On June 7, Little Caesars Pizza celebrated the Grand Opening of the chain’s second Wesley Chapel location (at 5482 Post Oak Blvd.,off Wesley Chapel Blvd., in the same retail strip plaza as Jimmy John’s), with a DJ, a prize wheel attendees could spin and visits from both a stilt-walker and “Little Caesar” himself..
To me, Little Caesars is more about convenience and competitive pricing than it is about deliciousness, but I’ll admit that I enjoyed the new (at least to me) pepperoni “Crazy Puffs®” and the chewy Cookie Dough Brownies made with M&Ms® minis.
But, the fact that there were nearly 70 people waiting on line (below right photo) before the shop opened that day to win free Little Caesars for a year does indicate to me that people do enjoy the chain’s specialty pizzas like the “3 Meat Treat®” (bottom photo) for just $12.99 (it’s also available in a larger “Detroit-style deep dish” rectangular version for just $15.99).
The “Hot-N-Ready®” options are even less expensive, with the “Classic Cheese” and “Classic Pepperoni” both for just $7.29 & up, the “Extramostbestest®” cheese or pepperoni pizzas starting at just $8.29 each, and “Stuffed Crazy Crust” pizzas start at just $$13.99. There’s also pretzel crust pizzas ($6.99 & up), breadsticks, Italian cheese bread (top left photo, with pepperoni) and more.
And, with Little Caesars’ new “The Pizza Portal,” picking up your to-go order is as easy as grabbing an Amazon package at an apartment complex. And yes, DoorDash delivery is available, too.
For those who were sad to see Forty Thieves Irish Pub, located at 2741 E. County Line Rd. (at Livingston Blvd.) in Lutz, suddenly close, the good news is that another familiar name — The Wexford Irish Pub & Grille — is preparing to move into that former Forty Thieves location. Mark Birkin, the owner of the new Remington’s Steak & Seafood in the Palms Connection plaza at 2836 E. Bearss Ave., says that he and his crew are working hard to re-open The Wexford, which is the Irish Pub that the new Remington’s replaced, at the former Forty Thieves location. Birkin, who also owns the upscale Birkin’s Steak & Sushi at 16411 N. Florida Ave. in Lutz, says that he doesn’t know at present when The Wexford will open in its new location, but we’ll provide updates for you as soon as we have them.
Although this second Wesley Chapel location (at 5478 Post Oak Blvd., off Wesley Chapel Blvd.) has been open for more than six months, Jimmy John’s hosted a North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon-cutting event on May 20 to introduce Chamber members to this location, the sandwich chain’s “Freaky Fast” service and, of course, new “Freaky Fresh” toasted sandwich items like the chicken bacon ranch, Ultimate Italian and roast beef & cheddar subs.
Jimmy John’s franchise owner Eric Edmonds said he was “excited to engage with the local community” at his location and he told the Chamber members in attendance that he is planning to open some additional Jimmy John’s locations, including one at nearby St. Leo University.
Of course, Eric’s Jimmy John’s is one of more than 2,600 nationwide (including 140+ in Florida). The Jimmy John’s parent company was purchased in 2019 by Atlanta-based Inspire Brands, which also owns Arby’s, Sonic and Buffalo Wild Wings.
For more info, call (813) 991-7700 or visit JimmyJohns.com. — GN
Hangliter Residential is a true family-run business that includes (l.-r.) owner Ken Hangliter, his daughter & office manager Stephanie and his son & VP Jordan. Mascot Mishi is always smiling. (Photo by Charmaine George)
The Hangliter family has been in the remodeling business for four generations.
When Ken Hangliter came to Florida from the Washington, D.C./Maryland area to help his dad with a construction job at Macdill Air Force Base eight years ago, he decided he wanted to stay.
So, Ken bought a home in Wesley Chapel and officially opened Hangliter Residential, LLC, in the Tampa Bay area.
Ken’s not the only Hangliter who came for a visit and decided not to go back to the cold Maryland winters. His son, Jordan, came down four years ago and decided to leave his business back home to join his dad here in the Sunshine State.
“I’ve been working with my dad since I was 12 years old,” Jordan says. “As a family-owned business, we promise better quality, better customer service, and a better overall experience.”
Jordan says when you call Hangliter for a remodeling job or to repair or restore something in your home, either he or his dad will come out to your house to provide a free estimate. Then, if you choose to hire Hangliter, they’ll return together to complete the work.
If you want to modernize your bathroom, too, call the Hangliters! (Photos provided by Hangliter Residential)
“We know it’s a nightmare for people to let strangers into their house,” Jordan says. “So we are careful to treat you like we would treat our grandmother if we went to her house. We’re at a client’s home every day, all day, so we get to know each other. It’s a personal experience.”
The Hangliters are Florida-licensed contractors specializing in kitchen and bathroom remodeling, but they do all types of residential work. They have decades of experience in home remodeling, repairs and restoration.
They have experience with “just about everything, A to Z,” says Jordan.
“With the exception of projects that require heavy new electrical or plumbing installation, we can usually do it all,” he explains. “No need to work with five different contractors, like electricians or plumbers. We do everything ourselves, and we don’t sub out our work out to anyone else.”
Beyond kitchen and bathroom work, the Hangliters can install custom windows, doors and flooring, repair lighting, HVACs and plumbing — and much more.
Jordan emphasizes that regardless of the size of the project, it never hurts to contact Hangliter Residential. You might just hear of options — and pricing estimates — that competitors won’t offer.
