The Chicken Boss opened this weekend to big sales.
When The Grove developer Mark Gold first started filling the many spaces at his KRATE Container Park, most of us realized that not all of the restaurants and retail shops that started out in a KRATE would last very long. Although we may not have known which would succeed and which would fail, you had to know that some wouldnât make it.
Until recently, only a couple of retail KRATEs had gone the way of the dinosaur. But now, several more changes have either recently taken place or were on the way â and we have an exclusive look at the new and planned moves at the container park.
The first-ever restaurant KRATE to close is Falafel Factory, which shut its doors last month. That set off a couple of changes that, quite honestly, weâre pretty excited to announce.
Falafel Factoryâs space between Pisco Express and Palaniâs Hawaiâi Noodles has been taken over by TJâs Hot Dogs, which previously occupied the space next to the The Bacon Boss HQ.
And, while TJâs already is open in its new space, The Bacon Boss owners Josh and Christy Norland quickly followed suit and opened their new concept â The Chicken Boss â this weekend in the former TJâs location this weekend. The turnout was impressive, say the owners.
Christy says The Chicken Bossâ menu focuses on hand-breaded chicken tenders. And, based on the love The Bacon Boss HQ has received from our readers (it was voted the #1 Favorite KRATE in our 2022 Reader Dining Survey) and from yours truly (it was my #4 favorite KRATE), Iâm sure The Chicken Boss will be equally successful â as, I expect, TJâs also will continue to be in its new space.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Urban Sweets, the currently vacant former location of Center Ed tutoring center will reopen as the second Blush Wine Room at KRATE, but owners Felicia and Nimesh Desai say that the new location will be solely a champagne and wine-based cocktail bar with a dozen slushie machines.
The original Blush location will focus on other wines and, we hope, perhaps expand its current menu of delicious food items, although anything on the Blush menu will still be available at the new location, too. The new Blush will open before the end of March.
3Eleven owner Shareeka Screen
Two new non-food KRATEs also recently opened in previously shuttered retail locations, both of which we first told you about in our Dec. 26 issue. The first is 311 Aroma Candle Studio, which is a do-it-yourself candlemaking âbar,â with nearly two dozen different fragrances â from apple & maple bourbon to Froot Loops and many more.
3Eleven owner Shareeka Screen offers classes for beginners and sessions for experienced candlemakers and calls 3Eleven âan interactive experience bringing people and families together to explore and create through the power of creativity.â
Plus, the place smells delicious.
And, Shareeka is the sister of Yuhanna Alahmary of Radiant Wellness Spa, and 3Eleven Aroma, Blush and Mythos will all be on-hand at Radiantâs Health & Wellness Fair on Sunday, March 19.
Speaking of Mythos, it is now open in the former location of The Rebellious Hippie at the KRATEs. Mythos is an eclectic gift shop with cool T-shirts, plush toys, candles and knickknacks for your home and more.
And finally, next to Life Essentials Refillery, Valiart Designs (which previously was called Valiart Jewelry), will become the Tutti Frutti Cafe, which will sell all things fruit — fresh fruit smoothies and creative fruit desserts.
It is owned by Stacy Esposito and Eddie Nasr, who also own Cafe Zorba. They hope to open the Tutti Frutti Cafe by April. â GNÂ Â
The last of the 29 restaurants to open at the KRATE Container Park at The Grove in Wesley Chapel is Cafe Zorba, which serves delicious Greek and Mediterranean cuisine from the former owners of Acropolis Greek Taverna in New Tampa.
Cafe Zorba owners Stacy Esposito and her husband Eddie Nasr are proud to bring you authentic recipes with unique flavor touches that Eddie says are mainly his recipes from his childhood in the Republic of Cyprus, which is an independent nation on the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea between Greece, Turkey and Syria. Although his parents were Lebanese, Eddie says his Cypriot recipes have been strongly influenced by the cuisine of Greece.
On these pages, youâll find some of our favorite dishes at Cafe Zorba, a name inspired by the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis that earned Anthony Quinn an Oscar nomination for the 1964 movie of the same name.
The top left photo, of course, is the delicious Greek-style calamari, which is delicately crispy and served with a side of marinara sauce and kalamata olives.
