Latin Fusion restaurant owned by Luis Ledezma and his family. Ledezma, who has years of experience in the food business, is from Venezuela, but promises that his menu at the first restaurant he has owned also includes Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican and even Argentinian-style dishes on its smallish — but delicious — menu.
We got to sample the super-tasty Argentinian-style Choripan chorizo sandwich shown above (the chimichurri sauce is legit) and the Cuban nachos (plantain chips topped with shredded pork, chicharrones, melted cheese, pico de gallo, cilantro aioli and fresh chopped cilantro), as well as the “fantastica” house-made red sangria. For more info, call (813) 406-5385 or visit MojoGrillLatinFusion.com.
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MAEBERRY CO.: MaeBerry Co., the brainchild of Monica Russo, a Wesley Chapel resident who previously sold her baby clothes and accessories online only, opened the day before we went to press and I was so impressed with MaeBerry’s super-soft, breathable Hanlyn Collective Game-On bamboo pajamas that I bought a pair for my grandson Jackson (picture, right).
MaeBerry has lots of baby teethers, Itzy Ritzy diaper bags and so much more in one of the smallest spaces we’ve seen at the KRATEs that you really should check it out for yourself. For more information, visit MaeBerryCo.com or search “MaeBerry Co.” on Facebook.
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EL PRINCE MEDITERRANEAN: Continuing our ongoing tour of the newest KRATEs to open at The Grove, El Prince Mediterranean, which has only had locations in Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai and Qatar, has opened its first U.S. location right here in Wesley Chapel.
I’ve only sampled a couple of items at El Prince so far, but both the meat shawarma (photo; which is delicious, marinated sliced ribeye beef roasted with Middle eastern spices, topped with onions and tahini sauce that I had them put on the side) and the El Prince salad (with dice lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onions and a savory vinaigrette dressing) were super yummy.
El Prince also offers shish kebab (cubes of marinated lamb) and shish tawook (cubes of marinated chicken) platters, kofta kebabs (grilled, seasoned ground beef) and a mixed grill of all three, plus bone-in grilled chicken and the specialty of the house — roasted lamb shank, and more.
For the full menu and more info, search “El Prince Restaurant” on Facebook or visit ElPrinceRestaurants.com.
Other KRATEs that were hoping to open by the time this issue reached your mailbox but will likely take a little longer to open are The Bacon Boss (one of our favorite local food trucks, with amazing burgers and more, opening its first actual restaurant) and Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles, both of which are now planning to open sometime later this month.
Other KRATE restaurants getting ready to open over the next couple of months include Ato Sushi Burritos & Poké Bowls, Tasty Ramen, Boba Mac’s Tea & Eat, Tacos el Patron, TJ’s Hot Dogs, Flipn’ Fries Factory, Bakery X, Cafe Zorba and more. — GN
I have known Steve Falabella for more than a decade, since he first co-opened 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass in 2011. Today, not only are Steve and his wife Micaela the sole owners of 900º Woodfired, they also opened (in 2021) two new restaurants, which are located next to each other in The Village at The Grove at Wesley Chapel — Falabella Family Bistro and 900º New York Pizza.
We’ve been telling you about all three of these outstanding eateries, not only in Dining Feature stories but also in our annual Reader Dining Survey and Gary’s Favorites features, where Falabella Bistro finished as the #3 Favorite restaurant with me and #4 Favorite Restaurant with our readers for 2021, and both 900º Woodfired and 900º New York finished in the top-6 for Favorite Pizza with both yours truly and our readers — for good reason.
But, no matter how nice a guy and well-liked Steve, his family and crew may be, if his places were all just so-so, they wouldn’t finish as high in our annual rankings. But, the fact is that this native New Yorker whose family roots can be traced to Italia knows great Italian food and he definitely has brought that knowledge to his Bistro and pizza places. Only quality ingredients are used, and it shows, at all three local Falabella-owned restaurants.
