This was a super-competitive category, as NY NY, 900Âş Woodfired & Amici all finished within three votes of each other, while PizzaMania, last year’s #1 “Favorite Pizza in NT & WC,” dropped to 4th in WC this year.Â
1. NY NY Pizza (photo)
2. 900Âş Woodfired Pizza (Wiregrass Mall)
3. Amici Pizza
4. PizzaMania
5. Mama B’s Pizzeria
6. 900Âş NY Pizza (The Grove)
7. Moschella’s Italian Eatery & Market
8. (tie) Best NY Pizza & Caprese Pizza House
Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel is where chain eateries continue to dominate the landscape, as well as our voting (despite my best efforts to get our readers to vote for non-chains).
But, while Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant did mistakenly appear on the ballots for the first issue of the voting, it was so dominant in the voting after it came off the ballots that it would still have been #1 “Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel” without that one-issue advantage. Anyone who has been to the place on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, when it is still on a wait throughout its dinner hours, can understand how Cooper’s Hawk took home this year’s top prize in WC in its first year of eligibility.
Azteca D’Oro and Grillsmith repeated as our readers’ #2 and #3 Favorites in WC, while last year’s first-place finisher, Noble Crust, dropped to #4 this year. New to this year’s top-10 were Vallarta’s at #5 (up from #12), Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli at #7, Florida Ave. Brewing Co. at #8 (up from #16) and Chuck Lager at #9. Dropping out of this year’s top-10 were Zukku-San (down from #5 to #11), Bubba’s 33 (down from #10 to #19), Bonefish, BJ’s Brewhouse and Bahama Breeze (down from #8 to #17). The last four of these are all chains that weren’t on the ballots. — GN
1. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant
2. Azteca D’Oro
3. Grillsmith
4. Noble Crust
5. Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant
6. The Living Room
7. Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli
8. Florida Ave. Brewing Co.
9. Chuck Lager America’s Tavern
10. Ford’s Garage
11. Zukku-San Sushi & Grill
12. Falabella Family Bistro
13. PizzaManiaÂ
14. Señor Tequila
15. Glory Days Grill
16. Umu Japanese & Thai
17. Bahama Breeze
18. Yamato Japanese Restaurant
19. Bubba’s 33
20. EggTown
21. Amici Pizza & Café
22. The Hungry Greek
23. First Watch
24. Arroy Thai
25. Crazy Sushi
28963 S.R. 56, Wiregrass Ranch
(813) 755-4445 • CHWinery.comÂ
If everyone in Wesley Chapel is so sick of chain restaurants, then how and why did Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant dominate the voting in this year’s Reader Dining Survey & Contest?
The answer to that rhetorical question is that all of you are tired of mediocre chains and although Cooper’s Hawk isn’t Fleming’s, Charley’s or Ruth’s Chris, it is definitely a step up from most of the other chains in the “Chap.” It boasts a solid menu of very good steaks, good seafood, pretty decent pasta and a nice variety of starters, lunch and brunch menu items.
When you add to that the novelty of getting to taste an ever-changing array of palate-pleasing wines in Cooper’s Hawk’s wine bar (although I wish there were seats in it, or at least allowed), it’s easy to understand why locals are fighting for tables there every night. We’ll see how long the party lasts, but so far, so good.
2000 Piazza Ave., #170, The Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 527-6033 • AztecaDOro.comÂ
It’s clear that last year’s top-vote-getting newcomer did not suffer a sophomore jinx with our readers this year, as Azteca D’Oro repeated as your #2 overall Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel and again won Favorite Mexican Restaurant in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel, albeit by a much smaller margin than last year.
With tasty menu items like chicken taquitos (top), plus a huge variety (above pic from DoorDash) of authentic Mexican favorites like fajitas, molcajete, burritos, tacos and quesadillas, plus beautiful indoor & outdoor bar areas with great Happy Hour specials, Azteca D’Oro also features a private room that is the perfect place to host your holiday party with its lively music and festive atmosphere.Â
2000 Piazza Ave., #100, Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 907-1900 • Grillsmith.comÂ
Grillsmith is always among our readers’ favorites every year and repeated last year’s #3 “Favorite in Wesley Chapel” finish again this year. This five-unit mini-chain continues to serve quality fresh fish (photo), plus assortments of flatbreads, salads, steaks, burgers, chicken and pasta options that keep our readers coming back for more. It also is a popular weekend brunch spot with everything from bananas Foster French toast to chicken & waffles Benedict.Â
28330 Paseo Dr., Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 703-2602 • Noble-Crust.comÂ
Even though it was bumped down to #4 Favorite this year by our readers after a two-year run in the top spot, Noble Crust’s “Deep South Italian” fare continues to garner lots of attention, as well as votes (even though it fell short of making this year’s “Favorite Pizza” list). With unusual entrĂ©es like bronzed salmon (photo), chicken fried chicken parm, bucatini & meatballs & Cajun shrimp risotto, Noble Crust also claims to feature the “Best Brunch in Wesley Chapel.”Â
5335 Wesley Chapel Village Market
(813) 907-5161 • VallartasMexican.comÂ
Whenever you see people in a local online community ask for recommendations for a great Mexican restaurant, roughly half the people highly recommend Vallarta’s, while the other half say “it’s gross.”
