There’s a new dessert cafe coming to Tampa, and it’s going to serve some of the trendiest, most Instagrammable foods imaginable. Mochinut—a hybrid dessert franchise—already has over 20 nationwide locations, and it's bringing its sticky donuts to Tampa in 2022.
If you’re not familiar with this latest dessert trend, a mochinut combines the Japanese rice cake mochi, with a traditional American donut, creating an ultra-chewy, pull apart dessert unlike anything else. Alongside the beloved mochinut—which will come in a wide variety of flavors like mango, black sesame, matcha and Nutella—there will also be Korean rice-flour hot dogs (aka corn dogs) and boba on the menu.
Your Korean corn dog can be filled with either mozzarella cheese or a regular hot dog, but there’s a variety of coatings to choose from—like french fries, hot cheetos or crushed up ramen. Mochinut’s drink options are pretty straightforward, with offerings like Thai tea, iced coffee, matcha and brown sugar boba.
A whopping 90 more locations are planned to open across the country, with five of those stores opening in Florida. Alongside its Tampa location—which will be at 11401 N 56th St. in Temple Terrace—Pinellas Park, Bradenton, and two Orlando stores are also on the way. The Mochinut website lists addresses for the upcoming Orlando locations, so perhaps expect those to debut before the other Tampa Bay spots.
A representative of the Tampa Mochinut location told Creative Loafing that there’s been some delay with the opening of the store, due to equipment shortages and the current delayed state of global supply chains. But they’re still preparing for a grand opening, slated for April or May of 2022.
And apparently Tampa’s first Mochinut isn't the only location experiencing difficulties with the supply chain—only days after their grand opening this past summer, the San Antonio location temporarily closed due to “lack of crucial equipment.”
Keep an eye on the Mochinut Tampa Facebook and @mochinut_tampa on Instagram for any developments on their grand opening.
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