Tag: Coopers Hawk

2024 Dining Survey & Contest – Wesley Chapel Top-25

*(l-r) Coopers Hawk Churrasco Steak and Azteca D’Oro Taquito*

Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel is where chain eateries continue to dominate the landscape, as well as our voting (despite my best efforts to get our readers to vote for non-chains).

But, while Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant did mistakenly appear on the ballots for the first issue of the voting, it was so dominant in the voting after it came off the ballots that it would still have been #1 “Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel” without that one-issue advantage. Anyone who has been to the place on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, when it is still on a wait throughout its dinner hours, can understand how Cooper’s Hawk took home this year’s top prize in WC in its first year of eligibility.

Azteca D’Oro and Grillsmith repeated as our readers’ #2 and #3 Favorites in WC, while last year’s first-place finisher, Noble Crust, dropped to #4 this year. New to this year’s top-10 were Vallarta’s at #5 (up from #12), Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli at #7, Florida Ave. Brewing Co. at #8 (up from #16) and Chuck Lager at #9. Dropping out of this year’s top-10 were Zukku-San (down from #5 to #11), Bubba’s 33 (down from #10 to #19), Bonefish, BJ’s Brewhouse and Bahama Breeze (down from #8 to #17). The last four of these are all chains that weren’t on the ballots. — GN

1. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant

2. Azteca D’Oro

3. Grillsmith

4. Noble Crust

5. Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant

6. The Living Room

7. Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli

8. Florida Ave. Brewing Co.

9. Chuck Lager America’s Tavern

10. Ford’s Garage

11. Zukku-San Sushi & Grill

12. Falabella Family Bistro

13. PizzaMania

14. Señor Tequila

15. Glory Days Grill

16. Umu Japanese & Thai

17. Bahama Breeze

18. Yamato Japanese Restaurant

19. Bubba’s 33

20. EggTown

21. Amici Pizza & Café

22. The Hungry Greek

23. First Watch

24. Arroy Thai

25. Crazy Sushi

1. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant

28963 S.R. 56, Wiregrass Ranch

(813) 755-4445 • CHWinery.com

If everyone in Wesley Chapel is so sick of chain restaurants, then how and why did Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant dominate the voting in this year’s Reader Dining Survey & Contest?

The answer to that rhetorical question is that all of you are tired of mediocre chains and although Cooper’s Hawk isn’t Fleming’s, Charley’s or Ruth’s Chris, it is definitely a step up from most of the other chains in the “Chap.” It boasts a solid menu of very good steaks, good seafood, pretty decent pasta and a nice variety of starters, lunch and brunch menu items.

When you add to that the novelty of getting to taste an ever-changing array of palate-pleasing wines in Cooper’s Hawk’s wine bar (although I wish there were seats in it, or at least allowed), it’s easy to understand why locals are fighting for tables there every night. We’ll see how long the party lasts, but so far, so good.

2. Azteca D’Oro Mexican Restaurant

2000 Piazza Ave., #170, The Shops at Wiregrass

(813) 527-6033 • AztecaDOro.com

It’s clear that last year’s top-vote-getting newcomer did not suffer a sophomore jinx with our readers this year, as Azteca D’Oro repeated as your #2 overall Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel and again won Favorite Mexican Restaurant in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel, albeit by a much smaller margin than last year.

With tasty menu items like chicken taquitos (top), plus a huge variety (above pic from DoorDash) of authentic Mexican favorites like fajitas, molcajete, burritos, tacos and quesadillas, plus beautiful indoor & outdoor bar areas with great Happy Hour specials, Azteca D’Oro also features a private room that is the perfect place to host your holiday party with its lively music and festive atmosphere.

3. Grillsmith

2000 Piazza Ave., #100, Shops at Wiregrass

(813) 907-1900 • Grillsmith.com

Grillsmith is always among our readers’ favorites every year and repeated last year’s #3 “Favorite in Wesley Chapel” finish again this year. This five-unit mini-chain continues to serve quality fresh fish (photo), plus assortments of flatbreads, salads, steaks, burgers, chicken and pasta options that keep our readers coming back for more. It also is a popular weekend brunch spot with everything from bananas Foster French toast to chicken & waffles Benedict.

