For Great Meals & Events, Try The Hilton Garden Inn!

I’m betting that most Wesley Chapel residents have never eaten an actual meal at the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel, located off S.R. 56, less than a mile east of I-75.

And, that makes me a little sad. 

For those who have never stepped foot inside this beautiful, award-winning (the year-old hotel won the New Business of the Year honors at the North Tampa Bay Chamber’s 2019 Awards of Excellence gala in Nov.), 124-room hotel, much less enjoyed a meal there, I hope this article will help you decide to go.

Even if you don’t have relatives visiting or need a night in a local hotel room yourself, the Hilton Garden Inn’s restaurant — also known as the Garden Grille — serves outstanding food and drinks at great prices and will find its way into my top-10 favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel when I release my list of favorites for 2019 in our March 13 issue.

I also hope that you’ll sit down with the hotel’s market director of sales Lisa Moore to discuss the possibility of hosting an event for 8-to-200 (and more) people at this contemporary hotel that still has that great new hotel smell.

Lisa, an ambassador with the NTBC who also is a member of the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, is a fellow New Yawka who will make sure that your event comes off without a hitch and will send everyone home happy afterward.

For example, when my stepdaughter Kristen’s best friend Sami needed an affordable location last month for a bridal shower, Lisa sharpened her pencil for me, knowing that I was planning to write this story shortly afterward.

Sam and her fiancĂ© Tyler were definitely on a budget, and they knew they would have roughly 40 people at the shower, so Lisa helped them come up with a nice brunch menu — including a unique French toast casserole, fresh breads and muffins and a mimosa bar, plus fresh fruit, mini-quiches and more. And, best of all was the service — the trays and mimosa bar were all constantly refilled and everything was delicious and well worth the price tag.

The Hilton Garden Inn’s spacious ballroom (above) is easily subdividable to fit the size you need to host a variety of amazing events.

“Just tell me what you need and we can make it happen,” Lisa says. “We have a set menu for dinner, but we have an extensive catering menu and a great chef (Frank Skalitza) on the premises who can make pretty much anything you want.”

Jannah and I were on hand for the Grand Opening of the hotel in October of 2018 and we were so impressed (as was everyone who was there) with the filet mignon carving station and the four different pastas (top right) that also were created in front of the guests that we figured it must have been an outside catering company that was brought in for it.

“Nope,” said Lisa, “that was all in-house. Pretty good, right?”

Actually, I would go so far as to say excellent, and the deliciousness doesn’t end there. Although the Garden Grille only serves buffet and cooked-to-order breakfast (that I haven’t tried yet) and dinner (I wish it was open for lunch), I have to say that virtually everything we’ve sampled there has been delicious.

My favorite appetizers so far are the bruschetta (above), the spicy meatballs with fresh mozzarella and the wings “your way” (my way is extra crisp with the sweet chili & sesame sauce on the side). My favorite entrĂ©es so far are the grilled 12.-oz ribeye steak and the fusilli carbonara. The burgers and sandwiches (my favorite is the yummy bistro chicken sandwich) are great, too, as are the variety of flatbreads.

In other words, there’s a good reason why the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel is going to make my Wesley Chapel top-10. The hotel is beautiful and has great amenities (nice pool, fitness center, etc.) and, even though we’ve never stayed there, we have toured some of the beautiful rooms, too.

For info about the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel (26640 Silver Maple Pkwy.), call Lisa at (813) 591-6907 or visit TampaWesleyChapel.HGI.com

Urban Air Adventure Park Opens!

Dear New Tampa Families with Young Kids:

You may not have to go to Brandon for all of your birthday parties anymore!

On Jan. 25, Urban Air Adventure Park opened in the Market Square at Tampa Palms plaza on Commerce Park Blvd., Filling a pretty significant and long-standing void for those who have families in the New Tampa community. 

While New Tampa has never lacked for good neighborhoods with community parks, good schools and just enough youth sports programs and restaurants to keep you busy on a weekend, one standard complaint has always been: There’s nowhere to take your kids for fun.

Now, there is.

“I think this will be a hit,” said assistant general manager Chris Schade, a Live Oak resident. “It’s a great concept, especially for the New Tampa area.”

The Dallas-based adventure center is owned by Sarasota businessman Michael Tucci, who says he has a number of relatives that live nearby. He said he was always drawn to the area, and when he decided to buy two franchises, Tampa was a definite destination.

“This is a great spot,” Tucci said. “We knew there was nothing else like it in the area and thought it would be the perfect fit.”

The indoor attractions feature really cool Flip Zone and Spin Zone bumper cars, a high-wire ropes course, a Sky Rider, a Warrior Course, Battle Beam, dodgeball courts, rock walls, trampolines and areas for younger kids. 

There are six rooms for hosting parties, food and drink and various pricing plans (Basic to Ultimate) and park memberships (which can be charged monthly).

Schade said he was happy to see a dormant, 28,000-sq.-ft. building that had been closed for a couple of years, after HH Gregg went out of business, spring back to life.

