Photo via Talkin Tacos Tampa
Talkin' Tacos, which is now open at 1819 E Fowler Ave. in Tampa, Florida.
Saddle Bags, a new country-themed bar and restaurant, is coming to Ybor City
A new place for honky tonk and Southern eats is getting ready to open on Ybor City’s historic 7th Avenue. Saddle Bags will open out of a 13,000-square-foot, space at 2234 E 7th Ave., which is connected to an LLC affiliated with developer Darryl Shaw. The concept will specialize in Southern comfort food, live country music and a variety of affordable drinks. It's located right around the corner from popular concepts Columbia, Al's Finger Licking Good Soul Food and Casa Santo Stefano. According to its website, Saddle Bags will be “where Southern charm meets city nights,” with recent photos depicting its large stage area, dance floor and of course, a mechanical bull. Saddle Bags is aiming to soft open in November, but is still waiting on one last permit to be approved by the city of Tampa.
Tampa Mexican restaurant Guac N’ Cheese will take over King State’s former St. Pete location
There’s already an abundance of Mexican restaurants in downtown St. Petersburg, but a popular Tampa spot is heading across the bridge to join the competition. Guac N’ Cheese will open at co-working space Cohatch at 15 8th St. N (stylized "COhatch"), out of a restaurant parcel that was previously occupied by King State’s first St. Pete location. While there’s no opening timeline just yet, the Mexican restaurant’s website says that its St. Pete restaurant will debut sometime this fall. Guac N’ Cheese’s Tampa location at 4101 S MacDill Ave. opened in 2019 and dishes out an approachable, Mexican menu of fajitas, quesadillas, taco salads, empanadas, stuffed jalepeños, flautas, enchiladas, tacos and more.
Opulence Nightclub to replace Ringside Cafe in downtown St. Pete
A new "luxurious" nightclub is opening out of a familiar space on downtown St. Pete's 300 block. Opulence Nightclub is headed to 350 First Ave. N, which most recently housed the popular music venue Ringside Cafe. Tampa Bay Business Journal says that Opulence is owned by the same folks that operate Omnia Blue Gentlemen's Club, which made its debut next door in 2021. Deltwaine and Jermaine Holmes of The Holmes Project LLC own and operate Omnia Blue, the soon-to-open Opulence Nightclub, as well as sports bar and restaurant 31 Grand, which opened out of St. Pete’s former Punky’s location in late 2022.
Cookie delivery company Tiff's Treats opens new delivery-only outpost in Clearwater
Warm cookie delivery company, Tiff's Treats, is now officially hauling dough around Clearwater. The Texas-based chain opened its first Florida location in Tampa last year, and now its latest delivery-only outpost will serve residents in the Clearwater area. Obviously, fresh baked cookies and brownies are the main thing here, and Tiff's Treats features over 11 different flavors, including Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Sugar Cookie with M&Ms, Double Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Pecan Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, White Chip Almond, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.
Talkin’ Tacos will open first Tampa location this Friday, with free birria tacos for the first 100 guests
The company's first Tampa location will officially open at 6 p.m. this Friday, Aug.16 at 1819 E Fowler Ave., which is across the street from Portillo's and Miller's Ale House in the University area. To celebrate the occasion, Talkin' Tacos will give the first 100 guests in line a free order of the company's signature birria tacos. Guests can also expect live music and entertainment, as well as "photo opportunities with an LED Robot," says a press release. "West Coast Florida, get ready for an authentic culinary experience that starts with Talkin’ Tacos handcrafted tacos and ends with our indulgent churros,” said Mohammad Farraj, Talkin’ Tacos co-founder and chief marketing officer in a statement. For the unfamiliar, beef birria is the cornerstone of this fast-casual concept, which the restaurant says is braised daily for 12 hours.
Of course, besides birria tacos, the menu spans everything from birria ramen, birria pizza, and even birria grilled cheese. There's also street corn in a cup, Southwest chicken tacos, bang bang shrimp tacos, churros, burritos, rice bowls, house-made horchatas, mangonadas, lemonades, and more.
Tampa’s popular online sandwich shop Cousin Vinny’s will open first storefront this year
A year after signing the lease, a popular an Italian-American deli with a cult-like following is ready to come offline and open in Tampa's NoHo district. Heading to 1331 W Cass St. directly next to Santoro’s Pizzeria, sandwich and chicken cutlet virtuoso Cousin Vinny’s is preparing for its soft opening. Cousin Vinny’s—which operated a widely-popular to-go shop last year—specializes in “New York-inspired sandwiches” that are loaded with everything from the beloved, Italian-American chicken cutlet to classic cold cuts and fresh mozzarella. Executive Chef and partner Vincent “Vinny” Andriotti and Operating Partner and co-owner Russell Leone came to know their other business partners Jake Schmidt and AJ DeSimone while they all attended the nearby University of Tampa more than a decade ago. They launched Cousin Vinny’s in the spring 2023 out of a shared commercial kitchen space on Nebraska Avenue; it was no typical storefront as customers could only order sandwiches online and swing by to pick them up on Saturday or Sunday. “We saw people driving from all over the Tampa Bay area and beyond to try these sandwiches on the weekend,” Andriotti tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “Our customers were planning their weeks around picking up a sandwich on Saturday or Sunday—it was absolutely wild.”
EVENTS
Gochujang-clan ain’t nuthing ta f’ wit at this Sunday brunch in St. Pete
Webb’s City Cellar is St. Pete’s James Beard-nominated beer bar. John LoScalzo is the mind behind Loko Cuisine (stylized “LOKO”). This weekend, Loko’s Eggs & Kegs pop-up brunch series gets caught in the Webb for a meal built around an endless bar dedicated to bibimbap (Korean rice bowl) and a green tea-strawberry boba French toast (complete with cinnamon cream cheese custard, and white chocolate green tea sauce). DJ Q—aka cyclist and Prescribed Fire guitarist Christa McHugh—plays old-school hip-hop during the meal where tickets include one beer, cider, wine, kombucha or N/A bevvie. You are not allowed to nap in the beer cellar afterwards. Tickets to Loko Cuisine's Bibimbap & Hip Hop Brunch on Sunday, Aug. 18 at Webb’s City Cellar in St. Petersburg are still available for $43.
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