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Green Lemon heads to St. Pete, Good Intentions' onion, and more local food news

Largo's Wawa drive-thru, best food pop-ups, and more.

By Ray Roa and Colin Wolf on Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 4:40 pm

Photo via eatgreenlemon/Facebook

South Tampa's Green Lemon has plans to open in St. Pete.

Openings

Popular Tampa Mexican spot Green Lemon will open new St. Pete location A beloved Tampa modern Mexican institution Green Lemon is looking to tacover the Bay. The Ciccio Restaurant Group (CRG) told St. Pete Rising that Green Lemon will open a new St. Pete location at 4400 4th St. N in the former home of Baytenders Oyster Bar & Steamers. While no exact opening date was given, the new 150-seat, 2,580-square-foot space space hopes to debut by this fall, according to the blog.

Florida's first drive-thru Wawa just opened in Largo, and it's still for sale There's no gas, but you can still top off the tank with breakfast Sizzlies. Last Thursday, Florida's first Wawa drive-thru restaurant debuted in Largo, at 2530 East Bay Dr. The 2,016-square-foot store took the place of a vacant KFC drive-thru, and is the popular gas station chain's third drive-thru concept in the nation. As previously mentioned, the new drive-thru concepts do not have gas or pre-packaged items found at typical Wawas, but instead focus on a limited menu centered around the chain's deli sandwiches, wraps and the famous breakfast Sizzlis.

Closings

Beloved St. Pete cafe, The Chelsea, is closed Nearly four years after arriving at St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District, a beloved cafe has said goodbye. The Chelsea, at 2462 5th Ave. S, took to social media to tell followers the news. “Thank you to all the wonderful people who were a part of The Chelsea St Pete!!,” it wrote. “I hope we pop up again one day.” Furniture and art from the ridiculously cute, cozy, and pet-friendly coffee shop staple will also be on sale.

Food news

St. Pete restaurant Good Intentions gets Outback cease-and-desist over ‘Restaurant Week’ special Tampa Bay Restaurant Week wraps after this weekend, and a lot of people have taken notice. Hell, one special made its voice heard all the way Down Under. St. Petersburg vegan favorite Good Intentions' Restaurant Week offering is a three-course, $59.99, plant-based special that includes a decadent Juicy Marbles filet (complete with a loaded baked potato and pan-seared asparagus), salad, bread and butter. It also came with a “Blooming onion”—until earlier this week. The intermezzo, if you will, is now referred to as an “Onion Blossom” after Bloomin’ Brands—the parent company of Outback Steakhouse—sent a cease-and-desist letter to Good Intentions.

Events

Tampa’s Manila Eats hosts Sunday night market to celebrate Filipino Independence Day On Sunday, June 21, in the working class neighborhood of Palmetto Beach, Filipino restaurant Manila Eats teams up with the Juju Taiyaki to celebrate “Kalayaan” (aka “liberty” and “freedom”). There’ll be a little Japanese (Juju, Sugar House Confectionary) and Thai flavor on site (Chada), but the rest of the lineup is pure Pinoy, from the desserts (Yumsty's, Reyzen’s), grill (Maya’s Merienda) and gloriously-funky fish thanks to Salt’n Fish which produces jeprox (crispy fried smelt), bagoóng (shrimp paste, IFYKYK, pictured), and dried fish, too.

ICYMI

Tampa Bay’s food pop-up scene removes barriers between chefs and consumers Somewhere between the world of full-service restaurants, personal chef gigs and the casual nature of food trucks lies the persevering pop-up—a low cost, DIY approach to dining that involves the chef/owner building and breaking down their portable kitchen, which usually looks like a canopy, a few plastic tables, coolers, and cooking equipment like grills and induction burners. Read more about the scene, and check out a listing of Tampa Bay's best food pop-ups.—Kyla Fields

Slideshow

Here are some of Tampa Bay's best food pop-ups, from bánh mì to barbecue

Taco WizardWhere to find it: Green Bench Brewing Co., CellarmastersThis St. Pete-based, “nomadic radical taqueria pop-up” nixtamalizes their own masa and makes their own tortillas, topping with gut-punching flavors like “pho birria” with short rib, oxtail, chihuahua cheese, chilis, herbs and consomme for dipping. While its menu is constantly changing, owner Mike Roberts says that the pho birria, as well as his crab tostada topped with fermented hot sauce, mango pico and guacamole, are Taco Wizard mainstays. These globally-inspired tacos aren’t slung often, so keep an eye out for its next pop-up, which will probably happen towards the end of summer.Photo by Madison Rae Photo

