Taxes. Death. Stonewood being chosen by our readers as New Tampa’s Favorite Restaurant.
(L.-r.) Tampa Palms location Executive Chef Greg Gonzalez, operating partner Denny Diaz and Corporate Chef Danny Manzur of Stonewood Grill & Tavern invite you to check out what has once again been voted as our readers’ Favorite Restaurant in New Tampa. When new dishes like the amazing Manhattan Strip Steak (below) keep being added to the menu, it’s easy to understand who Stonewood keeps winning. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Despite some changes in operating partners over the years, little else has changed at Stonewood. Since opening in 2002, it has consistently been voted the area’s favorite, even in the face of some tough new challengers like Via Italia and the Grill at Morris Bridge.
This is the sixth straight year Stonewood has topped our survey results, and it has had many other top finishes in the years before that.
Manhattan Strip Steak
It still has a great bar, a superb wine selection and a menu featuring tasty items like cedar plank roasted salmon, sweet tea-brined pork chops, Tuscan chicken and other items you won’t find anywhere else in New Tampa — including the new Manhattan Strip Steak, created by Corporate Chef Danny Manzur, which we got to preview before this thick, tender and juicy strip was added to the regular menu on Jan. 4.
There also are burgers, sandwiches, salads and pastas, as well as crafted bowls featuring poké, Southwest chicken and salmon.
Its steaks are popular — in fact, Stonewood was the only restaurant in our survey to top two categories, thanks to it also winning Favorite Steak in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel.
With an upscale atmosphere that suits a family or that is perfect for date night, the Stonewood experience continues to be one enjoyed by many. — JC
2. The Grill at Morris Bridge 3. Via Italia 4. Liang’s Bistro 5. The Fat Rabbit Pub 6. The Brunchery 7. Sushi Café 8. Frammi 9. Fresh Kitchen 10. Lima Peruvian
Since opening in 2017, Noble Crust has established itself as one of Wesley Chapel’s premier restaurants, and based on the votes of our readers, the premier restaurant.
For the second straight year, Noble Crust tops the list as our readers’ favorite in Wesley Chapel (and New Tampa, this year).
With competition stiffer than ever, Noble Crust’s Southern Italian-style dishes resonate with local foodies. The seasonal menu includes such favorites as the Ricotta Gnocchi (pictured, bottom right), bronzed salmon, Southern fried chicken (bottom left), fire-roasted Pork Chops and the F.G.B.L.T. — fried green tomatoes, Tabasco honeyglazed pork belly and pimento cheese.
“I think it’s the consistency and quality of the food that wins people over,” says Brad Elia, Noble Crust’s executive director of marketing and events, adding that great service also goes a long way.
Elia adds that, despite the industry struggles post-Covid, Noble Crust never substituted cheaper ingredients to make their dishes. The team at Noble Crust meets every Thursday at noon, 52 weeks a year, to discuss ways to tweak the offerings and make sure everything on the menu is always up to par.
That has resulted in a rustic, ever-changing menu with few weaknesses, from a plate of spaghetti and meatballs to a pizza with pear and burrata to a bowl of rigatoni & beef ragout. And, Noble Crust’s popular bar offers unique craft cocktails and a variety of craft and other beer and wine options. — JC 2. Chuck Lager 3. Grillsmith 4. TrebleMakers 5. Falabella Bistro 6. Vallarta’s 7. Yamato 8. Bonefish Grill 9. Brunchery 10. Texas Roadhouse
Tomorrow: New Tampa’s top restaurant is familiar to local residents, and we reveal the top 25 overall in the combined New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area. Category winners will be published in the coming days, so make sure you check back.
Joshua Morales was just 7 years old the first time he remembers how different he was from the other kids.
He was at a birthday party with friends, who were all running around and playing and going down a slide. Although he was confined to a wheelchair, Morales managed to pull himself out of his chair to try to go down the slide as well. Some kids laughed and pointed.
“Why are you trying to act like a normal person?,” one of them shouted.
One of the special guests when a ribbon was officially cut at New Tampa’s All-Abilities Park and the park opened to kids just like him on Dec. 21, Joshua shared that story, which he would rather forget.
“But, it stuck to me like glue,” he said.
As one of more than a handful of special guests and dignitaries who received recognition as the All-Abilities Park — located within the boundaries of the New Tampa Community Park in Tampa Palms — opened, Joshua was a shining example of what the park will be all about.
The idea was initiated by District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, whose older brother Juan suffers from mental disabilities. At a final cost of roughly $2 million, the park is expected to be a beacon for children who may not feel they fit in at other parks.