OK, Let’s Start With The ‘Za
Steve’s 900º Woodfired pizza may also offer traditional Neapolitan-style wood-burning oven pizza as well as New York style, but he only offers the NY-style at his pizzeria at The Grove.
But, that’s just fine with yours truly, as I have always preferred NY-style, which also has a thin crust, but with a little more crust on the outside ring, made in a traditional pizza oven on what is known in the biz as a pizza “stone.” I also have always enjoyed the thicker-crust, square Sicilian-style pizza, which is another long-time favorite of mine at both of Steve’s pizza places.
Meat lovers pizza
In fact, while I usually order fresh round pies with pepperoni and sweet Italian sausage (or just plain cheese), I also am a big fan of the Meat Lovers pizza shown above. But, Steve says that one of his most popular by-the-slice options is what he calls his Carmine pizza, which is a square pie with a slightly different crust than his Sicilian pizza. The Carmine is covered in “baby” pepperoni and a zingier almost-Grandma’s-style sauce, as the pizza made famous by Carmine Gangone of Carmine & Sons Pizzeria in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY.
“Carmine and I are friends from Brooklyn and he showed me how to make his most famous pizza,” Steve says. “That’s why I named it The Carmine. We only sell it by the slice, and it takes two hours to make one pan of it. It always sells out almost right away.”
And of course, 900º NY Pizza also serves a wide variety of other pizzas — from 12” and 18” pies with your choice of toppings to Keto-style; low-carb options made with a cheese crust in 12” or 16” sizes; gluten-free 10” personal pizzas made with a cauliflower crust; and about 20 different Specialty Pizzas, from his version of Grandma’s pizza to barbecue chicken pizza with white sauce, Calabrese (with spicy Calabrese salami, Ortolano (with cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, artichokes and no sauce) and many more. There’s even “Pizza Metro” party pizzas (36” x 18”) that serve 10-12 people, make-it-yourself pizza kits (which were super-popular during Covid) and of course, an always-changing variety of NY- and Sicilian-style pizzas sold by the slice.
Calzones, Appetizers & More!
But, what if you’re in the mood for something other than pizza? Steve’s got you covered at 900º NY Pizza, too. There are delicious salads, like the grilled chicken Caesar shown on this page, Mediterranea (with romaine, kalamata olives and feta cheese) and more.
Garlic knots
For other starters, 900º NY Pizza also has a great Caprese (with fresh mozzarella and slice tomatoes), bruschetta, mozzarella sticks, fried calamari and delicious oven-baked wings (naked or with your choice of BBQ, Buffalo Hot or garlic parmesan sauce), plus some of the best garlic knots in town. There also are deep fried calzones called panzerotto, fried cheese ravioli and traditional Italian Arancini (rice balls).
I’m personally not the biggest fan of calzones, but if you are, people rave about them at 900º NY Pizza. You can choose from a base calzone with shredded mozzarella, to classic (mozzarella, fresh ricotta and ham), Americano (with pepperoni and Italian sausage) and a vegetarian style “Farcito,” with spinach, black olives and tomato.
And, don’t sleep on the hot subs at 900º NY Pizza, either. Both the chicken and meatball parm subs are served on crisp crust sub rolls with mozzarella and tomato sauce. They’re also delicious.
Pasta, Everyone?
In addition to the pizzas, my other favorite reasons to visit either of Steve’s 900º locations are the delicious pastas.
From specialty baked pastas, like the lasagne, ricotta or blue crab-filled ravioli, baked ziti or the excellent chicken parm entrée (top right photo on this page) served with a side of spaghetti or penne in tomato sauce, to delicioso create-your-own pastas with your choice of pomodoro (homemade tomato), alla vodka, Bolognese (meat), Alfredo (cream) or Pesto (with basil, pine nuts, grated parmesan and olive oil), you really can’t go wrong.
I’m not usually the biggest Alfredo fan, but the fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken (pictured) is as good as I’ve had in our area — super-creamy, but not overly heavy.
My favorite pasta is still the pesto “Genovese” style, to which I add not only grilled chicken, but also some sautéed fresh spinach.
