When you visit Bagels of WC, say hi to (l.-r.) Cheyanne, Liani, David, Sierra, Linda & Wayne.ย
You may have heard that Linda Henry (you may remember her last name as Carr, however) is back at her former location in the Freedom Plaza at 30032 S.R. 54, which is now called Bagels of Wesley Chapel (WC).
The former owner of Bagelicious & More in the same location is happy to bring a renewed energy, revitalized interior and especially, house-made bagels that are now boiled before they are baked.
โDo you see how big and fluffy the bagels are now?,โ Linda asked as I enjoyed my over-easy eggs, crispy bacon and equally crispy homefries (above left) with a toasted poppy seed bagel (that actually came with the breakfast and was indeed bigger and fluffier than I remembered), all for just $8.95!ย
Charmaine also raved about her chicken salad melt with provolone cheese and fresh tomato on a hashbrown bagel (bottom), served with a side of pasta salad (or fries, potato salad or, for $1 more, a bag of chips).ย
This was actually my second visit to the new Bagels of WC, where Linda now has pretty much her entire family working (top photo). On my first visit, I had an equally tasty bacon, egg & cheese on a toasted, scooped-out sesame bagel (for just $6.49!).ย
Bagels of WC, which features more than a dozen varieties of fresh bagels (for only $14.99 for a Bakerโs Dozen of 13; or $21.99 with two 8-oz. tubs of spreads) also serves omelettes, a selection of deli sandwiches and lots of smiles.
Bagels of WC is open every day, 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. For info, call (813) 575-8300 (DoorDash delivery is available) & tell Linda we sent you.โโGN
Ziggiโs Coffee Drive-Thru has updated its permit application, which previously announced that the growing coffee chain was going to open on Mansfield Blvd.
But, new plans now show that Ziggiโs will instead open on Hueland Pond Blvd., just south of S.R. 56 and the 76 gas station and Daybreak Market (see map, left).ย
The new permit application announcing this different location was just submitted last month. Preliminary site engineering plans have been submitted for Pasco Countyโs review, which say:
โThe project proposes the development of a new 1,800+/- sq. ft. coffee shop with a drive through, associated parking and drainage improvements.โ
Ziggiโs Coffee currently has about 100 locations in 18 U.S. states, but only one other location โ in St. Augustine โ currently open in Florida . The company is in a rapid growth phase, however, with more than 200 additional Ziggiโs Coffee locations now in development. For more info, visit ZiggisCoffee.com. โ Joel Provenzano & GN
Our friends at BayCare Wesley Chapel (WC) Hospital (4501 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) continue to engage the community so that as many people as possible can get to know the nearly three-year-old, 86-bed hospital.
On Oct. 6, BayCare WC Chaplain Reid Isenhart (at left in top photo) hosted a Pet Blessing event, in honor of the Feast Day for the Catholic Patron Saint of the animals, St. Francis of Assisi. โWe always strive to set high standards for compassionate care for people, Chaplin Reid said, โbut we also like to recognize the gift of our animals, including the therapy animals who come to the hospital.โย
With nearly two dozen animals in attendance โ including two young piglets, a chicken and a bunny brought by โConnected Cityโ resident Michael Pultorak (left) โ Chaplain Reid said, โResearch shows that pet owners consider their pets to be full family members. Today, we alsoย have animals who assist us not just emotionally, but also with sight and sound and to recognize seizures and even cancer, so we bless them all.โย
Then on Oct. 15, BayCare WC hosted a North Tampa Bay Chamber Coffee Social (photo, right), where the hospitalโs director of operations Bill Sedey gave attendees more info about the hospital: โThis hospital features a 20-bed emergency room, a 12-bed intensive care unit, helipad for transporting critical patients, all private rooms and a great partnership with the under-construction YMCA next door.โ Other hospital staffers also made presentations about BayCare WCโs imaging center, staffing and more.
If youโre a fan of the classic sitcom โSeinfeld,โ Iโm sure you remember the episode when Kramer goes back to work at H&H Bagels (below left photo) after being on strike for twelve years.ย
Well, that episode, and H&Hโs appearances on โSex and the City,โ โThe Officeโ โEntourageโ and other TV shows and movies, helped keep one of Manhattanโs best-known โreal New Yorkโ bagel shops in peopleโs memories for years, after being founded in 1972 on the Upper West Side by Helmer Toro and Hector Hernandez.
