Bosco’s Owners Celebrate Two Years In Wesley Chapel With New Menu Items!

WHETHER YOU LIVE in Meadow Pointe II or Epperson, the husband-and-wife owners of Bosco’s Italian-to-Go, located in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54 (near Curley Rd.), are proud to deliver their pizza and Italian specialties to your door.

“We’re one of the only pizza places that delivers both to Epperson and to all four areas of Meadow Pointe,” says co-owner Charles Frankulin. “If you have a Wesley Chapel address, we’ll deliver to your door.”

Charles and his wife Nancy, whose first date was their senior prom at Wesley Chapel High, took over a reasonably successful little pizza place two years ago next month and continue to put their own imprint on Bosco’s already pretty good menu.

Go Gator!

The most recent additions include some that are, well…pretty unique.

“We wanted to have something that no one else in Wesley Chapel was offering and we decided to give gator a try,” Nancy says. “We now serve gator fettuccine Alfredo, gator on pizza and even something we’re calling ‘Swamp & Turf’ pizza, with both gator and steak.

Gator Alfredo

Charles is quick to point out that, “People who say they don’t love gator because it’s usually too tough are usually talking about gator tail, which is tougher because their tails are so muscular. We’re bringing in tender gator belly, farm-raised in Louisiana.”

I certainly have always been one of those folks who has never been too impressed with the chewiness of gator tail, but I’ve also always been at least somewhat adventurous when it comes to food, so I gave both the Cajun-style gator fettuccine and Swamp & Turf pizza a try, and offered samples to senior video producer Gavin Olsen and sales assistant Janet Levins.

We all agreed that the gator is indeed tender and sweet, almost like a cross between lobster and calamari, but I definitely enjoyed it more with Bosco’s mild (not overly thick or cheesy) Alfredo sauce.

I definitely recommend giving it (or the chicken fettuccine Alfredo) a try.

I also really enjoyed Bosco’s new Tuscan-style tater tots, which are basted with a small amount of oil and baked in Bosco’s conveyor belt oven and come out crispy, with a hint of garlic (third photo from the top on the next page).

Garlic knots.

And, speaking of crispy, although they’re not a new menu item, I wanted to give a shout out to Bosco’s garlic knots. I’ve always preferred regular, crispy Italian bread to knots with my lasagne, meatballs (photo, left) or chicken parmigiana, but Bosco’s come out super-crispy, without overdoing the garlic. Nice!

Another tasty new menu item is the smoked mozzarella raviolis (photo, right), which are stuffed with the flavorful, smoky cheese and covered with Bosco’s zesty red sauce and fresh (not smoked) mozzarella.

Meatball sub.

The only new menu items we haven’t sampled yet are Bosco’s crispy boneless or bone-in wings with Frank’s Redhot Sweet Asian chili hot sauce. I’ve always loved sweet Thai chili sauce, so I’m sure Bosco’s oven-baked wings will be great with them.

And, even though Bosco’s hasn’t yet toyed with keto pizza, they do offer 14-inch gluten-free pizzas, for those who are reactive to gluten.

“We sell quite a few gluten-free pizzas every week,” Nancy says. “There’s a pretty steady number of regulars asking for them.”

Speaking of demand, although I didn’t get a great picture of them either, you have to try Bosco’s crispy cinnamon sticks with cannoli icing for dessert. Decadent! There’s also cannolis, cheesecake and tiramisu on the dessert menu.

To celebrate their second anniversary, the Frankulins are offering one-topping, 14-inch pizzas for only $7.99, with the coupon from Bosco’s ad on pg. 35 of this issue. Congrats, Nancy and Charles!!

Bosco’s Italian-to-Go (30122 S.R. 54) is open every day but Sun. for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 11 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. For takeout or delivery orders or for more info, call (813) 907-2440 and tell Nancy and Charles I sent you. Or, visit BoscosItalianFL.com!

Are You Crazy About Keto Pizza? Please Try This At Home!

The pepperoni Keto pizza from 900º Woodfired Pizza

From what I see on Facebook, even though I don’t “get” it personally, everyone in Wesley Chapel is completely insane about the crustless pizza being sold in our area for those who are on the Keto diet.
Yes, Keto pizza is all the rage, even though I can’t personally eat more than one small ”slice” of it, but not because it isn’t tasty. All I can tell you is that if I ate more than one slice of Keto pizza at a time, I might not go to the bathroom for the rest of the year. Just saying.

 

On the other hand, someone very near and dear to my heart is on the Keto diet, so we’ve simply had to try it at a couple of local pizza places. And, all I can tell you is that my fiancée Jannah McDonald definitely has improved on any version of it we’ve tried in our distribution area. And, best of all, this improved keto pizza is something you can make at home yourself, especially if you just happen to have a working toaster oven.

Our story begins (as so many in this publication seem to, John Cotey) at 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass mall, where owner Steve Falabella became a local Facebook sensation when our mutual friend Jennifer Ames, the administrator of the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook group, posted a photo of 900º Woodfired’s Keto pizza.

