WCCC Keeps The Ribbons Flying!

I was on hand for the Grand Opening and WCCC ribbon cutting at (Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel participating restaurant) Wok Chi (28152 Paseo Dr., in the Shops at Wiregrass mall) on Mar. 10, at the amazing new information center for the Avalon Park West (APW) community off S.R. 54, and at the Meraki Aesthetic Center (26907 Foggy Creek Rd., off S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel) on Mar. 16.

For my money, Wok Chi is now the best Chinese restaurant in Wesley Chapel. Fresh, crisp veggies and tasty chicken, pork, beef and seafood are sautéed with white, brown or fried rice, whole wheat or egg noodles or even quinoa while you wait and topped with some excellent sauces (my favorites so far are the spicy Sichuan and kung pao sauces) and the dim sum also is pretty great. My favorites so far are the crispy chicken and veggie spring rolls. You can even enjoy two kinds of free, delicious hot tea, as well as purchase soft drinks, to go with your meal.

Please tell GM Mark Pasquale that you’re a friend of mine and, if you just happen to have a shellfish allergy like I do, so he can cook your food in a separate, clean wok.

For more info, call Wok Chi at 862-2315 or visit WokChi.com.

I can’t wait for the new sections of APW to open. If you’ve driven past the building on S.R. 54 shown in the top photo above, you may have wondered what it was. Well, it’s a representation of the new multi-family community with businesses on the bottom floor of the buildings (some call it neo-traditional) to be built from where the information currently sits to where it will meet up with the existing homes in APW, about a mile west of the center. APW is part of the New River Township Development of Regional Impact (DRI), which is approved for 4,800 residential units and 700,000 square feet of commercial uses. One of the new sections of the community that is certain to attract a lot of attention to APW is K-12 charter school that should begin building shortly. We’ll keep you posted as things start to heat up.

The Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) continues to cut ribbons at new businesses in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, including at the new and very cool Imagine Escape Games, located at 2830 E. Bearss Ave., in the Palms Connection plaza (next to PJ Dolan’s Irish Pub).

I will say that Imagine Escape Games was not what I expected — I thought it was going to be some sort of video arcade or maybe a place that sells video or role-playing games.

Wrong! Imagine Escape Games is the ultimate team-building exercise as you are (gulp) locked behind a gate and have to use clues and teamwork to escape from those locked cells.

If you’re claustrophobic, you may not want to try it, but if not, there currently are two rooms available for escape as you’re reading this. The team I was on of mainly WCCC members escaped the first challenge in a little more than 10 minutes, almost five minutes sooner than our allotted 15 minutes.

For more info, visit ImagineEscape.com or call 693-BOOK (2665), and please tell them the Neighborhood News sent you, even though I didn’t have a pic to show you because I was part of the game.

And for the full upcoming WCCC schedule of ribbon cutings and business events, visit WesleyChapelChamber.com