Vallarta’s Tampa Palms Is Gearing Up For Another Fun Cinco De Mayo!

EVEN THOUGH I’ll never try to convince you that Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant, located in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center, is the best Mexican food you’ll ever eat, I do enjoy the food (especially at Vallarta’s reasonable prices), the service and the atmosphere at this local chain of family-owned eateries.

Because I’m the adventurous type, I always try to sample something new whenever I visit Vallarta’s, skipping only the shrimp dishes that I’m allergic to, and I keep finding new favorites to go with my old ones.

On my most recent visits, I first tried the semi-spicy steak a la Mexicana and although the thin rib eye steak is a fatty cut, the blend of onions, tomatoes and sliced jalapeños definitely make it a flavorful choice for me. There also are seven other non-fajita steak dishes on the menu, all under $15, unless you get a steak and shrimp combo. I can recommend the batter-dipped steak milanesa and the Vallarta’s special steak, topped with grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers.

Next, I tried the pork chunks with onions, or carnitas, and found what truly is now my new favorite dish at Vallarta’s.

The pork is obviously marinated and the chunks literally melt in your mouth. Pedro, the general manager, says that the chunks are made from pork leg or butt. All I can say is that I’ll be sampling this one again. For the same price ($13), you can add salsa roja (red) or verde (green), but these beauties don’t really need any sauce. The carnitas are totally tasty as is.

Shrimp Avocado Rice

Vallarta’s no longer serves its fajitas sizzling on a metal dish, but they’re still pretty tasty and I prefer the chicken to the steak fajitas.

Starters at Vallarta’s include the cheese (queso) dip, guacamole Vallarta, a mushroom quesadilla and five varieties of nachos,  so whether you like them just with cheese ($6) or the nachos Vallarta (with grilled steak, avocado, onions and cheese, $11), you’re sure to find one that suits your fancy — just bring plenty of friends, as the nacho orders are huge!

And although I can’t eat the Cocktel de Camarones (shrimp cocktail, $14) due to my shellfish allergy, I saw someone enjoying it the other day. The large shrimp are served “swimming” in a tasty hot sauce, in a gigantic margarita glass. I also enjoy the Mexican chicken soup, which was perfect for those cold days we had in March.

Jannah also recently found a new favorite, as she really enjoyed the chicken fajita salad, which also is available with beef or shrimp and served in a monstrous tortilla shell that is overstuffed with fajita chicken, plus grilled peppers and onions, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico de gallo, guac and cheese. It’s not served with dressing, but it honestly doesn’t need additional toppings, as Jannah ended up not needing to use her side of ranch dressing.

There also are plain grilled chicken dinners (pollo a la Parilla, $11) and a fried chicken breast (pollo Empanisado, $13).

And of course, Vallarta’s also has lunch and dinner-sized combinations of all of your Mexican favorites. So, whether you like hard or soft tacos, enchiladas, chalupas, burritos, tamales, tostadas, taquitos, flautas, chimichangas or tostaguac (I honestly don’t know what that last one is), you’re sure to find your favorites on this huge menu, with most lunch combos from $6-$9 and most dinner combos at around $10.

I’m not the biggest quesadilla fan, but they also are available for $8-$11 and the one I definitely will try in the future is the chicken, bacon and cheese variety.

Oh, and of course, even though I’m usually a chunky salsa kind of guy, Vallarta’s puréed salsa, served in wine carafes (you pour the salsa into a bowl for dipping), is highly addictive, especially with the restaurant’s fresh, hot, super-crisp tortilla chips.

Don’t Forget Cinco!

Another great thing about Vallarta’s is that it offers a full liquor bar with a variety of Mexican and domestic beers, a selection of top-shelf tequilas, as well as lots of margarita varieties that, according to the Vallarta’s menu, are “truly bigger than your head,” all at much lower prices than you’ll find at most sit-down Mexican eateries.

