Wesley Chapel Dining Survey Results: Your Favorite Asian/Mediterranean!

General manager Khan Ly (second from left) and his staff have made sure that The Hungry Greek is not only the best Greek restaurant around, but one of the best overall.

1. Hungry Greek
2653 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
(813) 345-8526
TheHungryGreek.com

The Hungry Greek may be known as that fast and casual  Greek place right across the street from AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, but it wasn’t that way when franchise creator George Constantinou originally opened the doors to this first link of his now-10-location mini-chain on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Wesley Chapel on Oct. 5, 2008.

“It was two lanes and there were cows across the street,” Constantinou says. “It was in the middle of the housing recession, and everyone pulled out and it was just us and a balloon store. My dad looked at me and said ‘I hope this was a good move.’”

As it turns out, it was. It just required some patience.

Now, the Hungry Greek is smack dab in the middle of a booming area with two malls, countless homes, businesses and restaurants, across from one hospital with a second being built a mile or so away. And, as it pretty much always has been, The Hungry Greek is once again the most popular Mediterranean restaurant in Wesley Chapel, according to our readers.

Something of a spinoff of his father’s former Happy Greek restaurant in Dunedin, the Hungry Greek — in 2015 and 2016, it was the No. 2 overall favorite restaurant with our readers — serves up food made from his family’s recipes.

While they did at one time also serve food like burgers, it was a change to a more traditional Greek menu and an emphasis on the things they did best — Greek salads, gyros (gyro platter shown below), chicken souvlaki and tzatziki sauce, to name a few — made with the best ingredients.

The steady hand of local owner Khan Ly has the BBD location humming along as one of the mini-chain’s best, and the local Greek favorite year after year. — JCC

2. Yamato
28347 Paseo Dr., #150
(813) 907-8701
YamatoWesleyChapel.com
As Wesley Chapel’s only teppanyaki (hibachi) table Japanese restaurant, Yamato Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar’s location in the Shops at Wiregrass mall helped guarantee that people would at least try it, but it is Yamato’s excellent fare and reasonable prices (especially when compared with other Japanese steakhouses) have continued to keep it high on our readers’ list of favorite restaurants year after year.

While Yamato has never finished higher than fifth overall in the Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel (it finished tied for 29th this year), it has always been in the top five favorite Asian restaurants and had we not combined Mediterranean and Asian cuisines in the same category this year, it would have been #1 this year, losing to Hungry Greek by only four votes and finishing a dozen ahead of 3rd place Zukku-San. — GN

3. Zukku-San
25916 Sierra Center Blvd.
(813) 419-1351
ZukkuSushi.com
When it opened in 2020, we were excited by the possibilities of a new and unique sushi restaurant with predominantly Japanese (and some Korean) specialties in what is surely the most beautiful Asian restaurant in Wesley Chapel. 

Zukku-San, owned and operated by Ferdian Jap and his family, also has less formal locations in Charlotte, NC, at Tampa’s Armature Works and coming soon is Ato, which will feature sushi bowls and “burritos” in the KRATE container park at The Grove in Wesley Chapel.

Although many locals choose Zukku-San for the sushi, if you haven’t tried the gyoza dumplings, the super-crispy spring rolls, the chicken and steak yakitori (below), the Japanese fried rice or full-liquor bar, you’ve been missing something special. — GN

The rest of the 2021 Asian/Mediterranean Top 10:
(4) China Wok
(5) Bonsai
(6) Umu
(7) Hibachi Express
(T8) Asian Buffet
(T8) Arroy Thai
(10) Gonna China.

Wesley Chapel Dining Survey Results: Your Favorite Pizza!

