Since opening in 2017, Noble Crust has established itself as one of Wesley Chapel’s premier restaurants, and based on the votes of our readers, the premier restaurant.
For the second straight year, Noble Crust tops the list as our readers’ favorite in Wesley Chapel (and New Tampa, this year).
With competition stiffer than ever, Noble Crust’s Southern Italian-style dishes resonate with local foodies. The seasonal menu includes such favorites as the Ricotta Gnocchi (pictured, bottom right), bronzed salmon, Southern fried chicken (bottom left), fire-roasted Pork Chops and the F.G.B.L.T. — fried green tomatoes, Tabasco honeyglazed pork belly and pimento cheese.
“I think it’s the consistency and quality of the food that wins people over,” says Brad Elia, Noble Crust’s executive director of marketing and events, adding that great service also goes a long way.
Elia adds that, despite the industry struggles post-Covid, Noble Crust never substituted cheaper ingredients to make their dishes. The team at Noble Crust meets every Thursday at noon, 52 weeks a year, to discuss ways to tweak the offerings and make sure everything on the menu is always up to par.
That has resulted in a rustic, ever-changing menu with few weaknesses, from a plate of spaghetti and meatballs to a pizza with pear and burrata to a bowl of rigatoni & beef ragout. And, Noble Crust’s popular bar offers unique craft cocktails and a variety of craft and other beer and wine options. — JC 2. Chuck Lager 3. Grillsmith 4. TrebleMakers 5. Falabella Bistro 6. Vallarta’s 7. Yamato 8. Bonefish Grill 9. Brunchery 10. Texas Roadhouse
Tomorrow: New Tampa’s top restaurant is familiar to local residents, and we reveal the top 25 overall in the combined New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area. Category winners will be published in the coming days, so make sure you check back.
1. TREBLE MAKERS 6034 Wesley Grove Blvd., Suite 101 (813) 406-4371 TrebleMakersofWC.com
As we already told you — Treble Makers Dueling Piano Restaurant & Bar was named our readers’ second-favorite Restaurant in Wesley Chapel with its outstanding menu created by executive chef Kevin Maggard.
But, considering that no fewer than two dozens restaurants and bars received votes in the Favorite Bar in Wesley Chapel category this year, being named their #1 Favorite Bar for 2021 by our Neighborhood News readers was something of a surprise to co-owner Jamie Hess, even though he and his GM/co-owner Lee Bevan have worked hard to add great new bartenders and entertainment options to go with the already popular weekend dueling piano shows.
Jannah and I have spent a lot of time at Treble Makers piano key bar, enjoying dinner and Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games or NFL or NCAA football games on the giant screen. We also loved singing karaoke there, as the dueling piano stage provided such a great opportunity to sing along with our favorite songs. Sadly, karaoke wasn’t a consistent crowd-puller, so Hess, Bevan and Co. decided to do away with those shows on Wednesday nights, replacing it with a rotating schedule of live music.
Other fun events at Treble Makers include live jazz on Mondays (and sometimes on Sundays), Team Trivia competitions on Tuesdays and free acoustic music on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
With delicious specialty drinks, and a variety of great beer and wine, Treble Makers truly is a great local bar. — GN
Remember when you basically had one option in the area for a good craft beer? Well, now you have a few choices and, according to our readers, there are none better than Florida Ave. Brewing Co. on S.R. 56.
In just a little more than a year, Florida Ave. has established itself as one of the area’s go-to destinations, thanks in part to a tap room offering a wide variety of beers — many now brewed just a few feet away in what may be the State of Florida’s largest craft beer operation (photo) — a terrific chef-created menu, a fantastic atmosphere and an outdoor seating area that is always packed.
Tours of the brewery are coming soon, and don’t forget to hit the beer cave for to-go beers on your way out. — JCC
3. DOUBLE BRANCH ARTISANAL ALES 5956 Wesley Grove Blvd. (813) 492-8800 DBAA.com
Double Branch Artisanal Ales (DBAA) hit the ground running when it opened in 2020, producing a creative assortment of beers and growing a loyal following. Now that it has added Omnivorous, the local craft brewery’s in-house and tasty food kitchen, it is complete as a perfect hangout for craft beer aficionados.
