Nibbles & Bytes

New Restaurants To Open In Former Men’s Wearhouse!

New Tampa’s loss when the Men’s Wearhouse off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. closed right around the time the chain’s new location opened in Wesley Chapel, could end up being, well, New Tampa’s gain.

Paperwork has been filed with the City of Tampa to split the old Men’s Wearhouse location into space for two tenants, with both likely to be restaurants.

One restaurant is already proceeding with plans to open at the location. And, although the name of the restaurant is unclear, what it will serve isn’t — ramen noodles.

Love Ramen, LLC, has already applied for a temporary vinyl sign — “Coming Soon: Japanese Ramen Noodles” — while the former 5,005-sq.-ft. Men’s Wearhouse location is split into two “vanilla” boxes. One location will be 3,120 sq. ft., while the other will be 1,885 sq. ft.

Ramen restaurants have grown in popularity the past decade, mostly in metro areas. But fast-casual locations outside of your hip cities have surged as well, much like the poké bowl (New Tampa is getting one of those as well) craze.

While ramen is mostly familiar to Americans as an inexpensive brick of noodles with a packet of seasoning mixed in hot water that fed us all during college, Japanese ramen served in restaurants can be meticulously prepared and served in tasty broths and topped with various meats and vegetables.

Dosa Hut Coming To CC Blvd.

 A Dosa Hut Indian Restaurant is planned for the former site of Hungry Howie’s Pizza (and Westshore Pizza before that) in the Cross Creek Commons Center anchored by Publix on Morris Bridge Rd.

The 1,420-sq.-ft. space is being renovated and will offer limited seating with four tables and will likely serve primarily as a take-out restaurant. — JCC

Hundreds Attend Metro City Bank’s Grand Opening!

If you think it’s hard to get excited about a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a bank, think again. The Grand Opening celebration (photo) and North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting on June 27 for the months-old Metro City Bank, located in the former Regions Bank building next to CVS Pharmacy at BBD and Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms was attended by literally hundreds of people, many of whom were of Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese descent, although there were plenty of Chamber members on hand for the festivities, too.

The event featured a formal, white-glove ceremony and amazing food provided by a Korean catering company.

I got to sit down for a few minutes with Metro City Bank founder Nack Y. Paek, who says Metro City Bank was founded in Atlanta with $15 million in assets and now has 19 branches in seven states, with assets of more than $1 billion. 

The Tampa Palms location is the first in Florida and features two tellers who speak Korean and two who speak Chinese, although all of the tellers and branch manager Yoon Kang speak English and the bank’s outstanding services are available to anyone.

 For more info, stop in at 6202 Commerce Palms Dr., call (813) 848-0153 or visit MetroCityBank.bank.

Rain & Shine Cleaning For Move-In Or Move-Out!

I’ve told you about Rain & Shine cleaning in this space before, but now that Jannah and I have moved out of our old apartment to the brand new Tapestry at Cypress Creek apartments, I just had to say again that whether you’re looking to have your home or business cleaned, or you need a move-in or move-out thorough clean, my friend Irene Joyner of Rain & Shine is the best in the business.

Jannah and I didn’t realize how much dirt we accumulated in three+ years in the same location, but Irene got our old place so spotless that we were both speechless! Call Irene at (813) 451-3042 or visit RainandShineClean.com.— GN