Doc B's Fresh Kitchen, a healthful, sophisticated-casual restaurant concept that originated in Chicago, is scheduled to open at International Plaza at 11 a.m. Nov. 23. Tampa is the first out-of-state location for the brand.
Promising straightforward American fare for lunch and dinner, the restaurant's balanced food menu is divided into sections that include starters, salads, burgers, "very special entrees" such as pan-roasted chicken and grilled ribeye, and build-your-own Wok Out Bowls. In September, founder Craig Bernstein said the lineup carries "a yin-and-yang-style effect."
The 4,900-square-foot Doc B's sources its ingredients from various locales. Hawaii supplies the fresh tuna, Shanghai lo mein noodles come from San Francisco, a small farm in Arkansas provides free-range, antibiotic-free, vegetarian-fed chicken, the Faroe Islands brings in Atlantic salmon, and the Kansas-based Beef Marketing Group ensures the grain- and grass-fed beef is without hormones and antibiotics.
Local produce, according to Bernstein, will be used in offerings like desserts and sides.
Opening in summer 2016, the state's next Doc B's is set for Fort Lauderdale.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2015.