Residents of New Tampa also will soon have another unique option for dessert, as the third Tampa-area location of Twisted Rolls Chimney Cake is expected to open by the end of this week in the same strip plaza at 19406 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. as Dan’s Fan City and Subway, across BBD from the Pebble Creek Collection.
As long as you don’t go there (as I did when photographer Charmaine George and I visited the six-month-old Temple Terrace location at 12212 N. 56th St.) expecting it to also have some kind of rolls, you probably won’t be disappointed.
The “Twisted Rolls” at Twisted Rolls Chimney Cake are made of dough and sugar that is rolled around a stick and then baked in an oven until hot and semi-crispy. Then, the hot dough is dipped in one of a variety of glazes and then rolled in one of nine different flavors — anything from crushed Oreo cookies to pistachio nuts and from Fruity Pebbles cereal to coconut and more.
The coated “cone” is then filled with soft-serve vanilla, chocolate or a swirl of both flavors ice cream to create a one-of-a-kind dessert.
“It’s an Eastern European treat,” says Ahd, the owner (top photo), who also has a Twisted Rolls food truck at 13742 N. 42nd St. near USF, as well a location in St. Louis, MO. “These ‘Chimney Cakes’ are called ‘Kurtoskalacs’ in Hungary, where they are super-popular.”
Twisted Rolls Chimney Cake also offers 16 flavors of hard-packed Hershey’s ice cream, but the hard-packed isn’t served in the hot cones, only in two-scoop cups (for just $4.99 on 56th St.!).
You can, however, have the hard-packed ice cream on crepes, waffles or mini-pancakes, all of which also can have a variety of toppings, from bananas and strawberries to M&Ms and brownies. There’s also New York-style cheesecake, which you can get topped with Nutella, crushed pistachios or liquefied peanut butter (below right photo).
In addition to the cheesecake, Charmaine and I each sampled our own Chimney Cake while visiting the Temple Terrace location, just to get a feel for what’s coming to New Tampa. She enjoyed the Fruity Pebbles cone, while I quickly filled up on a Chimney Cake with Oreos, both of which have a cookie placed inside the bottom of the freshly-baked cone. The heat makes the cookie melt in your mouth because clearly, the Chimney Cake isn’t decadent enough without it. Just kidding! It is!
Charmaine also sampled a mixed berry smoothie, which she said was yummy, and I indulged in a large vanilla latte, which also was spot-on. By the way, there are more than two dozen hot and iced coffee beverages on the Twisted Rolls menu. And, there’s even Italian sodas in eight different flavors. For more info about Twisted Rolls Chimney Cake, visit TwistedRollsChimneyCake.com. — GN
If you’ve never heard of Sorimmara, which just opened next to Smoothie King at 17501 Preserve Walk Ln., off Bruce B Downs (BBD) Blvd., you’re probably not alone.
Sorimmara is a fast-casual chain based in South Korea, where it has more than 200 locations. The only other U.S. location is in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles, CA.
Despite its Korean roots, most of the menu at Sorimmara is made up of Chinese dishes that have been given a Korean twist. Confused? Just what until you visit!
Sorimmara offers a large variety of raw meats (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, etc.), seafood (shrimp, clams, fish, etc.) and veggies (everything from broccoli and collared greens to Napa cabbage, baby corns, a variety of mushrooms & much more).
You wait to be seated, but you’re immediately invited to grab a bowl and fill it with as much “stuff” as you like — but you’re told you need to have at least 1 lb. of ingredients in your bowl because the restaurant charges by the pound ($14.99-$18.99) for its six main entrée options, including malatang, which is a spicy broth cooked similarly to the popular Chinese hot pot soups, except the restaurant’s kitchen cooks it for you and brings it to your table in a metal bowl placed on top of a lit burner.
Charmaine enjoyed her malatang (top photo), but we both included way too many ingredients because we didn’t know until the restaurant weighed our bowls how much “stuff” we had. There’s also creamy rose malatang available.
I also liked my tomato xiang guo (below left), or “stir fry dry pot,” which is like a stir-fry dish at a Korean or Chinese restaurant.
