The New Tampa area already has a much larger number of Asian restaurants of all kinds — Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean and even Nepalese — than Wesley Chapel does, but it seems we should make room for at least two more, as Rain Bistro just opened in the former location of Mei’s Pizza (and a couple of others before Mei’s) on E. Bearss Ave., just west of Livingston Ave., and Nawabi Hyderabad House & Biryani Place just replaced another Indian eatery — Raaga — in the Shoppes at Amberly in Tampa Palms.
Right As Rain!
Rain Bistro, owned by my new friend Will, is actually pretty delicious. Although it is something of an Asian fusion place, Will is Chinese and he says his signature crunchy fried chicken (above right) and delicious fried rice (not pictured) are definitely from his native country, even though he also has great almost-Thai-style spring rolls and Japanese-style fried gyoza dumplings filled with chicken (both in left photo above), as well as a large variety of ramen and other noodle and rice dishes, plus a number of different boba tea drinks. Considering it only opened the day we went to press with this issue, all I can say is the food is great and the place, even though it still doesn’t look impressive from the outside, is much more upscale inside — without the upscale prices. Great job, Will!
For more info about Rain Bistro (2592 E. Bearss Ave.), which is open every day for lunch & dinner, call (813) 977-1688.
Nawabi — More Than Just A New Name!
Although I was never a big fan of Raaga, the most recent Indian restaurant in the same location is the new Nawabi Hyderabad House & Biryani Place at 15345 Amberly Dr. and I definitely enjoyed my first visit.
I didn’t find out why the restaurant is called Nawabi, but Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. Of course, the bottom line is, did I like the food on my first visit to this much nicer new sit-down restaurant? And, the answer is unequivocally “yes!”
Although I didn’t venture very far (if at all) out of my comfort zone, I gobbled down the garlic naan bread and wok-tossed hakka noodles with chicken at Nawabi. The thinner-than-lo-mein noodles had a delicate flavor, with a hint of black pepper and just a bit of a kick, even without the much spicier Schezwan (their spelling) sauce, which I was told to order on the side — and I was glad I did. I really only needed a dab on each bite to savor.
For info about Nawabi (also open for lunch & dinner every day), call (813) 443- 0198 or visit NawabiHHTampa.com.
The New Tampa Players received $10,000 from Social Venture Partners of Tampa Bay at the “Fast Pitch” competition for NTP’s Ampersand programming for special needs adults. (Photos provided by the New Tampa Players)
Since the New Tampa Performing Arts Center opened a year ago, the New Tampa Players (NTP) theatre troupe has been on the move.
If you saw all the New Tampa Players’ shows so far this year, you’ve visited an enchanted castle in France, the hallways of Rydell High, the walls of Duloc, and cities across the USA on tour with the Dreams. (Did you spot all those shows? That was “Beauty and the Beast,” “Grease,” “Shrek,” and “Dreamgirls” — what an amazing year!)
But wait, there’s still more:
City of Tampa Awards NTP $75K For Penguin Project & Ampersand Theatre Programs
Last month, the Tampa City Council approved a grant for $75,000 to enrich NTP’s Penguin Project and Ampersand Theatre programs.
Penguin Project is a national theatre program for children and young adults with special needs. NTP started its chapter in 2018, making it the first such program in Florida. Each year, the Players produce a Penguin Project musical with 40-45 artists with special needs.
In 2023, NTP spun off Ampersand Theatre, a new theatre troupe concept for adults with disabilities. The program began with a summer intensive serving 25 artists, and it continues this month with a special Penguin Project/Ampersand Theatre collaboration on “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Rehearsals have been in progress for months, and the performances will be held the weekend of April 19-21. All of the artists and mentors (almost 100 performers altogether!) invite you to join them for a night of joy.
