The Hilton Garden Inn’s fifth anniversary celebration included a $1,000 donation (above) and more than 150 toys (left) donated to the Celebrate Birthdays nonprofit organization. Pictured above are (l.-r.) Lori Behrendt of Emerald Hospitality Assoc. (which owns the hotel), Celebrate Birthdays co-founder Belinda Leto and Lisa Moore and Charlie Whiteacre of the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Sometimes, the most exciting thing about a ribbon-cutting event is the food. But, while the fifth anniversary celebration for the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel did include some pretty great food — and free drinks — the hotels market director of sales Lisa Moore and area general manager Charlie Whiteacre turned their North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting on Oct. 12 into something much more impressive, with more than 100 people attending.
First of all, Moore had unique set-ups in three of the Hilton’s meeting rooms — one with rows of chairs, as though for a lecture, one with a circular conference table and the third with tables and chairs with black linens and gold sashes around the chairs, as you would have for a wedding or other special event.
She also set loose the hotel’s catering staff, led by Chef Marcia, which provided a beautiful fruit display, deviled eggs, wrap sandwiches cut sushi-style, as well as pulled pork sliders, big fried shrimp, crispy egg rolls and more.
But, perhaps the best thing was that Whiteacre and Moore had the Hilton gave a $1,000 donation and asked attendees to bring unwrapped toys to donate to “Celebrate Birthdays,” a 501(c) (3) nonprofit whose mission is “to ensure that every foster child, and all children, have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday and receive a present.”
In addition to the big check, Moore says that more than 150 presents were collected and all of them were donated to Celebrate Birthdays.
“It was a great event,” Moore said afterward. “We appeciate the community’s support and hope people also saw a lot of the ways they can utilize the hotel.”
For more info about Celebrate Birthdays, visit CelebrateBirthdays.org. For info about the Hilton Garden Inn, call Moore at (813) 591-6907.
Even though I grew up in New York, I had no idea what to expect from the new Bang-Bang! Bowls (located in the space previously occupied by Coffee Speaks & Tea Talks in the Pebble Creek Collection), which bills itself as “NY-style Indian rice bowls.”
Well, following our first visit, Jannah and I really like Bang-Bang! Bowls, which has only one other location — in Nebraska. I ordered the “make-it-yourself” bowl (above photo), which I got with long-grain yellow rice, jerk chicken (with a semi-spicy jerk sauce) and fresh veggies. Jannah loved the spicy chicken taco (left photo), especially the mild white sauce and the clearly house-baked soft taco shells.
Bang-Bang! Bowls (19651 BBD Blvd.) is open every day, 4 p.m.-midnight, except Monday (when it is closed). For more information, visit Bang-Bang-Bowls.com or call (813) 406-4366. — GN
The map above shows the 1.33-mile portion of Old Pasco Rd. (from north of Deedra Dr. to north of Overpass Rd.) that is being widened by B.R.W. Contractors. The southern portion of Old Pasco Rd., which connects to Wesley Chapel Blvd., and the northern portion, which connects to S.R. 52, are not shown on this map.
Now that the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOC) has voted unanimously (on Oct. 10) to award the nearly $22-million contract to widen a 1.33-mile-long segment of Old Pasco Rd. from north of Deedra Dr. to north of Overpass Rd., the contractor — B.R.W. Contractors — has 600 days to complete the project, which means that this first phase of a planned three-phase widening of Old Pasco Rd is not expected to be completed until June 2025.
The first phase of the widening is actually the middle portion of the seven-mile-long Old Pasco Rd. corridor, which connects Wesley Chapel Blvd./C.R. 54 to S.R. 52 in San Antonio.
Rooker Properties, LLC, which is developing the North Tampa Bay 75 Industrial Park (see rendering below) — an 800,000+ sq- ft. warehouse project in four buildings, of which the first 187,000-sq.-ft. building has been completed — has provided up to 84 feet of right-of-way (R/W) from the southern end of its property (north of Deedra Dr., closer to Sonny Dr.) for the project.
The rendering above shows the location of the four-building Rooker Industrial Property on Old Pasco Rd., south of Overpass Rd. and KB Homes’ Sanctuary Ridge subdivision.
Pasco had previously said that no certificates of occupancy could be given to the Rooker development until this segment of Old Pasco Rd. was widened, but the BOC lifted that requirement by unanimous vote in March of this year because the project was already designed, funded and required no R/W acquisition. In addition, a temporary access plan will be used to allow vehicles to safely enter and leave the industrial park when the widening project begins.
B.R.W. Contractors was one of five contractors to bid on the project after the county put the contract out for bids in June.
As part of the contract, the traffic signal at Old Pasco Rd. and Overpass Rd. will be improved, and additional traffic signals will be installed at Lindenhurst Dr. and at one of the access points to the industrial park.
Under the terms of the first segment’s contract, this portion of Old Pasco Rd. will be widened from two lanes to four, with 12-foot-wide lanes, a 22-foot-wide raised median and 5-foot-wide bike lanes on both sides of the roadway.