So, if you’re looking for a place to spend Saturday, May 5 — aka Cinco de Mayo — look no further. Vallarta’s will have music, food and drink specials and a big crowd for Cinco, although the place is crowded for dinner almost every day all year-round (and even many days at lunch time) and continues to receive lots of votes every year in our annual Reader Dining Survey & Contest. In other words, when you serve good food at very fair prices, people will keep coming back for more.

And, speaking of more, there also are Vallarta’s locations in the Wesley Chapel Village Market, one near the Suncoast Pkwy. off S.R. 54, one at Collier Pkwy. at 54, one on S.R. 54 in Trinity/Odessa, plus Temple Terrace and Carrollwood. The family that started Vallarta’s also opened a more upscale San José Mexican Restaurant on Land O’Lakes Blvd. (U.S. Hwy. 41 in Lutz), as well as the new El Pescador Mexican seafood restaurant in the New Tampa Center plaza on BBD Blvd. We plan to feature El Pescador in our next issue.

Vallarta’s of Tampa Palms is located at 16023 Tampa Palms Blvd. W. It is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information, including some great regular coupon specials, visit VallartasRestaurants.com or call (813) 978-3761. The Wesley Chapel Vallarta’s is located at 5335 Village Market. For more info, call (813) 907-5161.

Restaurant Comings And Goings

Bahama Breeze Getting Closer To Opening

In addition to Chuy’s,  Bahama Breeze Island Grille also is getting ready to open due east of the new plaza across from the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) that is anchored by the months-old Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers.

Bahama Breeze will likely not open until the summer, but the building has made considerable progress (photo, near right) since first going vertical just a few short weeks ago.

We’ll keep you posted. — GN

Latin Flavors To Replace Cody’s

Rice-n-Beans, a popular Puerto Rican restaurant located in Lutz, will be opening soon in Wesley Chapel at the site of the former Cody’s Original Roadhouse on Wesley Chapel Blvd. just west of I-75.

The site is undergoing a $25,000 renovation. No official grand opening date had been set at our press time. — JCC

Pizza Hut To Open Next?

Now that Starbucks is open in the new Pleasant Plaza on S.R. 54 east of BBD, the next storefront to take shape in the new strip center will be Pizza Hut, which could be open by May or June.

The 3,800-sq.-ft. pizza place will fill one of the three remaining vacancies in the plaza. Following Pizza Hut, construction will begin on a nail salon. The Pleasant Plaza developers are currently negotiating with a tenant for the remaining vacancy. — JCC

Kwan Ming Bistro Closes

I was saddened to see that Kwan Ming Bistro, located on S.R. 56 in the same plaza as Wolf’s Den, had closed. My friends Henry (aka Kwan) and his wife Ming gave it a good several-year run in a tough plaza that also includes the somehow-super-successful Cabana Spas (see ad on pg. 9 of this issue).

Unfortunately, the restaurant had some issues — some felt it wasn’t quite upscale enough to justify its prices — but I did really enjoy Kwan Ming’s won ton soup, BBQ spare ribs, egg rolls and combination fried rice.

PartyScene Closes; Sweet Party Adds Its Inventory

Sweet Party, located at 20310 Trout Creek Dr., just off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (behind Burger) has acquired the remaining inventory from the PartyScene store in the Pebble Creek Collection.

“We are happy to be the largest party store in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area,” Sweet Party posted on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page.

Although Sweet Party is an awesome party store that deserves New Tampa’s support, I was sad to see my friend, Alex De Joseph, close her store after a solid 12-year run in a tough location.

Alex says, “The increase in rent, the insane road construction and increased competition from the internet created a perfect storm that made my decision obvious, but still heart-wrenching.” I agree, Alex.

For more information about Sweet Party, call (813) 994-4900 or visit SweetPartyTampa.com. And, please tell them that you read about them in the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! — GN

Business Beat: Chuy’s Set To Open & Here Comes Harley-Davidson!

The next big day for a local restaurant opening is all set — Tuesday, April 24! That’s the day Chuy’s Tex-Mex is scheduled to hold its grand opening.

Located in the Cypress Creek Town Center North area, across S.R. 56 from the Tampa Premium Outlets, Chuy’s is expected to fill what many restaurant-goers feel is a void in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.

