(L.-r.) Preston Parilo, Cynthia Andujar, Joe Carrion & Ivan Plumb obviously enjoy serving — and eating — the delicious New York-style pepperoni pizza at 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass Mall. (Photo by Charmaine George)
Pizza continues to be a favorite option for lunch and dinner with our readers and none is more popular this year than owner Steve Falabella’s 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass, which won this year’s Favorite Pizza in Wesley Chapel with our readers by a fairly wide margin.
And, considering that Falabella opened not only his Falabella Family Bistro (our readers’ fourth favorite restaurant in WC) but also a second 900º Pizza location (900º New York Pizza, which finished a solid sixth with our readers in its first year) in The Grove at Wesley Chapel in 2021, the fact that so many still selected the original 900º location as their favorite pizza place is a testament to Falabella’s commitment to quality food at super-fair prices.
The primary difference between the two 900º locations is that only the original pizza shop in Wiregrass offers Neapolitan-style woodfired pizza (like the Margherita pizza in the photo, right), as well as the New York style ‘za available at both locations.
But, thanks to its other great Italian specialties, 900º Woodfired Pizza also finished 10th as our readers’ Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel. Among the favorite appetizers are the deep-fried calzones known as Panzeretto and the bruschetta, while my favorite pasta dish is the authentic pesto Genovese, although the penne alla vodka, Alfredo and Bolognese sauces also are all pretty popular. And, wash them down with ice cold Peroni on draft, as well as bottled beers and wines by the glass or bottle. — GN
2. PizzaMania 1734 Bruce B Downs Blvd. (813) 907-0005 MyPizzaMania.com
One of the first pizza places to open in Wesley Chapel also is still high among our readers’ favorites, as the NY/NJ-style pies and Italian specialties continue to earn lots of votes.
Not only is there ever-popular regular pizzas, but also gourmet options, like But, of course, pizza, including gourmet options like Margherita, white sauce and more, but PizzaMania also offers everything from fried ravioli and bruschetta to arancini (traditional rice balls) and other appetizers, plus a variety of salads, hot and cold subs, calzones and strombolis, plus wings with a variety of sauces, lasagna, baked ziti, stuffed shells, gnocchi Sorrentina and pasta with vodka, white clam and pesto sauce and even a seafood combo of mussels, shrimp and clams that helped it finish tied for 34th Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel with our readers. — GN
3. NY NY Pizza 3757 Bruce B Downs Blvd. (813) 528-8771 NYNYPizzeria.com
Technically, the New York New York Pizza in Wesley Chapel is part of a small eight-unit chain (including one in Tampa International Airport) of no-frills Tampa-area pizza places that serve excellent true-New York-style pizza. But, chain or no chain, the Wesley Chapel location has been among the top five favorite pizza places with our readers since it first opened.
NY NY, which finished third to second-place PizzaMania by only two votes and ahead of Amici by a half-dozen, offers a large variety of pizza-by-the-slice and whole-pie options, including everything from cheese and pepperoni to meat lovers and white and from cauliflower crust to my favorite Grandma’s pizza with a garlic red sauce in our area.
NY NY also has a nice selection of salads, sandwiches and even burgers plus baked pasta options. — GN
The rest of the 2021 Pizza Top 10:
(4) Amici (5) Mellow Mushroom (6) 900 NY (T7) Fratelli’s (T7) Best NY (T7) Blaze (T10) Papa John’s (T10) Bosco’s.
1 — NOBLE CRUST When a new restaurant opens in Wesley Chapel, it typically become’s a reader’s favorite in its first year, and then gradually fades to the middle of the pack.
Not Noble Crust. A testament to an innovative and delicious menu, maintaining a steady staff in these difficult times for restaurants and focusing on excellence and consistency, Noble Crust has placed third in our Reader’s Survey every year since opening in 2017.
Great servers like Bri Small (on the left, holding the rigatoni + short rib ragu) and Josh Salinas (with the bronzed salmon) serving delicious food are a big part of Noble Crust’s win as this year’s Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel. (Photos: Charmaine George)
Not this year, however. This year, Noble Crust has moved up to No. 1.
