St. Pete’s collard green fest returns, Michelin adds more local restaurants, and more Tampa Bay food news

 Openings

Magnanimous Brewing (Seminole Heights) There’s no shortage of breweries in Seminole Heights, as evidenced by the neighborhood’s latest taproom opening. Magnanimous Brewing’s third tasting room opened Feb. 2, taking over 7venth Sun Brewing Company’s old Tampa brewery and taphouse at 6809 N Nebraska Ave. The award-winning brewery’s two Tampa locations are less than five miles apart, a seemingly odd choice for a business, but Magnanimous Brewing co-founder Mike Luckacina explained the decision in a short conversation with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Despite the proximity of the two locations, the Florida Avenue spot—which opened out of an old church in 2020—hasn’t seen a significant dip in business over the two weeks that Magnanimous Seminole Heights has been open. The higher brewing capacity also allows Magnanimous—which has another location in Bradenton—to produce more beer, a much needed feature since they brew for other companies including King State and its recently-shuttered taphouse The Brutalist. “It’s a completely different crowd,” Luckacina said about the new regulars up the road. He added that Seminole Heights patrons are also happy to have a more community-focused business in that location rather than the building being converted to another storage facility or office space. 6809 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa. Magnanimousbrewing.com— Suzanne Townsend

Dunedin Mix A multi-faceted business that bills itself as “a fresh take on the old food hall concept” quietly opened its doors a few days ago. Mixed-use food hall and retail space Dunedin Mix at ​​990 Broadway recently celebrated its soft opening and welcomed a bustling, bead-wearing Mardi Gras crowd last Tuesday. Currently, there are three culinary concepts open at Dunedin Mix: Polynesian eatery Huli Bowl and Rotisserie, Italian spot Al Dente and a globally-inspired tapas restaurant called Spoons. According to social media, its fourth concept called The Green Table Smashbox—an extension of the popular Palm Harbor vegetarian restaurant—is expected to make its debut in a few days. The centerpiece of the food hall’s shared dining room is certainly its rotating bar called Circle 1852. The 360-degree circular bar is decorated like a traditional carousel and slowly rotates around while patrons sip on craft cocktails, beer and wine.Dunedin Mix’s retail section includes women’s apparel store Era Boutique and a cookware shop called Epicurean Exchange. The multi-faceted space also hosts live music. ​​990 Broadway, Dunedin. dunedinmix.com

Closings

Detroit Coney Island A northern Pinellas favorite closed its doors earlier this week, but it seems like its loaded hot dogs and other regional delights won’t be gone for long. “As of today Sunday, February 11, Detroit Coney Island Palm Harbor is officially closed for business. It’s been 14 years in Pinellas County, 7 years in Palm Harbor,” the hot dog shop wrote on Facebook last Monday. “We will miss you at this location but keep watching our Facebook for details on what’s coming next! Goodbye for now but we will see you soon.” Although it’s too late to get one last taste of Michigan from Detroit Coney Island’s Palm Harbor location at 32922 US Hwy. 19 N, a representative of the business tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that a brand new location and food truck will soon make a debut within the next few weeks. Additionally, Detroit Coney Island owners Dante and Barb Guarascio are also in the process of opening an ice cream shop in Clearwater, although specific details about its name and opening timeline are still unknown. detroitconeyislandllc.com

Events

Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival Now in its seventh year, this locally-organized festival has built a reputation for being far more than a run-of-the-mill foodie event. Organizers Samantha Harris and Boyzell Hosey are on the precipice of hosting yet another day-long celebration of community, nourishment, health, wellness and Black culture. What started as a joke between church friends in 2017 has evolved into a no-cover, Tampa Bay-wide festivity full of dozens of local vendors and food trucks, a variety of healthy cooking and fitness demonstrations, a collard green cook-off, live entertainment, fresh collard giveaways, and urban agriculture education. A presentation from two-time James Beard Award winner Adrian E. Miller, aka “The Soul Food Scholar,” is on the menu this weekend, too. The 2024 Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival returns to St. Pete’s Woodson African American Museum on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. As always, there’s no cost to attend. 2240 9th Ave. S, St. Petersburg. tbcgf.org

