Tag: reader survey

For you oldtimers out there, it doesn’t seem that long ago that the debate over who had the best food in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel came down to the ABC Pizza on S.R. 54 and the gas station in front of Pebble Creek (Spoiler alert: It was the ABC Pizza).

Now, the choices for good food in both of our distribution areas are seemingly endless. CLICK HERE FOR THIS YEAR’S FOOD SURVEY.

In fact, in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa alone, there are close to 200 restaurants, and pretty much everything is covered, except for maybe Vietnamese, although a quality full-on Vietnamese restaurant is going to be opening soon just south of County Line Rd. (scoop alert!).

Otherwise, if you have a hankering for something, there are multiple places to satisfy your cravings.

But, to determine what the best places are (or, at least, your favorite places), we need your help. Any Reader Survey is only as good as, well, its readers. So whattya say? Take a few seconds and fill this out.

There may be a few more categories this year than usual, but we think we’ve actually made it simpler for you — just type in your favorite choices, although we do ask that your rank your favorite three restaurants in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel overall. Of course, if you see this in your copy of the Neighborhood News, and throw it in an envelope and mail it to us.

Heck, if you prefer writing it out, you can take a picture of your ballot once you fill it in and even email it to john@ntneighborhoodnews.com.

We even have prizes for a few of the lucky ones that do!

We — and the local eateries — do truly appreciate your participation. 

So, what’s different this year? 

Well, we’ve added a “Best Dish” category, because sometimes, that’s the reason you’re going to a certain restaurant. Maybe the place isn’t your favorite overall, but the spaghetti and meatballs are simply to die for. Some restaurants just do one thing better than anyone else, so fill us in!

We’ve also added a “Favorite Appetizer” category because it can make or break a dining experience. These days, mozzarella sticks and loaded potato skins simply aren’t enough. Restaurants are really putting some serious effort into their pre-meal offerings. And really, who hasn’t ordered nothing more than an appetizer (or two) as their meal?

We’ve also added a Covid-19-inspired category — “Best Coffee Shop,” because a lot of us work out of a coffee shop these days.

We’ve also added “Best KRATE at The Grove,” because, well, duh! While you can certainly vote for any of the container restaurants in any other category, we decided that the container park really needed its own category. Plus, we’re curious to see how this one will turn out.

We decided to split the dessert categories into “Best Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt (FroYo)/Gelato” and “Best Bakery” sweets, and added a “Best Fried Chicken/Wings” category, given “Best Indian Food” and “Best Latin (Other Than Mexican)” their own categories for the first time, added “Best Breakfast/Brunch” and brought back the “Best Burger” category.

And, with the exception of the KRATEs, any of your favorites can be in New Tampa (zip code 33647, as well as in the Palms Connection plaza on E. Bearss Ave. in 33613) or Wesley Chapel (zip codes 33543, 33544 and 33545, as well as 33559, which is technically Lutz, but it allows you to include picks near the Tampa Premium Outlets, since so many locals love so many of those places to eat). 

We think we have everything covered this time around. While it might be a little more work for you than when we gave you the names of pretty much every restaurant in our distribution areas, our goal was to present enough choices so that this year’s Reader’s Survey would present the most complete and accurate snapshot of your views of the dining experience in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa. 

Now, it’s your turn. Thanks in advance for entering, which, one more time, you can do by CLICKING HERE. — JCC & GN