Founded in 1982 in Austin, TX, Chuy’s specializes in fresh Tex-Mex fare like burritos, enchiladas and tacos made with fresh ingredients, as well as its famous Elvis Green Chile Fried Chicken and daily drink specials. And, based on the popularity of Chuy’s sangria at the recent Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel (see pages 1 & 3-6), those drinks should also be a big hit.

The local Chuy’s will be 8,500 sq. ft. with a 650-sq.-ft. patio, with a decor enhanced by an Elvis shrine and other fun, quirky fixtures that don’t seem to make any sense.

WHAT’S IN & OUT AT THE GROVE?: While one store, the Toys R Us and Babies R Us, are on their way out, Cost Plus World Market is finally in at The Grove off Oakley Blvd.

The 18,600-sq.-ft. Cost Plus World Market  (map) is a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond, which also has a store in The Grove.

Based in California, Cost Plus World Market specializes in an eclectic assortment of unique items for the home, from furniture to jewelry and accessories, as well as gourmet food and drinks. It claims to sell items imported from more than 50 countries and has 277 stores nationwide.

Other home decor stores also are coming to the Chap. At Home, which is headed for the south side of S.R. 56 (behind Costco), is working its way through the permitting process, and a HomeGoods store is coming to the Cypress Creek Town Center North area north of S.R. 56.

ROOMS TO SPARE: Another hotel — yes, yet another hotel — could be in the works off S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., in Wesley Chapel, as engineers from AVID met with Pasco County officials on March 19 in a Development Permit pre-submittal meeting, or pre-application meeting.

Developers are proposing a four-story, 120-room Extended Stay America located on Eagleston Blvd. off BBD, right behind the Wells Fargo bank and across from Wesley Chapel Toyota.

Extended Stay America, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, owns and operates more than 600 economy hotels across the U.S. and Canada geared towards those needing a room for weeks at a time. The company announced in January it would allowing franchising of its hotels for the first time.

The proposed Extended Stay American in Wesley Chapel will be 62,000 sq. ft., and the development would also include 6,400-sq.-ft. strip shopping center on the southwest corner of Eagleston Blvd. and BBD.

Wesley Chapel already is expecting three new hotels to open this year — a six-story, 125-room Hilton Garden Inn on Silver Maple Pkwy., across S.R. 56 from Florida Hospital Center Ice, is scheduled to open in June, a 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is expected to open in June or July a few miles to the east (in the Wiregrass Ranch development), and the six-story, 132-room Hyatt Place Hotel & Convention Center will open in July at the Cypress Creek Town Center across from TPO.

Another hotel, to be located behind the Walgreens on S.R. 54 and BBD, also is in the early planning stages.

VROOM-VROOM: Ferman Harley-Davidson is FINALLY coming to Wesley Chapel. The long-awaited and famous American motorcycle manufacturer met with the county on Feb. 1 in a pre app meeting, proposing a 30,677-sq.-ft. sales and service building on the 14.5-acre property just north of the Cypress Creek Animal Hospital on Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz.

According to paperwork filed with the county, Ferman Harley Davidson would also include a 2,655-sq.-ft. mezzanine, a pavilion and gazebo, 210 parking spaces and a 3,500-sq-ft. restaurant.

Harley-Davidson, founded in Milwaukee, WI, has locations in New Port Richey, Brandon and on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. in Tampa.

2018 Taste Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Faces In The Crowd!

I send out many thanks to freelance writer Andy Warrener for also attending this year’s Taste and for his efforts to get a feel for the Taste from the persepective of some of its attendees. The folks on this page all raved about the event and were excited to be part of this feature. — GN

Antoinette and Jerome Lee of Cross Creek in New Tampa found out about the event in the Mar. 23 New Tampa edition of the Neighborhood News. It was also their first time at a Taste event.

“I like it because you can select the vendors you like,” Antoinette said. “If there’s one in particular you like, you can use your cards there or, if you want to try a new restaurant. It’s also nice to meet people in line. You work in the community but there are a lot of people you don’t come into contact with. Here you can do that.”

