Restaurant Comings And Goings

Bahama Breeze Getting Closer To Opening

In addition to Chuy’s,  Bahama Breeze Island Grille also is getting ready to open due east of the new plaza across from the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) that is anchored by the months-old Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers.

Bahama Breeze will likely not open until the summer, but the building has made considerable progress (photo, near right) since first going vertical just a few short weeks ago.

We’ll keep you posted. — GN

Latin Flavors To Replace Cody’s

Rice-n-Beans, a popular Puerto Rican restaurant located in Lutz, will be opening soon in Wesley Chapel at the site of the former Cody’s Original Roadhouse on Wesley Chapel Blvd. just west of I-75.

The site is undergoing a $25,000 renovation. No official grand opening date had been set at our press time. — JCC

Pizza Hut To Open Next?

Now that Starbucks is open in the new Pleasant Plaza on S.R. 54 east of BBD, the next storefront to take shape in the new strip center will be Pizza Hut, which could be open by May or June.

The 3,800-sq.-ft. pizza place will fill one of the three remaining vacancies in the plaza. Following Pizza Hut, construction will begin on a nail salon. The Pleasant Plaza developers are currently negotiating with a tenant for the remaining vacancy. — JCC

Kwan Ming Bistro Closes

I was saddened to see that Kwan Ming Bistro, located on S.R. 56 in the same plaza as Wolf’s Den, had closed. My friends Henry (aka Kwan) and his wife Ming gave it a good several-year run in a tough plaza that also includes the somehow-super-successful Cabana Spas (see ad on pg. 9 of this issue).

Unfortunately, the restaurant had some issues — some felt it wasn’t quite upscale enough to justify its prices — but I did really enjoy Kwan Ming’s won ton soup, BBQ spare ribs, egg rolls and combination fried rice.

PartyScene Closes; Sweet Party Adds Its Inventory

Sweet Party, located at 20310 Trout Creek Dr., just off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (behind Burger) has acquired the remaining inventory from the PartyScene store in the Pebble Creek Collection.

“We are happy to be the largest party store in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area,” Sweet Party posted on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page.

Although Sweet Party is an awesome party store that deserves New Tampa’s support, I was sad to see my friend, Alex De Joseph, close her store after a solid 12-year run in a tough location.

Alex says, “The increase in rent, the insane road construction and increased competition from the internet created a perfect storm that made my decision obvious, but still heart-wrenching.” I agree, Alex.

For more information about Sweet Party, call (813) 994-4900 or visit SweetPartyTampa.com. And, please tell them that you read about them in the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News! — GN