Despite all of the recent newcomers to the Wesley Chapel dining scene, if youāre still looking forward to some of the restaurants that are planned to open in and near Wesley Chapel, join the club.
Two highly touted and anticipated places ā Cooperās Hawk Winery (bottom center photo) and Rodizio Brazilian Steakhouse (bottom left) have not yet even begun building. Meanwhile, the Shuckinā Shack Oyster Bar (bottom right), in the same plaza as Chicken Salad Chick, still has just a dirt floor. The good news is that there are others that are a lot closer to bringing great new options to our area.
One that just opened that I, for one, didnāt realize was such a good restaurant is PopStroke, the new Tiger Woods-designed (and co-owned) mini-golf course. The biggest problem with PopStroke to date is that itās been so packed every day, itās hard to find parking to get into the open-air (but covered) restaurant to sample some of its great food options. My favorite, to date, is the fresh Caribbean mahi (top), which is grilled with tasty jerk seasoning and a warm pineapple salsa that gives it a semi-spicy, slightly sweet flavor. The mahi is usually topped with two grilled shrimp, but I had to have (and photograph) it without the shrimp. Truly delicious. And, the side of grilled zucchini and squash ribbons also was tasty and healthy. Even PopStrokeās creamy hard-packed ice cream also is really good.
Speaking of Latin cuisine, owner Cindy Cruz says her Rice-n-Beans Express should only be a few weeks from opening on S.R. 54 in Lutz. Cindy says that those of us who enjoy the Puerto Rican-inspired sit-down dining at the Rice-n-Beans on Wesley Chapel Blvd. and those looking for quick, delicious sandwiches and hot food specials should be thrilled when her Express location opens.
And, despite the fact it should be several months before it opens, Shuckinā Shack promises a menu focused on shrimp and oysters (neither of which I can eat). But, there will be plenty of other seafood and non-swimming options at the North Carolina-based, two-dozen-link chainās newest location off of the WC Blvd. Extension, including some pretty great-looking snow crab legs (right) ā which (at least, to date) I am able to eat. There also will be mahi-mahi bites, sandwiches, wings and other options to keep things interesting.Ā
Tiger Woods has made it official — PopStroke Wesley Chapel/Tampa is opening at noon on Friday, Feb. 17.
The golf legend announced the opening via his Twitter account Thursday morning.
Located just north and east of the intersection of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd., PopStroke is co-owned by Woods and Craig Bartoli. TGR Design, which is Woodsā golf course design company.
The Wesley Chapel location will feature two 18-hole courses ā one will be harder than the other ā featuring synthetic turf greens designed to mimic putting on real golf courses. The courses lack the usual mini-golf obstacles, instead focusing on a more realistic experience with undulated greens designed to challenge golfers of all ages, as well as fairways and sand traps.
The mini-golf is complemented by a 10,000-sq.-ft. restaurant and kidās playground. The restaurant will feature premium food and drinks, as well as 24 different flavors of ice cream. Golfers can see their scores displayed on a large scoreboard, and even order drinks, via an app, that will be delivered to them on the course.
āItās one of the only concepts I know of anywhere in world, really, where you can find a 3-, 8-. 27- and 80-year-old enjoying it to the same extent,ā Bartoli said at the February 2022 groundbreaking.
The official groundbreaking of the local PopStroke was held Feb. 2. Players of all ages will enjoy PopStrokeās two mini-golf courses. The 10,000-sq.-ft. restaurant will offer a variety of delicious menu items. All PopStroke courses look more like real golf courses than mini-golf. Ā
Golf legend Tiger Woods may not attended the Feb. 2 groundbreaking of PopStroke, the tech-driven, family-oriented mini-golf and restaurant concept he co-owns, but rest assured, heāll have a big hand in how it ends up looking.
āTiger is involved in the whole process,ā said Bryon Bell, the president of TGR Design, which is Woodsā golf course design company. āHe will look at the holes, see if he thinks his kids would enjoy it and if he would enjoy playing it. If heās in town, heāll stop in at the site. He wants to be certain itās enjoyable for all ages.ā
With a few heaves of dirt, the project officially got under way just north and east of the intersection of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd.
Greg Bartoli, the PopStroke founder and co-owner with Woods, says he expects the Wesley Chapel/Lutz location to open sometime in October.
The local PopStroke will feature two 18-hole courses ā one will be harder than the other ā featuring synthetic turf greens designed to mimic putting on real golf courses.
There wonāt be any windmills, rivers or other obstacles, just rolling, undulated greens designed to challenge golfers of all ages.
āItās one of the only concepts I know of anywhere in world, really, where you can find a 3-, 8-. 27- and 80-year-old enjoying it to the same extent,ā Bartoli said.
Golfers can see their scores displayed on a large scoreboard, and even order drinks, via an app, that will be delivered to them on the course.
The mini-golf is complemented by a 10,000-sq.-ft. restaurant and kidās playground. The restaurant, Bartoli says, will feature premium food and drinks, as well as 24 different flavors of ice cream.
āPopStroke is really about being friends and families together across generations and across socio-economic backgrounds,ā Bartoli said. āItās affordable and itās accessible, and we take great pleasure in that.ā
If you canāt wait until October, Bartoli recommends taking an hour drive to the nearest location in Sarasota, which is opening next month next to the University Town Center mall.
The Sarasota location will be the third PopStroke, joining courses in Port St. Lucie and Fort Myers, and Wesley Chapel will be the fourth. Additional expansion to Orlando, Houston and Scottsdale (AZ) also is planned.
For more information, visit PopStroke.com. ā JCC
Wesley Chapel and New Tampa have been on a great run of fun and interesting projects, and 2022 should be no different. Here are the five weāre most looking forward to this year.
