Tell Us Your Favorite Burger Places In New Tampa & Wesley Chapel! 

We are giving you another chance to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35 to the restaurant of your choice! One entry per person, per question. Please vote for your Favorite Burger Place in (or near) New Tampa & Wesley Chapel by clicking HERE! This is always one of the toughest categories because so many restaurants serve burgers that people like — and we only ask you to name one as your favorite. 

Whether or not you already answered any of our other dining questions, you’re still eligible to have a second chance to enter and win free dining by also telling us your Favorite Latin Restaurant in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel.

Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area! 

All we’ve been asking you to do is to please check the zip codes of the restaurants you choose, but that has still been something of a problem for several of the people who have entered so far. 

Please don’t forget that we include restaurants located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 or S.R. 54, within two miles of I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries; and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. (both are located in zip code 33613) as acceptable places to vote for in New Tampa. 

Please also be sure to completely fill out the entry forms, whether from our print publications, on our website or by email, because we have had a few people — out of almost 900 total entries so far — try to enter with just their first name only, and others who took the time to send us an entry without naming any restaurants. 

Despite those issues, it definitely appears (as we expected) that more of you like this year’s format — with no more than two questions for you to answer in each issue — than in the recent past, when we asked a full page of questions for you to answer in multiple issues. 

Remember, whether you enter by mail, email or on our website, there is never any purchase necessary to enter and win, but we do need your first AND last name, the community you live in, your daytime telephone number and a valid email address to be eligible to win any of our FREE dining prizes — and please enter all of your Survey entries by no later than November 1 to be eligible to win prizes! 

As always, there’s no purchase necessary to enter or win a prize. All we ask is that you follow the following rules: 

1. Enter by filling out the entry form in the issue or HERE.

2. You can mail us your filled-out entry form (send it to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest,” 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544) or email it to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. *Note-Entries filled out on our website do not need to be mailed or emailed to us. 

3. Please check the addresses and zip codes of the restaurants you choose, as we will only consider votes for restaurants in zip code 33543, 33544 and 33545 (Wesley Chapel), 33647, the portion of zip code 33559 (Lutz) and in the Oak Ramble Plaza (33613) as valid votes.

4. In order to be eligible to win any of our free dining prizes to the restaurant of your choice, your entry form with a response to at least one of our questions over the next five months must include your full name, the community you live in (Hunter’s Green, Grand Hampton, etc.), a daytime phone number where you can be reached and your valid email address.

We look forward to seeing how this year’s contest shakes out. Good luck! â€” GN

Name Your Favorite Latin (NOT Mexican) Restaurants In Our Areas To Win FREE Dining! 

Enter Our 2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest!

Here’s yet another chance to win FREE dining to the restaurant of your choice! One entry per person, per question. Please vote for your Favorite Place for Latin Food in our distribution areas by clicking HERE! Please do not vote for a Mexican or Southwest restaurant for this Survey question. The Mexican places in our areas will have their own category. In other words, whether your Favorite Latin restaurant serves Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Cuban or a mix of Latin cuisines, please name that place! 

We are giving you another chance to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35!

Whether or not you already answered any of our other dining questions, you’re still eligible to have a second chance to enter and win free dining by also telling us your Favorite Latin Restaurant in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel.

Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area! 

All we’ve been asking you to do is to please check the zip codes of the restaurants you choose, but that has still been something of a problem for several of the people who have entered so far. 

Many of the nearly 700 readers who already have submitted entries have named restaurants in Wesley Chapel as among their favorites in New Tampa and vice-versa. We’ve also had people naming restaurants in Dade City, Zephyrhills and Land O’Lakes as their favorites in our distribution areas, which they are not. 

And, this is despite the fact that we also include restaurants located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 or S.R. 54, within two miles of I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries, and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. (both are located in zip code 33613) as acceptable places to vote for in New Tampa. 

We also have had some people try to enter with just their first name only, and others taking the time to send us an entry without naming any restaurants. 

Despite those issues, it definitely appears (as we expected) that more of you like this year’s format — with no more than two questions for you to answer in each issue — than in the recent past, when we asked a full page of questions for you to answer in multiple issues. 

Remember, whether you enter by mail, email or on our website, there is never any purchase necessary to enter and win, but we do need your first AND last name, the community you live in, your daytime telephone number and a valid email address to be eligible to win any of our FREE dining prizes. Your votes will still count, but why enter if you don’t want a chance to win? Everybody likes free dining, don’t they?

As always, there’s no purchase necessary to enter or win a prize. All we ask is that you follow the following rules: 

1. Enter by filling out the entry form in the issue or HERE.

2. You can mail us your filled-out entry form (send it to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest,” 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544) or email it to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. *Note-Entries filled out on our website do not need to be mailed or emailed to us. 

3. Please check the addresses and zip codes of the restaurants you choose, as we will only consider votes for restaurants in zip code 33543, 33544 and 33545 (Wesley Chapel), 33647, the portion of zip code 33559 (Lutz) and in the Oak Ramble Plaza (33613) as valid votes.