“We feel like we’re helping to revitalize the New Tampa area,” he says. In fact, in 2019, Urban Air announced it was taking over a number of old HH Gregg sites — in Augusta, GA; Akron, OH; Montrose, CO and Wellington, FL, in addition to Tampa Palms, to name a few.

It was unofficially announced in September that Urban Air would be opening a New Tampa location, and it only took a few months to renovate and redesign the old HH Gregg before opening. At a pre-opening VIP event on Jan. 23 that we attended, workers were still hurrying to put on a few final touches. 

Sarah Tengali, who drew high fives from employees after completing the difficult Warrior Course without falling into the ball pit below, and her son Rocco, rushed from attraction to attraction, laughing and working up a sweat. Sarah’s favorite was the Sky Rider, where riders strap in and twist and turn as they fly above (and all around) the adventure park.

Rocco said his favorite was The Wipeout, where you have to jump over or duck under large swinging arms. “Everything,” Rocco said, “is awesome.”

Urban Air Adventure Park is located at 6250 Commerce Palms Dr. For more info, visit UrbanAirTrampolinePark.com or call (813) 522-5401. And please be sure to tell Chris and the staff that you read about them on Page 1 of the New Tampa Neighborhood News!

Urban Air Adventure Park Set Open In Tampa Palms Jan. 25!

It won’t be long before Wesley Chapel has its own “trampoline park” at The Grove, and it’s own bowling and laser tag center at Main Event on S.R. 56, but Urban Air Adventure Park will beat both of them to the punch when it opens next week in Tampa Palms.

Urban Air Adventure Park will hold its Grand Opening on Saturday, January 25, 10 a.m. The entertainment center is located at 6250 Commerce Palms Dr. in the Market Square at Tampa Palms shopping center anchored by BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Similar to openings at new Chick-Fil-As and Wawas, assistant general manager Chris Schade says the opening of the 28,000-sq.-ft. facility will be an “event.” At other Urban Air openings, he says people have camped overnight for a chance to be one of the 200 to win free access to the adventure center for a year. Schade says a DJ will be on hand the morning of the Grand Opening, and there also will be donuts and other goodies.

Urban Air Adventure Park is a Texas-based entertainment center franchise with locations all over the U.S.. The New Tampa location will be the company’s 10th in Florida, which includes centers in nearby Lakeland and Port Richey.

While broadly described by many as a “trampoline park,” Schade says the label really doesn’t do the new facility justice. 

While there will be trampolines for jumping, the Tampa Palms Urban Air Adventure Park also includes a timed warrior course, bumper cars, dedicated dodgeball courts, rock walls and a kids area for youngsters that includes a 25-foot spiral slide.

There are also two rides that require harnesses — a Sky Coaster that circles high above the guests, and a ropes course.

“We’re able to give the little kids their own little area, and still let the bigger kids do what they want to do,” Schade says.

The Adventure Park’s on-site cafĂ© will offer pizza, chicken wings and tenders, as well as beer and wine, including local craft beer favorites.

“We really want to get rid of that stigma that we’re just a trampoline park,” Schade says. “We can cater to everyone from toddlers all the way up to companies doing team-building exercises.”

For additional information, visit UrbanAirNewTampa.com.

Wesley Chapel Business Happenings

CRYSTAL CLEAR SHOPPING?: According to preliminary plans filed with Pasco County, a grocery store, six retail stores and a fitness center are being planned for the area around the entrance to Epperson, home of the country’s first Crystal Lagoons¼ amenity.

Filed by Minneapolis-based commercial real estate developer Ryan Companies, the plans for the northwest corner of the Overpass Rd./Curley Rd. intersection don’t specifically name any tenants but show a large health/fitness center abutting the easternmost end of the Crystal Lagoon, with a medical/emergency building to the south.

Closest to Curley Rd. is a planned grocery store, with one large retail space and five others about half the size and 996 total parking spaces for the development.

Ryan Companies and Metro Development Group had a scheduled meeting with Pasco planners to discuss the commercial development on Dec. 10, 2019.

Metro Development is developing Epperson, which will have roughly 2,000 homes, as part of the Connected City project, which will be the nation’s first gigabit community. The community’s prime amenity is the 7.5-acre lagoon, the first of its kind constructed in the U.S., although the area just north of Wesley Chapel along I-75 is getting an even larger lagoon (scheduled to open this year) in Metro’s Mirada development.

MORE CARS, TOO: Representatives of the Morgan Auto Group are scheduled to meet with county planners on Jan. 27 as Morgan moves forward with plans to build a new BMW dealership on S.R. 56.

According to plans filed with the county, the seven-story, 133,000-sq.-ft. dealership will abut the west side of Morgan’s MINI of Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56, just east of I-75.

BMW had previously filed paperwork with the county, and scheduled a pre-application meeting, in the hopes of building a 32,758-sq.-ft. showroom at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd.

The BMW dealership would join other luxury dealers that have opened in Wesley Chapel in recent years, like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus. 

Plans are still working their way through permitting for a Volkswagen dealership right across S.R. 56 from MINI of Wesley Chapel. Those plans call for a 27,845-sq.-ft. dealership.