And, the location is lovely, right there in the Village at The Grove, where strung lights and lots of foot traffic make it a happening locale and the patio is a nice place to enjoy an outdoor drink. And, with Wesley Chapel’s No. 2 (Treble Makers) and No. 4 (Falabella Family Bistro) restaurants and No. 1 Dessert Place (Ice Dreammm Shop) a few steps away, DBAA just might be on the hottest corner in the area. — JCC
The rest of the Favorite Bar top 10: (4) Bahama Breeze (5) Rock & Brews (T6) BJ’s Brewhouse (T6) Glory Days (8) Rice-N-Beans (9) Chuck Lager (10) GrillSmith.
In our most competitive category in our 2020 Survey, where the top five vote getters were separated by just a handful of votes, Treble Makers, one of the first new restaurants to open in The Village at The Grove shopping center, sneaked into the top spot as your favorite American eatery in either of our markets.
While that may seem a little surprising when you consider how many restaurants are now located in Wesley Chapel alone, it’s no surprise at all to anyone who’s eaten there — especially if you’ve enjoyed a delicious dinner and stayed for the dueling piano shows on the weekends or for the live music on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Chef Kevin Maggard’s menu will likely continue to grow and evolve over time, but he already has a lot of favorites from which to choose, including the unique coconut curry grouper and some of the tenderest, best-seasoned steaks in either of our distribution areas.
I also regularly rave about Treble Makers’ calamari, ahi tuna and diver scallops appetizers. — GN
The chicken wings at Bubba’s 33 are some of the best around.
2 — BUBBA’S 33 The surprise here isn’t that Bubba’s 33 finished #2 in this “Favorite American” category, it was more that Bubba’s only finished as your 17th favorite restaurant in WC despite its great menu and drink and food prices.
3 — BONEFISH GRILL Bonefish Grill is obviously one of the consistent favorites among our readers again this year, as it finished as both your third favorite restaurant in Wesley Chapel and third favorite American restaurant in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.
4 — BAHAMA BREEZE Bahama Breeze Even though a good portion of its menu isn’t necessarily “American” food, Bahama Breeze also was pretty consistent, finishing as your fifth favorite restaurant in WC and fourth favorite American restaurant in both of our markets.
5 — FAT RABBIT Fat Rabbit in Tampa Palms is a classic American joint. The bar serves ice cold beer, including its own craft brew, the burgers and wings are terrific and the super-crispy tater tots shouldn’t be as good as they are.
The Next 10, in order of votes: Oakley’s, GrillSmith, Ciccio Cali, BJ’s Brewhouse, Stonewood, Mr. Dunderbak’s, Glory Days, Walk-On’s, Cheddars, Ford’s Garage.
With the possible exception of the hotel/tourism industry, there’s little doubt that the restaurant business was among the most Covid-affected industry sectors in Florida in 2020.
And, although many of the new eateries that opened in Wesley Chapel in 2020 were delayed by the pandemic, the past year was still one of the busiest for new restaurant openings in Wesley Chapel.
Among the new eateries that opened in 2020 in (and adjacent to) Wesley Chapel were the following:
Main Event — Yes, we realize that the bowling and entertainment center is more than “just” a restaurant, Main Event did host one of the first North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon-cutting events following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pandemic-caused shutdown of just about everything here in the Sunshine State.
Double Branch Artisanal Ales — Again, Double Branch, located in The Village at The Grove of Wesley Chapel (above), doesn’t yet qualify as a “restaurant” — at least not until its kitchen opens — but it has offered pizzas from a food truck outside the craft beer brewery and should open a kitchen inside in 2021. Even so, enough of Wesley Chapel’s craft beer-crazed residents voted for it as their Favorite Bar in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel for it to finish in this year’s top-5 in that category.
Treble Makers— Another entertainment venue that opened in The Grove at Wesley Chapel during the early stages of Florida’s restaurant re-openings, Treble Makers was one of the few newcomers to register more than a blip with our readers, finishing as the 4th Favorite restaurant in Wesley Chapel (see list, right) and Favorite American Restaurant in both of our distribution areas. if you haven’t tasted the coconut curry grouper, fried calamari or grilled filet mignon, you owe it to yourself to check out Treble Makers for a dueling piano show on Friday or Saturday night ‚ or anytime!
Rock & Brews — Considering how packed the place has been (even with social distancing) inside and out since the moment it opened, we were a little surprised that the first Tampa Bay link in this small chain (on S.R. 56) — inspired and owned in part by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS — didn’t get any votes at all from our readers, until we realized that it didn’t open until a week before we shut down the voting. With great live music on the weekends and everything from unique bruschetta to sweet heat fried chicken on the menu, Rock & Brews will likely make our 2021 top-10 — and look for it to finish at least that high when I reveal my 2020 favorites in our next issue.