“The park for me is about a basic idea, which is respect, dignity, security and inclusivity,” Viera said, recalling some of the moments he witnessed as a child when his brother wasn’t welcomed at places like a movie theater or a park. “The basic message the City of Tampa has for families like the Viera family is that you are welcome here.”
Others, like Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, State Senator Jay Collins and State Representative and Florida State House minority leader Fentrice Driskell shared the same message before a crowd of about 75 people.
The 10,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art playground has something for anyone with physical, cognitive, sensory and/or neuro diverse disabilities.
There are two small zip lines, one with a large seat to sit in, and two large swings, including one that slides back and forth and is wheelchair accessible.
For three-year-old Petra Farabee, there was plenty to do. Petra steered her wheelchair in between the adults and around the park like a pro, looking for new things to try. She even helped her dad Adam get a good bit of exercise trying to keep up with her.
Petra Farabee enjoys the see-saw at the new All Abilities Park.
Born with spina bifida, Petra was able to enjoy most of what the playground offered, including a see-saw with large seats that allowed her to have a break from her wheelchair (see photo on page 1).
“I think she likes it,” Adam said, smiling.
The park features a number of interactive pieces, like drums, a xylophone and chimes. There also is a learning board in three languages, including braille, a communication board for those who do not verbally communicate, and even a Pulse table tennis game that uses sensors, lights and sounds.
“It’s an amazing park,” Joshua said. “I’ve never seen one like it, and it will be great for kids to make friends and play with people they can relate to.”
The park is equipped with benches and tables and next to each bench is a power station that can be used to charge wheelchairs or other devices, if needed.
A mural (photo above left), by Pep Rally, Inc., a team of St. Petersburg and Tampa artists that focuses on brand identity, murals and installation art — entitled “Wild Florida Parade” — has vibrant colors and offers a tactile experience for low- to no-vision children, with carved grooves. The mural also is designed at a height that makes it wheelchair accessible.
For parents of any child who has experienced a summer day at a Florida playground, the best things about the New Tampa All Abilities Playground might be the safe, rubber surface, the large sails that provide an ample amount of protection from the sun, and a misting station that was built with $15,000 raised by the Rotary Club of New Tampa.
“This is a wonderful, wonderful addition to the New Tampa area, and to the entire city,” said Mayor Castor.
Joshua, now a 17-year-old senior at Sumner High in Ruskin, tried out the zip line and gave it a thumbs-up.
Diagnosed with transverse myelitis at 22 months leading to a spinal cord injury, Joshua has still managed to live a full life. He has played baseball, basketball, sled hockey, wheelchair rugby and has been able to go water skiing, practice jiu-jitsu and write music. He even got to sing one of his original rap songs at the ribbon cutting.
“I would have loved to have a park like this when I was younger,” he said.
For Viera, the ribbon cutting marked the completion of one of his first goals when he was elected in 2018.
Although the initial park plans had to be changed and a new site had to be found following complaints from a nearby neighborhood, the final result is definitely a rousing success..
“It doesn’t matter your disability,” Viera told the excited crowd, “you are welcome here.”
The New Tampa Performing Arts Center took decades to negotiate and build, but the ribbon was finally cut on the new PAC, which is located right across the street from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green community.
Wesley Chapel has always kind of felt like New Tampa’s little brother, who just happened to have a growth spurt and spent a lot of time in the weight room. Wesley Chapel may be stronger and tower over New Tampa these days, but big brother still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
We think this analogy kind of makes sense, but let’s lay it for you.
In 2022, New Tampa celebrated a number of significant milestones, like the 25th anniversary of opening of the New Tampa Regional Library, the 20th anniversary of schools like Liberty Middle School and Freedom High and the 25th anniversary of the opening of both Benito Middle School and Wharton High.
New Tampa truly is all grown up, in many ways. There may not be room to build new malls and hundreds of new homes — unless the vacated Pebble Creek Golf Club golf course is paved over in the next few years to make way for new homes — but the area continues to move forward with some developments that should make locals happy.
Two notable ribbon cuttings were held — one for the long-awaited New Tampa Performing Arts Center (which will begin hosting performances in 2023) and another for a first-of-its-kind All Abilities Park for the City of Tampa in Tampa Palms.
Both were significant. The Performing Arts Center, championed by Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan for more than a decade, will be the cultural center of New Tampa, opening the way for musicians, dancers, actors and more to hone their skills and have a place to perform. And, for the community, the new center is expected to offer a host of performances and shows that will provide various types of entertainment otherwise unavailable in the area.