When I visit Sorimmara again, I plan to try the guobaorou, which means “fried pork” in Chinese, but also is available in crispy, sweet- &-sour chicken, shrimp, cream shrimp and mala mayo shrimp varieties. There’s also four actual Korean street food options called tteokbokki, which features tube-shaped rice cakes that are described as a blend of sweet, spicy and savory.
One piece of good news for less adventurous diners is that all of the dishes at Sorimmara are available in five levels of spice, from mild to super-spicy. There’s also a sauce bar with pre-made options like a delicious creamy sesame sauce and make-your-own options where the restaurant provides you with the recipes!
There also are Chinese standards like egg fried rice and egg rolls, as well as unique spicy mala and mala mayo fried rice, mala and mala mayo rice balls and flying fish roe rice balls.
Sorimmara is open Mon. & Wed.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. & 5-10 p.m. It’s open Sat. & Sun., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Closed Tues. For info, call (813) 252-6643 or visit SorimmaraTampaBay.com. — GN
If you love a great Broadway musical, there are only four performances left this weekend to see the New Tampa Players (NTP)’s production of the Tony Award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods.” Starring the outstanding Richard Brown (last seen as Seymour in NTP’s “Little Shop of Horrors”) as The Baker and amazing NTP newcomer Hope Lelekacs as The Baker’s Wife, NTP’s “Into the Woods” also re-introduces you to a whole slew of beloved fairy tale characters, including Cinderella (Genesis Rodriguez) and her stepmother (Kayla Bennett), Jack (Blake Boles), known for his magic beanstalk beans, scene-stealer Lena Wigfall as Little Red Ridinghood, plus NTP veterans Makayla Raines as “Witch,” Dylan Fidler as Rapunzel’s Prince, Kristin Nelson and Alexandra Greenberg as Cinderella’s stepsisters Florinda and Lucinda, respectively, and too many more great performances to include here (sorry).
Photographer Charmaine George, who took these pictures during last weekend’s opening night, says “Into the Woods” is one of NTP’s best shows, with singing, dancing, costumes and sets that are all “spot on!” Don’t miss it!
Tickets are still available to to all four performances of “Into the Woods” this weekend — Friday, April 4, at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 6, at 3 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.
Bagels Plus, located at 2706 E. Fletcher Ave. (a little west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd.), has finally reopened after a kitchen fire had closed the long-time favorite local New York bagel place for about five months.
“Everyone already knows we’ve reopened,” the owner Steve told me this morning. “At least it feels like everybody knows. We’ve been packed since we reopened yesterday (Monday)!”
In fact, Bagels Plus was out of Asiago cheese bagels when I arrived a little after 10:30 a.m. today. Thankfully, the store still had plenty of sesame bagels available to scoop out and toast to make my bacon (they do also have sausage), egg and cheese sandwich.
“This is the only place I know locally with bagels that taste like New Yawk,” one customer who said they were from Brooklyn told Steve while I was chatting with him today. “I’m so happy you’re open again!”
That seemed to be a popular sentiment among the seven or eight other customers inside the place, which definitely got a full interior makeover. Bagels Plus also carries tuna, chicken and egg salad, a wide variety of different cream cheeses — from lox and light plain to cranberry-walnut and veggie and more. Other pastries baked in-house include butter croissants, black-&-white cookies and apple and cherry turnovers and more. Pretty great coffee, too.
Bagels Plus is open Monday-Saturday, 6 a.m.-4 p.m., and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, or to pre-order call (813) 999-1216.
Will The ‘Rural’ Road’s Flooding Following Hurricane Milton & Clear Need For Widening Ever Be Addressed?
This is Morris Bridge Rd. looking south from the entrance to Cory Lake Isles on a usual weekday morning. For those who live along this formerly rural roadway, the daily commute to Tampa can be an absolute nightmare. So, what, if anything, is being done about it? (Photo by Joel Provenzano)
What are some of the things New Tampa and Wesley Chapel have in common?
In addition to car washes, nail salons and self-storage facilities, both rely heavily on two “major” north-south roadways — the eight- (in New Tampa) or six-lane (in Wesley Chapel) Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and the mostly two-lane Morris Bridge (MB) Rd — as important daily travel routes.