4. In order to be eligible to win any of our free dining prizes to the restaurant of your choice, your entry form with a response to at least one of our questions over the next five months must include your full name, the community you live in (Hunter’s Green, Grand Hampton, etc.), a daytime phone number where you can be reached and your valid email address.

We look forward to seeing how this year’s contest shakes out. Good luck! â€” GN

Have You Entered Our 2023 Dining Survey & Contest Yet?

So far, we have asked you to name your Five Favorite Restaurants in Wesley Chapel, Your Five Favorites in New Tampa & Your Favorite Pizza & Sushi places in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel. If you’ve only responded to one or two of our questions, you can still respond to any of our Dining Survey & Contest questions for your chance to win FREE dining prizes (to the restaurant of your choice) of $100, $60 or $35. Click below to enter and answer any of these questions and look for additional chances to win in every issue of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News through the end of October!

Click HERE to enter your Five Favorite Restaurants in Wesley Chapel

Click HERE to enter your Five Favorites in New Tampa & Your Favorite Pizza

Click HERE to enter your Sushi places in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel

Tell Us Your Favorite Sushi Place In New Tampa & Wesley Chapel To Win FREE Dining!

Enter Our 2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest!

Here’s yet another chance to win FREE dining to the restaurant of your choice! One entry per person, per question. Below, please name just your Favorite Sushi Place in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel! Even if you already named your favorite Pizza Place last issue, you can still enter again by clicking HERE!

We are giving you another chances to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35!

Whether or not you already told us your favorite pizza place last issue, you’re still eligible to have a second chance to enter and win free dining by also telling us your Favorite Sushi Place in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel.

Just fill out the entry forms online or mail your entry to us at 2023 Neighborhood News Reader Dining Survey & Contest, 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544, or email your entry to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area!

All we ask is that you please check the zip codes of the restaurants you choose and remember not to name any Wesley Chapel restaurants as your favorites in New Tampa on the entry form.

We also include restaurants located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 and S.R. 54 (within no more than two miles from I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. as acceptable places to eat in New Tampa.

As always, there’s no purchase necessary to enter or win a prize. All we ask is that you follow the following rules: 

1. Enter by filling out the entry form in the issue or HERE. 

2. You can mail us your filled-out entry form (send it to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest,” 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544) or email it to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. *Note-Entries filled out on our website do not need to be mailed or emailed to us. 

3. Please check the addresses and zip codes of the restaurants you choose, as we will only consider votes for restaurants in zip code 33543, 33544 and 33545 (Wesley Chapel), 33647, the portion of zip code 33559 (Lutz) and in the Oak Ramble Plaza (33613) as valid votes.

4. In order to be eligible to win any of our free dining prizes to the restaurant of your choice, your entry form with a response to at least one of our questions over the next five months must include your full name, the community you live in (Hunter’s Green, Grand Hampton, etc.), a daytime phone number where you can be reached and your valid email address.

We look forward to seeing how this year’s contest shakes out. Good luck! â€” GN

Nibbles & Bites: Kabob Café & Grill Replaces Tessa’s Sweet Café In Highwoods

I feel bad that I didn’t know in advance that Tessa’s Sweet CafĂ© (located at 18101 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., across from the AMC movie theater), which was home to some of the most delicious Korean-style fried chicken ever, was closing. 

Well, not only did Tessa’s already close, it’s already been replaced by the Kabob Café & Grill, an authentic Pakistani eatery that opened just a few days before we went to press with this issue.

Even though I lived for years in New York City, which has every type of international cuisine, I had never sampled Pakistani food before, so I tried Kabob Café’s chicken kabobs (left photo) and a sparkly mango-peach boba tea (there are 18 varieties of boba teas) and both were tasty. The kabobs were not skewered cubes of meat, but were instead well-spiced (but not overly spicy) sausage-style tubes of ground chicken. 

For those who still don’t know where the Kabob Café is located, it was best-known as the long-time home of Sukhothai before becoming Tessa’s.

Although the restaurant’s management is planning to expand the menu, the opening menu features chicken or mutton korma (cooked with yogurt, onions & spices), plus Pakistani versions of several Indian-style dishes, such as chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, chicken or mutton biryani, plus four different vegetarian dishes. 

For more info, call (813) 405-8740 and tell them I sent you! -GN

Lotte Plaza Market Could Open By Sometime In September!

The opening of the new Lotte Plaza Market in the former location of a Sweetbay supermarket (next to Home Depot) has been one of the most hotly anticipated in New Tampa.

And, although we still have no official confirmation about when New Tampa’s Lotte Plaza Market is expected to open, my most recent visit to the construction site of the #1 chain of Asian and Korean supermarkets in Maryland and Virginia (with 14 total locations, including one each in New Jersey and Orlando) revealed that not only has a sign finally gone up on the building, but also that the interior renovations to the long-vacant 49,432-sq.-ft. building were actually nearing completion.

Every Lotte location features fresh (and unique) produce, meat and fish departments, as well as a food court serving a variety of cuisine types. On my most recent visit, I met one such food court tenant, who told me that the building had not yet had (or passed) all of its needed inspections before it could open, but that he was hoping our Lotte could open “by late September or October.” — GN