“We’ve definitely heard from customers with projects in which the big companies offer expensive estimates or flat out just say no,” Jordan says. “But we are comfortable with undertaking non-conventional solutions that other companies won’t even consider.”
Jordan says that among the most popular jobs they have been busy doing are bathroom makeovers, including updating bathrooms in older homes, converting tubs and Jacuzzis into walk-in showers, and installing custom bathroom tile from floor to ceiling.
Customers Are Raving!
Tim and Lynn are Land O’Lakes residents who recently hired Hangliter Residential to update an older bathroom in their home. “It was a great overall experience,” says Tim. “You can’t go wrong with these guys. They were so personable and a pleasure to be around, and most important is that the work was fantastic.”
Tim found the Hangliters after asking for a recommendation in an online neighborhood forum and that Ken was recommended by several people. He couldn’t have been more happy with his decision to hire the Hangliters.
“They are a super father-and-son duo,” Tim says. “They were knowledgeable and professional. They were very punctual and always did exactly what they said they were going to do. What more could you ask for?”
David and Debbie are another couple who hired Hangliter Residential when they needed an extensive door and window repair in their home.
“Hangliter Residential LLC saved us over $15,000,” says David. “Ken did an amazing job on the remodel and restoration of our 50+-year-old Colonial-style home! We had an estimate from another company to replace eight windows and three exterior doors for over $34,000, due to rotten wood damage from to the wet Florida weather. Ken looked at all of the windows and assured me that he could REPAIR them all, and that a complete replacement would be a huge waste of money!”
He adds, “Ken told us that his repair would preserve the original, classic look of our home. Our final cost came to less than half of our original estimate plus, he did three extra windows! Ken did an absolutely incredible job and the results have far exceeded my high expectations.”
Hangliter Residential LLC is offering 10 percent off any full kitchen or bath remodel to readers of Neighborhood News who mention this story or the ad below. To schedule a free estimate, call (813) 460-4548 today.
Lots of new restaurants are beginning to build and/or are getting ready to open in and around the Wesley Chapel area and we have updates on many of them in this issue. On this page alone, we’ll tell you about the delayed (but finally happening) Grand Opening of the new Rodizio Grill, the first-ever brick-&-mortar location of Pastelitos Papichy’s, as well as the beginning of construction of both The Cheesecake Factory and Swig soda shop.
Rodizio Grill
Clearly, the opening of the Wesley Chapel area’s first-ever Brazilian steakhouse is big news for our community, as the announcement on our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page that the opening of Rodizio Grill (2802 Grand Cypress Dr., Lutz, behind Costco and in front of Kohl’s by the Tampa Premium Outlets) was delayed from its originally announced opening date of May 28 to Tuesday, June 10, was viewed (at our press time) by a record-breaking (for us) 327,816 people, with more than 1,000 likes and 109 shares! We’ve had a couple of previous posts that reached more than 200,000 people, but this post — without being boosted — has far surpassed our previous record. In other words, you can expect big crowds at Rodizio Grill as this issue is reaching your mailbox. In the meantime, we have a sneak peek first look inside this beautiful, new restaurant (top photo) on this page. We wish franchisee Charlie Haney and his crew lots of luck.
For reservations & more info, call (813) 996-3880, visit Rodizio.com or search “Rodizio Grill – Wesley Chapel” on Facebook.
Pastelitos Papichy’s
Although the Venezuelan food truck Pastelitos Papichy’s (above left) has been stationed near the LA Fitness and Five Guys Burgers & Fries (just south of County Line Rd.& west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New Tampa) a for some time, a sign recently went up at the Grand Oaks Plaza on the under-construction Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz (above right) announcing that Papichy’s will be opening its first-ever brick-&-mortar location in the space previously occupied by the also-Venezuelan Arepa Mia, which sadly closed at the end of 2024.
We haven’t yet been able to speak to anyone who could tell us when the new Papichy’s is expected to open, but you can expect a similar selection of Venezuelan-style empanadas, pastelitos (similar to empanadas, but round wheat dough filled with sweet guava or savory meats and cheeses), tequeños (fried cheese) and more.
For more info, call (813) 576-9970.
The Cheesecake Factory
If our post about Rodizio Grill is record-setting, there’s little doubt that if we’re able to break the story of when The Cheesecake Factory will finally open in the parking lot at the Tampa Premium Outlets, that post could double or even quadruple the traffic Rodizio Grill has generated.
But, while some rumors had Cheesecake Factory opening before the end of this year, that seems pretty ambitious, considering that the area that will one day be home to the full-service restaurant chain and cheesecake bakery (which currently has more than 200 U.S. locations) has only recently been fenced off near the mall’s main entrance. There is some heavy equipment on the site, but the parking lot hasn’t yet been leveled so that the restaurant can actually go vertical.
Swig
This rapidly-growing drive-through “dirty soda” chain featuring seasonal favorites and concoct-your-own sodas, revivers and refreshers, as well as frozen hot chocolate, sugar cookies and pretzel bites, is starting to go vertical just east of PopStroke and west of Academy Sports + Outdoors (photo above), across from the outlet mall.
Wesley Chapel/Lutz will be only the third Florida location for Swig, a Utah-based company which currently has more than 100 locations in 14 states, with agreements for 500 franchise units and plans for more corporate-owned stores. For more info, visit SwigDrinks.com.
