Nibbles & Bites: Checking Out The Third Annual Rum & Seafood Festival! 

Our congratulations go out to Florida Penguin Productions for putting on a successful third-annual Rum & Seafood Festival at the Tampa Premium Outlets on June 3, despite the constant threat of bad weather that could have caused the event’s cancellation.

A steady stream of adult visitors paid $15 per person to get into the Festival, which featured live music, dozens of vendors — including Siesta Key and Sailor Jerry rums, FishHawk Spirits and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey — and great seafood food trucks like Charm City Eats, Super Grouper, Got Lobstah? and From the Soul to the Sea. Among this year’s highlights were the Crab Races (that I unfortunately missed) and the “rooftop” bar. 

The  North Tampa Bay Chamber received a portion of the event’s proceeds.

Crazy Sushi Is Open At The Shops At Wiregrass; Azteca D’Oro To Open June 24! 

Crazy Sushi Is Open!

If you love sushi and all-you-can-eat Japanese-inspired cuisine and haven’t yet checked out the new Crazy Sushi Wiregrass at the Shops at Wiregrass, you probably should. 

Crazy Sushi is more than just another replacement for the several restaurants that have opened and gone out of business at 28152 Paseo Dr., #150 — it’s a much larger (having also taken over an adjacent store), real sit-down restaurant that just happens to also offer all-you-care-to-eat lunch (for $22.95 per person; available Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. only) and dinner (and Sat.-Sun. lunch, for $32.95) Japanese food that, based on our first visit, is well worth the price. 

The sushi (the left photo is of a tasty sushi sampler that isn’t on the menu) is really fresh, the appetizers — including gyoza dumplings, tempura veggies, fried chicken karaage (right photo), etc. — and lo mein are spot-on and the hibachi sirloin steak and chicken are both of a higher quality (at least, in my opinion)than what we’re used to getting at Ginza or Koizi. And. the premium full-liquor bar offers full-sized drinks at lower-than-mall prices.

For more information, call (813) 991-8989 or visit CrazySushiWesleyChapel.com and please tell our friend Edgar behind the bar that we sent you!

Recapping Blush Champagne Bar’s Grand Opening Event!

Even though we told you that the Blush Champagne & Cocktail Bar had opened at the KRATE Container Park last issue, we didn’t get to show you any of the great pictures photographer Charmaine George took at the spectacular Grand Opening party on May 19 for the second KRATE (the other is the nearly adjacent Blush Wine Room) owned by Felicia and Nimesh Desai (top left photo). The event included a DJ, a 360Âș photo booth, the great Blush Wine Room food, a dozen frozen wine-based cocktails, a variety of sparkling wines and hundreds of happy attendees! For info about the Blush Wine Room or Champagne & Cocktail Bar, call (813) 428-6247 or visit BlushWineRoom.com. 

Playa Bowls To Open June 17!

When Tabatha Castro and Pablo Reid open the newest location of Playa Bowls next to the Latin Twist CafĂ© at 2653 BBD Blvd. on or around June 17, you can expect not just the ever-popular açai bowls, but also coconut, banana, chia pudding, green and pitaya bowls, plus fresh fruit smoothies and juices, oatmeal & more. The beach-themed healthy eating place also known as “Pineappleland,” started at the Jersey Store and has grown to nearly 200 locations nationwide. For more info, visit PlayaBowls.com.

Nibbles & Bites: Crazy Sushi Is Open At The Shops At Wiregrass; Azteca D’Oro To Open June 24!

As you can see in the ad on the left, Azteca d’Oro is set to host its Grand Opening in the space (at 2000 Piazza Ave.) at the Shops at Wiregrass previously occupied by Cantina Laredo on Saturday, June 24, with a mariachi band, indoor and outdoor bar with cocktails and more. Azteca d’Oro promises a truly authentic Mexican cuisine experience in an upscale, but still casual atmosphere. For more info, visit AztecaDOro.com.

Crazy Sushi Is Open!

Until Azteca opens, you probably should try the new Crazy Sushi Wiregrass at the Shops. Crazy Sushi is more than just another replacement for the several restaurants that have opened and gone out of business at 28152 Paseo Dr., #150 — it’s a much larger (having also taken over an adjacent store), real sit-down restaurant that just happens to also offer all-you-care-to-eat lunch (for $22.95 per person; available Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. only) and dinner (and Sat.-Sun. lunch, for $32.95) Japanese cuisine that, based on our first visit, is well worth the price. 

The sushi (the photo is of a tasty sushi sampler that isn’t on the menu) is really fresh, the appetizers (including gyoza dumplings, tempura veggies, fried chicken karaage, etc.) and lo mein are spot-on and the hibachi sirloin steak and chicken are both of a higher quality than what we’re used to getting at Ginza or Koizi. And. the premium full-liquor bar offers full-sized drinks at lower-than-mall prices.

For more information, call (813) 991-8989 or visit CrazySushiWesleyChapel.com and please tell our friend Edgar behind the bar that we sent you! 

Johnny C’s Italian Eatery Has Opened On Cross Creek Blvd.!

The new Johnny C’s Italian Eatery has been open at 10970 Cross Creek Blvd., Suite A (on Morris Bridge Rd.), in the former location of Precinct Pizza, since May 15, and the reaction to the food, the family atmosphere and the service have so far been pretty great.