Antoinette was partial to the Cuban food offered up by La Yuma. Jerome was previously a fan of Texas Roadhouse and said he enjoyed their samplings.

 

For Arbor Greene resident Jacob, 15, his favorite was Snow Rolls Ice Cream, and for his brother Noah, 6, it was the pizza from Bosco’s Italian-to-Go.

“We actually found out about the event in the Neighborhood News,” said their father Randy. “There are lots of activities in more established communities like downtown and South Tampa but not much going on in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. This event gives us lots of options to look for and a chance to get out and do things. As the community grows, so will events like this.”

 

Quail Hollow residents Steve and Virginia Catrombone brought their eight-month old son, Memphis, to the event. They have lived in the Wesley Chapel area the last five years and were attending their first Taste of New Tampa. They had never even been to FHCI before.

“The prices are great and the food is awesome,” Steve said. “It’s a good, community event. The turnout is really nice and it’s well-organized. We’ve been to food truck rallies, local markets and events at the Shops at Wiregrass and this event is great. We’ve seen Wesley Chapel grow so much the last five years.” Virginia enjoyed sampling area eateries that she hadn’t had visited yet. “This is a great event because all these places are local for us,” Virginia said. “And now, we have a chance to see what they have to offer.”

 

Jeff and Jennifer Pike, who live in Live Oak in New Tampa, brought their twin daughters Liliana and Amalia as well as their son, 12-year-old Carter, to the Taste.

“We found out about the event on Facebook, it’s our first time here,” Jeff said. “The food was the clincher. There’s such a variety with what’s in the neighborhood, we didn’t even know half the places. The event gets people to recognize that there are more restaurants out there than just the major chains.”

Jeff enjoyed the Shepherd’s pie from O’Brien’s Irish Pub, while Jennifer was taken by the flan and rice and beans offered by La Yuma.

“The food samples are the primary reason for coming, also to hang out with friends,” Jennifer said. “It’s a very family-friendly event,” Jennifer said. “The kids are here with their friends and there’s always a new restaurant to discover.”

 

Did you attend this year’s Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel? If not, why not? If so, what did you like best about it? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a Facebook message (search “Neighborhood News”) or email us at EditorialDept@NTNeighborhoodNews.com!

‘Best Food Ever, Most Fun Ever!’ 

THIS ONE WAS MAGICAL!

When the Rotary Club of New Tampa revived the Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel last year, I was proud to be the restaurant guy who procured 46 food and beverage providers and helped promote the 2017 return of my favorite 20-year-old single-day event in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel in these pages and on WCNT-tv (Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television on Youtube & Facebook).

Rotary Club president and Taste organizer Karen Frashier — who also ran the show last year when an estimated total crowd (including vendors and volunteers) of about 2,000 people helped the club net about $10,000 for its own charitable foundation (more on that below) and about $1,000 to benefit the Greater Wesley Chapel (now North Tampa Bay) Chamber of Commerce (NTBCC)’s high school scholarship fund — was truly stunned at how much bigger and better this year’s Taste was than last year.

“Based on our ticket sales, we estimate the crowd this year at more than 2,000 attendees and close to 2,500 people overall,” Frashier said only three days after the event. “We don’t have final numbers yet, but we definitely more than doubled last year’s net proceeds.”

Whether you chalk it up to the Rotary Club having a year of experience under its belt, the even better restaurants, the even more outstanding entertainment — everyone loved the virtuoso guitar work of Shaun Hopper and taking pics with Zammy the Giant Sheepadoodle — or the even bigger promotional bump the Taste got from our New Tampa issue hitting mailboxes in zip code 33647 only two days before the event (where the preview started on Page 1), Taste 2018 was pure magic.

Superlative Food & Drinks!

Although I honestly believe that there were at least a dozen other restaurants that  planned to be at this year’s Taste, including several of last year’s participants who simply couldn’t get themselves together in time, I have no doubt that this year’s food was the best in the 22-year history of the Taste.

