The St. Pete Times is reporting that Rollin’ Oats Market of St. Petersburg have bought Tampa’s Nature’s Harvest Natural Foods Market. Nature’s Harvest had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
I should have mentioned this place a long time ago, but I happened to see someone mention it on the web and it reminded me of it. It’s Pinky’s Cafe (3203 W Bay to Bay Blvd) which took over the space of Been There Cafe.
The owner is a chef formerly at Soho Sushi (which moved from Howard Ave. to Kennedy Blvd) and Ceviche. I have only been there for breakfast, but I have heard that people really like their sandwiches. My favorite is the Ultimate Egg Sandwich. It’s a colossal stack of thick toast, runny egg (just right), lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. The place gets crowded on weekend mornings, so you might want to get there early (or later) than the usual breakfast hour.
My brother and I were out last week and decided to stop by the Deck (2202 W Platt St.) to get a piece of pizza and a beer. It’s a tiny place - probably less than 1,00 square feet - but they have plenty of outdoor seating. And a deck. We’ve been going there for a few years after softball because it’s open late, has reasonable prices, and is conveniently located right off of Howard Avenue. I happened to notice on their specials board that on Wednesdays they have $1 slices and $1 beers. That’s a nice deal.
A cupcake blog from New York has a review of a local cupcake business. I don’t really understand the cupcake thing but if you do, the review is at Cupcakes Take The Cake. The Tampa shop fared much better than the Orlando place they also reviewed. The Cupcake Spot has a nice site, too.
Whaley’s Market on Howard Avenue is closing this Sunday, August 10 at 8:00 p.m. The store has been a staple in South Tampa for years - 75 years. They were a great place to get local produce, seafood and deli salads. It will be an important loss for the community.
According to Tampabay.com:
“The current owners, sisters Linda Whaley Bublitz and Laurie Pearson and brother Todd Whaley, were unable to come to a lease agreement with the plaza’s owner, said Whaley’s employee Maryann Mireider.”
Some people have been sending in their favorite places for the Local Business Page. I hope to keep expanding it, so if you want to see a place you frequent on the list or if you own a place send in the information. Here are a few of the new listings:
Tampa City Council voted 5-2 to permit Cigar City Brewing to sell alcohol. The brewery is located on Spruce Street off of Dale Mabry and is owned by Joey Redner and his father Joe, the strip club owner. Joey writes regular beer columns for tampabay.com and has been working on this venture for a while.
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Cafe Con Trey, located at 2702 W. Kennedy is closing. Their building has sold and the new owners have doubled the rent. They also said, in an article in the St. Pete Times, that business has been down over the past year.
I’ve been hearing a lot about the new place by local restaurateur Gordon Davis. He hinted at something like this when he sold St. Bart’s, and now he has followed through with Smoke Barbecue at 901 Platt Street. The building has gone through some tenets since it was a gas station.
TBO.com reports that Ikea will break ground soon on their new Tampa location east of downtown:
“The company plans to begin building on 29 acres on Adamo Drive at 22nd Street, just east of downtown Tampa, on June 4.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and other city officials are expected to attend a groundbreaking ceremony, Ikea says.”
