The Chicken Boss has opened next to The Bacon Boss HQ & offers hand-breaded tenders (& sandwiches), plus delicious waffle-cut regular & sweet potato (shown) fries. (Below left)
When we last updated you about everything happening at The KRATE at The Grove Container Park, The Chicken Boss had not yet opened next to The Bacon Boss HQ.
Since then, Bacon Boss owners Josh & Christy Norland’s new Chicken Boss (top photo) has opened and they have another local favorite on their hands. The Chicken Boss’ nicely spiced, hand-breaded tenders (left), new chicken sandwiches and waffle fries are served hot and crispy, the chicken is juicy inside and there also are several tasty house-made sauces from which to choose.
Top That! Pizza has added NY-style pizza & wings to the menu at The Fry Room, which it replaced.
Also now open, in something of a surprise, is Top That! Pizza & More. The surprising part is that Top That! opened so quickly — and still carries many of the same food items — in the former location of The Fry Room, although its new menu items — including some really good NY-style pizza and wings — have replaced The Fry Room’s popular (and tasty) apple cider donuts.
Another newcomer at the KRATEs, in the former location of the shuttered Tonella’s Flowers, is MM Kicks, which owner (and long-time “kicks” collector) Will Mendez (photo below) says is your place to buy, sell and trade vintage and sought-after sneakers.
With the impending release this month of “Air,” the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck movie about how Nike built its athletic shoe brand around one man — Michael Jordan, of course — MM Kicks is likely to get an instant boost in popularity.
In other news from the KRATEs, neither the new Blush Champagne Bar (above right) next to Urban Sweets (in the former location of CenterEd tutoring center), nor the Tutti-Frutti Café (in the former location of Valiart Designs/Jewelry, next to Life Essentials Refillery) were quite ready to open, but both were hopefully only a couple of weeks away from doing so.
And finally, when we told you about the new 3Eleven Aroma candlemaking shop in the KRATEs, we neglected to tell you that the retail store it replaced — MaeBerry Co. — did not close its doors. Instead, MaeBerry moved a few doors down, to the former location of the Décor by ZC balloon shop.
For more information, visit MaeBerry.com or “@maeberry.co on Instagram.
Conventional wisdom suggests that, eventually, the area will just run out of available space for new development.
On the other hand, there’s currently still a lot of developable space and 2022 was packed with more eye-opening developments and announcements, portending a future that will continue to delight those eager for new “stuff” and infuriate those who don’t want to be stuck in traffic getting to that new stuff.
Here are five of the biggest things that went down in Wesley Chapel in 2022, with an eye towards 2023.
1. The KRATE at the Grove Container Park finally debuted in June, and we think it’s fair to say that while it’s not perfect, it was still Wesley Chapel’s No. 1 success story of 2022. The grand opening event of what is, at the very least, our area’s most unique and one-of-a-kind hangout, drew roughly 8,000 people, and its neverending stream of special events — like ‘70s Night, ‘80s Night, movie nights and more — routinely draw more than a thousand patrons at a time.
Comprised of converted shipping containers with an Instagrammable flair, KRATE has a little something for almost everyone. It boasts 29 restaurants with a variety of ethnic offerings – many doing well in our annual Reader Dining Survey of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa eateries; results will be online next week — as well as 17 retail stores. The KRATE’s stage features some kind of live entertainment most weeks.
And, the park continues to come up with innovative new ideas — like wrapping up 2022 with “Swiftmas Christmas” celebrating Taylor Swift with contests and Wesley Chapel performer Isabella Diaz singing the pop superstar’s hits — that provide just another taste of what we can expect in 2023.
Pop Stroke
2. The Pop Stroke groundbreaking was definitely one of the more buzz-worthy beginnings of a new project in or near Wesley Chapel in 2022. Sure, there are bigger and more consequential developments in the area, but a hip new place to do stuff in an area that has complained about a lack of it for years will be huge when it opens in early 2023.
With Tiger Woods’ backing, the unique mini-golf course is sure to draw big crowds to its location at the intersection of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd. If it also can draw, well, Tiger Woods, to its grand opening, wouldn’t that be something?
Heck, Pop Stroke might even be open before the more traditional, family-oriented mini-golf course at The Grove, which we expect to announce it is officially opening….any…day…now…
3. Saddlebrook Resort — which deserves maybe more credit than anything else for putting Wesley Chapel on the map as far back as the 1980s — was sold in 2022 for $15 million, and long-time owner Tom Dempsey told us that it was just the first step in an expansion and renovation of the storied golf resort and residential development.