Due to the explosive growth in both K-Bar Ranch/Easton Park in New Tampa and, especially, in the plethora of new developments in and near Wesley Chapel, dependence upon MB Rd. has continued to grow year after year.
However, traveling on the winding, two-lane MB Rd. from the Fletcher Ave. exit off I-75 in Hillsborough up into Pasco County can be a white-knuckle experience for any motorist, bicyclist or pedestrian — and for more than just one reason.
Development has caused this formerly rural roadway to be plagued by flooding (resulting in closures), as well as by heavy traffic, safety concerns, poor road conditions and some other silly stuff that commuters in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel have to deal with every day.
With three mattresses tied to a roof, even a single Nissan Altima going 25 mph at rush hour can create havoc on MB Rd., generating a quarter-mile-long backup of angry drivers, all inching over the centerline to see if they can pass. Yes, we observed this while standing outside our vehicle and taking photos from the entrance to Cory Lake Isles!
We reached out to both Hillsborough County and City of Tampa governmental officials to find out their thoughts, and if there are any “real” projects actually moving forward to improve MB Rd. We provided them with a list of questions that did generate some responses.
We specifically asked if there were any planned capacity or safety improvement projects in the works, especially any widening plans to handle future volumes, or how the county (since MB Rd. is a county road that serves both city and county residents, as does BBD) plans to handle those traffic volumes that are expected to significantly increase over next few years, due to development on the north end — primarily the continuing expansion of K-Bar Ranch and the massive Two Rivers development, which is really just getting started building near MB Rd. both north and south of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line.
In short, much-needed flooding countermeasures have been installed (following the multi-week shutdown of MB Rd. north of Cross Creek [CC] Blvd. following Hurricane Milton last October) and both a safety project and resurfacing project are coming, but any real vehicle capacity/ modernization projects are still up in the air. District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, in his final term in his seat, at least has an idea about how to address the everyday traffic on MB Rd.
Councilman Viera’s Perspective
Although MB Rd. is entirely a county roadway, roughly 1/3 of the people living along the roadway live within Tampa’s city limits, with all of those residents (at least until the Hillsborough portion of Two Rivers begins building) living in the city-based New Tampa developments of Cory Lake Isles, Easton Park and K-Bar Ranch.
As such, we were grateful to interview Viera to get his opinion about some of the county’s responses, and what he’d like to see done as a proven champion of innovative intergovernmental (meaning city and county) collaboration.
He specifically notes that there’s a, “Need to modernize Morris Bridge. The City has to work with the county on long- term solutions,” indicating that county officials can’t, and shouldn’t have to, try to fix MB Rd. all by themselves.
Viera believes that one of the biggest issues in the past (in regards to capacity improvements) has been the obvious environmental concerns, since MB Rd. winds past thousands of acres of multiple county parks (Flatwoods, Morris Bridge Park, etc.). He explains that, “We need to be respectful of the environment, but the environmental issues have been the biggest roadblock (to improving MB Rd.).”
Viera clearly believes that NOW is the time for a change. “You know what?,” he says. “Next week [the week of March 24, or after we went to press with this issue], I’m going to make a motion to City Council,” in regards to creating a shared vision for MB Rd. by having the city reach out to the county.
Since the road actually winds through two counties, Viera says he also plans to reach out to District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman (who represents the portion of Wesley Chapel directly to the west and north of the county line at MB Rd.) to also try to get Pasco’s buy-in and help with that shared vision.
Since several places of worship, and multiple new businesses and communities are quickly popping up along the route, he feels the “rural nature” of the road isn’t keeping up with the times or its now more modern suburban context.
A Little History
While the original Morris “Bridge” is long gone, a bridge that was originally located just north of the Pasco County line (near where an underwhelming box culvert now sits), MB Rd. still exists as an “old” rural road abutted by suburban communities.
How old? Apparently, more than 100 years old! In fact, MB Rd. may be one of the oldest surviving (and continually used) county arterial roads in Tampa, coming from a time when maps of the county and state were more likely to show railroads than roads, because that was the primary form of transportation for those traveling long distances.