âIf you visit Greece and you donât have the calamari,â Eddie says, âitâs like you never visited Greece. There is tons of calamari in the Mediterranean.â
Other starters at Cafe Zorba include tzatziki (Greek yogurt with freshly grated cucumbers, garlic and herbs with olive oil, served with pita), hummus (fresh chickpea spread with garlic and tahini, topped with virgin olive oil and tomatoes), dolmades (grapevine leaves stuffed with rice, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs, topped with crumbled feta) and the crispy and delicious Greek fries with aioli, feta and a side of tzatziki.
The photo to the left is the traditional Cypriot fried halloumi cheese, which is made from a semi-soft brined cheese with a high melting point, so itâs perfect for deep-frying. The halloumi rectangles are served with pita bread, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.
The bottom photo on this page is, of course, the crispy spanakopita, or light and flaky phyllo pastry dough, stuffed with spinach and feta, served with a side Greek salad. Speaking of Cafe Zorbaâs Greek salad, it is served with a similarly zesty, creamy Greek dressing to what you might remember from Acropolis.
My favorite entrees at Cafe Zorba are the lamb gyro wrap (also available with chicken â and the daily lunch special from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. gives you a gyro, fries and drink for only $15) and the chicken, pork or beef souvlaki platters, which are served with what may be the best, most savory orzo rice Iâve had in this area (or those crispy fries), as well as a Greek salad. The photo above is the chicken souvlaki platter.
Save room for dessert, as the options include regular baklava, baklava cheesecake, chocolate-covered baklava, tiramisu, Eddieâs homemade rice pudding and my favorite â the Zorba chocolate bombe filled with creamy milk and white chocolate mousse.
Cafe Zorba also sells a variety of beers, including Mythos from Greece, Almaza from Lebanon and many other imported and domestic options, as well as Greek and other delicious wines, plus coffee, soft drinks and Frazil shaved ice beverages.
And, the fun doesnât end when you walk outside of Cafe Zorba, as there are nearly 50 flavors to enjoy with hookah pipes. Gypsi (photo, right), an exotic belly dancer, performs on Friday evenings, beginning at 7 p.m.
Even though it was only open for a couple of weeks when the voting ended, our readers named Cafe Zorba their fourth favorite Greek or Mediterranean Restaurant in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel and I placed it in my top-5 Favorite KRATEs.
 Cafe Zorba is located at 5804 Grand Oro Lane, at the southern end of the KRATE container park. It is open Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Fri. and Sat.; and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sun. For more info, call (813) 388-5987 or visit Cafe-Zorba.com.
Tiger Woods has made it official — PopStroke Wesley Chapel/Tampa is opening at noon on Friday, Feb. 17.
The golf legend announced the opening via his Twitter account Thursday morning.
Located just north and east of the intersection of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd., PopStroke is co-owned by Woods and Craig Bartoli. TGR Design, which is Woodsâ golf course design company.
The Wesley Chapel location will feature two 18-hole courses â one will be harder than the other â featuring synthetic turf greens designed to mimic putting on real golf courses. The courses lack the usual mini-golf obstacles, instead focusing on a more realistic experience with undulated greens designed to challenge golfers of all ages, as well as fairways and sand traps.
The mini-golf is complemented by a 10,000-sq.-ft. restaurant and kidâs playground. The restaurant will feature premium food and drinks, as well as 24 different flavors of ice cream. Golfers can see their scores displayed on a large scoreboard, and even order drinks, via an app, that will be delivered to them on the course.
âItâs one of the only concepts I know of anywhere in world, really, where you can find a 3-, 8-. 27- and 80-year-old enjoying it to the same extent,â Bartoli said at the February 2022 groundbreaking.
KRATE: Blush Wine Room Although some of the locals Iâve talked to about the KRATE at The Grove Container Park complain that most of the restaurants are too expensive for what you get, Jannah and I absolutely love so many of them, I had to make a top-10 (actually, top-11) Favorite KRATE list, instead of just a top-5.
That being said, while there may be a dish or two at other KRATEs that we like as much as, say, the chicken parmigiana meatballs (photo) or the penne ala vodka pasta or chicken ala vodka flatbread at the Blush Wine Room, there is no other KRATE that has a better vibe or better food overall than Blush. We wish they were able to serve hard liquor there, but the rotating frozen wine-based cocktails are delish and you wonât find most of the available wines at Blush anywhere else.
Pisco Express, which too many locals tell me they havenât tried yet, offers authentic Peruvian Chinese fusion cuisine and lives up to the billing of Peruvian food being the best of the Latin cuisines. Try the ceviche!
