Señor T’s Shuts Down!

16-16 Classified Ads CelesteNew Tampa’s Señor T’s Mexican will not make it to its one-year anniversary.

The restaurant is shutting down immediately, according to new manager Bill Jaber.

Jaber, who has only been with the restaurant for approximately two weeks, called the Neighborhood News Tuesday afternoon to cancel advertising and say that Señor T’s was closing, effective immediately.

Dwayne Bracy, the restaurant’s original operations partner, left in July for another job.

Calls to Señor T’s are now directed to a voicemail that does not identify the restaurant, just the phone number.

Señor T’s opened on “Black Friday 2015” (Nov. 27), in the long-vacant former New Tampa Macaroni Grill, located at 17641 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in front of the also-vacant former Sweetbay Supermarket. The Macaroni Grill was unoccupied for more than a year before Señor T’s confirmed it was moving in last September.

The Mexican eatery was going to be the first link in a planned start-up chain of roughly seven Tampa Bay locations.

The New Tampa restaurant received lukewarm, and sometimes blistering reviews online. It was excoriated on Yelp! and by many in New Tampa for failing to offer complimentary chips and salsa, which is customary in most Mexican restaurants. The food was panned as lacking authenticity, and the service received mixed reviews.

The restaurant was in the midst of trying to recover, with changes in the kitchen and possibly an interior renovation. But, the decision was made to cancel any re-boot and shut down immediately.

The restaurant featured indoor and outdoor seating, a full premium liquor bar that featured 75 different brands of tequila, and mid-priced Mexican fare.

WingZone Offers Variety Of Flavors, And On July 29, All U Can Eat Wings

wingzone_buffalowingsWEBNot every restaurant we write about in these pages is a fancy, sit-down kind of place. In fact, we also are proud to promote places that cater to a different kind of crowd…in this case, a place that caters to the chicken wings, burgers and beer kind of crowd — especially for those looking for a new place after the recent closing of a nearby Beef O’Brady’s (the one on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd.; see page 47).

The good news is that the WingZone, located in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center plaza (behind the Mobil station) is doing just fine here in New Tampa and owners Kyle and Toya Tucker do a great job of delivering this type of fare at very fair prices and my staff and I can highly recommend quite a few of the offerings.

New Appetizers?…

When we last reviewed WingZone in these pages in February 2015, we hadn’t really sampled any of the appetizers, but the mozzarella sticks, fried pickles and the new mac-n-cheese wedges all made more than one person on my staff happy.

wingzone_thaiwingzWEBBut of course, the most popular items at WingZone are still the wings, which are available boneless or “traditional” and with 15 different sauces available for smothering them  with (or for dipping). I usually prefer my wings naked (unbreaded) with no sauce and extra crispy, but I’ll admit I really liked the boneless wings with the only slightly (a two-pepper rating in WingZone’s sauce spice rating system) spicy Thai Chili sauce.

Assistant editor John Cotey says the two-pepper-rated Buffalo Bliss sauce had the same heat as the average “medium” sauce at other eateries and Kyle says both are among the top-five favorite sauces at his WingZone. The other favorites are the Honey (Bar-B)-Cue, the Garlic Parmesan and the new Blackened Voodoo dry rub, which added a lot of flavor to WingZone’s grilled chicken sandwich. The spiciest sauces available are still the four-pepper Nuclear Habañero and three-pepper Hot Shot, Tokyo Dragon and Mango Fire sauces (we had a lot of votes for the latter as a favorite). “Our Flavor Zone has a taste to please every palette,” Kyle says.

Still A Burger Man

WingZone also offers “Flavor Fuzed” burgers and grilled or fried chicken sandwiches, where you add shots of any of the 15 sauces, but give me that delicious grilled burger with bacon and American cheese and a side of potato wedges with nothing else but lettuce and tomato — and maybe, some crispy bacon. Yes, the burgers at WingZone will likely make my Top-10 list in New Tampa this year, as they are sizable (graphic artist Blake Beatty liked the 1/2-lb double stack shown above) and very flavorful without being overly salty. These are definitely not your basic fast food burgers.

wingzone_baconchzburgerWEBAnd, WingZone, which now has about 70 U.S. locations and nearly 20 locations everywhere from Russia to Saudi Arabia, has added some new burger options, including a mac-n-cheese burger, a make-your-own burger and favorites like the Lumberjack (with cinnamon, maple, bacon and cheese on Texas toast) and the Widowmaker (four patties, four slices of cheese and four pieces of bacon).

