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 CafĂ©, 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 CafĂ© 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

Our Exclusive Recap Of The 2019 Taste Of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel!

You could still hear the sound of skates skimming across the ice and children making their way around the rinks, but if you listened very closely on March 24, you might have also heard the sound of delighted taste buds.

“Mmmmm.”

Local food and beverage vendors invaded AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) for the third consecutive year, offering samples of some of their most popular dishes and drinks at the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel.

“I love Taste of New Tampa,” said New Tampa’s Debra Gilreath. “I love the venue, love the neighborhood, love the fact that it’s indoors. The variety of restaurants and vendors that are here is great and it’s easy to buy tickets online and it’s reasonable. Most tastes are two tickets or three tickets.”

Although the event has been held in the comfortable confines of AHCI for three  years, the Taste has been around since 1995, serving tasty morsels while also serving as a fund raiser for local charities supported by the Rotary Club of New Tampa and college scholarships given out to graduating high school seniors by the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC). 

Held at various locations over its more-than-two-decade run, but since a four-year hiatus beginning in 2013 (following the merger between the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the Wesley Chapel Chamber), the event has found a convenient, weather-proof home at AHCI.

Roughly 2,000 people attended this year’s event, which co-chair Karen Frashier said was stronger than ever and has become the Rotary Club of New Tampa’s biggest fund-raising event, although the club also puts on a successful Turkey Trot road race Thanksgiving morning every year. 

“Every year in June, the money raised from Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel and the Turkey Trot is given away to the charities we support,” said Frashier, a former president of the Rotary Club of New Tampa. “In 2018, we raised $46,000 (between the events) and donated it to our international foundation, End Polio Now, as well as 36 other local, nonprofit or school-related charities.”

Frashier also said that Rotary Feeds America, Feeding Tampa Bay, Meals on Wheels and the Fisher House residence at the James A. Haley VA Hospital are some of the other charities that will benefit from this year’s event. A 20-person committee of the 72-member club organized this year’s event that featured 38 restaurants and beverage purveyors and 34 non-restaurant sponsors.

The winner of the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel People’s Choice Award, which was determined by the weight of the Taste sample tickets collected by each restaurant, was first-time participant Bahama Breeze, followed by Noble Crust (up from third a year ago and a top-three finisher all three years at AHCI) and first-time participant the Ice Dreammm Shop.

According to Frashier, the top 10 restaurants, in alphabetical order, were:

Bahama Breeze

Chuy’s Fine Tex Mex

Ciccio Cali

Cinebistro at the Grove

Fat Rabbit Pub

Ice Dreammm Shop

Noble Crust

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Pomodoro Pizza 

Vom Fass Wiregrass

The four finalists for the beverage division were Blue Chair Bay Rum, The Brass Tap, Time for Wine and Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which repeated its win as the favorite adult beverage provider this year..

Gilreath and her daughter Asha were enjoying some of the samples outside the rink, and had already decided on one of their favorites.

“Noble Crust’s chicken & waffles is my favorite thing so far,” said Asha. “Noble Crust is great because they make everything from scratch.”

Noble Crust events coordinator Brad Elia said his crew was hoping to improve on last year’s third-place finish in the restaurant category. The Italian eatery is now the only restaurant to place in the top three all three years since the Taste returned in 2017, and hungry and eager patrons gobbled up their samples as quickly as Noble Crust’s employees could get them on the table. 

“The chicken & waffles is one of our signature dishes,” Elia said. “When we opened our St. Petersburg branch, it was one of the dishes we opened with.”

Noble Crust, located the Shops at Wiregrass mall, topped the dish with some micro greens from their sister company Fat Beet Farm. 

Last year’s winner, Tampa Palms’ Ciccio Cali, was set up in the center aisle, not out of sight of Noble Crust. Ciccio’s brought the same three items that earned it top honors last year — a hot & crunchy tuna, a spicy Brazilian (blackened chicken) and a Thai chicken bowl, but did not crack this year’s top three.