FAVORITE ASIAN: Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill Even without a great, true New York-style Chinese place in either of our two markets, and even with Kobe Japanese Steakhouse not yet reopened, I believe we still have a tremendous variety of truly delicious Asian places in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.Â
Whether you prefer tasty Japanese, Thai, Indian, Korean or even Vietnamese cuisine, there is something for literally almost everyone to enjoy on the list below.
FAVORITE LATIN (NON-MEXICAN): Pisco Express This choice even surprised me, but the more Jannah and I eat at (or take out from) Pisco Express Peruvian Chinese Fusion, the more we love it. Â
The ceviche de pescado (fish), whether itâs snapper, basa or whatever fresh fish they have each day, is as good as youâll find anywhere, and the tallarin saltado (shown above with chicken) is amazing. And, there are still at least a dozen other options on Pisco Expressâ extensive menu I plan to try. Pisco has, in my opinion, surpassed Lima in New Tampa for the best Peruvian cuisine, but Lima still came in as my #4 on this list.
FAVORITE PIZZA: New York New York Pizza For those who have never heard this story before, I performed at a stand-up comedy show at The Improv in Ybor City at least ten years ago and all of the comics who performed met after the show at this little pizza place around the corner called New York New York Pizza. As a native New Yawka and avowed NY-style pizza fanatic, I was shocked at how good it was. I was even more surprised to find out that NY NY was in the process of opening on BBD Blvd. in Wesley Chapel! It instantly became one of my favorite pizza places in either of our distribution areas and has continued to be at or near #1 ever since â despite the fact there are several other really good NY pizza places in our area â and on the list below.Â
In fact, there are so many good ones that itâs really hard for anything other than a true NY-style place to finish very high on my list and there are even a few that didnât make the list again this year. In addition to the ten places shown below, if I was expanding the list, I could include Best NY Pizza, Capri Pizza-n-More, Caprese House, Pomodoro, Cappyâs, Cali, Bubbaâs 33, Rock & Brews, Main Event, Boscoâs and even places that serve flatbread-style pizza on my list, I just felt that this is a really yummy top-10. 2. Amiciâs 3. 900Âș Woodfired 4. 900Âș New York 5. Fratelliâs 6. Taste of NY 7. PizzaMania 8. Via Italia 9. Woodfired (Bearss) 10. Noble CrustÂ
FAVORITE FROZEN DESSERT: Ice Dreammm Shop Those of you who love the Ice Dreammm Shop as much as I do were probably stunned that this favorite, with locations at The Grove and off S.R. 54 in Lutz, didnât dominate this category with our readers again this year, as it did in 2021.
Thereâs no doubt in my mind, however, that owner Joe Schembriâs Ice Dreammm Shops serve the best ice cream in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel, whether youâre looking for alcohol-infused cones, cups or sundaes served on homemade cookies, brownies and bars or the most delicious array of toppings â although I love a lot of other local places, too.
Before I get into my other favorites, I also want it known up front that I prefer hard-packed ice cream to gelato, frozen yogurt or soft-serve. Thatâs just me. It doesnât mean I donât enjoy or ever indulge in any of the others, it just means that when Iâm not dieting and want a delicious frozen treat, Iâll almost always choose real ice cream.
Iâve always loved the different peanut butter and banana flavors at Brusterâs and Ice Screammmin is another New Tampa favorite of mine for those options. I also crave the decadent brownies from Mikeâs Pies with the locally made ice cream at the new Astro, but a cone or cup from any of the places shown below also will make me smile. 2. Brusterâs 3. Ice Screammminâ 4. Astro Ice Cream 5. Twistee Treat 6. Subzero 7. Coldstone 8. Culverâs 9. Hello Sweetness 10. 35 Below
FAVORITE BAR & TAVERN: Treble Makers Jannah and I have very different reasons why we love one bar or another â she wants her cosmopolitans light pink (not red) and wants a place with a list of other sweet cocktail options made with premium vodka. As the guy who pays, on the other hand, I just want my Jameson and other Irish, Scotch and bourbon whiskeys to be reasonably priced, full rocks pours with lots of ice instead of that hoity-toity single ice cube.Â
Treble Makers isnât the only place we both love to enjoy a cocktail or two, but it is the place we both prefer, especially for dinner on a Friday night, when most of the places near either of our local malls are total zoos. As a New Yawka, I refuse to wait 45 minutes to an hour to get to sit down (or to find parking), so places like Treble Makers, The Grill at Morris Bridge and Bayscape Bistro (at Heritage Isles Golf Club off Cross Creek Blvd.) will get the nod from us every time on busy nights.