Sure enough, buyers Mast Capital and Amzak Capital Management are prepping to get their money’s worth from the deal. On Jan. 5, the developers
will present their plans to the public at a Pasco County Planning Commission meeting, with hopes of taking it to the Board of County Commissioners in February for approval.
Those plans include expanding Saddlebrook’s master-planned unit development (MPUD) by more than 400 acres and converting one of its two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses and the resort’s driving range into a site that would potentially include commercial/retail, restaurants, apartments, homes and other uses — serving as something of a Saddlebrook town center.
4. New roads may not be that sexy of a thing to list in the year’s biggest news, but Wesley Chapel took a few giant steps (and maybe a short drive) forward in 2022.
The northbound exit at the DDI.
First, the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is now fully open at the S.R. 56 and I-75 and, except for some clean up and road markings, has been completed.
Considering the issues the interchange had with its previous construction company, which caused a months-long delay, the completion of the DDI is a pretty impressive feat. And, while it may still be a little confusing to some people, there is little doubt the interchange has proven to be a success.
Any day now (maybe even by the time you read this), the Overpass Rd. Interchange at I-75 also will be open, another project expected to have a big impact on area traffic. Located halfway between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits, the new Exit 282 interchange will be a boon for those settling in the quickly developing northern part of Wesley Chapel, and heck, it might even also improve the S.R. 54 interchange, which likely has taken over the title from S.R. 56/I-75 as the worst area locally to be driving at 5 p.m. on a weekday.
JD Porter
Toss the widening of S.R. 54 from east of Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. in there, which also is making steady progress and should be completed late in 2023, and, all in all, it kind of feels like this year was a win for area commuters. And, next year also should see the opening of at least the first leg of the long-awaited Zephyrhills Bypass from S.R. 54 to Morris Bridge Rd.
5. Wiregrass Ranch, which has been simmering for the past few years, is starting to boil, too.
In 2022, it was announced that a second hospital (Orlando Hospital) was coming to the Ranch, along with Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant (which blew up our Facebook page more than any other story in 2022). A number of plans also were filed with the county to begin work on some of the other long-vacant parcels in the DRI, including the long-awaited town center.
With Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which will serve as the spine to the entire development, just about complete, we’re expecting a slew of major announcements from developer JD Porter in 2023.
The Computer Emergency Room team: (l.-r.) Co-owner Jamie Hess, KRATE store manager Josh Hess, co-owner Joe Hess, Bruce B. Downs store manager Alexandra Horne and Mirada store manager Joe Hess III. (Photos: Charmaine George)
The popular Gadgets Emergency Room has expanded to three locations and will soon add a fourth…and has a new name, too.
Brothers and co-owners Jamie Hess and Joe Hess, Jr., have owned a thriving business in upstate New York, called Computer Emergency Room, since 1991. When Jamie — who also owns Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant — moved to Florida in 2018, the pair bought a local tech repair store in the Shoppes at New Tampa located just south and east of the corner of S.R. 56 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.
Now, they are merging the company’s Tampa-area locations with their New York-based business, bringing it all under one umbrella — as Computer Emergency Room.
“Along with changing our name to Computer Emergency Room, we’re expanding our business-to-business support division, doing network support, computer repair, cloud backup, remote monitoring – essentially all technical support,” Jamie says.
Jamie adds that whether a business is running high-end servers or just needs technical support for an individual workstation, Computer Emergency Room will come out on-site and provide the fix you need.
And, while the name is changing to reflect the emphasis on business services and to merge the brothers’ businesses, Jamie says the retail locations will continue offering the services local customers have come to depend upon.
For anyone who has a laptop that’s unusually slow, a tablet that stops working, or a phone screen that shatters, Computer Emergency Room can offer a quick fix — usually within hours — at a reasonable price.
Over the past year, new locations have opened at the KRATE at The Grove container park in Wesley Chapel and in the growing Mirada development in San Antonio. A fourth location — at the corner of Livingston Rd. and County Line Rd. in Lutz, where a new Publix just opened — is expected to open by the end of this year.
“Nothing will change at our retail locations,” Jamie explains. “All four locations will continue to offer all services.”
Additional technicians are being hired to support the expansion of the number of locations and the business services, and the company has branded vans on the road for technicians who support area businesses.
