Joining the EDGE District of St. Petersburg’s other streetside-style dining spots, such as Bodega on Central, Red Mesa Mercado and the soon-to-open Kings Street Food Counter, Hawkers Asian Street Fare will debut its small plates concept in the old Taps & Tequila building at 1235 Central Ave.
“We’re shooting for late summer,” co-founder Kaleb Harrell said.
Hawkers’ Orlando flagship opened in 2011, and its Jacksonville sibling launched last year. According to Harrell, diners dig Hawkers because of the experience. The restaurant’s a high-energy setting, where it’s loud enough to make folks speak up a bit, and where people are encouraged to sip while splitting authentic fare inspired by Asian street foods.
“It’s a combination of good food, and of course good drinks,” he said.
Items like Roti Canai, the eatery’s signature flaky Malaysian flatbread served with spicy curry sauce; Char Kway Teo, a popular street stir-fry in Malaysia featuring wide rice noodles; and a simmered-then-stir-fried pad thai with shrimp, chicken and more will be highlighted on the St. Pete Hawkers’ menu.
The 4,800-square-foot, 160-seat restaurant will feature an indoor-outdoor bar and urban decor crafted from raw wood and metal, similar to “a real hawker stall in Asia,” Harrell said. The neighborhood’s adventurous palate and community-driven mentality are among the reasons he and three co-founders chose to expand in the EDGE.
“We want to grow without just being a chain restaurant,” Harrell said. “We don’t want to be in suburban America.”
• Also on tap for summer, the Alabama-based Chicken Salad Chick chain will open its first Bay area location at Tampa’s University Collection on East Fowler Avenue.
Brad and Tammy Cochran are set to operate the new 3,555-square-foot franchise that plans to feature an outdoor patio and the concept’s signature grub, including 15 chicken salads, soups, deli sandwiches and desserts.
Chicken Salad Chick was established by wife-and-husband duo Stacy and Kevin Brown in 2008. The restaurant already has three Florida sites — Tallahassee, Destin and Panama City Beach — and others throughout the Southeast.
• St. Pete’s The King & I , which used to sling Thai food and sushi during lunch and dinner, closed at 445 Central Ave.
• After relocating from its Central Avenue digs to open in the Gateway area, Steel City Brewhouse also ended its run at 10400 Roosevelt Blvd. N. The spot offered up American-made craft beer and wine, along with bar accompaniments like pierogies and sandwiches.
• Joe Scheibelhut and Dan Graston, both Rapp Brewing Company alums, are working to bring Arkane Aleworks , one of the region’s newest craft breweries, to Pinellas.
The pair showcased their brews — a Florida Weisse and session DIPA included — for the first time at Cajun Cafe on the Bayou’s renamed Festival of Florida Beers last weekend.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.