Among the seven businesses cutting ribbons with the NTBC on Mar. 20 were the Chamber itself (above) and Signature Workspace (below), where all of the businesses were located. (Photos by Charmaine George)Â
Congratulations to the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC), which celebrated the most ribbon-cutting events on a single day in its history on Mar. 20, when the NTBC itself cut a ribbon at its new office at the Signature Workspace at the Shops at Wiregrass. Among the six other businesses hosting ribbon cuttings that same day were the Signature Workspace itself, plus The Copeland Team, Wesley Chapel Fingerprinting Services, Cornelius Demps for Circuit Judge, Gulf Coast Accounting & Tax and the Injury Law Office of Lucas, Macyszyn & Dyer.
In addition to all those ribbons being cut, the event also featured amazing free food provided by Vesh Catering, Azteca DâOro, Chuck Lager Americaâs Tavern, Crazy Sushi, Grillsmith, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Pinchers Crab Shack and The Living Room. If you missed it, you missed something special!
No one has ever doubted that Jannah and I love to sit at the bar and enjoy a great cocktail with our meal and there are several other favorite places that didnât make this list, including Millerâs Ale House, Carrabbaâs, Bonefish, Grillsmith and Outback, but Grill at Morris Bridge gets this yearâs nod for its consistency.Â
Treble Makers Is Again Garyâs Favorite In Wesley Chapel! The Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant Beats Out Falabella Family Bistro & Zukku-San For The Top Spot!Â
Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager checks out a few of his favorite dishes at TrebleMakers, his favorite restaurant in Wesley Chapel again for 2023. (Photo by Charmaine George)Â
Every year, after our readersâ favorite restaurants in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel are published, I like to provide our readers with my own list of favorites â and there are always many differences between your choices and mine.
I also always have a few haters every year who say that my reviews arenât âreal,â that I only pick my favorites based on which restaurants advertise with me and/or give me free food, that I have no taste whatsoever, etc.
The primary thing these haters donât seem (or want) to understand or believe is that the restaurants I tell you about in my annual âGaryâs Favoritesâ are not just the places I like the most, theyâre also the places where I spend the most of my own money. And yes, when you consider that there are literally dozens of restaurants named on of this issue, Jannah and I do spend a lot of our money dining out (and taking out food) â Iâm betting more than just about anyone else in our distribution areas, especially when you consider our combined annual income.Â
The âtrollsâ also donât seem to âgetâ the other reason I give my opinions on local eateries every year is that I so appreciate the feedback â both positive and negative â I get after âGaryâs Favoritesâ are published each year.
I canât even tell you how many people come up to me and Jannah when weâre sitting at the bar at The Grill at Morris Bridge, TrebleMakers, Stonewood, Zukku-San, Azteca DâOro or any of our other favorite eateries to tell me what they think of my opinions. The vast majority of them say things like, âI only tried this place because of what you wrote about themâ or âI didnât really love this place the first time I tried it, but I decided to give it another try because of you.â If youâve never felt that kind of love from strangers, I promise you that itâs one of the things that most makes the long hours I still put in 30 years since I first started this job worthwhile.Â
And yes, a few people also come up to me to tell me that they totally disagree with my assessment of one restaurant or another. Others also tell me that they read my reviews âeven though I know they arenât real.â
But, the fact is that whether my haters believe it or not, my dining reviews are 100% real. And, unlike the online trolls who think theyâre dining âcriticsâ because they tell their few followers that they hated something they ate (or the service they received) at a particular place, I still tell every restaurant owner in our area that when I write a review of their eatery, I will tell more than 170,000 of my âclosest friendsâ (thatâs the total possible number of readers we reach in print) everything I like about their place. Anything I donât like I will tell the restaurant owner about â and pretty much all of them appreciate this approach a lot more then online trolls who cause their overall online ratings to drop.
TrebleMakers continues to be my Favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel, and all youâd have to do to know this is true is check my bank records to see just how many times Jannah and I have eaten there every month since it opened. We just love sitting at the bar to enjoy a craft cocktail and we often share a Caesar salad and the always-fresh coconut curry grouper or a tender 8-oz. filet mignon.
Whenever weâre not sharing, I will usually get one of the following: the lollipop lamb chops shown here, the 16-oz. prime rib or the diver scallops, and the seared ahi tuna or potato gnocchi appetizer (although co-owner Jamie Hess says the Baked Imperial Crab Dip is the most popular app). Try any of these and let me know what you think!
2. Falabella Family Bistro   Â
6027 Wesley Grove Blvd., The Grove at Wesley Chapel
Any of my top-10 favorites could have made it to this spot, but one of the main reasons, for me, that Falabella Family Bistro nails down the #2 spot is because of its amazing weekend dinner specials, which can be anything from a honey bourbon pork chop to tender veal parmesan or Marsala and so many more.