We also appreciate friendly bartenders who make Jannahâs drinks properly and can find me on crowded nights, so Joe Whiskeyâs, Brass Tap, Fat Rabbit, Bubbaâs 33, the Top Shelf Sports Lounge and Noble Crust also make my list. Neither of us are drink beer, so beer-only bars will never be among our faves, but karaoke & live music places often will. 2. Grill at MB 3. Bayscape Bistro 4. Joe Whiskeyâs 5. Brass Tap 6. Fat Rabbit 7. Noble Crust 8. Bubbaâs 33 9. Via Italia 10. Living Room 11. Top Shelf 12. Florida Ave.
Despite what some online trolls say, the results of our 2022 Reader Dining Survey & Contest that we posted in our last issue of 2022 were an absolutely accurate accounting of the 400 or so total votes we received on our website and from mail-in ballots of our readers in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.
And, despite what some of those people may think â and claimed on our Facebook page â those results were not âfudgedâ in any way by yours truly. There actually were fewer than a dozen disqualified ballots this year for those who didnât put their names on their surveys and few other reasons, so virtually every vote we received was counted and accurately tabulated.
What I wonât claim, however, is that the Reader Survey results are an accurate depiction of what the majority of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents truly think are the best restaurants in our two distribution areas. Thereâs no doubt that 400 votes out of more than 60,000 households that we reach by mail (plus 14,000 people who follow us on Facebook) doesnât tell the full story, even though it does tell a story.
In part because Iâve never been happy with the number of chain restaurants that usually dominate the results with our readers, I will guarantee, however, that the places to eat in drink in and adjacent to our two distribution areas that Iâve named on this page and the nine pages that follow absolutely are my favorites in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, no matter what those trolls will try to convince you of otherwise. Here are the two most common complaints:
1) âGary only writes about & votes for the restaurants that advertise with him.â â Whether anyone believes it or not, part of the reason I try to sell certain restaurant owners on advertising in these pages is because I already like their restaurants. My wife will tell you that I make pretty good fish at home, but love it when a restaurant has truly fresh fish prepared in delicious ways. And, Iâve loved the fresh fish at both Treble Makers and The Grill at Morris Bridge since the day both opened. The only place in Wesley Chapel that, in my opinion, comes close to Treble Makersâ coconut curry grouper or wahoo (which, sadly, has been taken off the menu) is Grillsmith, and I donât like the rest of Grillsmithâs menu as much as I do the options at our areaâs only dueling piano bar.
But, if youâre not someone who eats or cares about fresh fish, while you may disagree with my choices â especially if you donât like your favorite dishes at any of my favorite places â I still stand behind my selections with not only my words on these pages but also with my money when I go out to eat.
And, while I do promise every dining advertiser that I will write a full-length Dining Feature story about them when they become advertisers, I do also write about every new restaurant that opens in either of our distribution areas, whether they ever spend a dollar with us or not. The reason I save the full-length features for our advertisers is because we have more than 70 ads in every issue and almost every advertiser wants a story â because it gets so many of them the best results of any local advertising they do, including online. With only 26 issues per year and 3-4 Business & Dining Feature stories in each issue, that doesnât leave much room for full-length non-advertiser stories, so a Nibbles column item is all I can offer those other eateries.
2) âGary only writes about & votes for the restaurants that agree to give him free food.â â This is the claim that actually makes me angry. Yes, some restaurant owners buy dinner for me and Jannah from time to time, especially after my reviews hit print, but I have never insisted that they â nor have I ever even asked them to â do so. In fact, I always have told any place that has bought more than one meal for us (or even just me) that they shouldnât do that and I always leave an even more substantial tip than I normally do when they insist on doing so.
Anyone who is making either of these claims (yes, especially you, Troll Jeffrey Brown) is not only lying, theyâve never seen the amount of money I spend locally to go out to eat. I guarantee that there is no one who lives in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel who spends more to dine out for two in our two distribution areas than I do â especially as a percentage of their annual income â and I will be happy to share an accounting of all the meals I didnât get for free from last year if any of my accuser(s) are willing to do the same. If theyâre within even $500 of what I spent, Iâll be shocked. So, bring it, Mr. Brown (as in, rhymes with âclownâ).