(L.-r.) Preston Parilo, Cynthia Andujar, Joe Carrion & Ivan Plumb obviously enjoy serving — and eating — the delicious New York-style pepperoni pizza at 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass Mall. (Photo by Charmaine George)

1. 900º Woodfired
28152 Paseo Drive #195
(813) 527-6940
900DegreesWoodfirePizza.com

Pizza continues to be a favorite option for lunch and dinner with our readers and none is more popular this year than owner Steve Falabella’s 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass, which won this year’s Favorite Pizza in Wesley Chapel with our readers by a fairly wide margin.

And, considering that Falabella opened not only his Falabella Family Bistro (our readers’ fourth favorite restaurant in WC) but also a second 900º Pizza location (900º New York Pizza, which finished a solid sixth with our readers in its first year) in The Grove at Wesley Chapel in 2021, the fact that so many still selected the original 900º location as their favorite pizza place is a testament to Falabella’s commitment to quality food at super-fair prices.

The primary difference between the two 900º locations is that only the original pizza shop in Wiregrass offers Neapolitan-style woodfired pizza (like the Margherita pizza in the photo, right), as well as the New York style ‘za available at both locations.

But, thanks to its other great Italian specialties, 900º Woodfired Pizza also finished 10th as our readers’ Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel. Among the favorite appetizers are the deep-fried calzones known as Panzeretto and the bruschetta, while my favorite pasta dish is the authentic pesto Genovese, although the penne alla vodka, Alfredo and Bolognese sauces also are all pretty popular.  And, wash them down with ice cold Peroni on draft, as well as bottled beers and wines by the glass or bottle. — GN

2. PizzaMania
1734 Bruce B Downs Blvd.
(813) 907-0005
MyPizzaMania.com

One of the first pizza places to open in Wesley Chapel also is still high among our readers’ favorites, as the NY/NJ-style pies and Italian specialties continue to earn lots of votes.

Not only is there ever-popular regular pizzas, but also gourmet options, like But, of course, pizza, including gourmet options like Margherita, white sauce and more, but PizzaMania also offers everything from fried ravioli and bruschetta to arancini (traditional rice balls) and other appetizers, plus a variety of salads, hot and cold subs, calzones and strombolis, plus wings with a variety of sauces, lasagna, baked ziti, stuffed shells, gnocchi Sorrentina and pasta with vodka, white clam and pesto sauce and even a seafood combo of mussels, shrimp and clams that helped it finish tied for 34th Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel with our readers. — GN

3. NY NY Pizza
3757 Bruce B Downs Blvd.
(813) 528-8771
NYNYPizzeria.com

Technically, the New York New York Pizza in Wesley Chapel is part of a small eight-unit chain (including one in Tampa International Airport) of no-frills Tampa-area pizza places that serve excellent true-New York-style pizza. But, chain or no chain, the Wesley Chapel location has been among the top five favorite pizza places with our readers since it first opened.

NY NY, which finished third to second-place PizzaMania by only two votes and ahead of Amici by a half-dozen, offers a large variety of pizza-by-the-slice and whole-pie options, including everything from cheese and pepperoni to meat lovers and white and from cauliflower crust to my favorite Grandma’s pizza with a garlic red sauce in our area.

NY NY also has a nice selection of salads, sandwiches and even burgers plus baked pasta options. — GN

The rest of the 2021 Pizza Top 10:

(4) Amici
(5) Mellow Mushroom
(6) 900 NY
(T7) Fratelli’s
(T7) Best NY
(T7) Blaze
(T10) Papa John’s
(T10) Bosco’s. 


Wesley Chapel Dining Survey Results: Top 25!

1 — NOBLE CRUST
When a new restaurant opens in Wesley Chapel, it typically  become’s a reader’s favorite in its first year, and then gradually fades to the middle of the pack.

Not Noble Crust. A testament to an innovative and delicious menu, maintaining a steady staff in these difficult times for restaurants and focusing on excellence and consistency, Noble Crust has placed third in our Reader’s Survey every year since opening in 2017.

