Alessi Bakery 3003 W Cypress St, Tampa A Tampa icon is on the move, but it’s not going very far. West Tampa deli and bakery Alessi is finally making strides in its move to a new location. Back in 2024, Alessi, a family-owned business that’s been a staple in Tampa for over a century, shared plans to move out of its current location. While records from the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser website stated that the location was purchased in 2022, construction on the new spot—in the historic Tampa Letter Carriers’ former building at 3003 W Cypress St. just 500 feet away—only recently started with an estimated mid-2025 opening date. Photo via Alessi Bakery Credit: c/o Alessi Bakeries
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS

Cybel, a new French-Moroccan restaurant, is now open in St. Petersburg
Cybel soft opened last month at 2735 5th Ave. N, and is now serving its beloved French tacos and more out of its debut brick and mortar location in St. Pete’s Historic Kenwood district.The French-Moroccan eatery is the first restaurant from Taoufik Abdelmoula aka Chef Touf, who runs Cybel with several members of his family. The building was formerly home to Sammy + Paco, a bakery and cafe from the owners of Lolita’s Wine Bar. It closed its doors shortly after opening in 2021, but continued as a catering space for Lolita’s and its sister concepts. The vaguely Mediterranean restaurant pulls culinary inspiration from African, Moroccan, and French influences, offering familiar dishes like hummus, falafel and chicken kabob alongside unique fusion options like build-your-own French tacos and seafood-filled Moroccan egg rolls.—Kyla Fields

New upscale downtown Tampa concept from C.W. Gin Joint will debut on New Year’s Eve
Seven years after opening, C.W.’s Gin Joint is ready to introduce Tampa to another member of the family, and it’s three stories up. C.W.’s On 3 is a brand-new venue located on the third floor above C.W.’s Gin Joint on the 600 Block that is home to the historic Franklin Exchange and Wilson building. The aesthetic at C.W.’s on 3 will be familiar to fans of Gin Joint, owned by Carolyn Wilson (aka C.W.), who helped transform the 1923 Exchange National Bank into The Vault at Franklin Exchange. Her Best of the Bay-winning Gin Joint restaurant and lounge opened in 2017. Guests can get a first look at the new space on New Year’s Eve when it hosts a ticketed New Year’s Eve after party on Tuesday, Dec. 31. – Ray Roa
Jimmy’s Tacos in Ybor City will open a second location in St. Petersburg
Ybor City restaurant, Jimmy’s Tacos, has plans to open a second location in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. According to Tampa Bay Business Journal, the popular Mexican eatery will be opening at 2536 Central Ave. which is currently home to Buster’s antique studio. Jimmy’s Tacos originally started out in Los Angeles but moved to Ybor City in 2018, where they were mainly serving food at festivals and out of trucks, and opened its location at 1604 N 17th St. a year later. Jimmy’s is known for its birria tacos, birria pizza, shrimp tacos, churros and iced horchata, which is all served out of a small, yellow little window, in downtown Ybor. The new location is expected to open next year in August 2025, and owner Jimmy Nunez told TBBJ that his St. Pete spot will also serve green, red, and chocolate mole. – Riley Benson

New 90s-themed restaurant Sunshine City Tavern opening in St.Petersburg next month
Ted Dorsey wants to bring St. Petersburg back to the ’90s. Earlier this week, the local chef announced his latest concept, Sunshine City Tavern, located at 4351 4th St. N, in the former Oaks on 4th building, which closed after less than a year in 2023. Not a lot of details were provided, but the restaurant is in partnership with Teddy Skiadioti, who is the owner of Craft Kafe—an entirely gluten-free restaurant that has locations throughout the St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area. Dorsey has been at the helm of quite a few popular local restaurants, including the Sonata Restaurant at the Mahaffey, The Mill, Ciro’s Speakeasy & Supper Club, Boca Kitchen Bar, Market Copperfish Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar, and Nash’s Hot Chicken on Central, which closed in 2023. Construction is already underway, and the tavern is planned to open in January of 2025.—RB

Pin on Cafe relocates Asian fusion restaurant to St. Pete’s Grand Central District
A downtown St. Pete favorite has reopened its doors with the same Asian fusion menu that its loyal regulars love. The recently-rebranded Pin on Grand is now located 2458 Central Ave. adjacent to other Grand Central restaurants like Casita Taqueria, Salty Nun and The Floribbean. Despite the relocation, Pin on Grand boasts the same menu of onigiris, sushi burritos, pho, ramen, stir fried noodles, sushi rolls, curries, fried rice, papaya salads and more. A few of the restaurant’s specialties include its prized pineapple fried rice, Hainanese chicken and rice, and a fried whole snapper. While its entire menu is stacked with Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese favorites, perhaps Pin on Grand’s best deal is its mix-and-match lunch special that ranges from $12-$16. While smoothies, matcha, coffee and teas are on the restaurant’s current drink menu, a full spread of cocktails are expected to launch sometime in the future. Pin on Cafe served the last customers out of its former Edge District restaurant on Nov. 17 and soft opened its much larger, relocated restaurant a few days later. Pin on Grand is now open out of the former Valhalla Bakery space, which closed last year after consolidating with neighboring business Valkyrie Donuts.—KF

Treasure Island’s VIP Mexican restaurant opens food truck as it recovers from hurricane damage
Like many neighboring businesses, The VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge in Treasure Island was badly damaged by Hurricane Helene. Extensive flooding inside caused enough damage to the infrastructure and equipment that the restaurant had to be completely gutted. According to a social media post, the devastating hit occurred just shy of the 30th anniversary of VIP’s current owners taking over. Delays with getting permitting approvals has made it all the more difficult to move forward with the renovation process. In an effort to help staff members get back on their feet, VIP hosted a handful of “VI Free” events on the back patio where loyal patrons could come get a free margarita in exchange for donations to the hardworking crew. The community was quick to rally and eagerly filled the patio while chatting with other longtime regulars who were happy to have even a small sense of normalcy. Just before Thanksgiving, VIP offered a welcome update that a food trailer, rented from Sea Dog, will now operate with a very limited menu. In an effort to make light of the situation, the menu is being called the “Shitty Circumstances Menu” and offers chips with salsa ($4) and guac ($11), tacos ($4), and the restaurant’s famous “wet” burrito ($10-$12). Guests can order from the outdoor bar and find a seat, before an employee brings their food when it’s ready. Don’t worry, the famously strong margaritas are available, too, ($7 & up).—Jourdan Ducat

Construction underway at new Alessi bakery new location, with plans to open mid-2025
A Tampa icon is on the move, but it’s not going very far. West Tampa deli and bakery Alessi is finally making strides in its move to a new location. Earlier this year, Alessi, a family-owned business that’s been a staple in Tampa for over a century, shared plans to move out of its current location. While records from the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser website stated that the location was purchased in 2022, construction on the new spot—in the historic Tampa Letter Carriers’ former building at 3003 W Cypress St. just 500 feet away—only recently started with an estimated mid-2025 opening date. Records from the City of Tampa show that Alessi is teaming up with JVB Architect, a Best of the Bay Reader’s Choice Winner for Best Architect, on the buildout. The firm has previously worked on restaurants like Bavaro’s, Whiskey Joe’s in Pensacola, and World of Beer. Tampa Bay Business and Wealth says the new location plans on opening in the middle of next year. Alessi Bakery initially opened its doors in 1912, serving its iconic cakes, Cuban sandwiches and baked goods in Tampa. It’s been at its current location for over five decades, with four generations of the family at the helm. Alessi’s current location is still open, with no announced closing date yet.—Jourdan Ducat

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This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2024.

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...