He says businesses can pay hourly, or sign up for a service contract that offers unlimited support. He says some contracts include weekly preventive maintenance, but most are on call, where businesses dial up Computer Emergency Room whenever they have a problem.
“This is something we’re currently doing,” Jamie says, “and we even go to homes to fix personal computers and connect networks.”
It’s A Family Affair
The family-owned business includes two stores managed by Joe’s sons. Joe Hess III manages the Mirada location, while Josh Hess (photo on next page)manages the KRATE store. Meanwhile, the BBD location is managed by Alex Horne, who has worked there for more than 10 years. While a manager has not yet been hired for the new location on Livingston, the Hesses expect to promote from within the company.
Jamie says they expect to expand to more locations, too, and are looking at opening stores in Tampa, Trinity, and even as far south as Bradenton.
And, while the business branches out, the Hess family remains firmly connected to the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas, with Jamie serving on the Board of Directors for the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, and they’re excited to have a Computer ER location in the trendy KRATE container park.
“We’re getting a lot of traffic at our KRATE location,” says Jamie. “KRATE is doing a nice job with events to get people there.”
In fact, that’s how Rich Bussey was first introduced to Computer Emergency Room.
He and his wife, Jenny, own Boba Macs Tea & Eat, a shop in the KRATEs located directly across from Computer Emergency Room.
“We were in the process of opening and our internet service provider didn’t install the line running into the building correctly,” Rich says. “I spent three weeks trying to get them to fix it, arguing back and forth, and going through a lot of finger pointing.”
Rich said it was a devastating blow. He and Jenny are first-time business owners, and also work full-time at other jobs, so a three-week delay was “crushing.”
Especially after Covid had pushed their dream business opening back, the Busseys were anxious to get up and running, but there was no way to open their store without a point of sale (POS) system, and that couldn’t be installed without internet.
One day in late August, Rich says the techs “across the way” at (then-Gadgets) Emergency Room offered to take a look at the wires Boba Macs’ service provider still hadn’t come out to assess.
“They immediately found the problem, fixed it, and my internet was up and running within minutes,” Rich says. “I was able to have someone come out that same day to set up my POS system that had been sitting there gathering dust for three weeks. I was mind blowing-ly impressed at how proactive they were at finding a solution and providing phenomenal service.”
Rich says that being in the service industry, he often finds himself having casual conversations with people, and occasionally that talk works its way around to someone’s frustrations with their phone, tablet or laptop.
“I always suggest they pop in across the way and let them take a look,” he says. “Those same people usually come back and thank me, saying they previously spent hours on the phone with their tech support and got nowhere, but spent five minutes over there and they fixed it.”
Computer Emergency Room (formerly Gadgets Emergency Room) has four locations. Its original shop, at 1750 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., and newest location at 30925 Mirada Blvd. in San Antonio, are both open Mon.-Fri.,10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Computer ER location at KRATE (5854 Goldview Pkwy.), is open Tues.-Fri., 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m., noon-6 p.m. on Saturday and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday. The new store will be opening at the corner of E. County Line Rd. and Livingston Ave. later this year.
For more information about any of the stores, call (813) 939-HELP (4357) or visit ComputerEmergencyRoom.com.
Café Zorba Completes Phase I At The KRATEs! Congratulations to my friends Stacy Esposito and Eddie Nasr, as their new venture, Café Zorba finally opened on Oct. 7 in the KRATE Container Park at The Grove.
The opening of Café Zorba, which features Greek and Middle Eastern food, completes Phase I at the KRATES, which now has 29 restaurants with a multitude of cuisine types and 17 retail shops.
Our favorites so far at Café Zorba are the lamb gyro wrap, the chicken souvlaki platter (above), the pan-fried crispy fish sliders (with garlic aioli) and the house-made spanakopita (spinach pies), but everything from the Zeus burger and homemade moussaka to appetizers like lightly fried calamari, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and shrimp skewers have been drawing critical raves from Café Zorba’s early visitors.
For more info about Café Zorba (5804 Grand Oro Ln., #102), call (813) 606-6666 or visit CafeZorba.com and please tell them I sent you! — GN
Leonidas Chocolates Now Open At Wiregrass Mall! Congratulations also go out to co-owners Mary and Eleni Caravellos, who officially opened the new Leonidas Belgian Chocolates & Cafe store in the Shops at Wiregrass on Oct. 6, with a North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon-cutting event.
