New Tampa Business Climate Gets Good News

From left to right: Sam Becker, a USF graduate student in the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and City Councilmember Luis Viera.

A standing-room-only crowd packed Compton Park in Tampa Palms on Feb. 3 for the unveiling of the initial results of a New Tampa business study, and while the presentation did seem to assuage some of the concerns of those in attendance, the results of that survey are far from conclusive.

In fact, because many of the area businesses along Bruce B. Downs Blvd. south of I-75 — meaning Tampa Palms — have not reported data, like earnings and number of employees, to the City of Tampa, the study was only based on businesses along BBD from the I-75 interchange north to County Line Rd.

University of South Florida School of Public Affairs director Ron Sanders said the data the study did find south of I-75 “looked funny.”

That meant that the closings of Staples, HH Gregg, Bed Bath & Beyond and Casa Ramos, which played a central role in triggering the study, were not included in any conclusions by the USF study, which included input from New Tampa (morning) Rotary Club and North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce members, as well as other local business leaders. 

“You have to take some of the quantitative analysis (from the study) with a grain of salt,” Sanders told the crowd, which included Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Tampa City Council member Luis Viera. “It’s limited by the data, and it is what it is. It had to be balanced by some of the real-life observations and anecdotal (evidence).”

While the study was spurred by community concerns about business closings in Tampa Palms that were pointed out to Viera (as well as to Mayor Castor while she was running for office),  at least north of I-75, seems to paint a rosier picture.

According to Sam Becker, a USF graduate student in the School of Urban and Regional Planning, a total of 57 businesses closed in New Tampa north of I-75 between 2015-18, losing an annual sales volume of roughly $122 million.

However, in that same period, 94 new businesses opened, generating nearly $181 million in sales.

That produced a net gain of 37 new businesses, $59 million total sales volume and 1,651 employees.

But without data from south of I-75, Sanders says “it is hard to draw any conclusions” about the New Tampa area as a whole.

And, since the study began, the once-vacant HH Gregg and Staples spaces in the Market Square at Tampa Palms plaza have new tenants, and a handful of new restaurants have opened or will be open by the summer, including more than a dozen new businesses in the Village at Hunter’s Lake development.

The study made a host of recommendations, including creating a chamber of commerce-esque Business Retention & Expansion committee, attracting non-chains and marketing and branding New Tampa.

A community slogan — “Something For Everyone” was floated as an example — as well as signage would let people passing through know they are in New Tampa.

“I still think it comes down to having a community identity that is amenable to everybody here in New Tampa,” Viera said. “It’s something we should work on, as the study pointed to.”

The study’s results, while inconclusive, seemed to be met with enthusiasm by most of the 100 or more people in the crowd at Compton Park. 

“I still miss my Bed Bath & Beyond, but I do feel better about the business climate,” said longtime Arbor Greene resident Noreen Luetteke. “I think it’s improving. I just hope it stays that way.”

New Tampa’s Teachers of The Year!

Here are the area’s top teachers as selected by their peers. Congratulations!

Stacy Hoffman
Hunter’s Green Elementary
Math & Science, 3rd grade
STEM lead
“Teaching is my passion!  My students become family and together we build a class community.  We don’t see differences, we encourage others, and we understand that we learn from our mistakes.  Through this, I become their biggest cheerleader, encouraging them to be the best they can be.”

Simon Meshbesher
Liberty Middle
Social Studies/History,
8th Grade
  “Teaching is the most exciting and rewarding profession!  The extent of enjoying student achievement, watching students learn, offers unlimited possibilities to influence generations of students, imparting to them the excitement of learning, the passion of discovery, and the magic of an inquisitive mind.”

Michelle Payton
Clark Elementary
Math & Science
4th grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is making positive connections with my students and showing them that learning can be fun…each time I see one of my students have an “A-Ha” moment, it means success (for both of us).”


Rachael Trent 
Freedom High
ESE
  “The students in my classroom run their own business, have jobs on campus and volunteer at an assisted living facility in our community. I love that I am able to facilitate all of this for them in order to enrich their lives and help them become more independent adults.”

