UC Tampa - Feb 2010 Edition Part 2

In This Issue

1. Food News: Get Greece-y. Moon Waxes. Bistro Wanes.
2. Davis Islands Dog Park Scheduled For Grooming
3. Walk into Ybor’s Secret Past
4. Seminole Heights Bicycle Club's Hub-Grub Bike Ride
5. Ride A Dragon - Tampa Dragon Boat Races

6. News & Rumors ... and much more!

UC Tampa - Feb 2010 Edition Part 2

In This Issue

1. Food News: Get Greece-y. Moon Waxes. Bistro Wanes.
2. Davis Islands Dog Park Scheduled For Grooming
3. Walk into Ybor’s Secret Past
4. Seminole Heights Bicycle Club's Hub-Grub Bike Ride
5. Ride A Dragon - Tampa Dragon Boat Races

6. News & Rumors ... and much more!

Davis Islands Dog Park Scheduled For Grooming

Davis Islands' famous dog park about to get a makeover.

DAVIS ISLANDS - Every dog has its day - so why not spend it at the beach?

The popular Davis Islands dog park, the city's first with a beach, soon will undergo improvements.

The narrow strip of beachfront with magnificent views of downtown Tampa was made available a decade ago through an easement from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which assured the dog park would not interfere with operations at nearby Peter O. Knight Airport.

The 1.9-acre fenced site, however, has lost beach sand through the years. The city plans to replenish 200-plus feet of the sandy coastline, but not before erosion safeguards are in place.

Read full story here.

Ride A Dragon

Dragon Boat Racers (2009)

DOWNTOWN - Tampa’s Dragon Boat Races will take place in downtown Tampa’s Garrison Channel, May 1, 2010 and the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA) is forming a race team to participate in it and the 2011 World Dragon Boat Races (also hosted by Tampa).

Anyone can participate and practices are scheduled for:

• February 28, 10:30am-12pm
• March 28, 10:30am-12pm
• April 11, 12-1:30pm

For more information and photos, click here.

Gimme Seven! New Restaurants Rolling into the Urban Corridor.

Old location of Big John's Alabama BBQ.

URBAN CORRIDOR – The new year appears to have brought with it a flurry of restaurants for downtown Tampa and its nearby, Urban Corridor neighborhoods. Seven dining establishments, some with names familiar to the area, some not, have either opened or are expected to open by the end of March.

West Tampa: Green Iguana Bar & Grill, a local’s hangout on Ybor City’s Seventh Avenue, is taking over the old Stadium Bennigan’s Bar & Grille location (2520 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.). This will be the company’s seventh Bay Area location with a full bar and open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. According to its website, the new location will “open soon;” however sources indicate “by the end of March.” Updates are available on the Green Iguana Twitter site: http://twitter.com/thegreeniguana.

Downtown: The Urban Cantina is set to open in downtown Tampa (200 E. Madison Ave.) by the end of February. The owner is reported to be Christopher Rivas, who is a resident of nearby SkyPoint Condominiums, where he was once reported to be opening a Mexican restaurant called Azteca. Those plans fell through, but from visual inspection of the new location, it clearly appears to be built out, fitted with tables and dining ware, and days away from opening. www.urbancantina.com

Sono Café will open February 6 inside the new Tampa Museum of Art. It will overlook the banks of the Hillsborough River and be accessible by everyone through an admission-free entrance. The café will seat 75, including waterfront tables, and offer menu items in accordance with the “Slow Food Movement.” The owners of downtown’s Mise en Place Restaurant will operate the café.

Already open is International Café, a lunchtime eatery open five days a week at 601 E. Twiggs St.

East Tampa: Big John’s Alabama BBQ is set to open at nearly the same spot (5707 N. 40th St.) as its old, demolished location (which happened because of a city road expansion project). For the many fans of the 40-year-old establishment, their wait will be over early February.

Ybor City: Gallery Rasika has opened on Seventh Avenue in the former location of L’Olivier Cabaret. It features modern Indian fusion dishes inspired from an “age old approach to dining,” according to its website. Much like tapas bars, guests are encouraged to choose a variety of appetizers and entrees and share them with their dining companions. www.galleryrasika.com

Heights Areas: Greg and Michelle Baker, the owners of Cooks-n-Company (the personal chef service), are planning to open a brick and mortar restaurant in Seminole Heights. Although a verbal agreement has been made for the couple to take over an existing “turn key” location, a contract has yet to be signed.

Once official, the Bakers hope to open The Refinery by the end of February, which will feature a large selection of small, “bigger than most tapas” plates made from locally grown ingredients when possible.

See original posting at www.uctampa.com.

UC Tampa - Feb 2010 Edition Part 1

In This Issue

-A SERIOUS ART ATTACK

-NEW RESTAURANTS ROLLING IN

-CELEBRATE THE BUNGALOW

-HALT! ARMORY BACK TO MARKET

-PRO BASKETBALL IN TAMPA

-NEWS & RUMORS ... and much more!

American Basketball Association announces Tampa Bay expansion

Will downtown Tampa soon have a supermarket?

DOWNTOWN & YBOR CITY - The Tampa Downtown Partnership (TDP) is conducting a survey to solicit input in support of a future grocery store to serve the people of downtown Tampa and Ybor City. Residents of – and employees in – these and their nearby neighborhoods are encouraged to complete the survey and ask their friends, neighbors and co-workers to do the same.

There are two separate surveys, one for employees in the aforementioned neighborhoods, and one for their residents. (Those people who work and reside in and near these areas are welcome to fill out both.)

Read More Here.