Great servers like Bri Small (on the left, holding the rigatoni + short rib ragu) and Josh Salinas (with the bronzed salmon) serving delicious food are a big part of Noble Crust’s win as this year’s Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel. (Photos: Charmaine George)

Not this year, however. This year, Noble Crust has moved up to No. 1.

“That’s huge for us,” says operating partner Danny Autrey. “To be able to stand apart from our other two locations (in Carrollwood and St Petersburg) is great. We pride ourselves on our great staff, and it’s nice to see them rewarded by the community.”

There is much to like about Noble Crust, which is located at the Shops at Wiregrass — the service, the bar, the ambiance and let’s be honest, the place just smells terrific.

Billed as Deep South Italian, Noble Crust combines farm-fresh flavor with unique pairings to create tasty dishes. It is likely so popular with our readers because it does so many things well. You could make the case that it has the best fried chicken (Autrey confesses that it’s so good, he enjoys a piece almost daily), best pizza, best weekend brunch and maybe even the best Italian food around.

The fusion of Deep South and Italian is where it shines, however. Traditional Chicken Marsala is served over four-cheese grits and chicken sausage, the chicken fried chicken parmigiana is country-fried for a more rustic result, the BLT is served with fried green tomatoes, pork belly and pimento cheese and one of its most popular dishes, the bronzed salmon (bottom right), is highlighted by pickled raisins that bring it all together.

And, don’t sleep on the pasta dishes, either, like the super-popular rigatoni + short rib ragu.

Noble Crust’s brunches on Saturdays and Sundays are exceptional, with its popular friend chicken and waffles, lemon ricotta pancakes and steak-and-eggs among the standout favorites.

The service ties it all together. Autrey says his grandfather would never return to a restaurant if a manager hadn’t stopped by see how the meal was, and he has taken that to heart running the Wesley Chapel location. When we stopped by last week, he was busy helping deliver dishes and checking in with customers.

“The personalized experience is important,” he says. “It’s something all of us here strive for, and I think it keeps our customers coming back.” — JCC

2 — TREBLEMAKERS

Rather than resting on its laurels after debuting as our readers’ fourth (and yours truly’s #1) Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel last year, Treble Makers Dueling Piano Restaurant & Bar has continued to upgrade its menu and service under executive chef Kevin Maggard, GM & co-owner Lee Bevan and co-owner Jamie Hess and his family.

In fact, Treble Makers is this year’s Favorite Bar in Wesley Chapel with our readers this year, after adding great new bartenders and entertainment options to go with the popular weekend dueling piano shows.

But, for me, the best thing about Treble Makers is the food. With better fresh fish — like the grilled wahoo to the right — than most seafood restaurants and top-quality steaks, lamb chops, I hope you’ll check out Treble Makers soon.—GN

3 — FIRST WATCH
Located in The Shoppes at New Tampa, Wesley Chapel’s popular breakfast chain is well-known for its long lines (especially on Sundays) as it is for its delicious and healthy breakfast and lunch menu.

We can’t remember a time that First Watch wasn’t the top vote getter for breakfast joints, and it’s third-place overall finish this year is a testament to its terrific food.

The breakfast menu has traditional egg-and-bacon dishes, omelettes, and Floridian French toast (photo) gigantic pancakes, but items like the healthy turkey omelette, superfoods bowls & power wraps set it apart.

Now serving beer, wine and unique mixed drinks, too, First Watch’s all-natural healthy juices and lunch items like a variety of salads and sandwiches (ham and gruyere melt, mmmm) have kept people coming back in droves for more than a decade. —JCC

4. FALABELLA FAMILY BISTRO
Our highest-finishing newcomer has great weekend specials.

5. FLORIDA AVE. BREWING COMPANY
The food might be better than the beer — a big compliment.

6. VALLARTA’S
Wesley Chapel’s Latin favorite has its highest finish ever.

7. BAHAMA BREEZE
Still high among your faves despite all of the new eateries.

T8. KEKE’S BREAKFAST CAFE
Breakfast newcomer finishes in the top-10. 