And yes, Jannah was among the hundreds (thousands?) of locals saying “I have to try that” following Jennifer’s post.

Jannah’s finished Keto pizza.

Literally the next day, we were at 900º trying it out and we both agreed that although it did taste like pizza, the “crust” — a double (or triple?) layer of cheese and nothing else to “hold it together” — was not only ridiculously filling, but should also come with a warning about having to have at least a salad (or some other kind of roughage) with it or risk being bottled up like the S.R. 56 exit off I-75 during rush hour.

 

Before we ever went anywhere else to sample another store-bought Keto pizza, Jannah started working on variations of her own. And, just for the record, I do a lot more cooking in our apartment than she does, so I was so surprised at how charged up she was to cook that I became her sous chef for this adventure.

After a few efforts, Jannah came up with the recipe and procedure and, after the first time it worked to perfection (I preferred it to 900º Woodfired’s and Amici’s), I told her I just might have to write about it in these pages.

So, here goes.

 

Although we don’t have a fancy new convection oven or any special cooking utensils, Jannah found that making her smaller version of crustless Keto pizza worked best in our toaster oven.

The pepperoni base for Jannah’s Keto pizza. Slices of mozzarella go on top of the pepperoni. Cover the mozzarella slices with sauce. Cover the sauce layer with shredded mozzarella and pop it into the toaster oven. Bake at 450º F, for 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

She starts with a layer of the Publix-brand large-size pepperonis and puts them in the broiler for around five minutes, or until the edges get brown and curl up slightly.

One of the keys to the success of this recipe is not to burn the ‘ronis. Then, while preheating the toaster oven (on bake at 450º), she covers the pepperoni “crust” with a layer of single slices of Publix-brand low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella.

She then completely covers the top of the sliced cheese layer with either the tomato basil or vodka sauce from the new Cost Plus World Market, which we have found to have the fewest net carbs per serving of any store-bought brand. Although you can use your own homemade sauce, if you prefer, all I can tell you is that you Keto diet folks out there probably can’t make a sauce with fewer net carbs than World Market’s sauces (although we may have cleaned the store out of both types, because there hasn’t been any of either kind the last two times we’ve visited there).

She then covers the sauce layer with a layer of Publix shredded mozzarella and sprinklings of parmesan, and bakes it in the toaster oven for 7-10 minutes, or until all the cheese gets that golden brown hue.

It still goes against everything I loved growing up to have pizza without a New York-style crust, but hey, we still (in my opinion) have plenty of great options for that in Wesley Chapel — including not only 900º Woodfired, but also La Prima Pizza, NY NY Pizza, Amici’s Pizza, Best NY Pizza and PizzaMania.

MOD and Blaze Pizza Bringing Different Styles

MOD Pizza is opening soon on S.R. 56.

Wesley Chapel Already Has Plenty Of Great Pizza Places. So, Why Are So Many New Ones Still Popping Up?

Pizza may not be the world’s most-perfect food — although some who feel otherwise might fight you over that statement — but it probably is the most popular.

So, as Wesley Chapel grows, and more and more families move in, so do more businesses that sell pizza.
There’s locally-owned traditional pizzerias like 900 Degrees Woodfired, La Prima, Best New York, New York, Bosco’s and Amici Pizza, that sell more traditional NY-style pizzas, to name a few. Mellow Mushroom and Noble Crust (which have both opened in the last year) sell more eclectic pizzas. And, the mega-chains like Domino’s, Little Caesars, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut deal in mostly speedy, high-volume delivery.

“I would say there’s a lot more pizza available in Wesley Chapel than normal on average in other cities (of its size),” says Steve Falabella, the owner of the popular 900 Degrees Woodfired Pizza, which has been at the Shops at Wiregrass mall since 2011. “I think the growth in Wesley Chapel was so fast, the rise of families happened so fast, that there was a rush to capture that. And, one of the most common type of restaurants that go up in new neighborhoods sell pizza.”

Soon, you will be able to add a quickly expanding niche in pizza making to the list of local options: “Fast-Casual.”

On each side of S.R. 56, near the Tampa Premium Outlets, the two fastest-growing fast-casual restaurants in the country will be planting their flags in Wesley Chapel, as MOD Pizza and Blaze Pizza are both entering the market.

The Allure Of New…

On a typical muggy Wednesday afternoon, sitting at an aluminum table shaded by an umbrella, Mike Lightsey is finishing off a slice of pepperoni pizza from 900 Degrees Woodfired. He is passing through on business, and says he eats a lot of pizza. He thinks Falabella makes the best around.

Lightsey says he has tried Blaze, once in Atlanta, and enjoyed that as well. He has never heard of MOD, but is familiar with the trendy fast-casual model, having also eaten at Pieology in Seminole.
“It’s a good change of pace, and definitely something that seems to be taking off,” he says. “I’m surprised Wesley Chapel or even Tampa doesn’t have one yet.”

