I’m sure you heard that the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (PTC) killed the Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) running around downtown Tampa. Four different companies were operating the NEVs, which offered short rides to destinations in and around downtown Tampa. Drivers accepted tips, and the companies made money by selling advertising on the carts. The cab companies [...]
With the closing of Valencia Garden, I got to thinking about some of Tampa’s other long-time independents that have gone over the past 15 years or so. It helped that Jeff Houck put up some photos of these places over the years. I was fortunate enough to visit the following places, which no longer [...]
Here are my top ten tips for successfully getting through Gasparilla Day: Eat a decent breakfast. You never know where your next meal might be. Pack light. Leave the coolers at home. Hide a $20 in your sock. You will need it later. Sunscreen. Trust me on this one. Charge your cell phone the night before. Bring a disposable camera. If [...]
We agree to meet at MacDinton’s, since that’s pretty much THE place to watch a big-time soccer match in Tampa — and for a Chelsea-bred Brit, her soccer-loving Yank husband, and me (who dabbled in high school footy a bit) the debut of David Beckham in the United States is as big-time as it gets [...]
You already know that the former Heidt property (currently occupied by Whiskey SOHO, Tampa Digital Studios, and Schifino Lee) is heading toward demolition. Those tenants have been told to move by Nov. 1, 2007, in preparation for the bulldozers. Tampa Digital Studios already announced plans to move to Centro Ybor. On the old SoHo [...]
Who would think that a $5,000 per member restaurant club couldn’t succeed in SoHo Tampa? We were surprised it lasted this long.
A few months back I heard from Bill Sharpe that the SoHo Starbucks was going 24 hours. Even though I live in South Tampa and typically love anyplace open all night I hadn’t made it to this place in part because I assumed it would be packed with all the nearby nightlife. So I [...]
This post is a bit overdue, due to limited Net access until just days ago, but I thought some of you would still be interested in how our last two weeks of dining in Tampa went before our move up to Gainesville. The weekend before last, we decided to stop into Castellano & Pizzo Italian Gourmet [...]
For 17 years, the Wine Exchange has been in Hyde Park Village. With all of the changes of construction plans, it appears that they are about to close their doors with little or no notice. We feel for the owners and employees as the new owners of the Hyde Park Village continue to figure out [...]
