Openings

The Pearl Water Street is clearly one of downtown Tampa’s fastest-growing districts, and it’s newest tenant made its debut this week. Located on the ground floor of the Heron apartment tower, The Pearl celebrated its grand opening on Tuesday, March 7. The district’s newest restaurant and tavern boasts “an expansive menu of chef-inspired cuisine featuring made-from-scratch entrees, shareable plates and seasonal oysters,” in addition to weekend brunches. The Pearl’s dinner menu features exciting entrees like ricotta dumplings with acorn squash, braised short rib and pineapple-marinated hanger steak, alongside seafood-focused dishes like fresh oysters and a market priced seafood tower. The new Water Street Tampa restaurant is now open from 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. on Fridays, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sundays. Water Street’s newest restaurant is the third Pearl location in the U.S., with its other two locations residing in Ohio. 823 Water St. Suite C-100, Tampa. thepearlrestaurant.com

Cane & Barrel The Burg’s newest rooftop bar opened its doors this week, and St. Pete’s foodies finally have the chance to indulge in its Cuban-inspired cocktails and accompanying food menu. In addition to both craft and signature cocktails, the newly-opened bar also offers local beers and small bites like fried plantains, mini flatbreads, red pepper meatballs, yucca fries and a classic Cuban sandwich. This sleek bar is located on the 8th floor of Ascent St. Pete—a massive $117 million dollar mixed-use building that also houses an AC Marriott hotel. Cane & Barrel boasts a 1,000 square-foot interior and a 1,900 square-foot patio, which also houses another cocktail bar. Rum and tequila are the star spirits at this new rooftop bar, although it offers a variety of other expected cocktails as well, including espresso martinis and old fashioneds. 110 2nd Street N, St. Petersburg. @caneandbarrel on Instagram.

Coming Soon

CJ’s on the Park One of Treasure Island’s most popular bars is making a move to the mainland. Best of the Bay-winning CJ’s on the Island—most known for its stiff drinks and karaoke nights—took to its Facebook last month to announce the bar’s imminent relocation. CJ’s will remain at its 5,000 square-foot space at 115 10th Ave. until the end of April, and will reopen at its even bigger St. Pete location at 5631-5651 Park St. N sometime in May 2023. “We are very excited to share with you the new and improved CJ’s!” its social media post reads. “Larger space, plenty of free parking and new amazing concepts. Thank you for these past ten years on the island and for your continued support.” According to the popular bar, their landlords and property owners are tearing the massive Treasure Island plaza down for redevelopment purposes. CJ’s on the Island has garnered a reputation over the years as one of the best places for live band karaoke, daily drink specials and tons of bar games—all characteristics that will continue at its new St. Pete location. Cjsontheisland.com

Closings

Cask Social On Sunday, March 5, employees of a popular South Tampa restaurant unknowingly worked their very last shift. Cask Social Kitchen—located at 208 S Howard Ave.—unexpectedly closed this week, shocking employees, patrons, and even its food vendors. On Monday, March 6, Cask CEO Stephen Bishop wrote a letter to roughly 25 now-former employees, stating that the restaurant had been purchased by the owners of St. Pete karaoke bar La La. “As of this morning, Cask restaurant has been sold to the owners of La La St. Pete. They will be shutting down the restaurant effective immediately and converting into a different concept,” the letter, obtained by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, read. Omar Elgaouni, a former bartender at Cask, organized a GoFundMe to help raise money for himself and his recently laid-off coworkers. “We were not given time to find a new job, any sort of severance, or even time to mourn the loss of our close knit family,” the fundraiser reads. 208 S Howard Ave., Tampa. Casksocial.com

Hamburger Mary’s Tampa Bay’s last standing Hamburger Mary’s—a once popular restaurant franchise staffed with drag performers—will soon close its doors. Earlier this week, Clearwater’s Hamburger Mary’s located 28910 U.S. 19 N, announced its imminent closure without naming any direct causes for it. “Yes, all the rumors are true, it’s our finale weekend at this location…it’s so hard to say goodbye so instead we will say see you later,” its social media post reads. Clearwater’s Hamburger Mary’s is going out with a bang so to speak, and will host various events before its closure—including Micro Mania wrestling on Friday, an all-star performance on Saturday and a final drag brunch on Sunday. Besides boasting a staff filled with drag performers, Hamburger Mary’s is known for its charity events, drag bingo and a menu stacked with sandwiches, salads, signature desserts, and of course, burgers. 28910 US Hwy 19 N, Clearwater. hamburgermarys.com