“That’s huge for us,” says operating partner Danny Autrey. “To be able to stand apart from our other two locations (in Carrollwood and St Petersburg) is great. We pride ourselves on our great staff, and it’s nice to see them rewarded by the community.”
There is much to like about Noble Crust, which is located at the Shops at Wiregrass — the service, the bar, the ambiance and let’s be honest, the place just smells terrific.
Billed as Deep South Italian, Noble Crust combines farm-fresh flavor with unique pairings to create tasty dishes. It is likely so popular with our readers because it does so many things well. You could make the case that it has the best fried chicken (Autrey confesses that it’s so good, he enjoys a piece almost daily), best pizza, best weekend brunch and maybe even the best Italian food around.
The fusion of Deep South and Italian is where it shines, however. Traditional Chicken Marsala is served over four-cheese grits and chicken sausage, the chicken fried chicken parmigiana is country-fried for a more rustic result, the BLT is served with fried green tomatoes, pork belly and pimento cheese and one of its most popular dishes, the bronzed salmon (bottom right), is highlighted by pickled raisins that bring it all together.
And, don’t sleep on the pasta dishes, either, like the super-popular rigatoni + short rib ragu.
Noble Crust’s brunches on Saturdays and Sundays are exceptional, with its popular friend chicken and waffles, lemon ricotta pancakes and steak-and-eggs among the standout favorites.
The service ties it all together. Autrey says his grandfather would never return to a restaurant if a manager hadn’t stopped by see how the meal was, and he has taken that to heart running the Wesley Chapel location. When we stopped by last week, he was busy helping deliver dishes and checking in with customers.
“The personalized experience is important,” he says. “It’s something all of us here strive for, and I think it keeps our customers coming back.” — JCC
2 — TREBLEMAKERS
Rather than resting on its laurels after debuting as our readers’ fourth (and yours truly’s #1) Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel last year, Treble Makers Dueling Piano Restaurant & Bar has continued to upgrade its menu and service under executive chef Kevin Maggard, GM & co-owner Lee Bevan and co-owner Jamie Hess and his family.
In fact, Treble Makers is this year’s Favorite Bar in Wesley Chapel with our readers this year, after adding great new bartenders and entertainment options to go with the popular weekend dueling piano shows.
But, for me, the best thing about Treble Makers is the food. With better fresh fish — like the grilled wahoo to the right — than most seafood restaurants and top-quality steaks, lamb chops, I hope you’ll check out Treble Makers soon.—GN
3 — FIRST WATCH Located in The Shoppes at New Tampa, Wesley Chapel’s popular breakfast chain is well-known for its long lines (especially on Sundays) as it is for its delicious and healthy breakfast and lunch menu.
We can’t remember a time that First Watch wasn’t the top vote getter for breakfast joints, and it’s third-place overall finish this year is a testament to its terrific food.
The breakfast menu has traditional egg-and-bacon dishes, omelettes, and Floridian French toast (photo) gigantic pancakes, but items like the healthy turkey omelette, superfoods bowls & power wraps set it apart.
Now serving beer, wine and unique mixed drinks, too, First Watch’s all-natural healthy juices and lunch items like a variety of salads and sandwiches (ham and gruyere melt, mmmm) have kept people coming back in droves for more than a decade. —JCC
4. FALABELLA FAMILY BISTRO Our highest-finishing newcomer has great weekend specials.
5. FLORIDA AVE. BREWING COMPANY The food might be better than the beer — a big compliment.
6. VALLARTA’S Wesley Chapel’s Latin favorite has its highest finish ever.
7. BAHAMA BREEZE Still high among your faves despite all of the new eateries.
T8. KEKE’S BREAKFAST CAFE Breakfast newcomer finishes in the top-10.
T8. GRILLSMITH Last year’s No. 1 has been the top choice six of last 10 years.
10. 900º WOODFIRED PIZZA Your favorite pizza place also makes your top-10 overall.
11. BJ’s BREWHOUSE Its huge menu and fair prices keep BJ’s near your top-10.
In 2019, Pasco County hit new records for tourism, but Covid delivered a hit in 2020 that Florida’s Sports Coast director Adam Thomas figured might be tough to overcome.
