Chicken Guy! To Open Tomorrow!

Despite all of the delays we’ve been reporting, it’s now official — Chicken Guy! will finally open at 25769 Sierra Center Blvd., on the north side of S.R. 56 (across from the Tampa Premium Outlets) tomorrow — Tuesday, January 7, at 10 a.m.

The Neighborhood News was able to attend the Friends & Family event at the new “Cypress Creek” location of Chicken Guy! earlier today and we sampled quite a bit of the menu. My favorite items were the BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado & Tomato) sandwich, the mac & cheese side dish and the hand-spun Oreo milkshake. Charmaine loved the pepperoni chicken parm sandwich (with garlic parmesan sauce) and the seasoned French fries, while Jannah’s favorites were the chopped chicken Caesar salad (with grilled, instead of fried, chicken tenders) and house-made Caesar dressing and the chopped cheese & chicken eggrolls. In other words, we each already have a lot of favorites to come back for and enjoy again.

Everything at Chicken Guy! definitely tasted fresh and we appreciate that not everything on the menu is fried — and that it isn’t automatically spicy. The recipes “from the Mayor of Flavortown” himself, Food Network star and restaurateur Guy Fieri, aka “The Boss of Sauce,” features more than a dozen different sauces, so definitely feel free to try them all and pick your own favorite(s).

Although the online ordering system likely won’t be up until the Lutz/Wesley Chapel location opens tomorrow, visit ChickenGuy.com for more information and please tell Trevor, the general manager, that the Neighborhood News sent you!

New Tampa’s Winn-Dixie To Become Another Aldi; Sindbad Gets Ready To Open in Pebble Creek 

As previously announced, the last remaining New Tampa Winn-Dixie supermarket, located at 6425 County Line Rd. (in the same plaza as LA Fitness), closed on Dec. 8 and is in the process of being converted to the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area’s third ALDI grocery store. 

At our press time, we didn’t know how long it would take for the new ALDI to open, but this Germany-based international brand already has nearly 2,500 U.S. supermarkets and more than 200 stores in Florida, including at 18002 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in New Tampa and at 2215 Sun Vista Dr. in Lutz (in front of Costco). 

Sindbad To Replace Bang-Bang! 

Although the tasty Bang-Bang! Bowls store in the Pebble Creek Collection (at 19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Suite C-2) lasted less than a year, coming soon (maybe even by the time you’re reading this) to that location is the second Sindbad Tampa restaurant, which features smoothies, juices, crepes, desserts, cakes and ice cream. 

The original Sindbad location is at 10933 N. 56th St., Temple Terrace, and even though the shop has a Middle Eastern-sounding name (Sindbad the Sailor is a fictional character from Baghdad), the sign now posted in the Pebble Creek location would seem to indicate a more Mexican-inspired menu. Among the items listed on that sign include Elote (Mexican street corn), Mangonada (a Mexican frozen beverage), Aguas Frescas (Mexican fresh fruit juice smoothies), Frutas con Nieve (water-based Mexican ice cream) and more Latin fare. However, the New Tampa Sindbad, like its Temple Terrace counterpart, also will feature some delicious-looking Sindbad Waffles (right) with fresh strawberries, blueberries and Nutella and you can even add ice cream. 

Until the New Tampa location opens, visit or call the Temple Terrace Sindbad at (813) 443-9692 & please tell them I sent you! — GN 

3 Natives Cuts A Chamber Ribbon At The Shops At Wiregrass!

Congratulations to local franchise owner/operator Rick Orosco (below left photo), who celebrated the Grand Opening of the 3 Natives Açai & Juicery at 28211 Paseo Dr. (in the Shops at Wiregrass) on Dec. 5 with a North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) ribbon-cutting event. 

Orosco and his happy staff gave away a number of free samples of his popular açai bowls and fresh fruit smoothies and of course, the always-hungry Neighborhood News crew couldn’t resist ordering a couple of 3 Natives’ pressed wrap sandwiches (like the tasty Hawaiian shown below, center, with grilled chicken breast, spinach, purple cabbage, julienned carrots, pineapple and a zesty ginger dressing) and a full-sized Tequesta Dragon (named for Tequesta, FL, where 3 Natives was founded) açai bowl (below right), with dragon fruit, granola, fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and chi and hemp seeds). We also wolfed down the chicken Caesar and chicken salad wrap sandwiches. 

On previous occasions, I’ve also enjoyed the Thai chicken and Cobb salad bowls and 3 Natives even offers a variety of avocado toast sandwiches, from a Mission Beach bagel with tuna salad and avocado to protein (with hard-boiled egg) and avocado toast on multigrain bread. 

The 3 Natives chain now has 45 locations (including Lakewood Ranch and several in Sarasota) and at least five more coming online soon 

To order online or for more info, visit 3Natives.com. Or, stop in or call (813) 838- 6491 & please tell Rick we sent you! — GN 

RP&G’s ‘Build-A-Bear For A Cause’ Event Nets 167 Bears For Kids In Need! 

Congrats to our friends Kent and Cindy Ross (the left photo is Cindy with “Santa Paul”) of RP&G Printing. The Rosses hosted their annual “Build-A-Bear for a Cause” event on Nov. 26 at the Build-A-Bear store in The Shops at Wiregrass. Their annual campaign ended with 167 bears built for children in need at Quail Hollow, Chester Taylor, Seven Oaks, Veterans, Double Branch and Wiregrass Ranch elementaries, as more than 60 people attended and 17 others made donations to this worthy cause. 

Kent and Cindy are amazing people who love giving back to their community! 

For all your printing needs, visit rpandg.com or call (813) 949-5700 and please tell Kent, Cindy & their staff that we sent you! — GN

Tous les Jours Now Open On S.R. 56!

Photos by Charmaine George

Congratulations to the owners of the new Tous les Jours bakery franchise at 27209 S.R. 56 — in the former location of Capital Tacos.

Like the Tous les Jours inside the Lotte Plaza Market in New Tampa, the Wesley Chapel location offers a large selection of freshly baked croissants, pastries, donuts, breads and more — in both sweet and savory varieties — as well as cakes, coffee drinks, teas, smoothies, lemonades and much more.

Photographer Charmaine George and I visited the new Tous les Jours and the first thing we both noticed is how much nicer and more spacious the new location is than the one in the Lott Plaza Market food court. There are several tables, as well as couches, for enjoying your purchases inside the shop, which in no way still resembles Capital Tacos.

As for the baked goods, among the sweet options we sampled are an almond croissant, a large Mont Blanc pastry (which is like a huge, crispy outside-flaky inside cinnamon roll), a strawberry croissant filled not only with super-fresh strawberries, but also whipped cream and a mini caramel apple pie. The savory items we’ve tried include a ham-&-cheese croissant, spinach and feta pastry (which is both sweet and savory), a croque monsieur sandwich (a French-style ham and cheese sandwich) and a sausage onion pastry, which is like a hot dog surrounded by a pastry with onions, cheese and ketchup. There also are several different kinds of milk breads, full bread loaves stuffed with whipped cream and so many more. We haven’t tried any of the cakes yet, but give us time!

As for beverages, I’ve enjoyed both the vanilla latte and caramel macchiato and Charmaine and I agreed that the fresh, thick, hand-spun mango smoothie was delicious. There also is a huge selection of hot and iced teas available and more!

Tous les Jours is a French-inspired, Korean-owned chain of bakeries with 1,700 locations around the world, including more than 100 (and growing) in the U.S. The Wesley Chapel Tous les Jours is open every day from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, call (813) 388-5612 or visit tljus.com.