According to the store’s website, Leonidas Kestekides opened his original praline store in Belgium more than 100 years ago. Four generations later, the brand is now an international favorite, with more than 1,300 locations, including the Wiregrass store, and all of the hand-crafted chocolates are still made in Belgium. Today, Leonidas is improving the living and working conditions of more than 2,000 cocoa-growing families mainly in Africa.
The chocolate itself, whether you choose the hand-crafted truffles and other confections (in 50+ flavors) or prepackaged bars (and everything in between) is made from 100% pure cocoa butter and is amazing, but so are the tiramisu, espresso brulée and torta Nicola. Perhaps best of all, the Wesley Chapel Leonidas store sells chocolate, vanilla and twist soft-serve ice cream with 14 different chocolate-dip toppings — everything from my favorite milk chocolate banana to salty caramel to dark sea salt, pistachio and more. In short, Leonidas is pure decadence.
For more info about Leonidas (28163 Paseo Dr., Unit 105), call (813) 388-9653 or visit LeonidasWesleyChapel.com. — GN
The Living Room ribbon cutting.
The Living Room WC Celebrates Its Official Grand Opening! Still more congrats go out to owners Christina & Zach Feinstein (holding scissors in left photo) of The Feinstein Group and The Living Room, which has been open in the Shops at Wiregrass for a few months, but which also celebrated the official Grand Opening of this second location on Oct. 12.
In addition to a North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting, the Grand Opening event included free samples of many of The Living Room’s great menu items on a day blessed with perfect weather. Congrats!
For more info about The Living Room, call (813) 934-7911, visit TLR.restaurant or see the ad on this issue’s back cover. — GN, photos by Charmaine George
Congratulations to my new friends Nhan Nguyen and her husband Hai Chu and their family, the owners of the new Ha Long Bay restaurant, which is expected to open (hopefully) by the end of this month in the space previously occupied by Aroi Thai-Tsuyu at 20685 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Several months ago, we announced in these pages that the restaurant would be a new location of Hana Sushi, but when that deal fell through, Nhan, Hai and their family jumped at the opportunity to open the fourth location of Ha Long Bay (the others are in St. Petersburg, Dunedin and Largo). Nhan and Hai also previously owned Ocean Blue Sushi Bar in Carrollwood.
The new Ha Long Bay will feature a variety of Vietnamese and Asian fusion favorites, including pho, banh mi sandwiches, Chinese-style stir-fry dishes, poké bowls, rice combination plates and a large variety of boba teas. Check our Facebook page for updates about Ha Long Bay’s opening. — GN
Even More New Eateries Are Now Open At The KRATE Container Park!
Almost all of the restaurants at the KRATE Container Park at The Grove at Wesley Chapel have now opened — and the word is definitely getting out that KRATE is a great destination for a wide variety of cuisine types from all around the world.
The newest KRATE to open is Boba Mac’s Tea & Eat, which combines the seemingly unlikely pairing of a variety of teas with boba pearls (made of tapioca starch from cassava root, not gelatin; photo below left) and a number of varieties of macaroni and cheese, as well as some Filipino dishes. I sampled the frozen banana tea with bobas and it was both super-tasty and filling like a smoothie.
“We’re still trying to add some employees,” said owner Rich Bussey the day we went to press with this issue, “so we’re just opening with the boba teas for now, but we will add our full planned menu when we really get rolling.” — GN
Carrabba’s Opens On The North Side Of S.R. 56!
Speaking of Italian, Jannah and I were fortunate enough to be invited to the pre-opening of the new Carrabba’s Italian Grill, located at 25298 Sierra Center Blvd. (between Bonefish Grill and Aussie Grill, on the north side of S.R. 56). The restaurant officially opened to the public on Sept. 13, and there’s no doubt it’s going to be a local favorite.
The newest location of the chain, which serves 130-year-old recipes created by the family of founders Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola, is one of more than 200 in nearly 30 U.S. states, with about 70 of those being located in Florida.
And, while I’ve never been the biggest fan of most chain eateries, the new Carrabba’s is beautiful, has a great bar area and I already like many of the made-from-scratch dishes I’ve sampled, including the lasagne pictured above, the Tuscan-grilled pork chops and steaks, the mezzaluna ravioli and more.
For more info, call (813) 261-2691 or visit Carrabbas.com. — GN
