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 [...]
I enjoyed a nice lunch over at Valencia Garden a couple weeks ago – little did I know it would be my last. Valencia Garden opened in 1927, and abruptly closed this week, once a sale of the property was final. The Tampa Bay Business Journal is reporting that the University of Tampa is one of [...]
Another thing to worry about. For two years, Tarpon Springs cops have been ticketing cars for parking in valid parking spots. In a dispute between business owners, one of them put up fake ‘no parking’ signs, and then may have called cops on the other business owners’ customers. A couple years ago, developer Mike Bronson admitted [...]
tbt* came out with their list of Tampa area bands. For some reason, they lumped the blues in with country music, and that’s where you’ll find us: Johnny G. Lyon Band: Lyon, a bluesy singer-guitarist with the L.A. band the Hitmakers, returned to Tampa in the mid-’80s and has been a mainstay of [...]
L’Olivier Restaurant and Cabaret is one of Ybor City’s… and Tampa Bay’s newest and most unique nightspots. Seriously, outside of Disney or Chuck E. Cheese, where can you find a place that offers dinner and a show anymore? Not to mention a full bar and a dessert menu. As guests of owner Mike Edmondson and general manager [...]
We kept the soft opening on the DL, just in case. But a crowd of over 200 of our friends came out to celebrate the re-opening of the Proud Lion. Let me back up. A couple of weeks ago, Johnny G. Lyon and friends (you might remember Johnny G’s, too) decided to take an interest in [...]
Come on down to Whiskey Joe’s and ring in the new year with the JGLB! You may already know that I sing in a great rock’n'roll band, but you may not know that we’re going to kick it up a notch for New Year’s Eve! At the former home of The Castaway, Whiskey Joe’s is the place [...]
Jennifer is looking for a place in Tampa Bay where she can create art and enjoy dinner all at the same time. Somehow she stumbled across Sticks of Fire, and decided to Ask-a -Tampan! Subject: I have a Question for Ask-a-Tampan. Message: Is there a place in Tampa or the surrounding area that one can [...]
In 1985, Deborah Christen, and her Swiss gourmet chef husband John Christen opened the first Shells restaurant in South Tampa. The couple opened a second location in Tampa and a third in Sarasota, and in 1993, Shells Seafood Restaurants Inc. went public and expanded to the Midwest. They eventually had 45 restaurants across the US. On [...]