Other favorites on the WingZone menu include the hand-breaded fried chicken tenders (billing manager and WCNT-tv Wesley Chapel Chamber Featured Business Segment host Jill Reilly loved the tenders on her big Garden Salad). There’s also fried shrimp, which I still can’t sample, but I’ve heard people at WingZone say that you can’t beat 5 shrimp for just $3.99 or in a basket for just $5.99. Speaking of those baskets, I’ve already mentioned the crisp, yummy wedge fries, but I’m also partial to WingZone’s creamy (but not too creamy), sweet cole slaw.

And, whether you prefer to wash down your wings and/or burgers with a seasonal Yuengling or Miller Lite (or any of four or five other choices, WingZone has you covered. There also are wine coolers (but no glasses or bottles of wine) available, as well as sweet tea and fountain drinks.

Your National Wing Day & Football HQ

Don’t forget that Friday, July 29, is “National Wing Day,” when you can enjoy all-you-can-eat wings (boneless or original, served 20 at a time) at WingZone from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. (only) for just $17.99.

And, whether you prefer college or NFL football, both seasons are fast approaching and the WingZone should be your headquarters for tailgating at the game or for watching on your big screen TV at home. Try the 20-wing (boneless or traditional) Buddy Pack with two flavors, jumbo fries or cole slaw, two dressings (blue cheese or ranch) and celery for just $19.99, up to the 50-wing Party Pack for just $44.99. Or, try 60-cent wings (minimum order is 10) every Tuesday.

For other great coupon specials, see the ad on page 40 of our latest New Tampa issue and please tell Kyle, Toya and their crew that the Neighborhood News sent you!

WingZone is located at 19062 BBD Blvd. and is open seven days a week, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (until 11 p.m. on Friday & Saturday). For more info, call 558-WING (9464) or visit WingZone.com.

Gotta Watch ‘Em All, But Start With Episode 3 Of WCNT-tv!

Pokemon GO is taking over The Shops at Wiregrass mall, new restaurants are nearing completion of S.R. 56, we stop by and talk with PROtential Sports and Gary shares some of his favorite places to get a good meal in the Seminole Heights area.

NTP’s ‘Beauty & The Beast’ To Be A Local Acting Family Affair!

Shoemaker familyOn Friday, July 29, 8 p.m. (and running through Sunday, August 7), the curtains at the University Area Community Development Center (UACDC) on N. 22nd Street in Tampa will part for the New Tampa Players (NTP)’s production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Backstage, an entire family will run their lines through their heads, clear their throats and take deep breaths to calm their pre-show jitters. That family is not just the troupe of actors joined together for the show. Rather, it’s literally a biological family of five. It’s also not their first time performing together.

Husband and wife Adam Shoemaker and Amy Rothman first met at a singing group at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. Now, 20 years, two professional careers and three children later, Shoemaker and Rothman are still fulfilling their passions, which have been extended to their children.

“We have a family conference before any show we do,” Rothman said. “No one is forced into it and we’re clear that it takes up the whole summer.”

What began as a summer vacation idea has blossomed into a summer family tradition. And, the children aren’t just along for the ride, they’re all active participants. Claire is 11 years old, Gail is 8 and James is 6, and they already have a litany of shows longer than actors twice their age to their credit, adding to the vast wall of show bills in the Shoemaker home.

Claire recently graduated from Hunter’s Green Elementary and is planning to attend performing arts magnet school Orange Grove in East Tampa. She plays Chip in “Beauty and the Beast” the teacup son of Mrs. Potts, both cursed by the Enchantress and changed from their human forms into a teacup and teapot, respectively. Both Gail and James are in the ensemble and have both have choreography, lines and songs to memorize.

