Nibbles & Bytes!

Check Out Al-Sham Palace!

In my Nibbles & Bytes column last issue, I told you about a new Jamaican restaurant with authentic cuisine. This time around, I’m going to let you in on one of New Tampa’s best-kept secrets if you love truly authentic Middle Eastern food.

It’s called Al-Sham Palace, located at 19651 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., in the Pebble Creek Collection, the plaza behind Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. Al-Sham Palace, which has been open for around a year or more, is owned and operated by Hadil Simreen, who says that her restaurant’s cuisine features authentic Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian-style versions of classic Middle Eastern dishes that are usually “Americanized” (my word, not hers) at most other places.

So, whether you like authentically spicy beef or chicken shawarma sandwiches (photo, left) with tahine or tzatziki sauce, or delicious steak kababs with nicely grilled onions, falafel, fried kebbie, hummus or tabouleh, Al-Sham Palace is your place!

And, with the coupon in the ad in our latest New Tampa issue, you can get $5 off any purchase of $30 or more (restrictions do apply)!

 For more info, search “Al-ShamPalace” on Facebook, stop in or call (813) 907-8233 and please tell Hadil that I sent you! 

Las Palmas Goes Back-To-Back!

Even though I personally still prefer their amazing merluza a la Russe (crispy fish with “Russian” sauce) and lechon asado (roasted pork), if you’re looking for the Best Cuban Sandwich in Tampa, it’s hard to argue against the still-new Las Palmas Latin Grill, located next to Five Guys at 6431 E. County Line Rd. (across from LA Fitness and Winn-Dixie).

Co-owner/chef Ramses Garcia and his wife Ana (photo above) were thrilled to have been awarded the title of “World’s Best Historic Cuban Sandwich” — for the second year in a row — at the 8th annual International Cuban Sandwich Festival, again held in historic Ybor City.

In other words, no matter what Cuban fare you prefer, you can’t go wrong at the new Las Palmas Latin Grill!

For more info, stop in or call (813) 803-3903 and please tell Ana and Ramses that I sent you! 

Smallcakes Is Open!

Are you looking for a new and delicious dessert place? Smallcakes has opened in the Shoppes at The Pointe in Tampa Palms. Located at 17010 Palm Pointe Dr., between Ciccio Cali and our friends at the Palms Pharmacy, Smallcakes features 12 signature flavors (photo above) of full-sized cupcakes, special flavors daily, plus homemade ice cream, and the brother-and-sister co-owners Justin and Marissa Dewdney are Freedom High grads. And, although they both live about an hour away, they say they chose the Tampa Palms location because they had sampled Smallcakes in a couple of other places and felt that our area would love it.

Established in Kansas City, MO, in 2008, Smallcakes now has more than 200 stores (many in Texas and Georgia), including the closest ones to us, in Oldsmar and Lakeland.

Marissa and Justin also say that anyone who thinks that “print is dead” doesn’t realize the power of the Neighborhood News, as they have had “dozens of people” telling them that they heard about Smallcakes from my recent small writeups in this column. And, considering that Smallcakes is located in the same area as Ciccio Cali, Koizi, Palm Thai, Stonewood, Olive Garden and Red Lobster, I told the Dewdneys that they should offer a special cupcake deal to anyone who brings in a receipt from any of the aforementioned eateries!

For more info, call (813) 442-4938 or visit SmallcakesCupcakery.com and please bring them those receipts!

Here & There, This & That…

• I mentioned last issue that it wasn’t very long ago when there were as many as three frozen yogurt shops in New Tampa alone, but today there is just one, La Berry Yogurt Café, which we incorrectly reported as closed in our Mar 22 New Tampa issue, although it is has been under new ownership for a little over a month. Please go and try La Berry and tell them that I sent you!

• Although I personally enjoyed the German specialties (schnitzel!) at the former Prost Kitchen & Bar in the Palms Connection Plaza at 2802 E. Bearss Ave. (between BBD and Livingston Ave.), the owners of the pub decided to take it in a different direction.

Only open under its new name — Bearss Tavern & Tap (although the outside sign says “Bearss Kitchen & Bar”) — for a week or so at our press time, the redesigned restaurant has retained some of the old menu (including an artisan grilled cheese sandwich, served with tomato bisque), but has added many new items I am excited to try. The one sandwich I did sample when I stopped in — a pesto grilled chicken sandwich (photo above) on crispy sourdough bread — was excellent. I also look forward to trying the chargrilled chicken penne pasta, the artisan pizzas and the flatiron steak frites. Stop in, call (813) 466-5249 or visit BearssTavern.com and tell them I sent you!

• Sadly, while I thought that the new Rice n’ Beans was set to open in the former Cody’s Roadhouse space on WC Blvd. shortly after our last issue came out, it still wasn’t open as I went to press with this issue. The Lutz Rice n’ Beans closed two months ago. — GN

Cypress Creek Town Center Lands Three More Restaurants

Bloomin’ Brands, which is well-known locally for opening the first Outback Steakhouse in Tampa in 1988, is looking to bring three of its other restaurants to the Cypress Creek Town Center on S.R. 56.