Turns out that it wasn’t. Not only did the county bounce back from its Covid-plagued 2020 by exceeding last year’s tourism numbers, but it even passed its pre-Covid 2019 numbers as well.
“It was definitely a revival year for tourism for Pasco County,” says Thomas. “We beat our record-breaking historic year of 2019 by 10.6%. It was amazing,”
In Fiscal Year 2021 (which ran from Sept. 2020 to Oct. 2021), visitor spending in Pasco County generated $721.7 million in economic impact to the county, according to Downs & St. Germain Research. That is an increase of 30.7% above FY 2020, and 10.6% above the 2019 numbers. Direct spending in the county was $511.8 million of that total.
Thomas said an increase in marketing, as well as the state’s openness, allowed tourism to flourish here this year.
“Many other states were still not fully operational,” Thomas says of FY 2021. “That allowed our destinations to attract events throughout the year.”
Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore (left) and Tourism Director Adam Thomas pose with the Florida Sports Foundation trophy won by the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus for Florida’s Best Small Market Venue.
With the doors to Pasco County wide open this year, people didn’t hesitate to rush through. The numbers don’t lie:
• Florida’s Sports Coast attracted 1,358,200 visitors (41.5% higher than last year, and 30.8% higher than FY 2019)
• Visitors generated 1,419,000 room nights in paid accommodations (32.6% higher than last year, and 16.6% higher than FY 2019)
• Spending by visitors supported 9,254 local jobs (36.3% higher than last year, and 17.6% higher than FY 2019)
• Tourism generated $231.6 million in wages and salaries for local jobs (55% higher than FY 2020, and 37.8% higher than FY 2019).
• Every 147 visitors to the county created an additional job.
• Visitors staying locally generated $3.6 million in Tourist Development Tax collections (36.3% higher than last year, and 18.4% higher than FY 2019).
• Visitors in FY 2021 saved every household in Pasco County $385 in state and federal taxes.
And, Thomas says that amateur sports drove those record-setting numbers; primarily, amateur sports played in Wesley Chapel at its trifecta of sports tourism — AdventHealth Center Ice, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County and Saddlebrook Resort. As far as the county goes, the nearby Sarah Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis Center in Zephyrhills also contributed to Pasco’s big numbers.
“All these record-breaking numbers that we had are basically from our sporting events,” Thomas says.
Following the heightened 2020 Covid concerns, 2021 may have started with a whimper, but is ending with a bang — for example, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus will host 128 of the best high school girls basketball teams in the state and beyond, as well as 32 boys high school teams, at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational beginning tomorrow and running through Jan. 1.
The tournament expects to bring 1,500 coaches and players and 3,000 total spectators for the event, meaning the Sports Campus will be capping its first full year of operation with the equivalent of a slam dunk. “It’s been an awesome year,” says Richard Blalock, the CEO of RADDSports, which operates the Sports Campus in a public-private partnership with the county. “Considering all of the (Covid-related) social issues we encountered, I think it was very successful.”
Crowds at many of the tournaments at Center Ice were the norm in 2021.
Blalock says 2021 has been a challenging year, but one that came with great exposure. In fact, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus was named Small Market Venue of the Year by the Florida Sports Foundation in November.
“We were fortunate that we’re in a quasi-conservative area where we got support from the local government to be able to operate,” he says. “We just had to figure out what the rules were, come up with protocols and then follow those protocols to be able to operate.”
The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus hosted a number of large events in 2021. Whether it was current Philadelphia Eagle and Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith preparing for the NFL Draft by working out at the campus, or USA volleyball and USA Gymnastics events, or a myriad of AAU and youth basketball, cheerleading and volleyball tournaments taking place monthly, the new facility was always bustling.
The same goes for Center Ice, which saw more than a million people pass through its doors in FY 2021.
General manager Gordie Zimmermann said his business was up more than 30 percent from 2019. Center Ice hosted an NHL Prospects tournament, burgeoning local adult and youth recreational leagues and a series of hotel-filling tournaments in ice, sled and roller hockey, as well as figure skating.