Florida Ave. Brewing Co. — Another hotly-anticipated entry that opened too late to receive reader votes this year, the former location of Sports & Field on S.R. 56 has a unique menu, with items like bibimbap bowls, Chinese sticky ribs and smoked gouda lobster mac & cheese, to go with more typical sports bar fare, an amazing craft beer selection, full liquor bar and private tasting rooms.
Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill — Again, Zukku-San opened too late to get any reader votes this year, but it is a beautiful new restaurant with a full liquor bar, great sushi and Japanese specialties (including the best tempura and chicken teriyaki we’ve had in years) and a true South Tampa vibe. Look for Zukku-San to register with our readers in 2021 and to finish very high in my list of faves this year.
Chuck Lager America’s Tavern — After years of failed attempts to improve the former PrimeBar location in the Shops at Wiregrass, the third location of Chuck Lager’s in the U.S. (and only one in Florida) brought in great food from the mind and kitchen of celebrity TV chef Fabio Viviani and a beautiful-looking new place for lunch and dinner that also opened too late to register with our readers (above) this year but will still make my list of Wesley Chapel favorites and will surely do just as well with our readers next year.
Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. — As a transplanted native New Yorker, I appreciate the “legit” kettle-boiled-then-baked bagels and “Brooklynized” water used for the bagels and coffee at this new favorite on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, which could contend for “Favorite Breakfast” in our distribution areas with our readers next year.
Crumbl Cookie — Although it also opened too late to make a splash in this year’s Reader Survey, not since Nothing Bundt Cakes opened in the Shops at Wiregrass has any new dessert-only place created such a stir in our community. The decadent churro and s’mores cookies are our favorites of Crumbl Cookie’s rotating flavors so far.
GrillSmith’s offering of fresh fish dishes helped make it Wesley Chapel’s favorite.
1 — GrillSmith has been among the favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel with our readers since the day it opened in the Shops at Wiregrass, but it was a little surprising for it to regain its top spot as the #1 in Wesley Chapel from 2018 (after finishing second to Bahama Breeze last year) with all the new places that opened.
Even so, it’s hard to argue with our readers on this one, as GrillSmith does have a great menu with a lot of variety that has been added over the years — including an increased choice of steaks, flatbreads, pastas and more.
I also believe that the fact that GrillSmith has added truly fresh “short trip” Florida fish and is one of the few local places that can surprise you with cobia, corvina or even amberjack, in addition to the more common grouper, snapper and mahi-mahi.
Plus, throw in its bottomless bubbles for weekend brunch, its expanded lunch menu and socially distanced bar area and prime location in the Shops and you’ll understand why GrillSmith’s return to the top spot isn’t that surprising at all.
2 — 900º Woodfired Pizza is more than just a “regular old pizza place,” although few do pizza any better. But its delicious tortellini della casa, pesto di Genovese and other pasta dishes make it so much more.
3 — Bonefish Grill is one of the few other choices for truly fresh fish in our area and there’s no doubt its now-open new location on S.R. 56 (with plenty of parking!) will help make it even more popular with our readers in 2021.
4 — Treble Makers was one of the first new restaurants to open in “The Chap” early enough in 2020 to register with our readers and its outstanding steaks, fresh fish and tuna (above) and dueling pianos entertainment will likely keep it high on this list for years to come.
5 — Bahama Breeze dropped a few slots this year when compared with last, but this island-themed eatery’s popular Jamaican, Cajun and American specialties, live music and indoor/outdoor bar areas featuring tropical drinks (above) are appreciated by our readers.
Wesley Chapel’s Jamie Hess envisioned a Grand Opening for his new dueling piano bar and restaurant TrebleMakers when that day came, which was supposed to have been in early June. He pictured hundreds of people lined up outside, loud singing and tons of laughter inside and an event to remember forever.
Covid-19 has thrown a wrench into those plans.
Hess still plans to open his doors in June as part of The Grove’s revival, but he’ll have to live with a more subdued opening, more of a ripple than a splash, with the big crowds replaced by scattered customers maintaining social distancing.
“It’s a shame,” Hess says. “Coronavirus has definitely changed it. We’ll open and be safe and smart, but we’ll have to hold off on the official grand opening until we’re fully released.”