NTP Wins 2nd Place at Social Venture Partners Of Tampa Bay “Fast Pitch” Competition
The Ampersand artists won 2nd place in the 2024 Social Ventures Partners of Tampa Bay “Fast Pitch” Competition and will receive $10,000 for NTP’s Ampersand programming. The troupe competed against six other nonprofits in the Tampa Bay area, including WellFed Community, EmpowHERment, Girls Rock, the Florida Dream Center, NAMI Pinellas and Water Smart Tots Foundation.
The Fast Pitch Competition program provides funding and strategic consulting to innovative nonprofits addressing critical issues in the Tampa Bay region.
Auditions For “Singin’ In The Rain”
NTP is hosting auditions for our summer musical: “Singin’ in the Rain.” The performances this summer will be at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center as usual, but if you come out for the auditions on April 27, April 29, April 30, and May 1, make sure you head for NTP’s blackbox theater and rehearsal space at University Mall —Uptown Stage. All New Tampa Players performers are local community members.
Fraud investigator by day and actor by night, New Tampa resident Kyle Fisher (who played Kenickie in NTP’s “Grease” and Lord Farquaad in NTP’s “Shrek: The Musical”) set out to answer the question “What is the cost of a wish?” His journey finding the answer to that question made its world premiere at Uptown Stage last month in “Ember: A New Musical.”
The embers of Ember (no, I could not resist that pun!) began many years ago. Fisher can’t name a specific date he started working on the show apart from his habit of writing down any inspiration or line of music or dialog that comes to him. The first song to form was “Wish,” with the tagline “What do you wish for?” This song became the foundation for the rest of the musical, as it came together over nights of pizza and workshopping with choreographer Makayla Raines and actor Dylan Fidler, both of whom also have performed in multiple NTP shows.
Ember is a spellbinding musical that explores the boundaries between dreams and damnation. In a world where the mundane meets the magical, farm boy ‘Guy’ yearns for adventure. When the enigmatic demon ‘Sequins’ offers to fulfill his deepest desires in exchange for his soul, Guy plunges headfirst into a Faustian bargain. The tale is a captivating journey of redemption and unexpected alliances. Can a demon, driven by ambition, rediscover forgotten compassion and love? Will Guy, armed with newfound powers and a heart full of hope, conquer the challenges laid before him? In “Ember,” the stakes are high, the magic is potent, and the battle for the soul takes center stage.
Through the workshopping and production process, Fisher’s characters grow and evolve. The character that underwent the most transformation was Sammy, played by Ashleigh Dudek.
“Between the first draft of the script and first performance of the show,” Fisher said, “Sammy gained a solo, a new feature, and a huge amount of screentime, and I’m so glad the character ended up where it did. Ashleigh is a super talented actor and vocalist and it would’ve been devastating to me to have her in any less.”
What is next for Kyle Fisher and the cast of “Ember?” They are on all on a much-deserved, much-needed break.
Fisher explained, “When I finally get back into it, the first thing (to work on) are edits. Although the show got a lot of praise, I think I can deliver an even better experience, and I’ve got a small army of people who are willing to help. From there, I think there are still one or two songs that deserve a spot in the show cooking up in my head, but we’ll see how it all shakes out with cutting the show down. I’d hate to spring a new song onto the cast before any potential cast album.”
“We Go Together” from “Grease. (Photos by Charmaine George)
A few short months ago, we told you about the Wesley Chapel Theater Group (WCTG)’s “Broadway Through the Decades” performance at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant in The Grove.
That performance attracted about 150 people and nobody who attended (including yours truly) went home disappointed.
Well, the weekend we went to press with this issue (Mar. 9-10), WCTG was at it again with another “Broadway Through the Decades: Contemporary Era” show, with the performances this time being held at the Zephyrhills Lions Club.
The Lions Club provided dinner on Saturday night and dessert for the Sunday matinee, so WCTG secretary Samantha Grahn, who also did the publicity for the show, said that the theater group had to provide a hard number of attendees to the Lions Club a couple of days before the two performances.
The WCTG cast from “Broadway Through the Decades: Contemporary Era.”