MOD Pizza, which will be located just west of the Starbucks on the south side of S.R. 56 in front of Costco, is scheduled to open in early-to-mid-September. Blaze Pizza will be located on the other (north) side of 56, but has just started construction. Both specialize in smaller, personal pizzas, where customers choose the toppings and don’t have to wait long for them to cook.

At MOD Pizza, there are more than 30 non-GMO toppings to choose from when constructing your own 11-inch pizza. MOD has its own dough recipe, and the tomato sauce is made in-house daily. No matter how many you choose, the price doesn’t change. The pizzas take only three minutes to cook and can be ordered online for pick-up or enjoyed inside the store.

“We were and are the first super fast-casual chain in the United States,” says Brick Kerge, VP of Operations for Food for Thought Restaurant Group, which owns the local MOD franchise.

Employees are part of the “MOD Squad,” and an emphasis is placed on training a friendly staff that makes the all-around experience and environment something patrons will want to try again.

“This is not just another pizza place,” says Kerge.

Founded in Seattle in 2008, MOD is likely not a familiar name to locals. But nationally, it is the country’s No. 1 fastest-growing chain, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ list of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Chains, thanks to 80-percent sales growth in 2016.

When it opens here in September, it will be MOD Pizza’s first entry into the Tampa Bay market, although there currently are four other locations in Florida, with five more — including the Wesley Chapel location — scheduled to open soon.

While MOD is the fastest-growing chain, Blaze Pizza is the second-fastest-growing and has been massively successful since being launched in 2011 by the founders of Wetzel’s Pretzels.

It has quickly grown to include more than 250 locations in 40 states and should be open sometime early next year in Cypress Creek Town Center North.

Driving a lot of the buzz around Blaze Pizza, which also features three-minute pizzas boasting freshly made dough and artisanal toppings, is NBA superstar Lebron James’ involvement as an investor.

Like MOD, Blaze also offers a fast-casual experience where customers select their crust style and then move down the line while adding toppings, at the end of which the pizza is quickly cooked.

These newest entries to the Wesley Chapel “piescape” are hip, trendy and fill a desire for custom-built pizzas with a wide variety of toppings that are not always available at traditional pizza spots. They will be stiff competition for each other, but family-owned pizzerias, and even smaller chains like Westshore and pizza places that deliver, still offer a distinctly different flavor and will likely continue to be popular here.

But Wait, There’s More!
MOD and Blaze aren’t the only local newcomers. In the last few months alone, Amici’s has reopened to rave reviews after moving locations on Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Lutz, and Jake’s Pizza has opened its second location, on County Line Rd. in Meadow Pointe, featuring our area’s first thin-crust St. Louis-style pizza. And, Pomodoro Pizza could be open on S.R. 56, in the same plaza as Wolf’s Den, by the time this issue reaches your mailbox, and will offer New Jersey-style pizza. And, never one to rest on his laurels, Falabella has created a local sensation, especially on Facebook, with his recent addition of no-crust “keto diet” pizzas.

“Which pizza is the best is all subjective,” Falabella says. “I can find 10 people to tell you they like Domino’s the best. I can find 10 who would tell you Pizza Mania is the best. And I can find 10 to tell you that we are the best. There’s no such thing as the best pizza.
“(In Wesley Chapel), Everyone can find something they like.”

Cappy's Pizza: New Tampa’s Place For NY & Chicago-Style Pizza & More!

*IMG_0377By Gary Nager

If you’re looking for truly authentic thin-crust New York or deep-dish Chicago-style pizza, Cappy’s Pizzeria, located in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center, may not necessarily be the best place for you. But, that doesn’t mean owner Harold Hasselback’s Cappy’s Pizzeria location (there are five total, including in Seminole Heights, Riverview, St. Petersburg and the original Cappy’s in South Tampa, which moved once; but this is the only location Hasselback owns) doesn’t have delicious pizza and awesome “big salads” (see below), it just means you have to have an open mind about crispy crusts (in both Cappy’s NY and Chicago-style ‘za), delicious red sauce, quality cheese and fresh, delicious meat and veggie toppings that can’t be pigeon-holed into being “just like anything other than Cappy’s style,” Hasselback told me on our office’s recent visit. “Some say our New York style is more Jersey style, but our customers really seem to love it.”Continue reading

Peppe’s Back At Biagio’s Pizza & Pasta On Cross Creek Blvd.!

Marwa, Mo, Peppe and Tyler invite you to enjoy Biagio’s excellent pizza and more seven days a week.
Marwa, Mo, Peppe and Tyler invite you to enjoy Biagio’s excellent pizza and more seven days a week.

Despite the abundance of delicious New York-style pizza in Wesley Chapel, I still recommend taking a short drive down Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to Cross Creek Blvd. to try Biagio’s II Pizza & Pasta, located in the only part of the Cory Lake Isles Professional Center that actually faces Cross Creek Blvd.Continue reading