While bars have to remain closed, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order that took effect May 4 for Phase I of reopening the state, Hess is classified as a restaurant.
A number of local businesses are nearing the finish line for being completed and open, like Double Branch Artisanal Ales brewery (above), but that will all depend upon the state’s new rules governing business openings and reopenings. (Photo: Charmaine George)
However, the Double Branch Artisanal Ales brewery, located right across from TrebleMakers in The Grove, also was planning to open around June 11. Unless there’s another executive order or phase easing the restrictions, Double Branch will be unable to make its debut that soon.
The same goes for F45 Training, the new fitness center in The Grove that is ready to open; DeSantis’ current order also is keeping gyms closed.
While area businesses that are up and running are feeling the sting from the current pandemic, there are many that, like Hess, were planning to open over the next few months but are now in limbo. Any new businesses may not see the benefit of opening in this environment, which limits the numbers of people that can be inside any location at one time, combined with mandatory social distancing.
Aldi, the popular discount grocer located on the corner of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd., was expecting a spring opening and would already be open now if not for the virus.
Also on S.R. 56, Rock & Brews, the family restaurant founded by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS, looks ready to go, as does Main Event, the bowling and entertainment center that relies on large crowds interacting.
On the north side of S.R. 56, Aussie Grill by Outback is nearly complete (with Bonefish Grill also close to being ready and Carrabba’s Italian Grill also on the way).
“All of that stuff is pretty much ready to roll,” says Hope Kennedy, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. “It’s just going to be a matter of how they open up.”
Kennedy says that while the actual buildings may be finished, another problem for the new businesses is being able to train their new employees.
“Everyone is going to have to figure out what they can and can’t do,” she says. “It’s a difficult situation for everyone.”
ZAXBY’S IS COMING: While businesses that are open or close to opening try to figure out the best course of action, a number of new projects are under way across Wesley Chapel, including some neighbors for the new Aldi store.
The strip of land between the western side of Costco and Wesley Chapel Blvd. —part of the Cypress Creek Town Center development on the south side of S.R. 56 — has a sign posted announcing that Tidal Wave Car Wash is coming soon, next to Aldi.
Immediately south of the 3,120-sq.-ft. car wash, plans for a Zaxby’s, a fast casual restaurant that specializes in chicken wings and fingers, as well as sandwiches and salads, were filed with the county in late February.
Founded in 1990 in Statesboro, GA, Zaxby’s has more than 900 locations in 17 states, mostly in the south. The Wesley Chapel location will have seating for 70 inside its 3,652-sq.ft. space.
And, just south of that, plans were filed April 9 for an 8,700-sq.-ft. commercial retail/office plaza, though none of the five potential tenants has been named.
On the north side of S.R. 56, work continues on a number of businesses located on the land between Bahama Breeze and the Hyatt Place Hotel. There are permitting requests by Zukku Sushi, Crumble Cookie, Charles Schwab and IVX Health, all filed in March and April. Eurowax Center and Woofgang Bakery & Grooming are also in the currently unnamed plaza.
We’re not sure if Crumble Cookie, which is opening in a 1,200-sq.ft. space, was misspelled in permitting or if it may actually be Crumbl Cookie, a popular cookie joint out west. They told us on Facebook they didn’t have any current plans for Florida but hope to soon, and to stay tuned. Hmmmm.
COMPLEX SITUATIONS: While retail and restaurants are all the rage in the Cypress Creek Town Center, two apartment projects also are in the works on the northern end of the development.
At the northeast corner of Sierra Center Blvd. and Garden Village Way (north of the Hyatt Place, alongside I-75), plans were submitted in March and April to build a 300-unit, three- and four-story multi-family community on 12.7 acres.
Named the Silverslaw Apartments, the site plan indicates the complex will have a dog park, yoga lawn and large areas of green space between the buildings, including a neighborhood park.
The Garrett Apartments are another project in Cypress Creek Town Center North with plans filed with the county.
The 11.84-acre project site is located east of CR 54/Wesley Chapel Blvd., a half-mile north of SR 54/SR 56. It will include 260 luxury apartment units.
Garrett has developed more than 50 apartment home projects in 14 states, for a total of more than 11,000 rental units, according to the project’s narrative. This will be Garrett’s third venture in Florida, as the developer also has projects in Davenport and Fort Myers.
