NT/WC Reader Survey Results: Best Restaurant

Stonewood Tops List 

Operating partner Dave Rathbun (photo) says he is often amused when he sees people trying to leave his popular Stonewood Grill & Tavern after a meal, only to bump into a neighbor or someone they know and delaying their exit.

Those moments, as much as any other, are when Rathbun can smile and truly appreciate the success of his restaurant.

“We tried to create a culture where it feels like the ‘Cheers’ of New Tampa,’’ Rathbun says.

And indeed, for Rathbun, it is a place where everybody seems to know his name, because they keep coming back.

The friendly and welcoming atmosphere, the familiarity between the customers and Rathbun and his carefully selected staff (the folks he says “bring the place to life”), and a menu and bar area that almost never fail to deliver one of the best dining and imbibing experiences around are why, once again, Stonewood Grill & Tavern is the Neighborhood News “Best Restaurant in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel,” as voted on by our readers, for a second straight year.

Stonewood, a Tampa Palms staple since opening in September 2002, beat out Bonefish Grill and newcomer Noble Crust — the reader’s top pick for best new business (see list, on pg. 50) — which are both located in Wesley Chapel, for the top spot.

“It’s just an honor to have people vote for you,” Rathbun says. “I’m humbled by every vote.”

Despite a not-so-great location — Stonewood is tucked behind a 7-Eleven and McDonald’s on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just north of Commerce Park Blvd. — it has thrived as an upscale family restaurant because, well, Rathbun is kind of like family. He has lived in North Tampa for more than 20 years, including Richmond Place the last 16 years. He knows most of his customers, and their kids, and where those kids go to school.

“It’s wonderful to work in the community where you live,” he says.

Stonewood, a small chain which has 10 locations statewide, is best known for its steaks and seafood. Rathbun says the restaurant receives all of its steaks from only three different plants in Iowa, and “it’s all Midwestern beef, aged for 28 days, then hand cut to our specs and cooked the way you want them.”

The restaurant has popular main dishes like delightful short ribs with butternut squash ravioli, hearty grilled rosemary and garlic lamb loin chops, tender oven-baked herb-encrusted grouper and cedar plank roasted salmon in an apricot mustard jalapeño glaze, to name a few.

Or, you can hunker down at Stonewood’s popular bar and order tavern wings or oak grilled shrimp or anything else from the full lunch or dinner menu.

“One of my customers once told me, ‘You know, I can come in here and have a real nice dinner and a bottle of wine with my wife and celebrate an event, or I can come in with my guys and have a burger and a beer at the bar and watch a basketball game,’” Rathbun says. “They love the flexibility.”

A new and improved lunch menu, plus weekday specials which can be ordered at the bar or at your table, also help keep people coming back.

For example, on Tuesdays, Stonewood offers specials on craft beer and craft burgers (see photo). Wine Down Wednesday features half-off discounts on almost a dozen wines, and Thursday is Stoli Martini night.

“We offer something for everyone, and I really like that I’ve been able make so many relationships with my customers over the years,” Rathbun says. “I’m glad so many people enjoy it.”

Stonewood Grill & Tavern is located at 17050 Palm Pointe Dr., Tampa Palms. For info, call (813) 978-0388 or visit StonewoodGrill.com.

Bus Rapid Transit Would Include Wesley Chapel

Can a futuristic Bus Rapid Transit system help ease traffic in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel? A study by the Florida Dept. of Transportation says it could.

Any hopes for a light rail line connecting the Tampa Bay area have now taken a backseat, as local officials seem ready to embrace a 41-mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system from Wesley Chapel to St. Petersburg.

That was the recommendation of Jacobs Engineering, which conducted a $1.5-million study funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on Jan. 19, when the study was presented to the Tampa Bay Transportation Management Area (TMA) Leadership Group in Tampa.

The proposed route would run along I-275 from Wesley Chapel to the University of South Florida, through downtown Tampa and the Westshore and Tampa International Airport areas and over the Howard Frankland Bridge into downtown St. Petersburg.

While the debate over fixing the transportation woes in Tampa Bay has raged for more than a decade, including two highly-publicized failed attempts at a light rail voter referendum in 2014 and 2016, BRT is seen as a quicker and cheaper option and a potential jump start to the development of a much-needed and elusive transportation system to help ease the area’s overcrowded roads.

“I think that’s what the citizens want — we need a solution now,” said Hope Allen, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay (formerly Greater Wesley Chapel) Chamber of Commerce.

A 9-mile CSX rail between USF and downtown Tampa also was considered as an option by Jacobs Engineering, but those construction costs were roughly $600 million, with $9-$12 million in annual operating costs, and would take 10 years to build.

That’s more costly and time-consuming than BRT, which has estimated costs of around $400 million for a project that would be ready in five years, with $5-$7 million in annual operating costs.

“This is not the ultimate end game for transit in the Tampa Bay region, nothing even close to that,” said FDOT District 7 Secretary David Gwynn. “What this would hopefully be is a first step that could start to generate transit ridership, that would be able to get federal money started into the process and build ridership. Hopefully over time, those other elements, whether they are bus, rail or some form of technology that evolves, can be built upon this project.”

BRT systems in other cities and countries are considered much higher quality than your typical bus routes, and are defined by their dedicated lanes, which avoid congestion and make for faster travel.

In Tampa Bay, the BRT route would have a dedicated lane for a majority of the route, although that lane may be only a reinforced shoulder in certain parts, or toll lanes planned for the new Howard Frankland Bridge. In some areas, a dedicated lane will need to be constructed. But, by converting many of the existing lanes into BRT-dedicated lanes, as opposed to building a rail line to cover the entire 41 miles, would reduce the cost of the project by $2 billion.

And, BRT utilizes sleeker, more modern-looking buses equipped with WiFi, making it a more palatable choice for those who have previously ridden on regular HARTline buses.

“Can we not use the word bus?,” asked Kathryn Starkey, Pasco’s District 3 county commissioner. “We need a sexy, cool, futuristic name.”

The three-county BRT line recommended by Jacobs Engineering would have 17 intermodal stations, which would serve as transportation hubs, and have been shown to spur growth in the urban areas where they are placed. The proposal shows stations in Wesley Chapel at S.R. 54 and I-75, as well as one at S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd.

Allen said she was pleased with the reception BRT has received, and that Wesley Chapel was included. Allen says thousands of residents in Wesley Chapel and Pasco County leave for work in Tampa and St. Petersburg every day.

“For them,” she says, “this is pretty appealing.”