“That limited us to only about 130 people total for the two shows,” Samantha says. “But, we had a lot of wonderful singers performing and the audiences both days really seemed to enjoy the performances.”
The “Contemporary Era” performances includes many current and recent past Broadway favorites, including the entire company singing “Be Our Guest” from “Beauty and the Beast,” Danielle Warren’s “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Vette Berrian & the Company on “Day By Day” from “Godspell,” the entire company on “We Go Together” from “Grease” and favorites from “Rent,” “Pippin,” “Chicago,” “A Chorus Line,” “Sweeney Todd,” “42nd Street,” “Into the Woods,” “Les Miserables,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and many more.
“A Little Priest” from “Sweeney Todd” performed by Krystian Kopycinski & Danielle Warren.
“We’re now three years in with this group,” Grahn said afterwards. “And every performance we do is a fund raiser so we can afford to rent theaters for our future performances. We’re also writing some grants to try to get some more money to do more shows and we’d like to have them at the (Pasco School District’s) Instructional Performing Arts Center (IPAC) and other venues in Wesley Chapel.” She adds that the School District is looking into building a smaller “black box” theater for community performances.
She adds that in the meantime, however, “We have a great relationship with the Zephyrhills Lions Club. They don’t charge us to rehearse there and the rent to do our shows there isn’t that expensive. We really owe them a big thank-you!”
So, What’s Next? “Office Hours!”
Grahn says that WCTG’s next show will be the comedy play “Office Hours,” written by Norm Foster, which also will be performed at the Zephyrhills Lions Club, this time without food service.
There will be three performances of “Office Hours” — matinees on Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21, and a Saturday (Apr. 21) evening performance. Also coming up April 4 at 7pm, the next performance of “Broadway Through the Decades” at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar.
“We also would love to have feedback from the Wesley Chapel community regarding what shows or types of shows they would want to see,” Grahn says.
For tickets to see “Office Hours” or the April 4 encore of “Broadway Through The Decades” at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar and more info about the Wesley Chapel Theater Group, visit WesleyChapelTheaterGroup.org or search “WesleyChapel TheaterGroup” on Facebook.
Cheryl Abramson performing “On My Own” from “Les Miserables. Jonathan Hogsett performing “If I Can’t Love Her” from “Beauty & the Beast.” “Be Our Guest” from “Beauty & the Beast.”
Whether you prefer chicken or steak fajitas, try them at either Don Julio’s Mexican restaurant locations in the New Tampa area. (Photos By Charmaine George)
When Don Julio’s Mexican Restaurant opened in the Palms Connection plaza on E. Bearss Ave. (a little west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) six years ago, Jannah and I ate there a few times, but of course, without a full-liquor bar, it was never going to be a top choice for us, even though the Mexican cuisine served there was always tasty — and definitely authentic.
So, when Julio and Ximena Rodriguez opened the second Don Julio’s location — with a full, premium liquor bar — in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms plaza in 2022, we started visiting a little more, but because of all of the other Mexican restaurants closer to where we lived, we never really visited as often as we had some other local Mexican eateries.
But, when Julio began advertising in these pages a couple of months ago and told me he wanted us to come sample as much of the menu as possible for this story, we realized that we truly had been missing out on a somewhat hidden — but award-winning (more on that below) — gem in the New Tampa area.
First, A Little History
According to DonJuliosMexican.com, “Don Julio’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant started as a dream for the Rodriguez-Nambo Family. Julio’s grandparents — the original Don Julio & Esther Rodriguez — migrated to the Tampa Bay area from Mexico in the early 1970s. Esther (or Doña Esther, Julio calls her his “Abuelita”) always had a passion for cooking Mexican food” and she began using those talents in the late 1980s and early ‘90s — by selling her delicious Mexican cuisine from her garage in West Tampa — to put all three of her children through college, as her husband passed away when they were very young.
Julio & Ximena Rodriguez invite you to check out either of their authentic Mexican locations.
