STONEWOOD
GRILL & TAVERN
17050 Palm Pointe Dr., Tampa Palms
Even though it hasn’t always been
my #1 favorite restaurant in New
Tampa, there’s no doubt that Stonewood
Grill & Tavern in Tampa Palms has been
near the top of my list since the day it
opened nearly two decades ago.
Stonewood continues to serve the
best (and best variety of) steaks (like the
9-oz. filet mignon pictured below) in New
Tampa and it also offers a daily “market
catch” (like the fresh grouper piccata, with
sauce on the side and perfectly sautéed
spinach, right) and other specials (like
lollipop rib lamb chops...mmm) that have
kept it a favorite of mine year after year.
New GM Matt Passardi — who
(813) 978-0388
previously ran the Grillsmith in the Shops
at Wiregrass — and his staff usually also
keep their guests happy at New Tampa’s
most-happening bar scene, but of course,
Covid-19 has shut down the bar and
Stonewood’s elegant dine-in experience,
at least for now. My suggestion? Get it to
go while you can!
*- Notes - Mahana Fresh & Lima both didn’t open until 2020, or they would have made this list.
** - Sukhothai, Vallarta’s (Tampa Palms), and Regina Margherita (previously called Chefs
of Napoli) were all on this list before they all closed (with Regina Margherita closing two weeks
before we went to press with this issue). And, El Pescador, which previously occupied Lima’s
location in the New Tampa Center plaza, was in my top-50 before it closed.
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THE FAT RABBIT
16029 Tampa Palms Blvd.
City Plaza at Tampa Palms
(813) 252-3004
The Ciccio Restaurant Group has created
one of the most successful slates of local
eateries in the entire Tampa Bay area, with
concepts like Green Lemon, Daily Eats, Ciccio
Water and Better Byrd (look them all up),
but Ciccio Cali has been the only one in our
area since Lodge closed in the former Ciccio
& Tony’s location in City Plaza. I have always
credited Ciccio Cali as the first to bring “bowl
culture” to New Tampa. The menu has been
simplified, with multiple “bowl style” options
(the “Lean & Clean” with tuna is my fave),
plus crisp-crust pizza and famous wrap sandwiches
(the Cali Club is #1 with me).
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FUSHIA ASIAN
BISTRO
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CICCIO CALI
ACROPOLIS GREEK
TAVERNA
LAS PALMAS
LATIN GRILL
The day The Fat Rabbit opened a few
very short years ago, I was impressed
with the look and feel of the place as a bar
hangout, but I was thrilled when I sampled
the food the first several times. Even though
I’m not so much a wing aficionado as I am
a foodie, many in our area agree that The
Fat Rabbit has the best wings anywhere
— blackened with a side of the Fat Rabbit
cilantro sauce are my faves — as well as great
burgers, “taters” (try the garlic sweet potato)
and “grown up” grilled cheese. But, adding
a Catch of the Week (blackened mahi-mahi
above) moved the Rabbit way up on my list.
17004 Palm Pointe Dr.
Shoppes at The Pointe
(813) 975-1222
14947 Bruce B Downs Blvd.
Oak Ramble Plaza
(813) 971-1787
6431 E. County Line Rd.
(813) 803-3903
Although I spend a lot less time these
days south of Tampa Palms on BBD, it never
takes much to convince Jannah to go to (or
take out from) Acropolis. Part of another successful
Bay-area mini-chain, Acropolis features
authentic saganaki cheese flambé and artichoke
and spinach dip appetizers, a tender shish (filet)
and chicken kabob duo, savory loin lamb chops
and our favorite entrée — the thin, crisp, lightly
fried Athenian fish pictured above. And, even
though Acropolis doesn’t have a true Greek
dressing, the Greek salad also is outstanding
with its creamy Acropolis Greek dressing.
BAYSCAPE BISTRO
at Heritage Isles Golf Club
10630 Plantation Bay Dr.
(813) 994-3445 Shoppes at Amberly, Tampa Palms
15317 Amberly Dr.
(813) 903-6705
Speaking of amazing fish, owner/chef
Ramses Garcia serves our area’s flakiest, tastiest
merluza (like snapper) a la Rusa, as well as
award-winning Cuban sandwiches and traditional
specialties like ropa vieja (shredded beef),
picadillo (ground beef) and arroz con pollo
(chicken & yellow rice), and I really love the
steaks — palomillo (in sour mojo sauce, with
onions), churrasco (skirt steak with chimichurri
sauce) and sautéed vaca frita (crispy beef). But,
the lechon asado (tender roasted pork), masitas
(pork chunks) and special pork chops (above) are
my faves. You can’t go wrong with Ramses’ wife
Ana’s award-winning tres leches dessert, either!
Former Wharton High culinary teachers
Eddie and Lourdes Bujarski have created an
impressive restaurant inside the Heritage Isles
GC clubhouse. With a more extensive menu,
Bayscape would finish even higher on my list,
because it’s hard to beat for breakfast, lunch or
dinner. There are great wings, burgers, salads
and sandwiches, but my faves are the dinner
“signatures” like country fried chicken and slowroasted,
top round roast beef with brown gravy
pictured above. It’s been a while since Jannah
and I stopped in for dinner and Friday night karaoke,
but the last time we were there during the
week, the chef-made pasta bar was incredible.
If you still haven’t tried Fushia, you’ve
been missing one of New Tampa’s best-kept
secrets. Fushia may not serve traditional New
York-style Chinese food, but it features many
dishes I love you won’t find anywhere else in our
distribution areas. I’m partial to the pan-fried
pork dumplings, but Fushia has a large menu of
dim sum (served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. only) appetizers,
plus all-you-can-eat Chinese hot pot and Korean
BBQ, but my faves are the yang chow fried
rice, the spicy yan jian pork, dry pot chicken and
the beef with Chinese broccoli shown above.
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