Nibbles & Bytes

Congrats To The North Tampa Bay Chamber Of Commerce!
O.K., so it’s not called the Wesley Chapel Chamber anymore and the new office is located in Lutz, but May 10 was still a pretty big day for the recently renamed North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, its CEO Hope Allen and her staff, Board of Directors and Ambassadors.
They and a total of about 200 Chamber members and guests were all on hand when Allen cut the ribbon at the Grand Opening of the Chamber’s new office at 1868 Highland Oaks Blvd., Suite A-1.

“This is such an amazing day for us,” Allen said, holding back tears. “Thank you for your continued support as we continue to support the businesses in our three-county area.”

It was as hot inside the Chamber’s new office — which also rents out suites to a number of tenants (who also had ribbon cuttings following the Chamber’s own scissors ceremony) — as it was outside, where the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club band “Strictly Business” played, there was great food provided by Chamber members like Culver’s and Chick-fil-A of Wesley Chapel, The Private Chef of Tampa, A Dash of Salt & Pepper, Fresh Healthy Café, Ava’s Lowcountry Cuisine, Tijuana Flats of WC, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Prime 19 Events at Cheval, Top Shelf Sports Lounge (at Florida Hospital Center Ice), Catering by Vesh, CBK Catering & Events, Chuy’s Tex-Mex, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Brunchies (Lutz), Pinchers Crab Shack, Buttermilk Provisions and Craft Café & Coffee Shop and beer and wine from A Time for Wine.

Also attending were dignitaries like State Rep. Danny Burgess, Pasco County commissioners Mike Moore and Jack Mariano and Pasco’s comptroller and clerk of courts Dr. Paula O’Neil, all of whom were genuinely excited to share in the celebration.

And, since the new Chamber office also leases space to other businesses, those businesses also held ribbon-cutting ceremonies during the event, including Realtor Mollyana Ward and Lagoon Realty, Washington Woods Accounting, Furr & Wegman Architects and Rettig & Associates.

In addition to the Strictly Business band, Allen also thanked Acme on the Go, West Coast Rentals and her staff for their help in making the Grand Opening another smashing success.

For Chamber membership & other information, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com or call (813) 994-8534.

La Prima Pizza Is For Sale!

If you love NY-style pizza as much as I do, you probably love La Prima Pizza, located next to the SuperTarget in the Northwoods Plaza.
If you’re interested in owning and/or operating a successful local restaurant, one of the few true NY-style pizza places in Wesley Chapel, you definitely should talk to La Prima owner (and my long-time friend) Willie Lopez and his Chef Dino, who are looking forward to retirement after 15 years of serving the Wesley Chapel community.

“It’s been an amazing run for us,” Lopez told me as I enjoyed yet another perfect slice from La Prima. “I believe there’s still tremendous growth opportunities here in an established, turnkey business. It just needs to be someone else’s business to make it happen.”

If you’d like more information about La Prima Pizza (1211 Bruce B. Downs {BBD} Blvd.), stop in or call Willie Lopez at (813) 907-2878.

Checking Out The Basement

Speaking of pizza, I know that many of our readers are still anxiously awaiting the Grand Opening of the new location of Amici Pizza (and Salon Tres Anne) in a new, freestanding building located a quarter-mile north of the Grand Oaks plaza that Amici and the salon used to call home. Although the new building is getting close to completion, we still haven’t heard an opening date announced.

On the other hand, we have already visited The Basement Beer & Wine Bar (photo on next pg.), the new bar and entertainment venue which has been open in Amici’s former space in the Grand Oaks Plaza for a couple of months.

I wish that The Basement would have full liquor, but the place that husband-and-wife owners Jason and Ashley bill as “The Best ‘80s Bar in Tampa” does have a fun vibe and offers DJ dancing on weekend evenings, trivia and karaoke during the week (my buddy, Gary Carmichael of Heart & Soul Karaoke is there on Thursday evenings), a pool table and a great selection of craft and other beers, plus a variety of house wines.

Here & There, This & That…
• The latest word from a company spokesperson on Bahama Breeze Island Grill, which is getting ready to open just east of Chuy’s Tex-Mex on the north side of S.R. 56, is that the Wesley Chapel Bahama Breeze should open this summer, sometime in July. We’ll keep you posted when the company announces an actual opening date.

• And, for those who can’t get enough pizza, we also have not yet gotten word as to when the new Pomodoro Pizza will open in the same plaza on S.R. 56 as Wolf’s Den (in the space formerly occupied by Kwan Ming Bistro), but the new sign promises New Jersey-style pizza, which New Yorkers will agree is slightly different than New York style, but we’ll let you know more when Pomodoro opens.

• The new Burger King, which will be the first new business to open in the development known as Brightwork Crossing, just west of the Walgreens at the junction of S.R. 54, S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd., is now hiring. The building is nearly complete and should open before the unnamed apartment complex in the same development, which now has multiple buildings coming out of the ground. We’ll keep you posted.

• I was sad to hear that the Ellen’s Hallmark store in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center has closed. A spokesperson for the store says that Publix, the plaza’s landlord, had raised the rent too high for the 20-year-old store to continue. The Ellen’s Hallmark store in the Shoppes at New Tampa (S.R. 56 at BBD) is still open. — GN