1. KRATE Container Park
The long-awaited KRATE container park at The Grove at Wesley Chapel is expected to be fully open by summer 2022 ā which is great news for local residents in the quickly expanding S.R 54 corridor looking for more shopping and dining options.
Photos by Charmaine George
There are so many cool things coming to Wesley Chapel this year, but KRATE ranks as No. 1, thanks to the unique nature of the project and the anticipation that has built up because it has taken much longer than many expected, due in no small part to a variety of Covid-related issues.
KRATE was the jewel of developer Mark Goldās plans when his company, Mishorim Gold Properties, bought The Grove ā then a moribund 250-acre parcel anchored by a shopping center ā for $64 million in September 2019. Gold has invested an additional $20 million in the KRATE, which he claims will be the largest container park in the U.S. and something that will draw visitors from around the state to Wesley Chapel.
The seven-acre KRATE project will feature 55 businesses in converted shipping containers, each with their own product-centric mural painted on the side by artist Whitney Holbourn of Colorado.
At our press time, only two stores ā Provisions Coffee & Kitchen and Shake-A-Salad ā were already open. Once the others are ready, the KRATE is expected to cash in on what is likely to be a welcome experience in these Covid-ridden times ā walking an open-air market featuring restaurants, retail shops and even a stage that will host concerts and other performances.
Its proximity to The Groveās big box stores, and its popular restaurants like Treble Makers and the Falabella Family Bistro (see pg. 36), the Double Branch Artisanal Ales craft brewery, The Grove movie theater (and home of Side Splitters comedy club) and a new mini-golf course (see below) will make The Grove arguably the top entertainment destination hub in Pasco County, if not all of Tampa Bay.
2. New Tampa PAC
If we didnāt like shopping and desserts so much, this would be our No. 1.
Regardless, the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC; photo, left) will provide a cultural boost to the area with its promise of music, dance and theatrical performances. The area already has an acting troupe, the New Tampa Players (NTP), that will call the PAC home and be one of what we hope are hundreds of groups to bring productions to the 350-seat theater.
When was the last time you had to get dressed up to attend anything in New Tampa proper?
Our only gripe ā it would have been nice to see the NTPAC fronting Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in all its glory, lit up at night as drivers-by gawked, as opposed to being tucked out of view between an apartment complex and a grocery store.
But, after a nearly 20-year battle to get the place built, whoās complaining?
3. Lotte Market
This, very quietly, might be the coolest thing to open anywhere in 2022, because if you know, you know.
While we havenāt had any updates in a while on the plans for the new market, and no official announcement at all, weāre guessing Lotte Market will fill the 55,000-sq.ft. former Sweetbay Market with hard-to-find Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items, as well what is likely to be the largest selection of fresh ā and, dare we say, unique ā seafood, fruits and vegetables in the area.
The only other Lotte Market in Florida is located in Orlando, and that store, like most of its others located in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, have a handful of Asian restaurants or a food court. Lotte has already been approved by the city to put restaurants in the market, and we canāt wait to see which ones they will be.
4. Mini-Golf
The groundbreaking of PopStroke Entertainment was held on Feb. 2
Remember a few years ago, when the major complaint about the area was that there was nothing to do? Well, since 2016, weāve added an Urban Air Adventure Park in Tampa Palms, and in Wesley Chapel we now have the Advent Health Center Ice facility, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, an indoor recreation center and outdoor roller hockey rink at the Wesley Chapel District Park and the Main Event bowling alley and game center on S.R. 56.
As if thatās not enough, in 2022, Tiger Woods PopStroke Entertainment, a mini-golf and restaurant concept the golf superstar owns with entrepreneur Greg Bartoli, is coming to Wesley Chapelās Cypress Creek Town Center on the north side of S.R. 56.
The project officially broke ground on Feb. 2 and should be ready by the beginning of summer, if not sooner.
Builders describe the place as an āexperiential golf and casual dining concept merging a dynamic, technologically advanced competitive golf environment with food and beverages.ā
Sign us up!
And while weāre at it, please also reserve us a spot at the new Grove Mini-Golf, which is expected to open in March. While PopStroke skips all the bells and whistles associated with a traditional mini-golf course, Grove Mini-Golf is leaning into them with plenty of holes requiring tricky shots ā one hole you shoot over a river, another into a river (youāll see), and thereās even a figure-8 hole and lots of hills and rocks to accentuate a rich, tropical oasis experience.
And, nighttime neon lighting and fire will give it a fun, festive feel. All of the holes will be illuminated with neon lights and glow-in-the-dark flags and balls. Very cool!
5. Diverging Diamond Interchange
If navigating castles, rocks and water on a mini-golf course doesnāt get you excited, how about navigating the soon-to-be-completed (no, weāre not kidding) Diverging Diamond Interchange at the S.R. 56 and I-75 intersection?
Weāre not sure if it will be easier figuring out the DDI or, say, shooting par, but the folks building it promise the new intersection is less confusing than it looks.
That would be great for those who want to venture out to that area but donāt because, well, ugh…that traffic. But, the DDI is supposed to eliminate all those conflict points and make for a safer interchange, using free flowing lanes ā sometimes taking you to the other side of the road (relax, itāll be fun!).
Just to be safe, though, weād suggest hitting up YouTube to watch a few videos.
And…While these are our top 5, they arenāt the only cool things happening in our area in 2022, like the completion of the S.R. 54 widening project, Wesley Chapelās second lagoon at Mirada āwhich, at 15 acres, is twice as large as the one in Epperson ā new restaurants like The Living Room, and we might even see a few surprises. (Weāre looking at you, empty Best Buy building on BBD).