Events

Zydeco Brew Werks 5th anniversary Tampa Bay Beer Week is happening right now, but a beloved Ybor City brewery is taking a day to celebrate itself. On Friday, March 10, from 5 p.m.-close, Zydeco Brew Werks hosts its “Blood, Sweat, and Beers” five-year anniversary party. There’ll be food and drink specials, live music, plus bottle releases, a five-year bourbon barrel-aged Imperial stout, plus merch, secret taps and more. Reservations are recommended, but not required. Zydeco Brew Werks is located on the eastern end of the historic district. More information on the party is available via @zydecobrewwerks on Facebook. 1902 E 7th Ave., Tampa. Zydecobeer.com

Seltzerland 2023 The hard seltzer craze is coming to get up and close and personal with you next month in Tampa. After staging a socially-distant party on suburban golf courses over the last two years, Seltzerland is coming to the big city with a party at Willa’s in the NoHo neighborhood of Hyde Park. The festival will be held on Saturday, April 15 on the restaurant’s parking lot, located at 1700 W Fig St. Tickets to Seltzerland 2023 in Tampa start at $39, with plenty of upgrade options that’ll get you swag and more booze. Seltzerland 2023 promises a new “fiesta-filled experience” that includes a “CANtina” complete with guacamole and tequila-infused drinks. The outside experience will feature more than 100 hard seltzers, according to a press release, with brands like Casa Azul, Viva Tequila, PLANT Botanical, SABÈ. Guests can expect a live DJ, Instagrammable moments and activities like ladder ball and seltzer pong. seltzerland.com St. Pete’s Lao community hosts a new Friday night street food market Night time street food markets are popular in a multitude of Asian countries—from The Philippines to Thailand—and a local organization is bringing a taste of home to The Burg’. This family-friendly, free to attend market happens every Friday from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. at the Lao Arts & Cultural Foundation’s headquarters, located at 4090 58th Ave. N. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay spoke with two of the market’s hosts, Nancy Burkett and Joneny Vorasarn, who are both members of a local charitable organization Mee Jai Foundation. “We wanted to create a space where people could get good food and hang out without having to wake up early for the farmers market,” Vorasarn says. “We’re trying to incorporate a younger generation of Laotian vendors, too.” Their inaugural market took place on Feb. 11, and since then has featured local Asian vendors dishing out eats like barbecued skewers, sticky rice desserts, boba teas, fried taro, egg rolls, noodles, coconut cakes, pho, papaya salad, fried rice, and fresh produce every Friday night. Mee Jai Foundation, Inc. on Facebook

Margarita Wars Get your go-to hangover cures ready Tampa Bay, because Margarita Wars is back. On Friday, April 7, Margarita Wars takes over TPepin’s Hospitality Centre for another year of exciting cocktail samples, Mexican-inspired eats, entertainment and the annual “Ultimate Margarita” competition. In addition to a slew of sampling from some of Tampa Bay’s hottest bars and restaurants, guests can fulfill their Food Network fantasies by voting for their favorite margarita of the night. A few local hotspots that will sling their best cocktails at April’s event include vegan restaurant Good Intentions, Hotel Tampa Riverwalk, JoToro, Sonder Social Club and The Library among many more. And designated drivers can still enjoy light Mexican bites and non-alcoholic beverages from Herban Flow and Lucid Zero Proof Lounge & Restaurant. Tickets are on sale now, with general admission costing $65 and VIP running for $85. 4121 N. 50th St., Tampa. margaritawarstampabay.com ICYMI

Federal investigation accuses St. Pete’s Red Mesa restaurants of withholding employee wages Federal investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor are accusing two Red Mesa restaurants in St. Petersburg of withholding wages from employees, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators with the Wage and Hour Division conducted an investigation of Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina, and claim the ownership and managers at both establishments withheld earnings from employees in an effort to recover costs of customers who skipped out on their bills. Employees lost between $10-$175 per day, say investigators. The Mexican fusion restaurants are also accused of illegally deducting uniforms from employee paychecks, and denying workers overtime by not allowing employees to combine hours when working at both locations.The investigation also accused the restaurants of not properly keeping payroll records, and failing to allow kitchen workers to acquire overtime by paying them a “straight time regardless of how many hours they worked.” So far, federal investigators have recovered $190,730 in back wages and liquidated damages for 89 affected workers.

Uber Eats partners with Tampa International Airport, a first in the country Spring breakers will soon be able to have a burger waiting for them when they get off their flight in Tampa. This morning, popular food delivery service Uber Eats announced a new partnership with Tampa International Airport (TPA) to bring mobile ordering to travelers and staff. With the new “TPA to Go” program, customers are able to order food and drinks ahead of time and skip the line at more than 20 concession locations throughout the airport. Users will not be able to have food delivered. Unfortunately, you can’t order a beer. The program is available to everyone including passengers, flight crew and airport staff. Travelers can set their location to the airport before they arrive and pick it up when they get there. “Our partnership with Uber Eats is another way we’re elevating the guest experience by making shopping and dining at TPA easier and faster, which is a great value for our customers.” said Laurie Noyes, Airport VP of Concessions and Commercial Parking.