Daniel Sturlaugson
Turner Bartels K-8 School
4th Grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is empowering students to lead.  Student leadership isn’t something that we are mandated to teach, but it’s crucial in preparing students to be college- and career-ready.  It’s a true opportunity to see students grow and change right before your eyes.”

Shane Moody
Benito Middle School
Subject Area Leader for the Language Arts Department, ELA-3 (8th grade) Honors/Advanced classes.
  “The best thing about teaching is that I get to invest my time in developing young students on a path to success relating to their life goals…I am so proud to say I am a member of the Jaguar Family.”

Kendall Arnold
Heritage Elementary
2nd grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is making connections with students that last beyond the year they are in my class. I have students who come to visit me years after they leave my second grade class. This is the most meaningful part of my job.”

Carol Lynch
Tampa Palms Elementary
1st grade 
  “Tampa Palms Elementary has an incredibly talented staff of teachers and support personnel, so it really is an honor to be chosen by my peers for this award.”

Dawn Harris
Pride Elementary
Kindergarten
  “My favorite thing about teaching is the growth I see ALL my students achieve. They always make me proud.”

Lisa Keigher
Chiles Elementary
English Language Arts
3rd grade
  “My own children, who are now adults, went to Chiles. Their teachers, some who are still at Chiles…inspired me to go into education. To be chosen from my colleagues is the greatest honor I could have ever gotten.”

Elizabeth Glover 
Wharton High
Social Studies, AP Human Geography (9th grade) and Student Government Advisor.
  “(My favorite thing about teaching?) Working with the students!  Watching them have the ‘a-ha’ moments while explaining difficult concepts to them.  Teaching them tools to perform tasks, then observing them while they self-start and do (them) on their own.”

New Tampa Brew Fest Makes Strides In Second Year

The official numbers hadn’t been tallied at our press time, but according to event co-chair Chris Stennett, there is no mistaking that, once again, the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon’s second annual New Tampa Brew Fest was a hit.

Hundreds of revelers strolled from table to table in the Venetian Center at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd., sampling nearly 100 offerings from more than 30 breweries, both big and small, sometimes to wash down the food being served by three outstanding food trucks outside. 

The breweries represented included everything from large companies like Cigar City, Florida Avenue, Coppertail and Goose Island to smaller craftsmen who brew out of their garages, like Krazy Eddie’s Garage (KEG) Brewing, Ignorant Ales and Wiregrass Brewing Co.

“We were really, really happy with the event,” said Stennett afterward. “I feel good about what we did, and we are thankful for the community for coming out to support us.”

The event is the primary fundraiser for the New Tampa Noon Rotary (which meets Wednesdays at noon at Bayscape Bistro inside Heritage Isles Golf Club) and helped the club contribute thousands of dollars to causes like the Fisher House at the James Haley VA Hospital last year.

Few came further for this year’s event than Wisconsin’s Dennis Zweber (above, left), who took his brother Greg (right), who lives in Lutz, up on an offer to fly down for the Brew Fest and enjoy some better weather.

Dennis, who lives in Soldier’s Grove, WI, just east of Madison, found a plane ticket for $67 out of Minneapolis — about four hours away — and said that going to beer festivals was one of his family’s favorite pastimes.

“I figured, ‘What the heck,’” said Dennis. “We always have a great time when we go to these things.”

Dennis said he was impressed by the New Tampa Brew Fest, considering it was only the second year the event has been held. 

“I was really impressed with the quality of the beers,” he said. “They had a lot of breweries, a lot of variety. I drank a lot of really good beer.”

Dennis, who tends to enjoy darker beers, said his favorite was the organic Peppermint Porter served by Randy Gailit, who brews his Wiregrass Brewing Co. (page 40) out of his garage in the Meadow Pointe community. “That was a really beautiful beer,” Dennis said.

Wiregrass Brewing Co. wasn’t the only local to draw rave reviews. Double Branch Artisanal Ales (DBAA), which is opening a place in The Grove in Wesley Chapel in January, drew a lot of attention for its offerings, particularly the Orange Suede, a passion fruit, orange peel, pineapple and marshmallow sour.

For DBAA co-owner Ryan Clarke, his first New Tampa Brew Fest was a success. He said the Orange Suede was so popular he had to crack open a second keg of it.“I thought it was a great event, and a great chance to introduce ourselves to the beer-loving community,” Clarke said.