World of Beer’s 17th Anniversary Tampa Bay boasts an infamous reputation for being ground zero for nationally-recognized chains and fast casual restaurants—from Outback Steakhouse to Hooters—but a smaller, teenage franchise is getting ready to celebrate its 17th birthday on Saturday. In 2007, the country’s first World of Beer opened in Tampa and now franchisees across the country operate dozens of locations throughout the Southeast and up the East Coast. World of Beer has even expanded to China and South Korea in recent years. The beer bar and laid-back restaurant hosts an all-day party at its OG Westchase location that’s filled with food and drink specials, appearances from OG bartenders, a complimentary cookout, raffles every 30 minutes and live music from Tequila Boys at 8 p.m. The beer-focused chain with over 60 locations worldwide is known for its massive tap list, variety of can and bottle options, and hearty menu of chicken wings, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches and more. There’s no cover for the OG World of Beer’s 17th anniversary party happening Saturday, Feb. 17. 9524 W Linebaugh Ave., Tampa.  worldofbeer.com

ICYMI

Supernatural, The Pearl and Ebbe among six new Tampa restaurants added to Michelin Guide Beloved downtown Tampa sandwich and wine shop Supernatural just celebrated Altons Brownshog Day in honor of the time the celebrity chef saved the shop, and today, founder Wesley Roderick and his team can add another plaque its wall of fame. While the Michelin Guide already awarded 2023 stars and bibs to a few Tampa restaurants last summer, it just recently updated the guide with 19 more recommended restaurants—including Supernatural Food & Wine, Predalina, Streetlight Taco, The Pearl, Ebbe, and Kōsen. A press release says the 2024 Michelin Guide Ceremony will be held April 18 in Tampa. Inspectors for the guide—which Visit Tampa Bay welcomed to Tampa in 2022—missed out on mentioning the spot’s famous bacon, egg, and cheese or sour doughnuts, but praised Supernatural for its Greek feta & olive sandwich, adding that the casual lunch and breakfast staple is a “a bright, mood-elevating kind of place.” Michelin inspectors were also impressed by Predalina’s blistered cauliflower, Streetlight Taco’s Sunday snack tostada, the dessert at The Pearl, Ebbe’s hyper-focused tasting menu, and the sea bream wrapped around sprouts with shaved black truffle at Kōsen. michelin.com—Ray Roa

As part of its “Black Love” film series, the Tampa Theatre is showing a free screening of 2023 documentary “This Is It! The Miracle of BBQ” on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. The film follows Tampa native Shelley “Butch” Anthony III and the 40-year history of his family’s barbecue restaurant, touching on themes of entrepreneurship, faith, addiction and legacy.

Bassano Cheesecake will leave Safety Harbor space next year, hopes to find nearby location for new cafe A Best of the Bay-award winning breakfast and dessert cafe will have to find another home next summer, and its owners are hoping their loyal patrons can help them secure a new and more affordable lease. On Jan. 26, Tom and Cindy Bassano of Bassano Cheescake took to Facebook to announce the eventual relocation from their flagship cafe at 507 Main St. in downtown Safety Harbor. When the married couple recently approached their landlord about renewing their lease, they were informed that the rent would be raised by about 50% due to increasing costs of insurance and property taxes. The Bassanos currently pay about $26 per square-foot and the lease’s new rate would be roughly $40-50 per square-foot. Knowing that they could never swing rent that high—especially after dealing with inflation surrounding ingredient prices and costs of labor—the Bassanos have started the process of finding another headquarters for their breakfast and cheesecake spot.

Good Food Creations, a Tampa-based catering company, recently purchased FLocale’s former Seminole Heights space for $2.745 million, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Previous to being a food hall, the 8,568 square-foot building at 5910 N. Florida Ave. was also home to once-popular restaurants The Refinery and Fodder & Shine.

Indian Rocks Beach’s Original Crabby Bill’s recently announced the addition of a 10% service fee on all of its bills, WFLA reports. While some may regard the service fee as an additional headache, popular restaurants across Tampa Bay have started to implement the new labor model to “help pay for the workers’ hourly wages, insurance and benefits,” including The Feinstein Group’s The Living Room and The Black Pearl in Dunedin as well as The Birchwood, Teak and Canopy in St. Pete—which all require a 20% service fee.

The owners of Ybor City’s La Creperia Café will open a second crepe-focused concept inside of downtown St. Pete’s EDGE Eatery at 907 Central Ave., according to St. Pete Rising. In addition to crepes, this new addition to the food hall will dish out breakfast plates and a variety of coffees.

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This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2024.