Wesley Chapel Nibbles — Rodizio Grill, Papichy’s, Cheesecake Factory & Swig 

Lots of new restaurants are beginning to build and/or are getting ready to open in and around the Wesley Chapel area and we have updates on many of them in this issue. On this page alone, we’ll tell you about the delayed (but finally happening) Grand Opening of the new Rodizio Grill, the first-ever brick-&-mortar location of Pastelitos Papichy’s, as well as the beginning of construction of both The Cheesecake Factory and Swig soda shop. 

Rodizio Grill 

Clearly, the opening of the Wesley Chapel area’s first-ever Brazilian steakhouse is big news for our community, as the announcement on our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page that the opening of Rodizio Grill (2802 Grand Cypress Dr., Lutz, behind Costco and in front of Kohl’s by the Tampa Premium Outlets) was delayed from its originally announced opening date of May 28 to Tuesday, June 10, was viewed (at our press time) by a record-breaking (for us) 327,816 people, with more than 1,000 likes and 109 shares! We’ve had a couple of previous posts that reached more than 200,000 people, but this post — without being boosted — has far surpassed our previous record. In other words, you can expect big crowds at Rodizio Grill as this issue is reaching your mailbox. In the meantime, we have a sneak peek first look inside this beautiful, new restaurant (top photo) on this page. We wish franchisee Charlie Haney and his crew lots of luck. 

For reservations & more info, call (813) 996-3880, visit Rodizio.com or search “Rodizio Grill – Wesley Chapel” on Facebook. 

Pastelitos Papichy’s 

Although the Venezuelan food truck Pastelitos Papichy’s (above left) has been stationed near the LA Fitness and Five Guys Burgers & Fries (just south of County Line Rd.& west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New Tampa) a for some time, a sign recently went up at the Grand Oaks Plaza on the under-construction Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz (above right) announcing that Papichy’s will be opening its first-ever brick-&-mortar location in the space previously occupied by the also-Venezuelan Arepa Mia, which sadly closed at the end of 2024. 

We haven’t yet been able to speak to anyone who could tell us when the new Papichy’s is expected to open, but you can expect a similar selection of Venezuelan-style empanadas, pastelitos (similar to empanadas, but round wheat dough filled with sweet guava or savory meats and cheeses), tequeños (fried cheese) and more. 

For more info, call (813) 576-9970. 

The Cheesecake Factory 

If our post about Rodizio Grill is record-setting, there’s little doubt that if we’re able to break the story of when The Cheesecake Factory will finally open in the parking lot at the Tampa Premium Outlets, that post could double or even quadruple the traffic Rodizio Grill has generated. 

But, while some rumors had Cheesecake Factory opening before the end of this year, that seems pretty ambitious, considering that the area that will one day be home to the full-service restaurant chain and cheesecake bakery (which currently has more than 200 U.S. locations) has only recently been fenced off near the mall’s main entrance. There is some heavy equipment on the site, but the parking lot hasn’t yet been leveled so that the restaurant can actually go vertical. 

Swig

This rapidly-growing drive-through “dirty soda” chain featuring seasonal favorites and concoct-your-own sodas, revivers and refreshers, as well as frozen hot chocolate, sugar cookies and pretzel bites, is starting to go vertical just east of PopStroke and west of Academy Sports + Outdoors (photo above), across from the outlet mall. 

Wesley Chapel/Lutz will be only the third Florida location for Swig, a Utah-based company which currently has more than 100 locations in 14 states, with agreements for 500 franchise units and plans for more corporate-owned stores. For more info, visit SwigDrinks.com.