Without these primitive roads being shown on maps, their existence, location, and purpose had to be shared by word of mouth and/or in newspaper articles, especially for newer routes. What was written over a hundred years ago about Morris Bridge as a fledgling route was absolutely fascinating.
In its June 1, 1923, edition, The Dade City Banner (photo, left) had the following article:
GOOD ROUTE OPEN TO TAMPA
BY WAY OF MORRIS BRIDGE
“The recent heavy rains having made the route [where S.R. 39 sits today] to Tampa by way of Crystal Springs and Plant City impassable, there has been considerable inquiry as to another route that could be used by parties who found it necessary to visit the South Florida metropolis and did not care to avail themselves of the convenient train schedules. A number of people have been making the trip lately by way of the Morris Bridge and pronounce that route not only perfectly passable but a surprisingly good one. It is about 12 miles shorter than by way of Plant City.
To follow this route one turns west at the railroad crossing at Zephyrhills, goes to Will Ryals farm, about a mile from town, from there to Jim Hills’ place. Here take a plain road running southwest and at all forks take the one running in that direction. This road is said to be graded the entire distance and, from the Morris Bridge at the county line to Harney has been clayen [sand-clay]. From Harney a brick road leads to Tampa.”
This is funny, because to this day, Morris Bridge Rd. still becomes Harney Rd. at its very southern terminus in Temple Terrace.
Flooding Concerns
Speaking of flooding and impassable roads, our field review showed where repairs had been done when the road was flooded (and closed) multiple times last year. We asked Hillsborough County staffers if these repairs were permanent fixes that will reduce flooding and road closures in the future, or just temporary fixes to repair the damage?
Todd Pratt, who is with the Hillsborough County Media Relations Department, says that, “The repairs done after Milton were permanent fixes that consisted of replacing culverts that convey water under and across Morris Bridge Rd. These culverts had collapsed/washed out during the hurricane.”
Time, and the next major rainy season, will tell if these repairs will hold, or if new ones will be needed.
Safety Improvement Project
Regarding MB Rd. safety projects, Hillsborough senior media relations strategist Chris Wilkerson says that, “Morris Bridge Road has a planned safety improvement project (see below) slated to begin later this year. The contract for the project is planned to go before the BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) in April. If approved, the project would address safety concerns on the roadway, including documented consistent high rates of speed and distracted drivers. The project is designed to address speeding and motorist lane departure crashes.”
Proposed Safety Improvements – $2.1 million:
• No Passing Zones w/Vertical Delineators
• Reflective & Profiled Lane Line Markings
• Speed Feedback Signs, Flashing Beacons for Intersection Ahead & Curve Warning & Signal Head Back Plates
• Bike Lane & Safety Enhancements at Bridge over Hillsborough River
• Bicycle Signs and Lane Markings & Wildlife Signs
Meanwhile, Viera says that, “$2.1 million is wonderful, but we need to push that envelope!,” although he says he is really happy to see that “speed feedback signs” and “no passing” enhancements, are part of the safety project, as these would address issues his constituents have discussed with him.
Prior 1% Surtax to Fund Resurfacing
The last time MB Rd. (at least north of CC Blvd.) was resurfaced was way back in 2002. The portion south of CC Blvd. is in somewhat better shape, as it was last resurfaced in 2017.
A physical review we conducted of the corridor noted aging/deteriorating pavement with potholes, multiple patches, narrow, worn or no shoulders, no sidewalks (except self-funded ones in front of a few businesses) and very narrow lane widths at a few points (mostly north of Cory Lake Isles approaching and into Pasco County).
So, is MB Rd. on the county’s list of roadways to be resurfaced? We hadn’t previously seen or heard of MB Rd. as being on any 3R (Resurfacing, Restoration, Rehabilitation) project list.
But, Pratt told us, “The Florida Legislature has identified repaving projects to be completed in Hillsborough County using a portion of the previously collected Transportation Surtax funds (see below). One of the roads to be repaved is Morris Bridge Road. The County will need to coordinate this paving to be done in conjunction with the safety improvement project.”