There were certainly some other unique culinary merchants at the event. The Main Ingredient, located off Collier Pkwy. in Lutz, isn’t really a restaurant, but more of a cook-to-order specialty grocer that offered samples of their oils and hot sauces over noodles.

“We sell most everything by the ounce,” owner Christina Sweet said. “People can come in with a recipe and get the exact amount they need instead of getting something and it’s sitting in their cabinet for who knows how long. Everything we sell is organic, non-GMO and gluten-free. We also have a line of specialty spices and tea leaves.”

Helping out at the Main Ingredient table was 11-year-old Sophia Contino, who knows a little about convincing people to try samples, as she has garnered a lot of media attention (including in these pages) for raising money for the Pasco Sheriff’s K-9 Unit. 

Contino said she really liked The Main Ingredient’s noodles and hot sauce. 

Cinebistro at the Grove doled out samples of soft tacos, meatballs and ceviche-style seafood dishes. The Hilton Garden Inn’s chef Frank Skalitza gave out ahi tuna poke spoons and herb-cheese-and-dates Endive Bites.

Other food/restaurant vendors included Vom Fass in the Shops at Wiregrass, offering samples of not only their vinegars, oils and sangria, but also some of the chain’s new gourmet prepared foods. Vom Fass did not have a sign telling you what they were serving, but there were four different unique appetizers, one with prosciutto, bruschetta with strawberries and more. The foods were provided by Vom Fass in conjunction with Kaixo, a local caterer with a food truck, and Walkabout Bakery CafĂ© in Lutz, which served a unique-looking Australian pastry.

Taste attendees Ashvin and Kitty Maharaj got a brief respite from their duties— Ashvin as a Rotary volunteer and Kitty with the All County Alliance Property Management table — and used it to sample some of the fare. 

“This is a huge benefit for small businesses and it’s a great community event,” Ashvin said. 

All County Alliance Property Management sponsored the cruise that was given away as one of the 50-50 raffle prizes. 

Kitty said one of the best things about the event was that it introduced local residents to some places they may have previously not heard of, like Ava’s Low Country Cuisine, which provides private chef service, catering and classes and doled out samples of macaroni and cheese, cupcakes and rice bowls. “Ava’s doesn’t even have a store front, and I hadn’t even heard of Walkabout,” she said.

The Schoolfield family of Tampa Palms enjoyed offerings from all of the aforementioned providers. 

Jake Schoolfield works at the CenterState bank in downtown Tampa, which was one of the event’s sponsors. His favorite offering was Ciccio’s crunchy tuna. 

“An event like this brings awareness to local owner/operators,” Jake said. “You drive past all these places how many times in a week? I hope that it translates into more business for them. It’s also fun to see your neighbors out here.”

Dessert items were high on the list of favorites, too. Nothing Bundt Cakes, which was third in 2017 before it even had its current Wesley Chapel location in the Shops at Wiregrass, handed out samples of strawberry, lemon, chocolate and white chocolate raspberry bundt cakes. The strawberry cakes, however, were the most popular of the day, according to manager Crystal Cadet. Also serving amazing strawberry cake was Canterbury Hall, the new catering/banquet hall at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms.

Adult beverage purveyors were also once again on hand at this year’s Taste, including 2018 beverage winner Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which took first place beverage honors again this year, second-place finisher The Brass Tap, and Time for Wine and Blue Chair Rum, which finished in a tie for third this year. 

Other than playing music, some of Freedom’s marching band members worked on navigating a gigantic ‘Operation’ game brought in by AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, the event’s primary sponsor, which also offered chair massages. And, sponsor Pinot’s Palette, which combines the love of wine and painting, gave the kids some fun art activities to participate in (but no wine!).

Ashley McKibbin of Tampa brought her friend, Amber Cherry, all the way from Jacksonville to enjoy the event.

“I love it, it’s a great event, fun, family-friendly,” said McKibbin.