Shuckin’ Shack To ‘Soft Open’ On Monday; Slim Chickens Opening Sept. 28!

We previously told you that both Slim Chickens (at 27244 Wesley Chapel Blvd.) and Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar (at 25026 Wesley Chapel Blvd. extension) were both expected to open soon, with Slim Chickens perhaps ready to open before our Sept. 19 New Tampa issue hit mailboxes. Both restaurants have now announced their new planned opening dates.

According to Jared, one of the franchise owners of Slim Chickens on Wesley Chapel Blvd. (just north of Old Pasco Rd.), although the restaurant’s gas hookup was completed, the threat of Hurricane Idalia caused additional delays and Jared says that the 225+-unit home of hand-breaded chicken tenders, sandwiches and nuggets (photo) and mason jar desserts is now expecting to open on or around Thursday, September 28. For more information, visit SlimChickens.com. 

Meanwhile, Shuckin’ Shack was previously set to open on Sept. 16, with a special North Tampa Bay Chamber VIP preview expected to take place on Sept. 12. Unfortunately, Shuckin’ Shack suffered similar Hurricane Idalia-related delays as Slim Chickens, but the soft opening — featuring a 15% discount for doctors, nurses, military & first responders — of the North Carolina-based chain’s 20th location is now expected on Monday, September 25. Look for a big photo spread of that opening day in our October 3 edition of Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! Visit TheShuckinShack.com or “Shuckin’ Shack Wesley Chapel” on Facebook for more information.—GN 

Mochinut To Open Two Area Locations! 

When I visited the Mochinut Korean-style donut and rice hot dog (not a misprint) place at 11401 N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace for the first time — to sample what has been announced as coming to the former location of Mahana Fresh on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. — I got a few surprises. 

First of all, the donuts, which are now served at more than 130 locations around the country, and are available in a rotating variety of flavors — from caramel churro (below) to lavender — are light, airy and definitely taste nothing like Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’ Donuts. The rice flour hot dogs sound…interesting…too, although I’ve yet to sample them. The bigger surprise was that not only is New Tampa getting a Mochinut store, so is the Lutz/Wesley Chapel area across from the Tampa Premium Outlets, as Mochinut also is opening soon in the former Pho 54 Vietnamese restaurant/boba tea location in the same plaza as Mellow Mushroom and Astro Craft Ice Cream.

All Mochinut locations also serve a variety of boba teas, by the way.  Best of all, both new locations are likely to open by about the first week in October. 

For more information, visit or call the Temple Terrace location at (813) 374- 5781 and please tell them that I sent you. Or, visit Mochinut.com.

Remembering 9-11

On Saturday, the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History hosted an event in remembrance of 9-11 where Wesley Chapel resident and retired New York City EMT Stephen Spelman, Dist. 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman, Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn (from the movie “12 Strong”), FDNY Lt. Michael Basignato and Zephyrhills Mayor Melonie Bahr Monson were among the many guest speakers. There also was a Pasco Sheriff’s Office fly-by and multiple sky divers who landed in a nearby field as part of the event.

Read the full story of this 911 event and others in the Oct. 3 edition of Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! 

Nibbles & Bites: Shake Shack To Open In Vacant Former Wendy’s Location On S.R. 56

Locals have been asking for a while what, if anything, is coming to the closed Wendy’s restaurant (photo below) on the north side of S.R. 56 (next to Taco Bell).

We now know that the shuttered former Wendy’s will become the second Tampa Bay-area location of Shake Shack (the photo above is an already popular location in Midtown Tampa), a chain with more than 300 units in 32 U.S. states and more than 170 more everywhere from Mexico City to Singapore.

Started in 2004 at a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park, Shake Shack serves Angus beef burgers, crispy chicken, hand-spun milkshakes and house-made lemonade. Beer and wine also are served at most of its locations.

Unlike the Midtown location, the Lutz/Wesley Chapel Shake Shack will be in its own freestanding building. We had no additional information about when it is expected to open at our press time. 

For more information, visit ShakeShack.com. 

New Rental Units Now Under Construction At MP Blvd. & Beardsley Dr.

Research by Joel Provenzano

The areas outlined in black on the two site maps on these pages are the separated sites of the two new rental communities coming to the northwest and northeast corners of Meadow Pointe Blvd. and Beardsley Dr. The graphic above shows the plan for the northwest corner, which will include a clubhouse and other amenities. (Source: Pasco County)

We’ve seen some recent posts online asking about what might be coming to the intersection of Meadow Pointe Blvd. at Beardsley Dr. Well, the answer is that it is no longer a “might be” question.

It appears that both empty grass lots, one on the northeast corner and the one on the northwest corner of Meadow Pointe Blvd. at Beardsley, are owned by the same property owner — Clearwater Bay Associates, Inc. — and were zoned together. In 2021, the property owner applied for and was approved to be zoned for residential rental units.

The grass lot (12.7 acres) on the northwest corner of the intersection moved forward with a developmental construction permit (applied for in June of this year) with an associated site plan. 

The site plan for the northeast corner.

The other grass lot (11.7 acres) on the northeast corner was issued a permit on Aug. 22, the same day that crews arrived to start work on the site, where there is now a construction trailer. Construction fencing has been erected around both sites.

For permitting purposes, the two developments have been referred to as either Meadow Pointe West or Meadow Pointe East (depending on the side of the road), but the official name of the community is likely to change as it moves forward.

The site plans, designed by Heidt Design, show multiple rental units mixed together and laid out on each side, like rental townhomes with driveways and garages, single standalone units (individual rental houses) with driveways and garages, rental villas (duplexes) with driveways and garages, and rental townhome-style units without driveways or garages. Those units without driveways would have parking spaces like in an apartment complex, as opposed to their own garages. It appears that all of the units will have small, individual fenced-in backyards. All of the units also would be rented via the leasing office.

The start of the construction on the east side.

There will be a total of 99 units on the east side and 82 units on the west side. The clubhouse (which will be located on the west side) is expected to have a leasing office, fitness center, club room and a pool. A crosswalk is proposed to link the two separate parcels for residents on the east side who would have to cross Meadow Pointe Blvd to get to the community’s amenities on the west side. Meadow Pointe Blvd also is proposed to be widened to include left turn lanes. 

At our press time, we did not yet know the timeline for when the construction is expected to be completed.