Coffee Latitudes Café & Wine Bar Opens On County Line Rd.! 

James & Olga Frank of Coffee Latitudes Café. (Photos by Charmaine George)

We told you in our June issue that the owners of the Coffee Latitudes kiosk in the Shops at Wiregrass were planning to open the Coffee Latitudes Coffee Café & Wine Bar in the former location of Juice Factory (at 6431 E. County Line Rd., Suite 110, next to Max’s Pets). 

Well, owners James and Olga Frank of Coffee Latitudes opened the brick-&-mortar location earlier this month and not only do they feature the all-organic, house-roasted, delicious coffee you grew to love at the mall (and at events like the monthly Market Elaine at The Grove), but also fresh sandwiches, baked goods and more — and the early reviews have been excellent. 

Coffee Latitudes’ Deluxe Egg Sandwich.

James, who has culinary training and has previously owned other restaurants (including the Café Liberty on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. and Caffe Connection in Spring Hill), has brought those skills to this super-cute new café with delicious “Deluxe” bacon (or ham), egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches, as well as house-baked bagels imported from New York, flaky fresh-baked croissants and mini-waffles with syrup for breakfast. 

For lunch, try “The Giacomo” Italian sub, chicken Caesar wrap or salad, “Not Your Mama’s Tuna” and “Turkey Do.” sandwich (with turkey breast, bacon, avocado and James’ own spicy Spartacus sauce) or grilled cheese (with bacon, ham or tomato), plus rotating fresh soups — Jannah recommends the creamy tomato bisque when it’s available. 

Save room for dessert, as items like NY crumb cake, cinnamon rolls and bread pudding are house-made. Or, try a delicious fresh fruit cup with homemade marscapone cannoli cream (the cream also is served with crisp cannoli chips) and so much more. 

But, considering that James has been home-roasting that delicious Coffee Latitudes coffee for 30 + years, you definitely need to try a cup. 

“Ask what country we are brewing today when you do,” James says, with Guatemalan, Nicaraguan and Indonesian roasts served the days we’ve visited. There’s also cappuccino, hot or iced lattes and Chai lattes, Matcha green and other assorted teas, as well as tasty flavored hot chocolate (right). And, Olga and James say they should also be selling wine in 6-8 weeks. 

“Once we get the cafe menu perfect, we’ll be adding unique wines,” James says. 

Visit CoffeeLatitudes.com or call (813) 575-8000 for more info. Or, just stop in and please tell James and Olga I sent you.— GN


The “Turkey Do” sandwich has sliced turkey, avocado & a kick.
Hhouse-made NY crumb cake (left), bread pudding & fresh fruit cup.

Wesley Chapel Dining Survey Results: Your Favorite Dessert Place!

Joe Schembri scoops some cookie butter ice cream onto a waffle cone. Schembri spent a year developing his ice cream flavors before opening his first store, and the results have made his Ice Dreammm Shop our readers’ favorite dessert place in Wesley Chapel.

1. Ice Dreammm Shop
6013 Wesley Grove Blvd #101
(727) 495-6730
IceDreammmShop.com

Joe Schembri knows people love the ice cream he makes at his popular Ice Dreammm Shop at The Grove.

But sometimes, he can be surprised, overwhelmed and humbled at just how much the locals love it.

Last week, Schembri received an order from a long-time customer of his original store in Lutz. It was for the customer’s mother-in-law, who was going into hospice. One of her last requests was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a scoop of coffee ice cream. The next morning, at 10 a.m., the order was picked up.

Famous for its ice cream, but it has added other dessert favorites like brownies and pies.

It was a surreal moment, one that had Schembri catching his breath.

“I mean, you always want to see customers love what you sell,” he said. “But this, this was crazy. Crazy.”

Schembri’s Lutz location already was among the top choices for best dessert in or near Wesley Chapel, but adding to his legion of fans by opening a Wesley Chapel location has launched him to No. 1 — a runaway victory.

Made with the best, all-natural ingredients he can find, the flavors he spent a year perfecting in his garage before opening his first location continue to satisfy, and Schembri continues to concoct new delights. 

He says his Cookies & Dream flavor is the best seller, and the Cookie Butter is coming on fast. And, don’t miss out on the seasonal Santa’s Cookies and Milk, Sweet Potato Pie and even Coquito ice cream, as well as a dozen other creamy delights, with many new flavors swapped in weekly, and you can even have them made into amazing ice cream pies (below).

And, speaking of new flavors, Schembri has, as he promised when the Wesley Chapel shop opened, added a variety of new baked goods, including fudge brownies, triple-layer peanut butter brownies and more. — JCC

2. TWISTEE TREAT
5258 Village Market
(321) 445-9103
TwisteeTreat.com

Sometimes, you may be in the mood for something other than sitting inside and enjoying a rich, fancy exotically-flavored helping of ice cream. And, when you just want some soft-serve ice cream, Twistee Treat is a super-popular choice.

You can get your ice cream on a waffle taco, brownie boat, between two cookies or as part of a sundae or banana split. But, the most traditional way Twistee Treat serves up its 25 or so flavors might be its most popular — through a drive-thru window on the side of its unmistakable ice-cream-cone-shaped building, twirled on top of a cone of your choice.

And since your car will probably be full of kids, don’t forget to ask for extra napkins! — JCC

3. NOTHING BUNDT CAKES
28354 Willet Way
(813) 536-1447
NothingBundtCakes.com

Since opening at the Shops at Wiregrass in 2017, Nothing Bundt Cakes has been a consistent top choice for favorite dessert.

In 2018, it was voted as the area’s No. 1 Favorite Dessert, and the last three years, including 2021, it has finished in the Top 3 of Wesley Chapel faves.

And why not?

While it doesn’t offer a crazy variety of cakes, this national chain with more than 400 bakeries across the U.S. has mastered its products, which are, hands down, the moistest cakes you’ll find anywhere. You can choose between 10 flavors in different sizes — bite-sized bundtinis, mini bundtlets or special order full-sized bundt cakes — and they’re always a perfect treat to bring to any holiday party. — JCC

The rest of the 2021 Dessert top 10:
(4) Crumbl Cookies
(5) Culver’s
(6) Dairy Queen
(7) 365 Cafe Italiano
(8) Menchie’s
(9) Dunkin
(10) Starbucks