“Many of (her customers) recommended she open a Mexican restaurant, as her authentic flavors were unmatched by any existing restaurant in the Tampa Bay area,” the website continues. “Don Julio’s opened their doors (in the Palms Connection in) 2018, making the family’s dream come true of sharing Doña Esther’s authentic Mexican flavors with the entire Tampa Bay area and to keep alive her recipes for generations to come. The name was chosen in honor of the late Don Julio, who would be proud to see how his family has come together to make a legacy.”
Julio adds, “Don Julio’s is truly a family affair. In addition to Ximena and me, we have several cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews working in both of our locations and we pride ourselves on outstanding service, as well as delicious food.”
And, Speaking Of Food…
When Jannah, photographer Charmaine George and I visited the beautiful Tampa Palms location of Don Julio’s shortly before this issue went to press, we wanted Julio and Ximena to pick “a couple” of their favorite dishes, to go along with a couple we chose.
The Queso Fundido is another tasty starter.
OK, sure. Instead of a “couple of” dishes, we were treated to a feast of epic proportions. We started with the house-made chips and perfect salsa, “with very small chunks of tomato and lots of cilantro,” Julio said.
Then, came the starters (called “Antojitos” or “Cravings” on the menu) and beverages. Jannah loved the Queso Fundido (melted Oaxaca cheese with Mexican chorizo sausage served with handmade chips). And, even though it isn’t made tableside, the house-made fresh guacamole was definitely a true treat, too.
“Everything we make here is from scratch,” Julio said. “We are always proud to serve our food.”
The Coctel de Camarones (shrimp cocktail) is made with three kinds of tomato sauce. The new birria tacos are among our editor’s favorites at Don Julio’s.
Whether you call them taquitos or flautas, you should try them at Don Julio’s!
Charmaine raved about the one starter I couldn’t sample, the Coctel de Camarones (shrimp cocktail with Grandma’s homemade proprietary tomato sauce and spices). Julio said, “It’s actually a blend of three different sauces.” But, Charmaine and I agreed that our favorites were the new birria beef tacos, wrapped in handmade soft corn tortillas and served with a delicate dipping broth made from the birria drippings. So delicate and delicious!
The peach margarita is just one of many available flavors.
We all also enjoyed the Taquitos Dorados Don Julio, which Julio says also are called “flautas.” They are rolled and deep-fried and available with your choice of meats — from chorizo to shrimp or fish, carne asada steak or even just veggie (we had the chicken). The taquitos are topped with lettuce, onions and the lightest sour cream sauce ever.
As for the beverages…wow! While all I had a was a Pacifico draft (available with a spicy tahine-salted rim), Jannah loved both the traditional and peach margaritas. Charmaine enjoyed the Cantarito, which is tequila, orange, lemon and lime juices served in a “jarrito de barro,” or clay cup, to help keep it cold and that same tahine-salted rim. Speaking of tequilas, the Tampa Palms Don Julio’s serves many upscale brands, as well as a variety of mezcals, plus other premium liquors and a large variety of Mexican and domestic beers on tap and in bottles.
The menu includes a variety of other craft cocktails, as well as flights of house margaritas in a number of flavors, Yave Tequilas and cervezas.
Moving On To The Entrées…
The feasting did not stop with the starters. We sampled both tender steak and perfectly seasoned chicken fajitas, both served on sizzling plates with crisp, sautéed onions, red and green peppers, with creamy refried beans and Mexican rice.
We also were served a tasty trio of enchiladas — one shredded chicken, one with ground beef and the third with Mexican cheese, although any combination is allowed.
“Our enchilada sauce is unlike any other you’ll find in this area,” Julio said. “My Abuelita’s recipe definitely lives on here!”
We also were treated to another of Julio’s favorites (and now, mine) — the pork carnitas, which are first slow-cooked and then deep-fried until they are crispy outside, but moist and tender inside. The enchiladas and carnitas also are served with the Mexican rice and refried beans.