T8. GRILLSMITH
Last year’s No. 1 has been the top choice six of last 10 years.

10. 900º WOODFIRED PIZZA
Your favorite pizza place also makes your top-10 overall.

11. BJ’s BREWHOUSE
Its huge menu and fair prices keep BJ’s near your top-10. 

T12. BONEFISH GRILL
Two-time Reader Survey winner survives moves to S.R. 56.

T12. THE HUNGRY GREEK
Voted as Wesley Chapel’s top Greek restaurant, again.

14. ZUKKU-SAN SUSHI
Your fave Asian has high-end, creative sushi & more.

T15. AMICI PIZZA
Your 4th-fave pizza place also has great Italian food.

T15. ROCK & BREWS
KISS-themed bar with classic American food from scratch.

T15. KING OF THE COOP
Put a little spice in your life with the King’s Nashville hot chicken.

T15. TEXAS ROADHOUSE
This year’s highest-finishing steak place has great prices, too. 

19. RICE-N-BEANS
Your 2nd-favorite Latin choice features Puerto Rican cuisine. 

20. CHUY’S TEX-MEX
Super-fun atmosphere & tasty Tex-Mex specialties.

21. UMU JAPANESE & THAI
Great setting, fresh sushi and the lobster rolls are a hit.

T22. GLORY DAYS GRILL
Quality bar food and one of best places to catch all the games. 

T22. BUBBA’S 33
Another fave for “upscale” bar food & TVs galore.

24. FORD’S GARAGE
A top spot for a classic burger, fries and a craft beer.

25. CAPITAL TACOS
Unique taco/burrito/bowl combinations made fresh for you.

The Good & Bad Sides Of Wesley Chapel’s Explosive Growth

We recently changed printers again, and since it had been a while since we updated our distribution numbers, I decided to log onto the U.S. Postal Service’s website to see just how many residences and businesses we were now mailed to and how many people that included.

I’ve been saying for years that it was only a matter of time before Wesley Chapel and its planned (and ongoing) explosive growth would one day cause our direct-mail distribution to Wesley Chapel’s three zip codes — 33543, 33544 & 33545 — to surpass the number of homes, apartments and businesses (and the number of people those households include) in New Tampa’s 33647 zip code.

Well, it’s finally happened. As of the mailing of this issue, we are now mailed to 28,900+ residences and businesses in Wesley Chapel and, according to the Post Office’s Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) website, which give estimates of the number of people per household in every postal carrier route, those households represent nearly 82,500 people. By contrast, our Dec. 7 New Tampa issue was directly mailed to 28,600 residences and businesses and a Post Office-estimated 74,000+ people. 

That means that when you combine those numbers, businesses that choose to place ads in both of our markets are now reaching more than 57,500 residences and businesses and more than a whopping 156,500 total people every four weeks!

If New Tampa, which is located in Hillsborough County, and Wesley Chapel, which is in Pasco, could be considered together as one market (as I sort of always have considered them), that would make the Wesley Chapel-New Tampa “metro area” as large as Decatur, AL, which is the 268th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the U.S.

For me, as the owner of the Neighborhood News, that is both good and bad news, but mostly good. That reach is larger by far than any local online community and significantly larger than any other publication distributed to our areas. And, it has helped us increase the total number of advertisers both expressing interest in advertising and actually buying ads with us by more than 40% from our Covid-related drop from March-December 2020.

But of course, it also means that in order to reach that unique audience, I have to be willing to pay to continue to grow with our two communities — as I have for nearly 28 years (my 28th anniversary of owning the Neighborhood News is Feb. 25, 2022; with my first issue as publisher and editor Apr. 1994).

Not Everyone Is Happy…  

It’s been an amazing journey for me personally to see this growth, even though, throughout the years, people living and working in both of our communities have complained about all of the new homes, apartments and businesses being built here.