The Brunchery Looking To Open Doors By December

When it comes to grabbing breakfast off busy Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa, there is no shortage of places to grab a pastry, donut, breakfast sandwich or a cup of coffee.

But, if you want a couple of eggs over easy, a strip of fresh bacon, a slice of warm toast and coffee in a ceramic mug, you’re pretty much out of luck.

However, the good news is that your luck is about to change.

The Brunchery, a popular Valrico restaurant locally owned for 30 years by Kevyn Farley and known for its stuffed French toast, grilled muffins and six kinds of eggs Benedict, is planning to open in the old Boston Market space on BBD the first week in December, if not sooner.

New owner Stanley Athan is enthusiastic about his latest venture. He grew up in Washington state, in a family that has spent more than 50 years in the restaurant business.

Stanley Athan

Athan’s first job was washing the dishes in one of his father’s restaurants at age 14, so he could earn enough money to buy a car when he turned 16. He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom now own restaurants — Stanley owns Voula’s Good Eats, named after his mother, in Mountlake Terrace, WA.

When he started looking for new a new business to buy, however, a number of factors pointed him towards Florida. He spent eight months searching for a pizza place or a diner — anything but a chain eatery.

“Floridians are sick of chains,” he says. “They go because they don’t have other choices.”

When one of his old high school friends mentioned that the restaurant he lived down the street from, The Brunchery, was for sale, Athan quickly hopped on a plane.

“When I first walked in, it was exactly what I was looking for,” Athan says. 

On his second visit, they got his order wrong. He ordered stuffed waffles, and instead was brought stuffed strawberry French toast. He said it was so good, however, he left a $10 tip.

The Brunchery wasn’t “broke,” so Athan didn’t have much to fix. The restaurant uses the same recipes that Farley used, continues to buy their products —bread, fruit, etc. — from the same vendors, and perhaps most important, serves the same coffee. 

Athan merely added some social media muscle to the operation, and sales have been up since he took over in December of 2018.

Now, he is looking to duplicate the rooster-themed, country feel of his prized mom n’ pop at his 2,300-sq.-ft. space in Valrico to his new 3,100-sq.-ft. space in New Tampa, which will have seating for 100.

He is fully aware that a place to have breakfast in New Tampa is high on the wish list of many area residents.

The Brunchery is best known for its breakfast items — made-from-scratch Belgian waffles and French toast (for the special this week, they were stuffed with blackberries), homemade homefries, steak and eggs and breakfast scrambles — but it also has a lunch selection that includes burgers and sandwiches. 

Athan said one of the best compliments he has gotten since taking over the restaurant came from one of his customers who is from New York, and said The Brunchery’s Reuben sandwich was the best he’s had since moving to Florida.

With chef and general manager Al Marku, Athan hopes to build the same loyal customer base in New Tampa that he has built in Valrico.

“We know what customers want and like,” Athan says. “We will be bringing that to New Tampa.”

Full Circle Chicago Pizza’s New Owners Give The Menu An Upgrade!

Anyone who has been reading my dining reviews for any number of years surely knows that I have always been and always will be a New York-style pizza guy. Therefore, it’s been hard for places like Full Circle Chicago Pizza in the Pebble Creek Collection to ever really rank among my favorite pizza places in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. Whether deep-dish or thin-crust, I am happy to eat Chicago-style pizza, but it just will never be the same for me as NY-style ‘za.

Even so, new Full Circle owners Julia and Freddy Nova took over a few months ago, and they called me to say I needed to try the place again, and not just for the pizza, but also  for the new Italian specialties Freddy has been adding to Full Circle’s already tasty menu.

And, after several amazing meals at the new Full Circle, I do believe Freddy and Julia are on to something delicious.

Julia is half-Italian, but while Freddy’s family is originally from Guatemala, he has not only cooked at three well-known country clubs for 20 years in New Jersey (including the renowned, historic Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, which has hosted the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship), he and Julia also owned and operated a successful “Jersey-style” pizza place known as Little Italy in Paramus for five years before they relocated to Tampa and found Full Circle for sale.