Johnny C’s, named for Johnny Ciaccio, the father of former Saddlebrook Resort GM Pat Ciaccio, is a partnership between Ciaccio and former Saddlebrook owner Tom Dempsey and Erik Ravenna, a trained chef who worked for years in food and beverage (among other jobs) at the resort.

The restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner (11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.) daily, features New York-style pizza (like the Margherita pizza shown top), plus a variety of Northern Italian comfort foods, from lasagna to chicken parmigiana, Italian meatballs (left) & more.

“One thing we noticed,” Ravenna told me during the Johnny C’s Friends & Family pre-opening, “is that (the other Italian restaurants in) this area doesn’t have a big variety of seafood options. We all do linguini with clams, but Johnny C’s also has shrimp marinara (shown being prepared above), parmigiana and scampi, as well as a spicy fra diavlo and even a frutti di mare (aka ‘Fruits of the Sea,’ right) with shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari over linguini.” (There’s also a mussels Posillipo appetizer.)

Ciaccio added, “We want everyone who visits Johnny C’s to feel like family. My dad owned restaurants his entire adult life and we lost him a few years ago, so Johnny C’s is a tribute to him.” To which Ravenna added, “He would have loved to have been the ‘mayor’ here.” For info, call (813) 278-8020, visit JohnnyCsItalianEatery.com.

Blush Champagne Bar Is Open!

The Blush Champagne & Cocktail Bar (photo above), the second establishment at the KRATE Container Park (the other is the nearly adjacent Blush Wine Room) owned by Felicia and Nimesh Desai, is an intimate, upscale champagne bar serving sparkling wine from both near and far, champagne cocktails and martinis, and a dozen frozen cocktails, with plans to serve food starting this summer. 

“Until then, you can grab food from the Blush Wine Room and drinks from either of our locations,” Felicia says. “And, just like at our original location, the Champagne & Cocktail Bar will have wines and cocktails you won’t find anywhere else.” For more info about the Blush Wine Room or Champagne & Cocktail Bar, call (813) 428-6247 or visit BlushWineRoom.com.

Provisions To Add A 3rd Location?

Meanwhile, Provisions Coffee & Kitchen, which was the first tenant to open in the KRATE Container Park, has announced that it will open a second Wesley Chapel location (Provisions also has a New Tampa location at 2816 E. Bearss Ave.) in a new plaza on BBD Blvd. that is home to Abdoney Orthodontics. For more info, visit either currently open Provisions location or ProvisionsCoffeeFL.com. 

New & ‘Coming Soon’ Restaurants Adding To Wesley Chapel’s Dining Options

Fresh Caribbean mahi from PopStroke

Despite all of the recent newcomers to the Wesley Chapel dining scene, if you’re still looking forward to some of the restaurants that are planned to open in and near Wesley Chapel, join the club.

Two highly touted and anticipated places — Cooper’s Hawk Winery (bottom center photo) and Rodizio Brazilian Steakhouse (bottom left) have not yet even begun building. Meanwhile, the Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar (bottom right), in the same plaza as Chicken Salad Chick, still has just a dirt floor. The good news is that there are others that are a lot closer to bringing great new options to our area.

One that just opened that I, for one, didn’t realize was such a good restaurant is PopStroke, the new Tiger Woods-designed (and co-owned) mini-golf course. The biggest problem with PopStroke to date is that it’s been so packed every day, it’s hard to find parking to get into the open-air (but covered) restaurant to sample some of its great food options. My favorite, to date, is the fresh Caribbean mahi (top), which is grilled with tasty jerk seasoning and a warm pineapple salsa that gives it a semi-spicy, slightly sweet flavor. The mahi is usually topped with two grilled shrimp, but I had to have (and photograph) it without the shrimp. Truly delicious. And, the side of grilled zucchini and squash ribbons also was tasty and healthy. Even PopStroke’s creamy hard-packed ice cream also is really good.

Borrego lamb shank from Azteca D’Oro

Hopefully opening within the next couple of months is Azteca D’Oro, the upscale Mexican place replacing Cantina Laredo at The Shops at Wiregrass. With a huge menu of options, including upscale entrĂ©es like the marinated Borrego lamb shank (left), Azteca D’Oro can’t open soon enough for me!

Speaking of Latin cuisine, owner Cindy Cruz says her Rice-n-Beans Express should only be a few weeks from opening on S.R. 54 in Lutz. Cindy says that those of us who enjoy the Puerto Rican-inspired sit-down dining at the Rice-n-Beans on Wesley Chapel Blvd. and those looking for quick, delicious sandwiches and hot food specials should be thrilled when her Express location opens.

And, despite the fact it should be several months before it opens, Shuckin’ Shack promises a menu focused on shrimp and oysters (neither of which I can eat). But, there will be plenty of other seafood and non-swimming options at the North Carolina-based, two-dozen-link chain’s newest location off of the WC Blvd. Extension, including some pretty great-looking snow crab legs (right) — which (at least, to date) I am able to eat. There also will be mahi-mahi bites, sandwiches, wings and other options to keep things interesting.Â