I love to cook, but my skills are extremely limited, and thereâs nothing Jannah and I love to do more than go out, sit at the bar and have a cocktail and a delicious meal at our favorite places â especially when there are a number of items on the menu we enjoy.
But, the one thing I can assure everyone of is that whether or not a place has ever spent a dollar on advertising in these pages or ever bought me even a single breakfast, lunch or dinner, neither of these two claims is accurate.
With trolls always hiding behind their anonymity, I canât control what they say, think or write, nor would I even try. What I can assure all of you is that none of those (Jack Zhort, Rick Carroll, etc.) who claim they know for fact what we, and especially I, do with regards to our content have never met me, had a meal or a beverage with me or actually ever discussed with me why they feel the way they do. I may be a âpompous a–â (right, Mr. Carroll?), but at least Iâm not afraid to stand behind my words, in print or online.
Anyway, as for my the lists on these pages, with all of the new places to eat in our areas, especially Wesley Chapel, it is getting much harder for me to pick not just a top-10 list of favorites, but even a top-25 or top-50, or to feel confident that every one of my selections is in its perfect place on each list.
For those who voted for Noble Crust to repeat as #1 in this yearâs survey, I assure you that Jannah and I also love the place, or it wouldnât make my top-10. But, despite its changing-by-season menu, the only fish that stays on the menu is salmon, and neither of us likes salmon. We also usually only take out pizza, no matter how good it may be. But, youâll still find us at Noble Crust from time to time, enjoying the meatball appetizer and a delicious cocktail at the bar. If you do find us there, feel free to say hi, as so many people do year after year â many of whom tell us the only reason they tried a place was because of this publication. â GNÂ Â
The coconut curry grouper at TrebleMakers.
GARY’S FAVORITE WESLEY CHAPEL RESTAURANTS OVERALL IN 2022 With all of the new restaurants that opened in Wesley Chapel in 2022, this was the hardest year ever for me to compile this list. I know some people disagree, but if you havenât had the always-fresh coconut curry grouper or seared tuna at Treble Makers, havenât tried the filet at Dempseyâs Too since the new ownership at Saddlebrook revamped the menu a couple of months ago, havenât sampled the chicken, spinach & riccotta cannelloni at Falabella Bistro or any of the amazing appetizers at Zukku-San, try âem and tell me you still donât think this is a legitimate top-10 list. Oh, and I am also partial to the always-fresh Short-Trip fish at Grillsmith, too.  1. TrebleMakers 2. Falabella Family Bistro 3. Dempseyâs Too 4. Zukku-San Sushi 5. Grillsmith 6. The Living Room 7. Noble Crust 8. Top Shelf Sports Lounge 9. Longhorn Steakhouse 10. Bluefin Japanese Restaurant
GARY’S FAVORITE NEW TAMPA RESTAURANTS OVERALL IN 2022 Not as many new restaurants opened in New Tampa as in Wesley Chapel in 2022, but many of the existing restaurants upgraded their offerings â including The Grill at Morris Bridge. If you havenât sampled the new tomahawk ribeye for two (photo) or bacon & parmesan-crusted mahi-mahi at The Grill, I urge you to give them both a try.
The Mahi Mahi at The Grill at Morris Bridge
If The Grill is my #1A this year, our perennial reader favorite Stonewood Grill & Tavern could be #1B (instead of #2), especially after adding its unique & tasty Manhattan Strip steak we showed you last issue to its regular menu.
Frammi & Via Italia also are neck-and-neck for me for Italian food (both have great pasta!), but I give Frammi the slight edge overall for its larger non-pizza variety, including an entire American food menu. Fat Rabbit, which brought back its own fresh fish option to go along with the best wings in town, rounds out my top-5.
The only new restaurant to make my top-10 this year is Ha Long Bay, the mostly Vietnamese Asian fusion place which opened after the Reader Survey voting ended. Also in my top-10 in New Tampa for the first time is Cantina, which also ascended to the top spot as my new Favorite Mexican Restaurant in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel. 1. The Grill at Morris Bridge 2. Stonewood Grill & Tavern 3. Frammi 4. Via Italia 5. Fat Rabbit 6. Acropolis Greek Taverna 7. Ha Long Bay 8. Bayscape Bistro 9. Cantina (CC Blvd.) 10. Liangâs Bistro
 Check back for more of Gary’s favorites by category this week!     Â