Confused? You may recall that back in 2018, Hillsborough County voters had passed a one-cent sales tax to fund needed transportation projects. This tax ended up being legally challenged, and was found to be unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court in March 2021. But, by then, the county had already collected about $589 million from local taxpayers.
After the tax was eliminated, state lawmakers went ahead and made a plan to split that collected money up between county road improvement projects, a Hillsborough tax holiday, reimbursement of the county’s legal fees, and a settlement fund that would allow Hillsborough taxpayers and residents to receive refunds (up to $100 without showing any receipts).
That plan began about a year ago, when county commissioners met to start dividing up the funds. It was decided that about $256 million would go towards road projects (including road resurfacing). At the beginning of March of this year, the first $17 million of that money started being distributed, with all of the funds expected to reach the long list of target projects by 2030.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is slated to make sure the county completes these projects by the deadline. That overall plan will be up for approval at one of the upcoming BOCC meetings in April.
Capacity Concerns
At our press time, county officials had not yet responded to our most pressing question — How does the county plan to handle MB Rd. volumes that surely will significantly increase over next few years due to development on the north end of the road (from K-Bar Ranch, Two Rivers and other Pasco developments), and what those forecasted volumes (if they’ve been forecasted through traffic studies or other models) might be, compared with recent historic volumes (meaning, how much growth in percentage or number of vehicles is expected?).
Current state data shows an annual average daily traffic (or AADT) of 15,000 vehicles per day for MB Rd.. (Note-AADT is the total number, in both directions, of vehicular trips taken on that road each day, divided by 365 days in a year.)
Based on our preliminary calculations, it would not be unreasonable to see an increase of 20% in the traffic volumes over the next few years, given the size of the future developments that will be connected to the road.
As we had written in a previous article from April of 2024, the final phase of K-Bar Ranch in Hillsborough will add hundreds more homes, and open up ALL of K-Bar to MB Rd. via an extension of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. to the east, past Easton Park. Once that extension has been completed, this also will subsequently open all of the Union Park and Meadow Pointe developments in Wesley Chapel to MB Rd. as well, via the planned Wyndfields Blvd. extension to the south, and the existing Meadow Pointe Blvd. extension.
The 6,000-acre Two Rivers development on the edge of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa (although it actually is located in Zephyrhills in Pasco and Thonotosassa in Hillsborough) will be adding an estimated 7,500 more residences, plus commercial developments, the Peak Surf Park and schools, with its north-south traffic to be split between U.S. Hwy. 301 and MB Rd. But, as anyone living in the area might imagine, it will still have a significant impact on MB Rd.
Bridge Scouring
The current bridge over the Hillsborough River on MB Rd. was built in 1963. Since then, its piers have experienced significant base erosion, which is referred to as “scouring,” a critical problem that can affect the bridge’s structural sturdiness if not properly addressed.
Based on a fact sheet put out in January 2025,Hillsborough plans to spend roughly $864,000 to, “install an articulating concrete block revetment system as a scour countermeasure.” Revetment is just a fancy way of saying a sloping structure that is usually made of stone or concrete, used to protect the riverbed around piers from erosion caused by river currents or other forces. Otherwise, the piers can become unstable if too much of the bed is eroded, which is why this is a critical repair.
Construction of the revetment system is expected to be completed by early 2027.
So, How Can I Get Involved?
Believe it or not, your elected officials actually want — or even, make that need — to hear your traffic and safety concerns about MB Rd.
So, how can you get involved? In addition to contacting your local county representative — District 2 Commissioner Ken Hagan — Councilman Viera wants everyone to know that he has an upcoming New Tampa Community public meeting, on Tuesday, April 15, 5:45 p.m., at the Easton Park Community Pool Clubhouse (10776 Pictorial Park Dr., Tampa).
Viera says he will be on hand at that meeting to receive input, answer questions, and talk about MB Rd., as well as about crime, education, housing, the progress on the planned park in K-Bar Ranch and pretty much anything else New Tampa or even Tampa-related.
Viera will be joined by a representative of the Tampa Police Department at that Town Hall-style event, as well as by District 6 (countywide) Hillsborough School Board member Karen Perez.
For more information about that meeting, email luis.viera@tampagov.net.