Today, H&H Bagels has 13 locations โ seven scattered around NYC, plus one in California, one in Washington, DC, one in Knoxville, TN, and three in Florida, including the newest location at 1155 S. Dale Mabry Hwy. in South Tampa (bottom photo). There also are eight more locations coming on-line, including five in the Sunshine State, one in California, one in North Carolina and one in Chicago.
Yes, the H&H name is growing again, thanks to CEO and Florida State University grad Jay Rushin (top right photo), who worked on Wall St. in Manhattan for 20 years before taking over at H&H eleven years ago (he also has family in Tampa).
Having lived just a few blocks from the second H&H location on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, as soon as I heard it was opening here, I knew I wanted to check it out. The companyโs kettle-boiled-then-baked bagels in New York were as good as any I had ever had, so I knew I had to sample the location here as soon as it opened.
โWe bake everything fresh here,โ Rushin told me during the Tampa locationโs soft opening on Sept. 30. โThe bagels are made with that famous New York water, boiled, frozen and shipped here. We then bake them every day.โ
And yes, the bagels are pretty great. I, of course, had to have a toasted, scooped-out sesame bagel with cream cheese, Nova Scotia salmon and I was surprised and thrilled to be able to add a shmear of real whitefish salad, plus a slice of tomato. Just yum!
Jannah also loved her bacon, egg and cheese on a scooped-out, toasted whole wheat bagel (right) and Charmaine said the avocado on her avocado, egg and cheese on an asiago cheese bagel was just โso fresh and delicious.โ Also available are sausage and Jersey-style Taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwiches, plus an egg white and avocado option.ย
H&H carries 13 varieties of fresh bagels (above photo) โ from standards like onion, everything and cinnamon raisin to egg, blueberry and even jalapeรฑo cheddar options.ย
And, unlike other bagel places that offer a Bakerโs Dozen โ 13 bagels for the price of 12 โ when you buy a dozen at H&H, you pay for ten bagels and get the last two free.
โItโs just another one of our different ways of doing things,โ Jay said.
In addition to that perfect house-made whitefish salad, H&H also makes its own tuna, egg and chicken salad, and offers deli sandwiches with roast beef, roasted turkey, Black Forest or Taylor ham and also sells the salads, the deli meats, the Nova and even cheddar, American, pepper Jack and provolone cheese by the pound. Also available are to-go tubs of plain, flavored and even tofu cream cheese, plus lox spread, butter, jelly and peanut butter.
Also baked in-house are chewy brownies, chocolate chip cookies (photo above),ย croissants, muffins and chocolate and cinnamon streusel cake slices.ย
And, while H&H doesnโt sell cappuccinos, lattes and other โfancierโ coffee drinks, Jay says the hot coffee is a private H&H blend roasted in Wisconsin by Rubyโs Coffee Roasters, which was named for founder Jared Linzmeierโs grandmother, Ruby Szitta. Also served are iced and cold brew coffee, a variety of hot teas, iced sweet tea, green teas, apple and orange juice, chocolate milk, lemonade, sparkling water and even Mexican Coca-Cola.
โWeโve looked for more locations in the Tampa Bay area,โ Rushin told me, โincluding in Wesley Chapel, but the market is tough. We need 1,400 to no more than 2,000 square feet.โ
So, go give H&H Bagels a shot. Youโll put a smile on Jayโs face โ and on Kramerโs! For more info, visit HHBagels.com or call (813) 214-7010. You also can order pickup from Grubhub, Seamless, DoorDash, Postmates or Uber Eats. โ GN
Rendering of the resort-style pool at the under-construction Arcadia at Wiregrass Ranch apartments. (Rendering from ThirdLakeDevelopment.com)ย
It seems that thereโs never a shortage of news coming out of Wiregrass Ranch these days, so we always try to check in with developer JD Porter and his development right hand man, Scott Sheridan, the chief operating officer of Locust Branch, LLC, to get the latest news.
After all, the 5,000-acre Wiregrass Ranch already has The Shops at Wiregrass mall, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Hospital, the Porter Campus of Pasco Hernando State College, more than 3,000 single-family homes (and townhomes) and 1,400 rental apartment units.