The Tampa-based company met on April 23 with Pasco County officials and submitted preliminary plans for building a Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and an Aussie Grill by Outback on the northeast corner of the S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd. intersection., west of the Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar that will open in less than two months.

The Bonefish Grill, which has a location on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. just south of S.R. 56, will be 5,585 sq. ft. and will seat 195 customers, while the Carrabba’s Italian Grill is proposed for 6,438 sq. ft. and 229 seats for customers. The two restaurants will be next to each other facing S.R. 56.

The Aussie Grill by Outback, the company’s first fast-casual take on the Outback Steakhouse model, was developed for international growth – it has locations in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Tampa will see opening of a location at the International Plaza food court this month.

At the Cypress Creek Town Center, the Aussie Grill will have seating for 72 customers in a 2,800-sq.ft. space.

Chick-fil-A On S.R. 54 Sets The Date


What we first reported in 2015 is about to become a reality.

Chick-fil-A will open its second Wesley Chapel location, at 28295 S.R. 54, on Thursday, May 2.

In its traditional, 15-year fashion, Chick-fil-A will hold a First 100 event, allowing the first 100 customers in line at the Grand Opening to win free meals (consisting of a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, medium waffle potato fries and a medium beverage) for a year.

There will be a First 100 Campout party, with games and Chick-fil-A food, leading into the morning opening. You will be able to register in the new store’s parking lot beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1.

The event is open to guests who live in the vicinity of the restaurant, so make sure you check out the eligible zip codes RIGHT HERE.

Prizes will be awarded shortly before 6 a.m. on May 2, and the restaurant will open shortly afterward.

Jim Larreau, a Tampa native, will operate the new Chick-fil-A. He is transferring from St. Petersburg’s Chick-fil-A at Tyrone Blvd. restaurant, where his team earned the Symbol of Success – Chick-fil-A’s highest honor for its Operators.

Larreau is partnering with Bridging Freedom to combat domestic minor sex trafficking during his grand opening celebration. He is encouraging First 100 participants and guests taking part in the Wesley Chapel event to bring items such as individual craft kits, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, healthy snacks and gardening seeds during the grand opening week to be donated to Bridging Freedom.

Chick-fil-A always seem to have long lines, but Larreau says, “I hope to be the quickest Chick-fil-A drive thru in the Southeast.”

Sprouts, 12 others signed up for Hunter’s Lake project

New Tampa’s first green grocer, Sprouts Farmers Market, is prepping construction on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. across from the main entrance Hunter’s Green, and according to the developer’s listing on its website, it already has some neighboring businesses waiting to move in as well.

Regency Centers, which is developing The Village at Hunter’s Lake project along with Harrison Bennett Properties, shows the 29,257-sq.-ft. Sprouts as the anchor of the much-anticipated mixed-use project, although there also are 12 other tenants ready to fill the retail shopping strip.

And, six of the retail spaces are still available. A map on the Regency Centers website lists a row of businesses that have apparently already signed leases, ranging from health and beauty businesses to a few places to grab a bite to eat or have a coffee.

The Village at Hunter’s Lake across from the Hunter’s Green entrance is starting to take shape.

The Village at Hunter’s Lake, which in total will have 71,397 sq. ft. of commercial space, will have — not surprisingly — a Starbucks, according to the website. 

Three other places in the development will offer food and drink. Poke Island Plus, featuring traditional Hawaiian dishes of cubed raw fish and other fresh ingredients, is among them.

Poke is one of the hot, trendy food items in the country at the moment, and another similar restaurant, Poke Point, recently opened on the west side of BBD, a couple of miles north of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.

It won’t be the only eatery offering healthy bowls of food in The Village at Hunter’s Lake. Grain & Berry, a quickly growing local chain that hopes to have 100 stores statewide by the end of the year, is also scheduled to lease a location in the commercial project.

Founded in 2017, Grain & Berry has seven locations in the Tampa Bay area (the nearest being on E. Fowler Ave.) and specializes in acai bowls. 

Dubbing itself a superfoods cafe, Grain & Berry offers fresh pressed juices, hearty avocado toasts and international coffees, in addition to bowls filled with acai — a purple berry rich in antioxidants — and varieties of different fruits and grains.

But Wait, There’s More!

And, if you’re going to be looking for something maybe a little more hearty, Via Italia Woodfired Pizza & Bar is also listed on the Regency Centers website (as Double Zero Pizza) as headed to New Tampa.

Other spaces are leased by chains like Pure Beauty Salon, T-Mobile, Heartland Dental, Hair Cuttery, Pink & White Nails and Nationwide Vision Center.

The Coder School, a franchise founded in 2014 and headquartered in Silicon Valley that teaches computer coding to children year-round, also is slated to be located in the The Villages at Hunter’s Lake.

Permit requests also have been submitted to Hillsborough County to build two monument signs and a screen wall, as well as a 3,200-sq.-ft. Banfield Pet Hospital.

The Haven at Hunter’s Lake

Voicemail messages left at Regency Centers we’re not returned.