Yes, there were the superlative samples of three different bowls served by People’s Choice 1st-place winner Ciccio Cali, the lasagna, meatballs and eggplant parmigiana from 2nd Place Little Italy’s (which had by far the longest lines of any restaurants all afternoon) and the crispy Brussels sprouts appetizer from 3rd Place Noble Crust.

I also thought that Vesh Catering’s potsticker dumplings and chopped salad were both outstanding, as were Texas Roadhouse’s ribs and steak bites. Canterbury Hall at Grace Episcopal Church served delicious salmon mousse cups provided by Rotary Club member Peter Gambacorta of the Private Chef of Tampa. And, Acai Brazil, Bosco’s Italian-to-Go, Cinebistro, Jon’s Nutrition, Union 72 BBQ and Cappy’s Pizza all offered tasty samples, too.

The beverage competition came down to the three beer providers — The Brass Tap, Zephyrhills Brewing Co. (2nd place), and 81 Bay Brewing (1st place), and wine providers PRP Wine, Time for Wine (3rd place), Vom Fass (which also brought, and quickly went through, a giant tray of paella I couldn’t try because of my shellfish allergy, but it looked amazing) and Chuy’s Tex-Mex (see story on pg. 14), which is opening in our area later this month. Chuy’s only served chips with very spicy salsa for food but everyone who sampled the sangria raved about it.

As for the dessert providers, Happy Cow Frozen Yogurt, Blondie’s Cookies, Leann’s Gourmet Cookies, Culver’s frozen custard and Snowrolls ice cream all deserve  high marks, with Snowrolls and Culver’s my favorites, although there were no People’s Choice dessert winners.

Rotary Club of New Tampa president Karen Frashier explained that the People’s Choice food and beverage honors went to the providers who had a combination of the most actual People’s Choice votes and the number of Taste tickets they collected from patrons who sampled their wares. It’s an imperfect, somewhat subjective system, but I have to give major kudos to all 43 of our food and beverage providers who showed up, as well as to Rotary Club members Nikki Smith and David West, who figured a way to donate all leftover food to local food banks and shelters, although there was definitely less food left over than last year.

Thank You, JCs!

I also want to send a big shout-out to this year’s “JC” sponsorship chairs — Rotary Club members James Carner and Jason Contino. Not only did these two hard-working gentleman procure thousands more in sponsorships this year than last, between the two of them, they helped me get about 1/4 of the 40+ restaurants for this year’s Taste.

And, best of all, Carner also lassoed his long-time friend —  fingerstyle and percussion-style guitarist Shaun Hopper — into being the headline entertainer for the event. Read more about Shaun on the next page.

When I first heard that guitarist Shaun Hopper was going to be the headline entertainer at the Taste, I honestly had  never heard of him, even though he’s toured with several major bands.

But now, I know for fact that not only is the guy a gifted guitarist and performer, he also is a truly caring gentleman. Shaun told me that when he saw Zammy the Giant Sheepadoodle (check him out at #ZammyPup on Instagram) lumbering around the insulated floor at Florida Hospital Center Ice, he instantly started writing a song in his head. Not long after Shaun finished performing, he sat with Zammy for a few minutes and played a happy, lilting little guitar melody that Zammy’s owner Todd Pitner will likely use as Zammy’s theme song for his future videos.

I also really enjoyed the performance of the New Tampa Players, who gave everyone a preview of their upcoming production of “Legally Blonde” during the Taste.

Zammy hung out on his grooming table, next to the free photo booth for most of the event. I apologize for not remembering the gentleman’s name who ran the photo booth, but I did see lots of people taking family pics during the event. Also busy all day was the Taste’s kids area.

I also want to thank each and every sponsor who appeared on page 39 of our last issue. I don’t have room to use pics of all of them in these pages, but without the hard work of James and Jason to get them to ante up money to be at the Taste, the event would never have netted as much money as it did.

I also applaud Jason’s daughter Sophia Contino, for bringing her lemonade stand to the Taste, and for making yet another big donation to the Pasco Sheriff’s K-9 Association.