Those who love it point to the restaurant’s huge menu with even bigger portions (like the burrito shown here) at the best prices of any true Mexican restaurant in Wesley Chapel. We guess those folks helped Vallarta’s jump from #12 “Favorite WC Restaurant” with our readers last year to #5 Fave in 2024.
2001 Piazza Ave., #100, Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 934-7911 • TLR.Restaurant.comÂ
Although a lot of online community members complain vehemently about its 20% service charge, our readers still kept The Living Room in the same #6 “Favorite in Wesley Chapel” spot it occupied last year.
That means that a lot of our readers care more about dishes like the Bobby Boucher pasta shown here, sautĂ©ed red grouper, “You Bet…Churrasco” and adobo braised pork osso bucco than they do about having to pay the service fee. The Living Room also is another local brunch favorite.
26316 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Grand Oaks Plaza, Lutz
(813)428-6573
It seems like there’s at least one restaurant that seems to come out of nowhere to crack the top-10 with our readers every year.
This year’s surprise is Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli. Although we also enjoy Mac’s quality sandwiches (photo), it’s still really more of a meat market than a restaurant, but whether it made this year’s list because of ballot-stuffing or because enough people really love it this much likely won’t be known until next year’s Reader Survey.
2029 Arrowgrass Dr. (at S.R. 56), Wesley Chapel
(813) 452-6333 • FloridaAveBrewing.comÂ
Jumping up eight places from #16 last year is Florida Avenue Brewing Co., which has changed its food menu so often it’s hard to keep up with all the new items to go with its crowd-pleasing variety of house-brewed beers, hard ciders and seltzers. Of course, you can’t go wrong with Florida Ave.’s wings (photo), cheesesteak egg rolls, smash burgers and chimichurri-style Argentine flatbread. Also ask about the Express Lunch menu and about becoming a Brew Perks member.
2001 Piazza Ave., #175, Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 820-4500 • ChuckLager.comÂ
Another mini-chain making a big jump with our readers this year is Chuck Lager America’s Tavern, which narrowly missed the top-25 last year to jump up to #9 this time — giving The Shops at Wiregrass five of this year’s top-10 Favorites in Wesley Chapel!
Now with three locations and another coming soon to Ft. Myers, Chuck Lager continues to serve tasty giant pretzels, flatbreads, sliders (all in photo), as well as everything from Chuck’s citrus salmon to NY strip steak and Italian specialties like chicken parmesan and Fabio’s meatball sub.
25526 Sierra Center Blvd. (at S.R. 56), Lutz
(813) 540-3673 • FordsGarageUSA.comÂ
Meanwhile, Ford’s Garage, located across from the Tampa Premium Outlets, dropped one spot from #9 last year to #10 this year, but still garnered plenty of attention from our readers for its popular sports bar-style fare, like the Giant Funnel Tower of Jumbo Piston Onion Rings, Famous Firestone Shrimp, BBQ pork ribs, chicken mac & cheese, smoked brisket burnt ends melt and especially, its Burgers of Fame (photo).
Plus, Motor Club members get 25% Off every 4th visit, a free birthday appetizer, exclusive news & events and more.
At Tampa Premium Outlets. Run. Walk. Wobble! The BayCare Wobble Turkey Trot (photo), presented by BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel is coming back for another race at Tampa Premium Outlets. Events include 5K, 1K and virtual 5K runs. Proceeds to benefit the New Tampa Family YMCA.Â
The cost for the 5K is now $45. For the 1 “Tur(K)” Fun Run, the cost is now $27.50. For more information, visit runsignup.com/Race/FL/Lutz/BayCareWobbleTurkeyTrot5k.Â
At The Shops at Wiregrass. Join your neighbors at the 12th annual Wiregrass Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, hosted by the Rotary Club of New Tampa and AdventHealth. This year’s events include the annual 5K Run/Walk, 1-Mile Fun Run and Kid’s Turkey Dash for all under 12 years old, as well as selfie stations, a costume contest, awards, music and fun for the entire community.Â
The cost for the 5K run is $45 between Nov. 20-26 or $50 Nov. 27-28. For the 1-mile Fun Run, the cost is $25 anytime. There’s also a Kids Turkey Dash for ages 12 & under, which costs $20.