Despite everything we got to try, the huge menu at Don Julio’s also has pollo ranchero (sautéed chicken cooked with tomatoes, onions and Serrano peppers), breaded Milanesa chicken or steak, carne asada or bistec ranchero steak, a Mexican bowl called Tazon and a variety of shrimp dishes I can’t sample.
Neither the tender, tasty carnitas (pork chunks) (Above) nor the trio of enchiladas (Above Left) will leave you feeling disappointed…or still hungry!
The only thing we didn’t save room for was dessert, but we will be back to try the fried churros with caramel, chocolate or lechera (sweetened, condensed milk) dip. There also are other favorites like a traditional Mexican flan, fried ice cream, fried choco banana with vanilla ice cream, “Sopapillas” pastries dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar and more.
Julio says Don Julio’s also is the only place you can have Mexican brunch every day — from traditional Huevos Rancheros to a burrito breakfast, Chilaquiles (corn tortilla pieces) & Eggs and Tacos Huevos (eggs) & Chorizo.
Don Julio’s is proud to have won “Best Mexican Restaurant” and “Best Taco” in Tampa for four years in a row from “Lo Mejor de Tampa” (The Best of Tampa Bay), a local Hispanic website.
Let Don Julio’s Entertain You!
The Tampa Palms location of Don Julio’s also offers “Cinco Musical Bingo” every Thursday, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., as well as strolling mariachi bands every Friday and Saturday night.
But of course, the biggest event of the year at both locations will be the Cinco de Mayo party, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, and will include outside tables, music, specials and more. Look for additional information about the Cinco de Mayo parties at both locations in the ad in our next issue.
Don Julio’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant (16023 Tampa Palms Blvd. & 2808 E. Bearss Ave.) are both open Sun.-Thur., 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. For Tampa Palms, call (813) 644-7899. For Bearss Ave., call (813) 898-2860. For reservations and more info about either location, visit DonJuliosMexican.com, visit them on Facebook or Instagram.
Cantarito The churros are just one of many authentic Mexican desserts at Don Julio’s. (Photo provided by Don Julios)
As much as I love doing the dining reviews for my publications, I’m sure you long-time readers are aware that Indian food has always been something of a hit-or-miss proposition for my taste.
So, when I heard that Persis Indian Grill was moving into the space previously occupied by Omnivorous (adjacent to Double Branch Brewing) in The Grove, I didn’t know what to expect.
Well, rest assured that the first authentic Indian restaurant to open in Wesley Chapel (outside of the clubhouse at Anand Vihar in Meadow Pointe) is an upscale (yet still casual and affordable) restaurant which offers a huge menu of favorites from what seems to be every region of the Indian subcontinent.
The owner, who goes by Harry, admits that he has never owned a restaurant before but I have to say that his recipes, handed down from not only his own family, but also the family recipes of his chef and many of his employees, are as good as any Indian cuisine I’ve sampled, which includes at least a half-dozen places located in New Tampa.
I basically always try the menu items that I’m more likely to enjoy on my first visit, which in the case of Persis, was just a couple of weeks ago, less than two weeks after the new restaurant first opened.
And, I’m happy to report that the butter naan bread at Persis (not pictured) has a delicious grilled flavor and just the right amount of butter. Harry suggested that I try the garlic naan on my next visit, “because it adds a different flavor when you eat it along with our other food.”
I also had to try two of my other usual favorites — the Tandoori lamb chops (top photo) and the Indo Chinese style chicken fried rice (right photo), both of which were outstanding.
The sizzling lamb chops were tender and not over-seasoned and the fried rice had delicious chunks of chicken, as well as tasty veggies, egg and spices. I planned to bring most of both items home, but I brought home a lot less fried rice than I planned because I couldn’t stop taking additional bites.
Harry says he has applied for a beer and wine license but alcohol is not currently being served at Persis. Even so, great job, Harry & crew!
Persis Indian Grill (5956 Wesley Grove Blvd., Suite 106) is open every day except Monday for lunch and dinner. For more info, visit PersisWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 388-2245.