“A lot of people from the last show (“Mary Poppins,” which ran last August) are in this one and it’s fun to meet new people,” Gail says. “I also like how much people enjoy the shows. They say they like how they thought the show would be something more childlike and they’re surprised by how good it is.”

Sounds like lots of fun for parents who either work from home or don’t have full-time jobs. How else could they do this, right? Not so fast.

NTP WEB3Shoemaker and Rothman are both working professionals. Rothman is a Doctor of Medical Dentistry (DMD) who was previously in private practice and now is a dentist and clinical instructor for dental assistants at Erwin Technical College on Hillsborough Ave. Shoemaker is an industrial/organizational psychology professor at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo. Yet, somehow, they find a way to pull it off.

Getting each family member involved was a key factor.

“At first they kids would just sit in the audience and wait for us, but it went to a whole new level when they started coming up on stage with us,” Rothman says.

That’s when some of the kids’ talents began to emerge.

“During ‘Mary Poppins,’ James was not even in the show but he would be backstage during rehearsals and he would learn the numbers and perform them,” Rothman says. “I never even knew it until another cast member videotaped it and showed me.”

Gail, who was seven during the run of “Mary Poppins,” was there to remind Rothman of some of the dance moves.

“The kids are better than the adults sometimes about memorizing numbers,” Shoemaker says. “I don’t know if it’s because their brains are still growing, but it’s cool to be able to see them doing these dancing scenes.”

Claire was bitten by the performing bug even earlier, and already has several credits to her name, including her first role as an orphan in NTP’s production of “Annie” in 2011.

“A lot of people and families say they would love to do something like this but they think it’s hard to get into,” Shoemaker says. “It’s community theatre, it’s laid back. The Tampa Bay area has dozens of community theatre (troupes) where average Joes can get involved.”

NTP WEBThe Players currently operate out of the gymnasium in the University Community Development Center in the USF area between Bearss and Fletcher Aves. The facility is nothing to scoff at. The gym can be divided, making for a cozier auditorium and there’s also a catwalk filled with lights, a public address system, ample wings offstage and a scene shop that opens onto a loading dock.

A small army of volunteers make it go, and they produce three musicals a year. As hospitable as the UACDC is, the players long for a performance space actually in New Tampa. The Shoemakers live in Hunter’s Green, and plans for a theatre and cultural center across Bruce B. Downs Blvd. from the main entrance to their community are an exciting prospect for the family and for NTP.

“This community center has been great to us but it’s sometimes hard to get stage space,” Shoemaker said. “We want a space in New Tampa like the Carrollwood Cultural Center. We only run three shows per year here, but the Carrollwood Cultural Center is never dark.”

The development, tentatively called The Village at Hunter’s Lake, is a 17.6 acre parcel of land that’s sale has already been approved by the Hillsborough County Commission. However, because the property lies within Tampa city limits, there are zoning ordinances that have yet to be worked out.

New Tampa-area performers are excited about the 20,000-sq.-ft. cultural center and 300-seat auditorium, but for now, they are content with doing their best at the UACDC where many of the players also volunteer for charity work.

From their first production together (in the musical “1776”) as college sweethearts, to participating in Purim plays at their temple (Congregation Beth Am in Carrollwood), to standing onstage July 29 — Shoemaker as the Beast and Rothman as Madame de le Grande Bouche (the opera star turned wardrobe) — the acting bug has taken them on a fulfilling journey. It hardly gets any better, though, when the couple can look across the stage and see their own children in costume and makeup, taming the butterflies in their own stomachs.

They will be able to look at each other and say, “It’s going to be a great summer.”

Performances of the “Beauty & The Beast” will be held Fri., Jul. 29 & Aug. 5, 8 p.m.; Sat, Jul. 30 & Aug. 6, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; & Sun., July 31 & Aug. 7, 2 p.m.; at 14013 N. 22nd St.  For tickets & info, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.