Open
Eden Extravagant new downtown Tampa nightclub Eden celebrated its grand opening last Friday with a performance featuring “Whole Lotta Money” rapper BIA. The fancy new spot is in the old Franklin Manor location, and any stink of the controversy that Manor left was wiped away with a $4.5 million renovation. Eden owners Asad Yusupov and Kevin Stowe, of the Phoenix Hospitality Group, also opened the Asian-fusion Haiku restaurant just a block away in January. The two-story, paradise-themed club has three sections: Hades (animal skulls, spooky photographs with black leather VIP booths and gold cages), The Ark (12,000 hand-carved wood pieces with a DJ booth and VIP tables), and, of course, the garden of Eden (massive amounts of flowers and vines, a mural by artist Matt Kress and a giant tree garnished with red apples). 912 N Franklin St., Tampa. edentampa.com
Happy’s Ice Cream Next to Sunrise Lanes, Happy’s soft opened last weekend and specializes in small batch creations made with locally-sourced ingredients, plus boozy creations. The shop’s cinnamon french toast flavor comes with a vanilla bean base infused with cinnamon sugar, RumChata and Fireball. You can also expect a strawberry flavor made with local strawberries, mint chocolate chip, praline butter pecan and the ever-essential chocolate and vanilla bean. The shop even hinted at a cookies and milk flavor on its Instagram. If you can’t decide on just one flavor, grab a flight and try six. The shop also offers pints to take home with you. 6393 Dr. MLK St. N, St. Petersburg. gethappysnow.com
Reopened
Spinners Rooftop Grille After almost a year away, a St. Pete Beach staple has finally reopened along with the all-new Bellwether Beach Resort. Previously the Grand Plaza Hotel, the resort has taken on a new life, and it’s brought with it a new retro-modern design, and an updated Spinners restaurant and Level 11 Bar and Lounge. Spinners made a name for itself since its opening thanks to its revolving dining room, which makes a full rotation every hour, meaning no table is left without a view. Now, diners can enjoy the renovated dining room—which still spins!—along with a fully-redesigned menu meant to place a focus on local food. You can enjoy craft cocktails while you dine, or you can take a trip downstairs to Level 11 (Spinners is on level 12) to experience all the bar and lounge has to offer, though half of that floor is also reserved for Spinners dining. 5250 Gulf Blvd., St Pete Beach. bellwetherbeachresort.com
Coming soon
Chill Bros. Scoop Shop, Shortwave Coffee Sparkman Wharf and Water Street announced a trio of new tenants last week, including Shortwave—a new to the area specialty coffee bar and roaster out of Missouri—opening on the ground floor of Sparkman Wharf, and Chill Bros. opening its third local location at Water Street. The ice cream shop has storefronts in Ybor City and South Tampa), but the new location will be at the base of the 23-story residential and retail tower Cora, at 1011 Cumberland Ave. Orange Theory, the fitness boutique with a cult-like following, was also among the new announcements, which come after a busy round of news that saw several establishments—including C House, 7th+Grove, Corners Pizza and more—make commitments to open new concepts or locations in Vinik-ville.
Park Blvd. Vegan Deli The local chain has been teasing this opening since February and it just announced a 90-day countdown to opening in Pinellas Park, home to Tampa Bay’s fifth Vegan Deli location, with others in Dunedin, Ybor and Brandon. The chain also announced two more locations set for east Orlando and Winter Garden. While an official menu isn’t set, the concept teased vegan sausage biscuits and gravy on its Instagram, along with a philly cheesesteak. The concept also creates packaged eats like fig snausages and location exclusives like Ybor’s mac & cheese pizza, so you can expect some exclusives in Pinellas Park soon. 5900 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park. @parkblvdvegandeli on Instagram
Taverna Costale Celebrity chef Fabio Viviani has tapped St. Petersburg to be the home of this forthcoming Italian restaurant at ground level of an office tower. The 5,900-square-foot space should open this winter. Viviani told St. Pete Rising development blog that diners can expect both inexpensive and high-end eats from the concept, perfect to “take a date out for a nice steak dinner and an expensive bottle of wine or meet a group of friends for pizza and a beer.” Made-from-scratch pasta and (of course) seafood entrees are also on the menu, and while the exact menu and opening date are TBA, Taverna Costale is currently looking for an executive chef. Last summer Viviani canceled the opening of his La Pergola Italian restaurant when a co-owner of Nocturnal Group—which was partnering with the chef on the concept—got caught making racist comments amid last summer’s Black Lives Matter protest. Instead of Nocturnal, Viviani has partnered with Brian Henry and Anthony Sandstrom for the opening of Costale. The trio was also behind Vivani concept Chuck Lager’s American Tavern in Wesley Chapel. 200 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. @tavernacostale on Instagram
Yard Milkshake Bar Yes, their milkshakes bring everyone (boys included) to the yard. Well, to Carrollwood at least. The Yard—featured on “Shark Tank” back in 2019—is set to open its third Florida location this fall, and if you know anything about the monstrous milkshakes The Yard creates, then you’ll understand what there is to be excited about. From a milk and cookies-themed creation featuring a chocolate iced jar with Cookie Crisp lining the rim, topped with whipped cream, an ice cream cookie sandwich and mini chocolate chips to a collaboration with Care Bears (dubbed “Cheer Bear”) made with strawberry ice cream and drizzled with rainbow marshmallow cream, the creations are endless. The rim of Cheer Bear’s jar came lined with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles and was topped with rainbow whipped cream, a slice of cheesecake, a sour rainbow straw and Teddy Grahams. 13168 N Dale Mabry Hwy., Unit 30, Tampa. theyardmilkshakebar.com
ICYMI
Yeoman’s Cask & Lion downtown Tampa location set to add a virtual-reality golf, plus bar and cafe seating A downtown favorite is growing by about 5,000-square-feet. 23 Restaurant Services—the same group behind Ford’s Garage and Tiki Docks—recently bought out two storefronts connected to the British pub, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, and is using the extra space to add a bar and extra cafe seating to the already 4,800-square-foot space. The expansion means the end to neighboring Brightside Artisan Comfort Cafe and City Market Eats (also owned by the parent company), but the beginning of virtual reality golf in the pub space. According to TBBJ, there are also plans to add three VR Topgolf booths. Not bad for Yeoman’s which originated in a tiny space on Davis Island. 202 N Morgan St., Tampa. yeomanscaskandlion.com
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