As for Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera’s pet project — the New Tampa All Abilities Park — those who suffer from a variety of disabilities now have a place to call their own, and a chance to be included in a number of fun and even educational playground activities that, until now, have been off limits for them.
That’s not all — Hagan also led the groundbreaking of a major renovation of Branchton Park at the corner of Morris Bridge Rd. and Cross Creek Blvd., and also announced that the county hopes to build New Tampa’s first indoor recreation center at Cross Creek Park near Pride Elementary.
Marion Brodarick
And, the long-awaited replacement for the vacated Sweetbay Supermarket, the Asian superstore Lotte Plaza Market, began renovating the old building and expects to open sometime in 2023.
When it comes to other notable moments, New Tampa had its fair share.
Bruhat Soma, now a sixth grader at Turner Bartels K-8, School, qualified for the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., although he couldn’t attend due to Covid-19. He was only the second New Tampa student to ever qualify for the event, joining Benito’s Nupur Lala, who actually won the title in 1999.
Tommy Tonelli, pretty much the only basketball coach Wharton High has ever known, stepped down after leading the Wildcats to the State semifinals. Tonelli finished as Hillsborough County’s all-time- winningest boys basketball coach with a 528-137 record over 23 seasons.
Long-time Pebble Creek resident Marion Brodarick celebrated her 100th birthday, and is still going strong.
And, remember when gas prices were more than $4 a gallon? That prompted more than 100 cars to line up on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. for a promotional event, as the Marathon station neat I-75 was offering gas for just $2.38 per gallon.
As for New Tampa’s aforementioned little brother, it was another big year for new and cool things. In addition to the announcement of a new hospital (Wesley Chapel’s second), a few groundbreakings for town centers and an upscale Cooper’s Hawk restaurant on S.R. 56, Wesley Chapel’s 2022 highlights also included:
• The debut of the KRATE at the Grove Container Park in June, probably Wesley Chapel’s No. 1 success story of the year. The grand opening event of what is, at the very least, our area’s most unique and one-of-a-kind hangout, drew roughly 8,000 people, and its never-ending stream of special events — like ‘70s Night, ‘80s Night, movie nights and more — routinely draw more than a thousand patrons at a time to The Grove.
Comprised of converted shipping containers with an Instagrammable flair, KRATE has a little something for almost everyone. It boasts 29 restaurants with a variety of ethnic offerings, as well as 17 retail stores. The KRATE’s stage features some kind of live entertainment almost every week. Even during the recent winter chill, it’s been (and still is) the hot place to be these days.
• Saddlebrook Resort — which deserves maybe more credit than anything else for putting Wesley Chapel on the map as far back as the 1980s — was sold in 2022 for $15 million. And, long-time owner Tom Dempsey told us that it was just the first step in an expansion and renovation of the storied golf resort and residential development. Those plans include expanding Saddlebrook’s master-planned unit development (MPUD) by more than 400 acres and converting one of its two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses and the resort’s driving range into a site that would potentially include commercial/retail, restaurants, apartments, homes and other uses — serving as something of a Saddlebrook town center.
• If you regularly drive to Wesley Chapel for all the cool stuff, a lot of 2022 traffic improvements should make traveling in the area much more pleasant in 2023.
The diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is now fully open at the S.R. 56 and I-75 interchange and, except for some clean up and road markings. And, the Overpass Rd. interchange at I-75 — between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits — will be open soon, and the widening of S.R. 54 from east of Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. should be completed late in 2023.
When you add in the new paving planned for Tampa Palms Blvd., it feels like this year was a win for area commuters.
• Looking Ahead…In 2023, New Tampa can expect the completion of the Branchton Park improvements and a schedule of events for the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. And, with the ongoing fight over what to do with Pebble Creek’s golf course picking up steam, potential replacements for the Best Buy and Oronzo Honest Italian restaurant in Highwoods Preserve, when Kobe Japanese Steakhouse will open in its new location (see pg. 36) and a surprise or two, New Tampa definitely can expect an eventful 2023.
Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel can look forward to stepped-up growth in Wiregrass Ranch, including the long-awaited town center, and another in downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and much more.
Kiran’s son Satvik (left) is a clinical psychiatrist; her younger son Sahit is in medical school.
Kiran Indian Grocery, located on Cross Creek Blvd. in the Cross Creek Center plaza, has been a mainstay at this constantly-changing plaza since 2014. Before that, owner Kiran Vanthenapalli owned a store (from 2003-06; and an Indian restaurant, too) on E. Fowler Ave. and, from 2006-10, her store was in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.
