UPFRONT
Gigi’s Celebrates 53rd Anniversary
While going to law school in
Atlanta and operating a heating
and air conditioning business,
Vergil Newberne got interested in
the restaurant business because
of one of his clients, Gigi’s, which
was owned and operated by Joe
Giordano. Once he graduated
law school, Newberne convinced
his wife to move to St. Petersburg
and open the first Gigi’s Italian
Restaurant in South Pasadena in
December 1967. Since then, Gigi’s
has been taken over by their children
Cyndi Shain and Steve Newberne,
who continue to serve great pizza
and other Italian specialties at three
locations in the St. Petersburg area
with dine-in, takeout and delivery.
Helen Hardin’s Mimbres Kokopelli is
among the works on display at the
James Museum of Western & Wildlife
Art in St. Petersburg.
Clayton Swartz Selected
as Sculpture 360 artist
Downtown Clearwater’s Community
Redevelopment Agency has
selected a sculpture by artist
Clayton Swartz of SwARTz Gallery
in Pinellas Park for its Sculpture
360 program, which displays public
art to enhance the downtown
Clearwater area. The inspirational
metal sculpture Swartz calls Festival
Blue can be seen on the 500 block of
Cleveland Street.
Friendly Kia Expands
John Gilliss, president of Friendly Kia in New Port
Richey, is excited about the dealership’s plan to build
a new 10,000-square-foot showroom and 10 additional
service bays to be completed this summer. Friendly Kia
has just been recognized for the second consecutive year
as the top volume Kia sales leader in the southeastern
United States and has earned six consecutive J.D.
Power Awards. Gilliss said he is also pleased that the
11th annual Good Samaritan Festival of Trees in Pasco
County, which Friendly Kia sponsors, and the Wheely
Good Time for Wheelchairs 4 Kids, which Gilliss recently
attended, were both very successful events. 9
38 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021
Joe Giordano and Vergil Newberne, as they were
in 1967, when Gigi’s Italian Restaurant opened in
South Pasadena west of St. Petersburg
Shell Shack Opens
The Shell Shack Seafood
restaurant has opened at
Westfield Countryside Mall in
Clearwater between Red Robin
and P.F. Chang’s. This is the first
Florida location for the chain that
began in Texas. Shell Shack features
signature cocktails and boils of
king, snow and Dungeness crab,
shrimp and crawfish. Fried catfish,
shrimp and oysters round out the
diverse menu. There are also some
wonderful starters, desserts and
signature cocktails.
RENDERING OF PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION
Pinellas Park artist Clayton Swartz’s
Festival Blue metal sculpture has been
chosen for display in downtown
Clearwater.
This boil of crab legs, shrimp, sausage, potatoes
and corn can be ordered in many flavors and heat
options from mild to Diablo
NORAA