The planned second phase of the project, which has been designed and is funded by the county in fiscal year 2027, will widen Old Pasco Rd. from the southern terminus of the current phase (north of Deedra Dr.) to north of Wesley Chapel Blvd.
Pasco currently does not have funding in place, nor has it acquired all of the needed R/W, to widen Old Pasco Rd. from north of Overpass Rd. to S.R. 52. That segment includes Cypress Creek Middle & High Schools and the Pasco Hernando State College Instructional Performing Arts Center.
So, the widening of the first segment getting under way, it will take several more years before the full length of Old Pasco Rd. can be widened.
John Driskell Hopkins, the co-founder of the Zac Brown Band, was in our area with the band last weekend for two shows (Nov 3-4) at the MidFlorida Amphitheater.
Between those two concerts, Hopkins (who is suffering from a slow-progressing form of ALS), and his own four-piece band made a stop at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar in The Grove for a show to benefit his “Hop On A Cure” nonprofit foundation.
The show — which included some of Hop’s original compositions, as well as the Zac Brown hit “Toes” (Hopkins has a writing credit on that song), plus popular songs by Billy Joel and Tom Petty — raised just shy of $20,000 for Hop On A Cure.
In addition to the music, the highlights of the afternoon were the buffet meal included with each show ticket donated by TrebleMakers owners Jamie & Joe Hess and Lee Bevan, and the live auctioning off of two Taylor guitars signed by the entire Zac Brown band.
The current construction at The Shoppes at Cypress Creek.
Although it’s not going to be located in Wesley Chapel, a new 8,000-sq.-ft. building now under construction on S.R. 54 in Lutz, less than a mile west of the Tampa Premium Outlets (and just west of the Mobil gas station), will finally soon be home to two new restaurants — Fazoli’s and Barberitos.
People have been asking for a while about these two fast casual eateries, as the signs for both had been located at the site for more than a year before the plaza, which is being called The Shoppes at Cypress Creek, began construction.
The Take 5 Oil Change facility has been open for several weeks now in what is being called The Shoppes at Cypress Creek.
Well, even though only the Fazoli’s sign is currently still standing, it appears that both restaurants are going to be included in the same under-construction building between the Mobil station and the new Take 5 Oil Change (see bottom photo), which is the first of what ultimately will be four buildings to be located on the 3.52-acre site.
The site plan submitted with Pasco County by St. Petersburg-based retail developer Paradise Ventures, Inc., calls for three retail tenants in the under-construction building (photo below), the nearly 2,700-sq.ft. westernmost one (closest to the already-built Woodie’s Wash Shack) with a drive-through lane, which we’re assuming will be Fazoli’s, since all of the chain’s current locations (including the nearest one on E. Busch Bvd.) have a drive-through.
The development’s site plan.
Based on the development’s site plan, it appears that Barberitos will be located in the 1,800-sq.-ft. easternmost space (closest to Take 5) and an as-yet unnamed retailer in the 2,675-sq.-ft. middle space.
The third building at the site, which is not yet under construction, is a future restaurant pad that the site plan says will be a maximum of 5,500 sq. ft.
For leasing and other information about the Shoppes at Cypress Creek, call John Mott at (727) 812-1555 or visit ParadiseVenturesInc.com.
More About Fazoli’s
According to Fazolis.com, the Kentucky-based chain founded in 1988 has more than 200 locations, the majority of which are franchises in more than half of the 50 U.S. states, including six in Florida.
The Ultimate Sampler (fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti & meatballs, penne w/meat sauce and lasagne w/ meat sauce.
The 35-year-old company’s slogan is “Fast. Fresh. Italian.” and fans of the brand say the breadsticks are “even better than Olive Garden’s.”
Well, I’ve never been a fan of Olive Garden’s breadsticks, but I do love Italian food, so I am hopeful, since Jannah and I live so close to the coming-soon location, that it will be worth the long wait. I likely will visit the Busch Blvd. location sometime after this issue hits mailboxes to try it out.
In addition to those breadsticks, Fazoli’s features pizzas, pastas (including baked pastas like lasagne and chicken parmigiana), “Snacks & Shareables” (like baked meatballs and fried mozzarella bites), hot and cold subs, salads and a variety of pasta samplers, such as the four-item combo shown above.
More About Barberitos
The burrito bowl at Barberitos.
According to Barberitos.com, the Athens, GA-based fast-casual Southwestern cuisine eatery was founded in 2000 by Downing Barber. The restaurant’s slogan is “Food • Community • People.”
The “Coming Soon” notification I found says that Barberitos features, “farm-fresh burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads and more in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. Choose one of our popular specialty items or create your own favorite from one of more than 30 toppings…and our made-in-house salsas.”
The nearest to us of the 50+ Barberitos throughout the southeastern U.S. is in Panama City, FL, so I guess I won’t be able to visit one anytime soon.