Alex’s KitchenWhere to find it: Friday Night Street Food Market, Saigon Summer Market, Hello Friend Market, Felicitous NIght Market. A regular at Pinellas County’s various Asian street food markets (like the Mega Night Street Food Market and Saigon Summer Market), this pop-up specializes in traditional, no-frills Laotian food like blood sausages, laab duck, grilled squid, papaya salad, beef skewers and sticky rice.Photo via alex_kitchen.fl/Instagram

BackAlley Bánh MìWhere to find it: In Between Days. @backalleybanhmi on InstagramOwner Viet Nguyen tells CL that his mother and grandmother’s cooking ultimately inspired his specialized bánh mì pop-up. “My mom is still cooking some of the best meals I’ll ever have and I’m still chasing recipes that I remember my grandmother used to make me, but could never emulate even after trying so many times. My idea was to introduce a from-scratch, highly specialized bánh mì shop where the labor of love could be tasted in every bite,” he explains. “All the recipes were my own mother’s recipes except for the bread. Bánh mì literally translates to ‘bread’ so for me, that’s the most important part and it took me years to master.” While the Back Alley menu is constantly changing with protein options like lemongrass chicken and tofu, Nguyen hopes to offer ten different banh mi options eventually—although his Đặc Biệt (aka ‘special’) with pork cold cuts and paté will most likely be a permanent player.Photo via backalleybanhmi/Instagram

The Bakery BoxWhere to find it: Pro Kitchen Hub.This to-go window in South Tampa features a rotating selection of goods from small bakeries and cottage kitchens each week, offering everything from specialty doughnuts and mini cheesecakes to cookies, lattes and pastries. From Monday-Saturday, clients that use the commercial kitchen and culinary incubator Pro Kitchen Hub (5226 S Dale Mabry Hwy.,Tampa) take over its Bakery Box window and run its own pop-up. Current tenants include: Peschel’s Cheesecakes, Sage’s Playground, The American Cookie Company and the newly-launched Flamingo Donuts.Photo via Bakerybox.tampa/Instagram

Better TogetherWhere to find it: LPCX Cafe, Nebraska Mini Mart.A Tampa-based pop-up from the minds of Hassan Lewis and Guillermo Quezada is not just about food—but showcases local artists, creators, entertainers, bartenders and more. Better Together events usually feature a range of different vendors and festivities, but Lewis and Quezada are usually in the kitchen whipping up unique sandwiches, like the “El Comi,” a modern take on the classic Cuban with thick-cut ham, five-spice and Szechuan-spiced pernil, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, pickles and a yellow mustard aioli. While it’s been a few months since the duo has hosted one of its multifaceted events, patrons can expect Better Together to make its St. Pete debut sometime this summer.Photo via bettertogethertpa/Instagram

Calamansi Catering Co.Where to find it: Food festivals throughout Tampa BayWhile this Filipino-fusion business operates mainly as a private event caterer, it has made its presence known in the local food festival and market scene. The menu is constantly changing, but a staple is certainly its prized, Filipino-style Cuban sandwich with mojo-roasted pork, atchara slaw, garlic dijonnaise and Swiss cheese.Photo via calamansicompany/Facebook

Cipolla RossaWhere to find it: Green Bench Brewing, Dog Bar, Bandit Coffee Co., Mezzo Market, Sunday Market St. Pete, Indie FleaThis pizza shop’s oven may be on wheels, but the rest of the setup is about as DIY as it gets. The artisan pizza pop-up offers a variety of straightforward pies (pepperoni, Margherita, veggie) on fermented dough that crisps up perfectly in owner Josh Anson's wood-fired pizza oven. A crowd favorite is its “Hot Mootz” loaded with four gooey cheeses and hot honey—and this up-and-coming favorite has been dishing it out all over town. Unlike a lot of pop-ups that happen once or twice a month (if that), Cipolla Rosa is more or less a full-time operation; head to its social media where its pop-up schedule is released each week.Photo via cipollarossapizza/facebook

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About The Authors

Ray Roa

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief in August 2019. Past work can be seen at Suburban Apologist, Tampa Bay Times, Consequence of Sound and The...

Colin Wolf

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Email Colin Wolf

Colin Wolf Website

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent company, Chava Communications.

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