Tijuana Flats Closes; Are Island Fin & Smallcakes Next? Plus, A Potbelly Update

TJF USA LLC, the parent company of Central Florida-based Tijuana Flats Tex-Mex restaurants, has been acquired by a new ownership group (Flatheads, LLC), but the company concurrently announced that it has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which has resulted in the closing of 11 of its 26 franchise locations (there also are 65 company-owned Tijuana Flats), including the one in New Tampa at 17501 Preserve Walk Ln. in the Highwoods Preserve area, which is already closed.

The Wesley Chapel Tijuana Flats, located at 27709 S.R. 56, is one of the locations that is remaining open. All of the Tijuana Flats restaurants are located in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Alabama.

In addition, the Island Fin Poké Co. (located next to Winn-Dixie, in the same plaza as LA Fitness south of County Line Rd.. off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in New Tampa) is expected to be closed by the close of the business day tomorrow (Apr. 30).

Island Fin owners Brenda and Jeff Sproat — who also were known for posting photos featuring their fresh poké bowls and Dole whip desserts pretty much every day — posted a message on the fast-casual poké bowl restaurant’s Facebook page. 

Here is the Island Fin announcement:

To Our Ohana,

With sadness we announce the upcoming closure of our Island Fin Poke location in New Tampa/Wesley Chapel on Tuesday April 30.

Our leased space is up for renewal, pushing us to a decision point.  After careful consideration, we are choosing to finally slow down a bit, travel and enjoy our grandchildren.

We will miss our amazing team of young people, the opportunities to meet so many wonderful people in this great community, and offering delicious and healthy food on a daily basis.

Thank you for your support and we hope you will come by for a poke bowl or Dole Whip so we can personally thank you. — Jeff and Brenda Sproat, Owners

Also, although Smallcakes Cupcakery & Creamery (in The Shoppes at The Pointe plaza in Tampa Palms, off BBD, next to Cali Tampa Palms) owners Marissa and Justin Dewdney had not yet made any formal announcement as to when their business would close, they did confirm to the Neighborhood News that it was closing. Marissa said that although they had decided to close the cupcakery, “We are still open and ready to serve our community fresh baked cupcakes like we have been for the past six years.”

I, for one, will be sad when Smallcakes does close its doors for good. The icing on those super-moist cupcakes is the best I’ve had in the area. 

I also plan to try the new Korean BBQ poké bowl at Island Fin before it shuts down. Sorry to see both of these locally-owned franchise businesses go. 

And finally, although we told you way back in our Sept. 19, 2023, New Tampa issue that Potbelly Sandwich Works was taking over the former Oronzo space in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve plaza on BBD, we had no idea at that time how long it would take for Potbelly to open in the plaza.

Well, we now know that the answer is “No time soon.” Yours truly was able to stop in at the under-construction location and what I saw was a still-completely-gutted space with a dirt floor. In other words, no remnant of what once was Oronzo remains and even the construction workers at the site (who said they didn’t know and certainly couldn’t speak officially about any projected opening date) said that it would be “months” before Potbelly could possibly open. I didn’t take any pictures inside, but based on what I saw, it could be until the end of the year before we see the new Potbelly opening in that space.

In the meantime, feel free to visit the Potbelly Sandwich Works at 4738 N. Dale Mabry Hwy. (near Raymond James Stadium) or the 2520 S. Falkenburg Rd. (near Brandon) for the Chicago-based chain’s famous “toasty sandwiches, soups, salads, fresh-baked cookies and hand-spun milkshakes.” — GN