For those following The Bricks on Twitter, the last five months have been a glimpse into the strenuous process of opening a restaurant: refurbishing an historic Ybor City building, developing a logo and a menu, obtaining a liquor license. Last night, after creating a perfect amount of tension with the constant updates and papered-over windows, the restaurant hosted a private "friends and family" gathering where everyone (including comedian Tom Green) stopped in to finally see the new place.

The new gallery/cafe is the new venture of Skatepark of Tampa owner Brian Schaefer (pictured below) and other key partners (Seamus Gallagher and Durke Schmidt).

Their Facebook page puts it pretty clearly. "After nearly two decades of sending business to the bars and restaurants of Ybor City, Skatepark of Tampa has decided to open its own bar/restaurant/coffee shop right on 7th Avenue, aptly named The Bricks of Ybor City."

This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.