4. Noble Crust

28330 Paseo Dr., Shops at Wiregrass

(813) 703-2602 • Noble-Crust.com

Even though it was bumped down to #4 Favorite this year by our readers after a two-year run in the top spot, Noble Crust’s “Deep South Italian” fare continues to garner lots of attention, as well as votes (even though it fell short of making this year’s “Favorite Pizza” list). With unusual entrées like bronzed salmon (photo), chicken fried chicken parm, bucatini & meatballs & Cajun shrimp risotto, Noble Crust also claims to feature the “Best Brunch in Wesley Chapel.”

5. Vallarta’s Mexican Restaurant

5335 Wesley Chapel Village Market

(813) 907-5161 • VallartasMexican.com

Whenever you see people in a local online community ask for recommendations for a great Mexican restaurant, roughly half the people highly recommend Vallarta’s, while the other half say “it’s gross.”

Those who love it point to the restaurant’s huge menu with even bigger portions (like the burrito shown here) at the best prices of any true Mexican restaurant in Wesley Chapel. We guess those folks helped Vallarta’s jump from #12 “Favorite WC Restaurant” with our readers last year to #5 Fave in 2024.

6. The Living Room

2001 Piazza Ave., #100, Shops at Wiregrass

(813) 934-7911 • TLR.Restaurant.com

Although a lot of online community members complain vehemently about its 20% service charge, our readers still kept The Living Room in the same #6 “Favorite in Wesley Chapel” spot it occupied last year.

That means that a lot of our readers care more about dishes like the Bobby Boucher pasta shown here, sautéed red grouper, “You Bet…Churrasco” and adobo braised pork osso bucco than they do about having to pay the service fee. The Living Room also is another local brunch favorite.

7. Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli

26316 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Grand Oaks Plaza, Lutz

(813)428-6573

It seems like there’s at least one restaurant that seems to come out of nowhere to crack the top-10 with our readers every year.

This year’s surprise is Mac’s Custom Meats & Deli. Although we also enjoy Mac’s quality sandwiches (photo), it’s still really more of a meat market than a restaurant, but whether it made this year’s list because of ballot-stuffing or because enough people really love it this much likely won’t be known until next year’s Reader Survey.

8. Florida Avenue Brewing Co.

2029 Arrowgrass Dr. (at S.R. 56), Wesley Chapel

(813) 452-6333 • FloridaAveBrewing.com

Jumping up eight places from #16 last year is Florida Avenue Brewing Co., which has changed its food menu so often it’s hard to keep up with all the new items to go with its crowd-pleasing variety of house-brewed beers, hard ciders and seltzers. Of course, you can’t go wrong with Florida Ave.’s wings (photo), cheesesteak egg rolls, smash burgers and chimichurri-style Argentine flatbread. Also ask about the Express Lunch menu and about becoming a Brew Perks member.

9. Chuck Lager America’s Tavern

2001 Piazza Ave., #175, Shops at Wiregrass

(813) 820-4500 • ChuckLager.com

Another mini-chain making a big jump with our readers this year is Chuck Lager America’s Tavern, which narrowly missed the top-25 last year to jump up to #9 this time — giving The Shops at Wiregrass five of this year’s top-10 Favorites in Wesley Chapel!

Now with three locations and another coming soon to Ft. Myers, Chuck Lager continues to serve tasty giant pretzels, flatbreads, sliders (all in photo), as well as everything from Chuck’s citrus salmon to NY strip steak and Italian specialties like chicken parmesan and Fabio’s meatball sub.

10. Ford’s Garage

25526 Sierra Center Blvd. (at S.R. 56), Lutz

(813) 540-3673 • FordsGarageUSA.com

Meanwhile, Ford’s Garage, located across from the Tampa Premium Outlets, dropped one spot from #9 last year to #10 this year, but still garnered plenty of attention from our readers for its popular sports bar-style fare, like the Giant Funnel Tower of Jumbo Piston Onion Rings, Famous Firestone Shrimp, BBQ pork ribs, chicken mac & cheese, smoked brisket burnt ends melt and especially, its Burgers of Fame (photo).

Plus, Motor Club members get 25% Off every 4th visit, a free birthday appetizer, exclusive news & events and more.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant Opens On S.R. 56!

Welcome to the neighborhood, Cooper’s Hawk! The winery and restaurant chain, with more than 55 locations in ten U.S. states (including more than a dozen in Florida) began celebrating its Nov. 20 Grand Opening on S.R. 56 a few days earlier with some Friends & Family days and a North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting (photo below left) on Nov. 18.