And, plans for a 21,232-sq.-ft. car dealership at the southwest corner of Eagleston Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Seven Oaks — just east and across Eagleston Blvd. from Wesley Chapel Toyota and Lexus of Wesley Chapel — also is under review by the county.

Welcome To The Neighborhood (News), Bubba’s 33!

Even though it’s the latest link in Wesley Chapel’s chain of chain restaurants, the new Bubba’s 33 on S.R. 56 between Ashley Furniture and the affiliated Texas Roadhouse has a few advantages the others don’t:

1. It’s the first Bubba’s 33 in the entire state of Florida

2. It not only has crispy-crust pizzas, excellent sports bar food and reasonably-priced drinks; it also has…

3. …Texas Roadhouse-quality ribeye steaks and…

4. …Amazing brunch on Saturday and Sunday and most of all…

5. Owner Jeff (at right in top photo) and his wife Crista Dean and their expertly-trained staff making sure that everyone leaves Bubba’s 33 a fully satisfied & happy customer! 

Please tell Jeff, Crista & Co. that you read about them in the Neighborhood News!  

The Kilted Axe Prepping For January Opening

When it came to opening a new business in Wesley Chapel, Michael and Alicia Esenwein (photo) could have taken a nice, safe route.

Maybe a nice little coffee shop, a cozy family restaurant, or even a charming retail hot spot.

But no. 

They chose
axe throwing?

“It’s kind of a weird story,” Mike says. “It wasn’t ever really a long-range plan
I’m not sure anyone ever plans (something like this).”

Once you talk to Seven Oaks residents Mike and Alecia, though, the story of The Kilted Axe — which will be a combination of a hip bar and hangout for axe-throwing enthusiasts when it opens on Saturday, January 18, 5 p.m., in The Grove — actually makes perfect sense.

After all, this is a couple that three years ago sold everything they owned — except for a Christmas tree Alicia says she couldn’t get rid of — and, with three young kids in tow, traveled the world for 18 months, with stops in Indonesia, Thailand, Italy and Costa Rica.

So naturally, the Esenweins’ adventurous spirit would lead to owning an axe-throwing business.

“We were living in North Carolina temporarily, and were looking for something to do and there were like 10 locations on the east coast there that had axe throwing,” Mike says. “Most of it was in barns, or a rugged setting, but there was one place in Wilmington that was upscale and had a bar and a restaurant. We just loved it. It was a cool place to hang out.”

It wasn’t until a few years after returning from North Carolina, after running some successful Under Armour flag football leagues as well as doing a little teaching — Mike was an online computer science professor for the University of Virginia and American Public University — that Alicia became restless.

“I want to do something,” she told Mike, and soon the idea for The Kilted Axe had flowered. It had been, after all, the one thing she had been asked about most by friends when they returned from North Carolina, thanks to some of her Facebook pictures.

They passively started looking at barns and warehouses for a site, but were also looking to buy a house, so they decided to put the business idea on hold until 2020.

A trip to The Grove, however, changed everything. Remembering it as a moribund center lacking zip, they drove by when they heard developer Mark Gold had bought it.

Gold, the high-charged developer with a big vision for his property, happened to be standing outside. They chatted. And Gold, who has axe-throwing places at some of his other properties, insisted they start their business as soon as possible.

“Most people wouldn’t rent a space like this for axe throwing,” Mike says. “They want restaurants. Mark knows, though. He loved the idea.”

After meeting some of the other business owners who had already signed leases with Gold, they were sold.

Axe throwing is a trendy, growing sport. The International Axe Throwing Federation (IATF) says there are more than 6,000 league members in more than 100 cities and six countries. It is a staple in lumberjack competitions and has been televised on ESPN.

Mike and Alicia compare it to throwing darts; it’s just a matter of getting the technique down. 

The Kilted Axe will have three throwing lanes, all safely fenced in and manned by “Axeperts” there to help.

There also will be a lounge and balcony to hang out and have a few drinks or host an event. “Kind of like an old school pool hall feel,” Mike says.

And, because you have to be wondering — yes, mixing beer, wine and axe throwing can be safe.

“If you show up intoxicated and ready to throw axes, well, guess what? It’s not going to happen,” Mike says.

There will be men’s and women’s leagues, co-ed leagues, and even events for kids. Mike and Alicia have three kids — Jason, 14; Hailey, 12, and Hannah, who is 4. They all think axe throwing is pretty cool.

Alicia says she can’t wait for The Kilted Axe to open. Any fear that they were rushing into a crazy idea dissolved when they posted the news on Facebook, which lit up with enthusiasm. 

More than 3,700 people say they are interested in attending opening night. Almost 300 say they are going for sure. A dozen or so people have signed up for leagues, a few nights are already booked for corporate events, and it’s one of the more buzzworthy new places set to open in Wesley Chapel.

“It was a crazy response,” Alicia says. “We’re anxious. Believe me, we’re anxious!”

For more information, visit TheKiltedAxe.com, or search for “Kilted Axe” on Facebook.