For more info, visit TheShopsatWiregrass.com/events.Â
This year Tampa Palms Elementary School is hosting a 5K Walk/Run around the Tampa Palms Boulevard loop. They are hoping to enjoy this community event as a school family in honor of a former TPE Eagle, Tessa Wiseman, who loved to learn. loved to read, and who loved running.
Even through two cancer diagnoses Tessa continued to run. It was therapeutic for her, and she shared her passion for running with many people she encountered. In addition to being an avid runner, Tessa was a guide for visually impaired runners during races. Tessa inspired so many people through her journey and reminded her family, friends, and strangers who became fast friends, that focusing on the future, celebrating life with every breath and every mile, and aspiring to love and help others is the only way to live, no matter what difficulties may arise along the way and what insurmountable obstacles we may face. These are values they hope to inspire and cultivate within all of their TPE students. At the end of the race they will plant a tree on the TPE campus in memory of Tessa to create a living legacy for years to come.
For more info, visit app.givebacks.gives/trotfortessa/Campaign/Details
I don’t know how they did it so fast, but the former Beef O’Brady’s located at 1660 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza in Wesley Chapel, has reopened (only about four months after Beef’s closed) as Inchin’s Bamboo Garden, a small (30 units in 13 U.S. states and Canada) chain of “IndoChinese Fusion” restaurants, with an existing Florida location in Orlando.
All I can tell you after two quick visits to my new friends Mohan and Suresh’s new restaurant is that it no longer looks anything like Beef’s (it’s actually quite elegant), has a beautiful full-liquor bar (with at least ten beers on tap and many others in bottles) and absolutely everything I’ve sampled so far has been en pointe.
My favorite Indian dishes so far are the fried momo dumplings (I had them with chicken, photo left; they’re also available in veggie and with paneer, or Indian cheese, and steamed); the “Toothpick lamb,” which is skewered chunks of lamb with mild rendang curry sauce, bite-size potato cubes, green onion, curry leaves and chili peppers; and my current favorite hakka noodles (thin eggless noodles, shredded vegetables, Napa cabbage and celery) with chicken (top photo).Â
Other Indian dishes recommended by friends of mine who also happened to be visiting the new Inchin’s are the garlic naan bread and the “Chicken 65” (with curry leaf, bell peppers, onion, dry red chili & cumin).
Considering that most Chinese restaurants in Wesley Chapel are take-out only, you also have to sample some of Inchin’s Chinese dishes. My faves to date include the crunchy veggie spring rolls, the crispy chili baby corns (bite-sized pieces of baby corn, deep fried with onion and green chilis) and the delicious Mongolian beef (above left), sautĂ©ed with onions and served on a bed of crispy rice noodles. It also was served with a side of white rice but I definitely plan to try it with one of Inchin’s four different fried rice options — burnt garlic chili (which sounds amazing), spicy Thai basil, Szechwan-style and just “regular” fried rice. You can get any of these with veggies, chicken, shrimp or “mixed” (with chicken, lamb and shrimp).Â
Other Chinese-style entrées include Manchurian, Szechwan, hot garlic, chili, extra-spicy Szechwan peppercorn and AK 47 (with ghost pepper sauce, described on the menu as “dangerously spicy”) dishes. I’ve also been told I need to try Inchin’s version of Chinese “Hot Pot,” which is described on the menu as “numbing.” Many of these entrées are available with vegetable “coins,” cauliflower, tofu, paneer, chicken, lamb, beef or shrimp.
I’ve also yet to sample any of the soups or any other starters, so you can rest assured that Jannah and I will be visiting Inchin’s Bamboo Garden again in the future — and soon!
Inchin’s Bamboo Garden is open every day for lunch (11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.) & dinner (5:30 p.m.-11 p.m. daily, except Sun. until 10). It closes daily between 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m. For more information, call (813) 388-2818 or visit Bamboo-Gardens.com. And, please tell Mohan and Suresh I sent you! — GNÂ
Yes, we know it’s been a few weeks but because of our once-every-four-weeks print schedule, the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC)’s 2024 Wesley Chapel Fall Festival & Carnival was held the weekend of Oct. 26-27, which was the weekend after we went to press with our Oct. 29 issue, so this is our first opportunity to show you some of the scenes from that always-fun 20th annual event.
Held again at the Tampa Premium Outlets and benefiting the NTBC’s Foundation, a record 7,500 patrons raised a record amount of money and enjoyed carnival and pony rides, live entertainment, food trucks and vendors and of course, a great costume contest. For more info, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.Â