*Photo above courtesy of North Tampa Bay Chamber*.

As long-time Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club members who also have eaten at the restaurants in Tampa and Sarasota about two dozen times, Jannah and I were as excited about the Wesley Chapel opening as the rest of the community appears to be.

Founder and CEO Tim McEnery was on-hand for Cooper’s Hawk’s NTBC ribbon-cutting event and, since he opened his first location in Orland Park, IL, in 2005, the restaurant chain’s wines have won hundreds (nearly 600) of awards and the food (some of which is shown on this page) is definitely a cut above what you find at most chain eateries.

In addition, Wine Club members receive a number of outstanding benefits, including two free wine tastings (the “Lux” tastings come with a small upcharge), accumulating points for each time you dine at the restaurant, a credit for free dining on your birthday and much more.

And, even though I used to wonder how a winery located in Woodridge, IL, could possibly offer a wide variety of delicious wines, after eight years of tastings and dozens of bottles that we have both enjoyed ourselves and given as gifts to other oenophiles, I can assure you that a Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club membership is the way to go. The grapes the company imports from every great winemaking region across the globe are blended into everything from Barbera to Zinfandel, with lots of options for both you sweet wine drinkers and for those who prefer a little dust on their palates when they imbibe.

And, if you prefer hard liquor or beer over wine, Cooper’s Hawk has an ultra-premium bar to meet your needs, too.

The best news of all is that although dining at Cooper’s Hawk isn’t a 15-30-minute process, the service we have experienced so far has been super-attentive and on point.

There’s even a private dining area for up to 48 guests that can be divided into two 24-seat private rooms perfect for birthday parties and other special occasions.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant (28963 S.R. 56) is open every day for lunch & dinner. For more info, visit CHWinery.com or call (813) 755-4445 & tell GM Joseph McCracken & his staff that we sent you! — GN

Coopers Hawk Coopers Hawk Winery Tim McEnery Wesley Chapel

Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. To Officially Open & Other Community Updates

Considering how long people have been driving through the barricades “blocking” the nearly two-mile-long stretch of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from north of Chancey Rd. to just south of the Walmart fronting S.R. 54, it would be nice if the road finally could be declared “officially” open.

Well, a source close to the project who asked not to be identified has told the Neighborhood News that although no exact date can yet be revealed, Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. should be officially open to traffic within the next couple of weeks, with conveyance to Pasco County expected to follow shortly thereafter.” Our source has confirmed that the landscaping along Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. is what has been holding up the opening.

I personally saw people moving the barricades both near Walmart and north of Chancey as long as three months ago, so being able to legally drive the important connector roadway will certainly be welcome by those who live in the Wiregrass Ranch community.

The same source also provided a number of other updates, including:

• The Wiregrass Ranch developers hope to start construction on the 4th (the eastern) leg of the roadway extending from the new (northern) Eagleston Blvd. signal (opposite the new Jacobs Mitsubishi of Wesley Chapel dealership) within about a year from now. Our source says that the construction of this portion of Eagleston is being held up by the drainage permit.

• The developers also have begun work on the east-west extension of Chancey Rd., which should be done by the end of this year.

*The construction of the Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant has gone vertical.*

• Now that the construction of the Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant has gone vertical (photo above), the hope is that the long-awaited restaurant and wine tasting bar should be open by sometime this fall.

*The clearing of the ground for the Orlando Health Wesley Chapel hospital has begun.*

• For those who haven’t been able to figure out yet exactly where Wesley Chapel’s third major hospital will be located, you now can’t miss the red silt fence (photo right) just east of Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. on S.R. 56 or the sign denoting that Orlando Health Wesley Chapel is currently under construction.

Although the 300- bed hospital has not yet gone vertical, the ground has begun being cleared and we have been told that Wesley Chapel’s largest hospital (with more beds than AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and BayCare Wesley Chapel combined) should be completed by late 2024.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted!

Chancey Rd construction Coopers Hawk Orlando Health Wesley Chapel road construction Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch Wiregrass Ranch Blvd

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

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.

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 entrées 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.

Azteca D'Oro Coopers Hawk dining food PopStroke Rice-n-Beans Express Rodizio Brazilian Steakhouse Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar Wesley Chapel