The ironic thing about it is that if the folks who have been unhappy with all of the growth in our two markets, especially here in Wesley Chapel, had been reading our publications from the beginning, they had a pretty good idea that it was all coming. We certainly have been the primary, if not the only,  local news medium that has been reporting about all of our growth — nearly all of which has on been on the books and records for as long (or nearly as long) as I’ve owned this publication.

I didn’t go back to our old issues to figure out exactly when we knew about the plans for Wiregrass Ranch, Epperson, Watergrass, Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, the Connected City and not-yet-developed areas like Wyndfields (located east of Wiregrass Ranch), but rest assured, whenever we did know about those plans, we’ve been reporting about them.

And yes, I’ve known for at least 10-15 years that Wesley Chapel’s expansion of master-planned communities would one day see its population surpass New Tampa’s.

But, while I agree with the sentiment that the plans for expanding our roads have not progressed as quickly, or kept up with, the growth of Wesley Chapel, the simple fact is that most of us who live and/or work here (me included) moved here from someplace else, too, and Florida in general and Wesley Chapel in particular are extremely desirable places to live — so that growth is likely to continue.

But, while many applauded the sentiment of the picture shown above (from St. Cloud, where locals are protesting the same kind of development we have here) and the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page post about it, I say that not only is it a crime to deface a sign that Lennar Homes paid good money to put up on its own private property, anyone who believes that actions like these are a good way to slow down our growth is sadly mistaken.            

Joann Ortiz Ramos Named Pasco’s SRP Of The Year!

Joann Ortiz Ramos (center) is congratulated by Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning (left) and Cypress Creek Middle School principal Tim Light after being chosen as Pasco’s SRP of the Year.

When Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning walked into a mostly empty Cypress Creek Middle School cafeteria in November, Joann Ortiz Ramos stopped cleaning tables to jump up and down and exclaim, “Oh, you gotta be kidding!”

Ramos knew immediately that Browning was there to surprise her with the news that she was chosen as Pasco County’s School Related Personnel of the Year award winner.

The award recognizes one non-instructional employee in Pasco County Public Schools for his or her outstanding and significant contributions they make to their school and to the district.

The fact that Ramos was cleaning tables is fitting. She was chosen for the honor because she is constantly going above and beyond her job responsibilities and doing things that are completely outside of her role as a discipline instructional assistant at the school.

Cypress Creek Middle School principal Tim Light says Ramos’ job is to handle student discipline that does not require the intervention of an administrator.

“She does the minor stuff, and there’s a lot more of that than the major stuff,” Light said. Ramos reviews referrals, ensures that every student receives due process, and then assigns consequences if warranted. She also brings certain offenses to the administrative team and supervises both detentions and Saturday school.

Her job most definitely is not cleaning tables in the cafeteria, yet that’s where she was found when the superintendent came looking for her.

“We are so proud of you,” Browning said. “Thanks for what you do.”

Light said the superintendent couldn’t have chosen a better candidate to represent Pasco County Schools as a nominee for the state’s award.

SRP winners from every county in Florida — including Ramos — are nominated by their superintendents for the Florida Department of Education award program, which chooses one statewide winner and four finalists. 

“It speaks volumes to the job she does that she was chosen,” Light said. “Joann is the epitome of who warrants this prestigious award. She lives and breathes her job, and she’s also at every after-school event, at every school dance and sporting event, always helping out. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as she does. She’s very deserving.”

As a volunteer, Ramos serves as the unofficial leader of the school’s ABC program, which provides meals, clothing, school supplies and hygiene products to students in need. Light said Ramos never hesitates to assist a family at a moment’s notice, whether it’s providing them with these items or acting as a translator.

She has been in her current role for three years and started her career with Pasco County Schools five years ago.

“There is no mistaking Joann’s love for her students, peers, school and community,” Browning added in his nomination letter.

The State education award winners will be announced in March.