Anytime I miss a possible new favorite special (like on my deadline weekends), I always check with owner Steve Falabella to see if I can still get the special after the weekend. Of course, when your regular menu includes crispy zucchini chips, Samâs meatballs,short rib ragu and the tender chicken parmesan shown here, plus one of our areaâs best dessert displays â and the recent addition of full liquor to go with the Bistroâs already popular wine and beer options â helped make it even more popular with the Nagers.
Although I love the fresh sushi, thereâs no doubt that the reason Jannah (who really only enjoys California roll) and I always have to come back to visit Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill is because of the amazing Starters â like deep-fried pork gyoza, steamed Zukku dumplings, veggie spring rolls, the incredible assortment of veggie tempura options (try the sweet potato and/or zucchini) and the chicken (photo) and tenderloin yakitori. The Japanese fried rice, grilled short ribs, crafted bowls and lychee martinis also are favorites.Â
From our first visit to the new Azteca DâOro, Jannah and I agreed that its Mexican food was significantly better than Cantina Laredo, the restaurant Azteca replaced. We love Aztecaâs huge menu of authentic dishes you wonât find at other local Mexican restaurants, including the borrego (lamb shank) shown above, the taquitos appetizer, the bar area and the placeâs âvibe.âÂ
Although it opened in Wesley Chapel too late in 2023 to earn votes in our Reader Survey, Cooperâs Hawk has been a solid chain restaurant in the Westshore area of Tampa for years, so Jannah and I already had a few favorites, including the pan-roasted mahi (photo), parmesan-crusted filet mignon & others,. But, weâve also found a few new faves since it opened here.Â
As our readersâ Wesley Chapel Favorite the last three years, Noble Crust also appeals to yours truly, but it seems that several of the dishes that have been my favorites get removed from the seasonally-changing menu or it would finish higher with me, because I love the place. The chicken fried chicken parm, ricotta gnocchi and steak frites (photo) are among my current faves. Â
Despite its 20% service charge, the second location of The Living Room has been a welcome addition to the Wesley Chapel dining scene, although Jannah and I differ on our favorite dishes. She loves the beef tenderloin empanadas and pan-seared crab cakes (and the house white cosmo), while Iâm partial to the brown butter scallops (photo), adobo-braised pork ossobuco and âYou Bet…Churrasco.â Â
If Jannah were a fan of Thai food, Iâd eat at (and take out from) Arroy Thai a lot more. Still the only place in Wesley Chapel for crispy duck, soft shell crabs, and Thai-style chicken with garlic and black pepper sauce, as well as Thai-style house fried rice, Arroy Thai is a little hidden gem in the same plaza as Joe Whiskeyâs.Â
Garyâs 2023 Favorite Restaurants In Wesley Chapel #s 11-25Â
Zach Feinstein, the co-owner of The Feinstein Group, which has opened three successful restaurants in Dunedin (including the original Living Room on Main St.) since the group was established in 2014, says âThe Living Room should be open in Wesley Chapel by the first week in August.â
Zach and his wife Christina (pictured above), who took over The Black Pearl on Main St. together when they were just dating (âMy friends told me I was crazy,â says Christina. âBut obviously, itâs all worked out.â), are not only the proud owners of The Living Room and The Black Pearl, but also the Sonder Social Club, located on Douglas Ave. (off Main St.), and all three restaurants are completely different from each other.
The Sonder Social Club is primarily a cocktail lounge featuring, according to Zach, âsome of the best craft cocktails in the Tampa Bay area,â although it does have a few food items, including charcuterie boards and cauliflower-crusted artisan pizzas.
But, the Feinsteins say, The Living Room is the most âmainstreamâ of their three eateries, which Tripadvisor ranks #10 of 133 restaurants in Dunedin. âWeâre perfect for a âBig Night Outâ or date night,â Zach says, âbut our menu pricing is very fair, so weâll also be a great place to meet your friends for a craft cocktail and some appetizers anytime throughout the week.â
Zach and Christina, who got married in 2017, say they looked at South Tampa and other locations to open their fourth restaurant before they decided to bring The Living Room to Wesley Chapel. âWith all of the growth out here near the mall,,â Zach says, âwe felt that Wesley Chapel was our best option.â
The Feinsteins have spared no expense when it comes to their newest restaurant. When you walk in, the first thing youâll see is a 100-year-old bookcase and hand-carved hostess stand that both came from a historic home in Hyde Park. The bar area, although similar in size and orientation to what used to be in Ciao! at the mall, âis being completely redone,â says Zach, as are the spacious main dining area inside (with a huge wine selection), the expanded (soon to be covered) outdoor patio (with live music), and two interior private dining areas, one with seating for up to about 70 people and the other an almost-speakeasy-like room for up to 12 people that even has its own private entrance/exit door hidden inside a bookshelf.
âThereâs definitely no place like The Living Room in Wesley Chapel,â says Zach. âNo one can beat our food or our craft cocktails. And, Christina has outdone herself designing the place. Welcome Home!â
The Living Room is located at 2001 Piazza Ave., Unit 100, in The Shops at Wiregrass. For more info, visit TheLivingRoomonMain.com, and stay tuned to our âNeighborhood Newsâ Facebook page for the latest updates.