The Village at Hunter’s Lake project, originally approved by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners by a 7-0 vote in 2014, will be built on an 80-acre parcel that also will include a 30,000-sq.-ft. New Tampa Cultural Center, a dog park and a four-story, 241-unit multi-family project to be called The Haven at Hunter’s Lake.

The project, located in the heart of New Tampa, has long been referred to as a potential “downtown” for our area, as well as the area’s version of the popular and trendy Hyde Park development in South Tampa.

Nibbles & Bytes: Jamaican Cuisine Is Here!

Ya, Mon! The Hummingbird Jerk House Is Open!!

So, if you like authentic — and I mean truly authentic — Jamaican cuisine, you really need to check out the new Hummingbird Jerk House, which opened at the end of last month in the space in North Palms Village (at 17631 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit F) formerly occupied by Dairy Queen (next to Oakley’s Grille).  

So, those who love braised oxtail, goat or chicken curry, jerk or brown stew chicken (or snapper; the sauce is amazing!), Jamaican beef patties, coco bread, cow foot and even escoveitch (photo below) — which is a whole snapper, fried, then covered with onions, sliced carrots, scotch bonnet, pepper and vinegar — this is your place.

I will say that every time I’ve been there, the place has been packed with happy diners, many of whom told me they were on their third or fourth visit, even though the place had only been open a month or so at our press time. Please note that the full menu listed at TheHummingbirdJerkHouse.com isn’t yet always available, but owner Patrick Murrel and his staff’s daily menu board keeps getting closer to the full menu every time I’m there. 

For more info, call (813) 512-2558 and please tell Patrick and his crew that I sent you! 

Twistee Treat Is Open In The Chap!

Even though there’s been one on BBD in New Tampa for several years, folks in Wesley Chapel seem to be very excited about the recent opening of the new Twistee Treat on an outparcel of the Wesley Chapel Village Market on BBD, just south of S.R. 54.

Our video about Wesley Chapel’s new Twistee Treat (5258 Village Market) had a Facebook reach of nearly 13,000 people and was viewed more than 8,500 times!

If you go to check it out, please tell the folks at the new Twistee Treat that you read/heard about them from the Neighborhood News!

Here & There,  This & That…

• It wasn’t very long ago when there were as many as three frozen yogurt shops in New Tampa alone, but today there is just one, as Frogury closed recently. The lone survivor is La Berry Yogurt Café, which we incorrectly reported as closed in our Mar 22 New Tampa issue, although it is now under new ownership.

Of course, here in Wesley Chapel, we have not only Happy Cow and Menchie’s but also multiple gas stations serving “FroYo.”

• On the other hand, the new Smallcakes is now open. Located between Ciccio Cali and our friends at the Palms Pharmacy (in Tampa Palms), it will carry a variety of delicious cupcakes, but also homemade ice cream. The Oldsmar location (3705 Tampa Rd.) reportedly has been very successful. 

• Also closing over the last few months was Tarek’s Café in Tampa Palms, although those who enjoy Tarek’s home-style cooking can still visit the original location on the USF Campus, just off BBD Blvd., south of E. Fletcher Ave.

• Sadly, while I originally believed that the new Rice n’ Beans was set to open in the former Cody’s Roadhouse space on WC Blvd. shortly after our last issue came out, it still looked to be at least a couple of more weeks away as I went to press with this issue, although a Google search landing page says it should be open before this issue reaches you. The Lutz Rice n’ Beans closed almost two months ago.

Congrats, WC Rotary & PEF!

My sincere congratulations go out to the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, which meets Wednesdays at noon at Omari’s Grill at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, which hosted a super-successful fourth annual Duck Fest at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on U.S. Hwy. 41 in Land O’Lakes on March 10. 

That Rotary Club is the one my wife (see page 1) Jannah Nager belongs to and although the event raised more than $5,000 to benefit the club’s selected nonprofit charities — Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and the Pasco Sheriff’s K-9 Assn. — the primary goal of event chair Jodie Sullivan and her outstanding committee was to make the Duck Fest an even more family-friendly event and there’s no doubt they succeeded. 

There were literally hundreds of families on hand for the event, where thousands of small rubber ducks were blasted by hoses operated by the Pasco County Fire Rescue Department, with the top 50 or so ducks to reach the finish line earning their “owners” a great prize — including a top cash prize of $1,000 for the first-place duck!

All major sponsors of the Duck Fest were invited to decorate much larger-sized rubber ducks and several local businesses were awarded trophies for their decorations. Our favorite was the award-winning “Goddess Laguna” duck (decorated by NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net’s own Mollyana Ward and her cohort Kim Brierly at Lagoon Realty.

The Rotary Duck Fest also featured a super-cool Classic Car Show (photo, left) and an appearance and demonstration by Titan, one of PCSO’s amazing K-9 officers.

• I also want to congratulate Jannah and everyone at the Pasco Education Foundation — the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports Pasco County’s schools — for hosting their most successful (ever) Foundation Ball at Heritage Springs Country Club in the Trinity area of New Port Richey, raising about $140,000 to pay for scholarships for graduating high school seniors and stipends for teachers in Pasco schools.

And remember, the WC Rotary’s 2nd annual “Hats & Horses” Derby Party is Saturday, May 4! — GN