Wiregrass Ranch also is home to the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, The Beach House assisted living community, Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS), Moffitt Cancer Center and North Tampa Behavioral Health, and coming soon are the Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital, two Orlando Health-owned medical office buildings totalling 150,000 sq. ft., a PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital and two additional medical office buildings that Wiregrass Ranch will develop in partnership with Flagship Healthcare Properties, and what Porter says will one day be Wesley Chapelโs true downtown โ The Legacy at Wiregrass Ranch.
Publix could soon begin building its new location east of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. earlier this year. Map locations: 1-Chiliโs, 2-Chase Bank, 3-Bank of Amer., 4-Advance Auto Parts, 5-Sweet Nail Spa, Mathnasium, Pizza Hut & Starbucks (Map from Publix plans submitted to Pasco County, modified by NN).ย
One of the big things people keep asking me (and online) is about the new Publix planned for the east side of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., just north and east of Walmart (see map above left) on a 9.5-acre site appraised at $3.97 million.
Of that 48,848-sq.-ft. Publix (with a 2,100-sq.-ft. liquor store), which is being built in front of the newest apartment community โ Arcadia at Wiregrass Ranch โ the main thing most people want to know is whether or not the opening of that new Publix will cause the existing store in the Hollybrook Plaza (less than a half-mile away) to close. Neither Sheridan nor Porter would address that question directly, but Sheridan says, โFinal permitting [of the new Publix] is under way now, and I expect them to break ground by early next year. We have no direct knowledge of [Publixโs] intent to close the old store when they build the new one.โ The site plan for the new Publix shows its main entrance lining up directly opposite the northern entrance to Walmart.
Although most people appear to agree that it seems a little crazy to have two Publixes located so close to each other, we have heard some online chatter that says the Hollybrook Publix will definitely close, while others say that it definitely wonโt close. Without confirmation either way from Publix or the Wiregrass Ranch team, it seems ludicrous to me to speculate either way.
But, speaking of Publix, Porter did mention the possibility of another link in the Lakeland-based supermarket chain coming to the area near the new FCS building on S.R. 56, but Sheridan cautioned that although he had seen a post on Facebook that a preapplication meeting had been scheduled, โthere has been nothing from us directly on this.โ
Also important to note is that if another Publix is coming to S.R. 56 in Wiregrass Ranch, that possible location is not the Publix planned for the front of the Two Rivers development five miles or so further to the east on 56.
In the meantime, the Arcadia at Wiregrass Ranch apartments have not yet gone vertical, but the 15-acre parcel (valued at $7.04 million) has been cleared to build the 320-unit luxury rental community and its resort-style pool, EV charging stations and more, which will be the seventh Arcadia project (and the third in Florida) for Tampa-based Third Lake Development.
As for the planned medical offices near the Orlando Health hospital, Sheridan says that theย first 46,000-sq.-ft. Wiregrass Ranch Medical Pavilion (rendering above), in partnership with Flagship Healthcare Properties, is getting ready to break ground before the end of this year.ย
โThe second phase will move forward once the initial building is completed and fully leased,โ Sheridan says.
As for the two Florida Medical Clinic/ Orlando Health medical office buildings (MOBs), Sheridan says, โThe hospital is expected to open by April of 2026. We expect the MOBs would be under construction soon but canโt say for sure. They are just now completing all of the site work for both of those.โ
Sheridan also said that Wiregrass Ranch is, โcoordinating with Mast Capital on their requirement to build the Bypass Loop road within Wiregrass Ranch from S.R. 54 to Wiregrass Ranch Blvd.โ as part of Mastโs redevelopment of Saddlebrook Resort (see pg. 44). โBut we are not engaged or aware of their developments within the resort.โ
New Restaurants? Although the rumor mill has said that The Tilted Kilt, a Winghouse/ Hooters-style sports pub could be the still-unnamed restaurant planned for next to Cooperโs Hawk, Porter told me that although they have had discussions with The Tilted Kilt, it definitely will not be the restaurant built next to Cooperโs Hawk.
Meanwhile, Sheridan says, โWe are working on several upscale restaurants along the S.R. 56 corridor including next to Cooperโs Hawk, which, we are told, is consistently the #1 or #2 restaurant in that chain.โ
But of course, perhaps the most anticipated development in Wiregrass Ranch is The Legacy, which Porter keeps saying will be the only โtrueโ downtown development in Wesley Chapel, and which will tie together everything already built and still planned for the Porter familyโs sprawling cattle ranch. So, is there any Legacy news?
โWe are exploring that now with potential partners but have not committed any timing yet,โ Sheridan says.