“It was pretty amazing,” Zimmermann says. “I think Florida handled (Covid) better than anybody, and we have had a lot of people coming here. Plus, hockey is on a growth spurt, and the (back-to-back Stanley Cup champion) Tampa Bay Lightning have certainly helped with that.”
The five-rink facility is one of a kind in the Southeast, and you won’t find many like it in the U.S., Zimmermann says, making it a popular destination for big tournaments.
The biggest sporting event held in Pasco County this year was at Center Ice, according to Thomas — the TORHS (Tournament of Roller Hockey Series) Nationals in June. The tournament runs 8-10 days, had more than 150 teams and generated 2,300 room nights. Thomas says the economic impact to the county of the event was roughly $3 million.
As we head into 2022, could another record-breaking year be in store? Thomas doesn’t see why not.
With the impact created by sports as great as it has been, Thomas and others see only growth.
Wesley Chapel has facilities, like the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus (above), that can host more than 1,000 people over the course of a weekend, providing a boost to the tourism dollars generated in Pasco County. (Photos courtesy of Florida’s Sports Coast)
A recent study commissioned by Florida’s Sports Coast, which was intended to find the gaps in the amateur sports arena, showed that adaptive sports, or sports that are accessible to those who are disabled, is a possible growth area. An aquatics facility is on the radar as well, and private developers have inquired about things like BMX and surf parks, as well as a track & field facility.
Adaptive basketball could be headed to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, says Blalock. Thomas says the county also is working on the bringing the U.S. Fencing championships to the Sports Campus, in addition to a large Can-Am competition between first responders from Canada and the U.S.
Saddlebrook Resort may host the 2022 American FootGolf League national championships in 2022. The relatively new sport is like golf but is played with feet and a soccer ball instead of clubs and a golf ball.
“We are thinking outside the norm,” Thomas says.
Center Ice will launch the Sunshine Cup this summer, a week-long tournament that will feature teams from the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Europe. The mid-July event is expecting more than 3,000 visitors and would eclipse the TORHS event as the largest tournament hosted by the facility.
“We’ve always considered ourselves to be a player in the sports tourism industry,” says Thomas. “People are starting to notice our success, and they want to be a part of it. We’re excited. We’re an amateur sports hot spot, and we have some great opportunities for growth.”
JoLynn Warner, the faculty advisor for the Wiregrass Ranch High Key Club, delivers gifts for families to the Lacoochee Elementary student services team this holiday season. (Far left is Mrs. David, school social worker, then Nancy Montoya, guidance counselor, and far right is Dr. Mazzone, school psychologist.
As a long-time member of Kiwanis International, Martha Vaguener knows the value the organization can bring to a community.
That’s why she has helped start the Kiwanis Club of Wesley Chapel and serves as its treasurer, after serving as the president at the Zephyrhills Kiwanis Club for nine years, before it closed several years ago.
She says the Wesley Chapel club officially chartered in April 2020 and has the support of a sponsoring club in Carrollwood, but says that making a go of a service organization during a pandemic — where opportunities for service have looked very different — has been challenging.
However, it is happening.
“The whole point of Kiwanis is to change the world one child and one community at a time,” says Martha.
Kiwanis International is a service organization with more than 550,000 members in 80 countries and geographic areas, including members of all ages, from K-Kids Clubs to high school Key Clubs to Kiwanis Clubs. It was founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, as the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers, and changed its name to Kiwanis a year later. The name “Kiwanis” comes from an American Indian expression, “Nunc Kee-wanis,” which means, “We trade.” While it originally focused on business networking, it became focused on service in 1919.
Kiwanis clubs globally host nearly 150,000 service projects each year.
Kiwanis has clubs for kids of all ages, including Key Clubs for high school students. Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) has a Key Club with more than 100 members.
For the holidays, both the Wesley Chapel Kiwanis Club and WRH Key Club adopted families from the underprivileged Lacoochee Elementary in Dade City.