Chicken parmigiana

Freddy’s extensive experience shows in everything he creates at Full Circle. Jannah and I agree that his chicken parmigiana is the best we’ve had in New Tampa — and, although he hasn’t yet added veal to the menu, folks I’ve met inside since the Novas took over have raved about the eggplant parm. And, my side of penne in marinara sauce came out al denté without me having to order it that way. Atza nice!

My new pal Freddy also turned a simple chicken and broccoli pasta dish into a perfectly garlicky (is that a word?) masterpiece, and he’ll even add sautéed spinach or broccoli to it upon request (as I did). I’m not usually as big on chicken Francaise, but Julia told me it’s her favorite, so I tried it on my most recent visit and you can take the egg-dipped coating and lemon without either being overpowering.

Sandwiches…

 Folks from the Windy City love their Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches (top right photo on next page), and Freddy kept the tasty au just the bread is basically soaking in from the original Full Circle.  People also rave about his Philly cheese steaks; I enjoyed his spicy version. 

However, I still prefer an oven-baked parmigiana sub, with gooey mozzarella, meatballs, chicken or Italian sausage, and Freddy’s baked subs have the right “crackle” (the roof of your mouth should be both cut and burnt when the bread and sauce are perfect…and these are) and are all lip-smacking-tasty.

I also have enjoyed the fried ravioli appetizer and the garlic knots and plan to try the jumbo wings and even the pierogies, although I try not to fill up too much on appetizers when the main event is always so great.

OK, What About That Pizza?

Remember what I said earlier about me and Chicago-style pizza? Freddy says he hasn’t changed Full Circle’s already immensely popular thin-crust or deep-dish Chicago-style pizza much — although it does seem to me that he has increased the ratio of sauce to cheese on the deep dish, which makes it possible to eat with your hands, instead of a knife and fork (as I’ve always had to do with most other Chicago-style deep-dish). And yes, Full Circle offers slices of thin-crust pizza for lunch and has deep-dish pies available every day for lunch and dinner.

However, I’m proud to say that Freddy has even found a loophole in my anti-Chicago-thin-crust bias. He has introduced a margherita pizza — with a zesty sauce, fresh mozzarella and even fresher basil — that is unlike any other I’ve tasted before. And, here’s the thing, when I last lived in New York, the whole coal- or wood-fired brick oven pizza craze hadn’t really yet taken off, so I had no preconceived notions of what a cracker-thin “Neapolitan”-style pizza should taste like when I moved to Florida. And, although I have always liked the Neapolitan-style pizza in our area, it’s never been as high on my list of favorites as most NY-style pizza.

Until now. Freddie’s margherita pizza has a delicious garlic-infused sauce that is similar to what many places use for their “Grandma’s pizza.” The mozzarella is fresh and the basil adds just that hint of sweetness.

But, Freddy’s margherita pizza (right) also has a much crisper crust than most Neapolitan-style pizza, which usually comes out with a charred bottom, but not crispy. Bottom line? If you hate it, I’ll buy your leftovers.

In fact, I went so crazy for this pizza that I just had to share it with my new friends Beth, Wayne and Don (photo above) and all three also raved about it.

Best of all, with the coupons in our recent issues, you can save money on Full Circle’s ristorante-quality cuisine in clean, comfortable, casual surroundings with plenty of booth and table seating available. There’s also Yuengling on draught, Peroni and other beers in bottles and red and white wines by the glass or bottle. Full Circle also has a great family atmosphere and everything on the “Kids Corner” menu is either $4.99 or $5.99. You’ll also find an extensive catering menu with truly fair prices.

As for those coupons, on Tuesday and Wednesday (only!), you can get a large thin-crust pizza with one topping for only $9.99. And, although the coupons can’t be combined, you also can save $5 off any purchase of $30 or more, or $2 off any purchase of $15 or more.

Help Wanted!

Full Circle Pizza is hiring experienced servers and pizza makers now, especially since they will be slammed once this story breaks. Please stop in to fill out an application.

Full Circle Chicago Pizza (19651 BBD Blvd.) is open every day for lunch and dinner. 

For more information, call (813) 994-3700, or visit FullCircleChicagoPizza.com.