Fly lands on Franklin
The Franklin Street restaurant corridor has been taking off recently. With the opening of The Office Café & Grill last month and the Thai Corner before that, downtown Tampa's restaurant row is drawing diners back to the urban core.
Fly Bar & Restaurant, the latest addition to the strip, held its grand opening on Sat., July 29. The restaurant occupies a former nightclub space, at 1202 Franklin St. (three blocks north of Tampa Theatre). Originally slated to open in February, Fly is now open for business, serving lunch and dinner.
Owner Leslie Shirah is a Tampa native and graduate of Plant High School. She recently moved back to the area to open Fly, after spending the past 15 years working as a restaurateur in San Francisco, where she owns three successful restaurants named Fly Bar, Brick and Solstice.
The Tampa outpost of Fly features world fusion cuisine and specialty cocktails. The menu is eclectic, tapas-esque, but with Californian, Southern, Mexican and Asian influences.
Fly is meant to have an artsy vibe, featuring works by local artists and performances by local musicians. The restaurant also includes a rooftop deck.
Fly is open from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday to Friday and 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. It serves lunch on weekdays until 2:30 p.m. and the full dinner menu until 10:30 p.m. daily; a late-night limited menu is served until 3 a.m. For information, call 813-275-5000.
Redevelopment planned for Ferg's beach location
Ferg's Beach Shack Bar & Grill shut its doors on July 24, but the closing is not bad news for the restaurant at 677 75th Ave. N. on St. Pete Beach. Owner Mark Ferguson said he has tentative plans to redevelop the block-and-a-half site on which Ferg's and Philthy Phil's sit.
Redevelopments would mean eventually razing the two restaurants and replacing them with 108 condo units, office and retail space, and one restaurant. The proposal goes to the city council next month, and Ferguson hopes to have the project up with the next couple of years.
He said he decided to close Ferg's Beach Shack during this slow time of year and keep Philthy Phil's (which he also owns) open for as long as possible during the construction.
For information, call Philthy Phil's at 727-367-9977.
Music and more at Jimmy Lynn's
Big Jim does it all at his restaurant. The owner and entertainment, Big Jim Piano Man, aka Jimmy Lynn, performs nightly at his Brandon establishment. Jimmy Lynn's Music Café, which opened in March at 706 E. Brandon Blvd., features a menu with "everything," said the owner, from seafood to steaks to burgers.
Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more info, call 813-689-0246.
New Thai in Brandon
The city of Brandon has a new place for Thai with the recent opening of Chef Thai. The restaurant, located at 1217 Kingsway at the south side of the Kingsway Plaza, features authentic Thai cuisine. Owners Peeraphan Rujirek (Peter) and Songchat Khuansuwan (Pat) are both from Thailand.
Chef Thai is open for lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and for dinner 5-9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5-10 p.m. Saturday, and 2:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 813-661-8827.
Johnny Carino's opens on Fourth
The newest addition to chain Italian fare in St. Petersburg opened last month at 5062 Fourth St. N. Johnny Carino's, which specializes in "Southern Italian country recipes," is located in newly constructed strip mall, which will house several other retail stores. This is the fourth Carino's location in the Tampa Bay area.
Johnny Carino's is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For information, call 727-520-1000 or visit www.carinos.com.
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2006.