That means that some of her beloved customers have known and trusted Kiran and her family and staff to provide their (predominantly) Indian and Pakistani spices, coffees and teas, frozen foods, meats, snacks, sweets and even hair care and other cosmetic products (and so much more) for almost 20 years.
And of course, Kiran is perhaps best known for her amazing selection of fresh produce, with so many Indian specialty items I’ve never tasted (or even seen) before at prices that she says she knows, “no one can beat. I do my research — and no one beats my prices on produce.”
For example, she can describe the difference between coconuts used for Indian prayers and those that are meant for eating, and of course, stocks both in the store.
But actually, saying that Kiran is best known for her produce isn’t 100-percent accurate. Kiran Indian Grocery is actually best-known for Kiran herself, something that no other store of any kind can boast.
Not only can Kiran tell you where each and every one of her thousands of available items are located, she also can tell you the prices for each — all off the top of her head. That’s kind of amazing because she has so many different items and many different brands of the same types of products — e.g., she has as many different “masala” seasonings and brands as most grocery stores have beers — crammed into a store that somehow seems both much bigger and much smaller than it actually is because it offers such an amazing variety of products.
“I can’t do my own inventory on a computer,” Kiran says. “My computer is right here (pointing to her head).”
But, Kiran’s staffers also are knowledgeable. It’s just pretty much impossible for anyone else to have memorized the prices, sizes and exact location within the store of so many different items — many of which aren’t even marked with prices.
But, if Kiran tells you what the price is on any item, rest assured that when that item is rung up at the check-out counter, the exact price she quoted will pop up.
Also stored in Kiran’s computer brain are the favorite items of every one of her regular customers. She re-orders many items based on when she knows the customers who regularly purchase those items will be back in to buy them.
“I don’t like disappointing anyone,” she says with her usual sweet smile. “If I am running low on an item you always get, I’ll hold enough of that item for you,” so you can stay stocked until she gets her next shipment of it. And, “If I only have three left, and I don’t know how soon I’ll get more, I’ll tell you to buy two of them.”
And, if Kiran does somehow run out of one of your favorites, she’ll suggest an alternative that you can try that you might end up liking better.
A Love Of Animals
Kiran and her husband Sudeer have always also served not only their community, but people — and even animals — in need around the world.
She has been involved — at least since opening her store in Cross Creek — with the Tampa Bay chapter of the SPCA (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and she has donated fresh produce, rice and really anything the local chapter has needed because she is such a strong believer that people need pets and that so many of the pets in shelters can and do help individuals and families who need the kind of companionship and love that only a dog or cat can provide.
“I love the SPCA,” Kiran says. “It feels good to help them because they help so many people…and animals.”
When Covid-19 hit back in March 2020 and I started going through issues with my printer, Kiran was probably the first (but thankfully, not the only) advertiser to call me and say, “What do you need? How can I help?
She thought I said that I was going out of business. “I started crying,” she said. “I told (her husband) Sudeer, ‘We have to help our brother.’”
Even though I thankfully never got to that point and have no Indian heritage whatsoever, Kiran has been calling me her brother for years now. And, even though she seems to treat everyone who stops into the store like a member of her family, I refer to her as my sister, too. You just can’t fake her kind of genuine goodness and compassion for others.
“Gary, my brother, I’m so sorry that I’m out of your favorite chocolate bars right now,” she said to me on my most recent visit. “I also had to order (my wife) Jannah’s favorite tea. I’ll let you know when all of that comes in.”
But, it’s a big compliment to me because Kiran does also have an amazing family of which she is equally proud. Sudeer is a software engineer and their older son Satvik graduated from medical school at USF and is now a clinical psychiatrist, while younger son Sahit currently is in med school and plans to become a psychiatrist as well.
Another case in point about how Kiran treats everyone is that, when people check out at her store, she or her cashier will put coupons from other local businesses in the customers’ shopping bags. She has helped most of the Indian restaurants (as well as the new Gorkhali Kitchen Nepalese restaurant now located next to her store) and other businesses owned by people from India and Pakistan in our area this way and she says that she would be happy to do it for other businesses, too.
“We’re all in this together,” she says.
And of course, whether you like or want to cook Indian food or not, if you’re a fan of delicious chocolate cookies or other sweet and/or salty treats, or you want the best prices in town on a most unique selection of fresh produce items, you owe it to yourself to visit my sister Kiran.
Kiran Indian Grocery is located at 10042 Cross Creek Blvd. and is open Monday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. For more information, call (813) 994-6202, search “Kiran Indian Grocery” on Facebook or see the ad on pg. 34.