There’s also an affordable kids menu with everything from chicken fingers to spaghetti or penne with meatballs, meat sauce, butter or pomodoro, four pieces of fried ravioli or a kids-cut pizza slice (all just $4.95-$5.95).
And, while I don’t usually save room for dessert at 900º NY Pizza, a variety of delicious options is available — from pizza Nutella (a 12” pizza crust covered with Nutella hazelnut spread and dusted with powdered sugar), which also is available topped with strawberries and bananas. There also are Nutella knots (deep-fried dough draped with Nutella and topped with powdered sugar), plus a variety of real Italian ice flavors.
For those who want an adult beverage with their meal, 900º NY Pizza has pinot grigio (white) or cabernet blend (red) wines by the glass, 20-oz. Peroni Italian beer on draft, a variety of other domestic and imported beers, plus White Claw hard seltzers.
900º NY Pizza (6027 Wesley Grove Blvd.) opens every day at 11 a.m. and is open until 9 p.m. Mon.-Thur., 10 p.m. on Sat. & 8 p.m. on Sun. Dine-in, pick-up and delivery (through Uber Eats, Door Dash & ezCater) are available. For info, call (813) 406-4500 or visit 900degreeswoodfirepizza.com, which also has info about 900º Woodfired.
Although a lot more signs announcing places set to open have gone up at the KRATE Container Park, the only additional restaurants to open by our press time are The Fry Room, El Prince Mediterranean Cuisine & Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles. Other new eatery signs that have gone up since November include SubZero Nitrogen Ice Cream, Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine, Bakery X Authentically French, Flipn’ Fries Factory, Rhythm Pon Jamaican Cuisine, Bebo’s Cheesesteaks, Sugar Pop! and Café Zorba.
The KRATE Container Park, the long-awaited jewel of developer Mark Gold’s redevelopment of The Grove at Wesley Chapel, is really taking shape these days. On these pages is an update on all of the new signs that have gone up at KRATE since we told you about Provisions Coffee & Kitchen and the then-new Shake-A-Salad back in November.
We also showed you pictures of and/or mentioned all of the dining- and/or drinking-oriented establishments that had their signs up at that time — Café 365, La Creacion Express Puerto Rican Bakery, The Bacon Boss, Mojo Grill Latin Fusion, TJ’s Famous Hot Dogs, Tacos el Patron, Åto Sushi Burritos & Poke Bowls, Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles, Tasty Ramen, The Fry Room, Urban Sweets, Yummy Tablas, El Prince Mediterranean, Blush Wine Bar, Boba Macs Tea & Eat and The Fry Room.
We also mentioned the other places with signs up that weren’t about food or drink — Center Ed Education, Reset Natural Remedies, We Rock Rocks, SmartStart Market Space, Budget Blinds, The Rebellious Hippie and All Good Things Gifts.
As we went to press with this issue, the only additional KRATEs that had opened since November were The Fry Room (we’ve sampled not only owners Donny & Lori’s delicious apple cider donuts, but also their crispy chicken tacos and French fries — all excellent), All Good Things and El Prince, as everything from Covid to supply chain issues have not only delayed the construction, the complete shutdown of the few parking spaces around the open KRATEs have had many people thinking that none of them were open.
Here are all of the additional eateries coming soon that we found: SubZero Nitrogen Ice Cream, Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine, Bakery X Authentically French, Flipn’ Fries Factory, Rhythm Pon Jamaican Cuisine, Bebo’s Cheesesteaks, Sugar Pop!, Brew Bar, Pisco Express Peruvian Chinese Fusion Food and Cafe Zorba.
We’ve also included some of the signs for new stores and boutiques we hadn’t mentioned before, such as The Toy Jungle, MaeBerry Co., 2 Extreme Tattoos, Grove Cigars, Katie Beth’s Boutique, Tonella’s Handpicked Flower Shop, Valiart Jewelry, Pup Protectors and the second Wesley Chapel location of Gadgets Emergency Room. Are you excited yet? — GN
