LongHorn Opens; Ford’s Garage Goes Vertical

For those of us who want more restaurants in our area, the area on S.R. 56 near the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) mall continues to give us new options.

Since last month’s opening of BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, another chain has opened and two others have gone vertical.

The newest restaurant to open (on Nov. 14) is LongHorn Steakhouse. The steakhouse chain definitely has the best steak of the three sit-down restaurants located in front of TPO (Cheddars Scratch Kitchen and BJ’s are the others), and the service and food are always dependable.

fords Building up quickly, between LongHorn and BJ’s, is a new McDonald’s. But, perhaps the most eagerly awaited eatery to go vertical recently was the latest incarnation of Ford’s Garage, which has locations in Brandon, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Estero. The Wesley Chapel location will be the first building to open on the north side of S.R. 56 in the Cypress Creek Town Center Development of Regional Impact.

Try Little Italy’s New Lunch!

Although I’m OK with the chains that are opening in our area, there’s no doubt I’m still much more into local mom-and-pop restaurants like Little’s Italy’s Family Restaurant & Catering, located a couple of miles west of TPO at 24436 S.R. 54 in Lutz.

1103161241a Owners Jessica and Carl Meyers have a great new lunch menu, where most items are just $6-$9, like the amazing mini-meatball “grinda”, which is served with excellent homemade potato chips. Other new lunch options include smaller-sized servings of chicken parmigiana, ravioli, lasagna, personal hand-tossed pizzas and even seafood pasta options like shrimp and mussels marinara (for a little more).

Stop in Tues.-Sat. for lunch or dinner, call 909-2122 or visit LittleItalyFamilyRestaurant.com.

Takara Sushi Closes

Although we still have quite a few very good Japanese restaurants in our area, we were still saddened to learn that Takara Sushi & Sake, located in the Oak Ramble Plaza (the same plaza as Acropolis Greek Taverna; see story on pg. 42) on BBD south of Tampa Palms, had closed.

We didn’t have any word at our press time as to why it closed or what might move into the space, but Takara was doing very well again in this year’s annual Reader Dining Survey. Those results are coming soon!

Parks Lincoln Unveils New Model

I also was excited to be on hand for the unveiling of not only a new model from Lincoln Motor Cars, but also for the Grand Re-Opening of the beautiful Parks Lincoln of Tampa dealership at 10505 N. Florida Ave., south of Fowler Ave, in Tampa.

lincoln2-rev Owner Ron Parks, who also owns the Parks Ford, Fiat & Alfa Romeo dealerships on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, cut the ribbon at the revamped dealership and unveiled the new 2017 Lincoln Continental (left) during a VIP event on Oct. 13.

With live entertainment and upscale food provided by Puff n’ Stuff Catering (like amazing beef short ribs, seared scallops and homemade ravioli), Parks kicked off the new dealership and model reveal in style.

The event was organized by Parks’ Jennifer Cofini, who was recently honored as Volunteer of the Year by the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce.

Allthough I didn’t get to test drive the new Continental, I was treated to what Parks calls a “Date Night,” where I got to test drive a new Lincoln MKZ for 24 hours and receive a $100 Visa gift card to enjoy a great dinner. It’s been years since I drove an American car, but Lincoln definitely has affordable luxury down to a science.