Key Club sponsor JoLynn Warner says her students were inspired by Martha’s stories of how the Zephyrhills Kiwanis Club’s past charitable efforts have helped the school, such as how attendance increased drastically in winter months one year because the club provided shoes for the children, allowing them to get to school in colder weather.
“My students can’t even imagine not being able to go to school because they don’t have shoes to wear,” JoLynn explains, “so they’re excited to help.”
While JoLynn oversaw the collection of toys, clothes and other items from students to benefit the families the WRH Key Club adopted, Martha, who serves as a Key Club advisor, took a group of Key Club members shopping to help her choose the items that would go to the families the Kiwanis Club adopted.
“It helps to develop community awareness, develop citizenship and do good in the community,” Martha explains.
The partnership benefits both groups, as adults in Kiwanis Club support the students’ efforts — such as in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which will be coming up in early 2022 — and the students support the causes of the adult club as they grow into people who value giving back to their community.
“When we improve the lives of kids,” Martha explains, “we improve the lives of families, as well.” Martha says the Wesley Chapel Kiwanis Club currently has about 10 members and wants to grow. The Kiwanis Club of Wesley Chapel meets the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the Seven Oaks clubhouse, although the club will not meet on Dec. 28.
To learn more about getting involved in Wesley Chapel Kiwanis Club, email Martha Vaguener at mvaguener@aol.com or call her at (813) 362-5799.
Heritage Elementary School gifted class science teacher Jean Josephson had an idea to plant a beautiful butterfly garden at her school, but needed some helping hands to bring that project to life.
She got more than she bargained for when she reached out through a friend to Scouts BSA (formerly called the Boy Scouts of America) Troop 148, which meets at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd., just down the street from the school.
That’s when she connected with Isaac VanMeter, a senior at Wharton High, who is on track to become an Eagle Scout and was thinking about ideas for a project to help him reach his goal.
The butterfly garden project seemed like a perfect fit.
“I had other ideas, but I really like helping with the environment,” says Isaac, who adds that the school beautification aspect appealed to him, as well. “Having a really nice-looking school is good for students, and it’s great for the entire school to have a garden to play in and learn in.”
Jean says Isaac took her idea and ran with it.
“He did a really, really good job,” she says. “It really exceeded my expectations. I thought I would have to do more planning and directing, but he took control of the whole project.”
While the school already had a vegetable garden and a small butterfly garden, it also had a butterfly mural and space for a much bigger garden to be used for instructional purposes, such as studying the life cycle of butterflies.
Teachers bring students out to the garden to release butterflies raised in the classroom, or to watch worms or bees. They use a curriculum from a nonprofit educational organization called “Agriculture in the Classroom” to bring the lessons to life.
Jean explains that some resources for which plants would work in the garden and how to plant it came from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), but Isaac did the fundraising to pay for it and did additional research, making the final selections for what would go in the garden and how it would be laid out.
He brought a team of Scouts out for a workday to make it all happen.
“The soil was so bad that they had to build it up with about seven yards of soil,” explains Jean, “Then, they replaced the edging, put the plants in, mulched the garden, gave it a good watering, and they also mulched the whole courtyard. It was really great.”
Isaac’s next steps are to finish his paperwork and the last three of the 21 required merit badges before his 18th birthday in January. Then, he’ll go before a Board of Review to make his case for why he should be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout.
“This is a big accomplishment,” Isaac says, “something I’ve been working toward for six years.”
Before and after.
Isaac completed the project during his first season playing varsity football, while his team went on a playoff run. He decided to try football his senior year, in addition to competing for Wharton in lacrosse and track and field — throwing discus, javelin and shotput — in previous years.
After graduation, he plans to go to college on a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship — likely at the University of Central Florida in Orlando — and major in finance.
“I really think the whole process of (Scouts) BSA has changed me to be more of a leader and have that mindset of how I can help encourage everyone around me,” he says. “The project taught me how everyone can come together to accomplish things.”
He says he’s pleased with the way the garden turned out and is looking forward to seeing how the plants grow and fill in the garden over time.
Jean says the teachers and the entire school community are thrilled with the opportunities they see for learning in the new garden.
“Everybody is so impressed,” she says. “I can’t wait until it all grows up.”
