Sonata Looks like Creative Loafing Tampa Bay will have to update the "Tampa Bay's best restaurant and bar patios with ridiculously scenic views" dining guide soon, because a popular St. Pete hotspot just debuted its own waterfront restaurant called Sonata. The Mahaffey Theater's new fine dining restaurant opens today, Dec. 1, and reservations can be made via OpenTable. Back in October, Bill Edwards—who owns that entertainment company that operates the city-owned Mahaffey Theater—told St. Pete’s city council that a new fine dining restaurant called Sonata will soon open out of the popular event space. The Mill’s former managing partner and executive chef Ted Dorsey helms the kitchen of this new restaurant, which features “coastal cuisine presented with Southern hospitality in an elegant atmosphere.” The high-end restaurant utilizes the theater’s already-existing kitchen that was previously used for catering orders and events. Sonata boasts a seating capacity of a couple hundred, but more tables will be added to the theater's first floor and patio space next year. Its dinner menu, which can be browsed on its website, features appetizers like charred calamari, pork belly burnt ends and lump crab cakes, and entrees like pork osso bucco over buttermilk, red curry coconut braised short ribs, seared diver scallops, crab-stuffed lobster tails and a variety of steaks and sides. 400 1st St. S, St. Petersburg. sonatarestaurant.com
Rene’s Mexican Kitchen A favorite taco spot amongst Tampeños has just debuted its newest food truck, just shy of 2 miles from its original location. Rene’s Mexican Kitchen celebrated the grand opening of its newest food truck on Wednesday, Nov. 29. The new taco truck is parked outside of Tampa Heights' Grand Cathedral Cigars and it's opening coincides with the church-turned-lounge's three day-long cigar celebration happening this weekend. This permanent location of Rene’s Mexican Kitchen shares the exact same menu as its OG Seminole Heights food truck and newly-opened walk-up window in Ybor City. Customers can choose tacos, burritos or tortas loaded with al pastor, chorizo and cheese, carne asada, pork barbacoa and chile relleno, alongside vegetarian options like butternut squash and quinoa and oyster mushrooms. Chef Rene tells CL this his new Tampa Heights outpost will be open from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sunday. It will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday. 2201 N Florida Ave., Tampa. @Renesmexicankitchenofficial on Facebook
HCK Hot Chicken Tampa Bay has had a bit of a spicy chicken growth spurt over the last year, but there's still one more new concept about to debut before 2023 calls it quits. Fast casual restaurant chain HCK Hot Chicken (which stands for Hot Chickn Kitchn), will celebrate the grand opening of its first Tampa location on Saturday, Dec. 9. The new spot opens at 11 a.m., and to honor the occasion sandwiches will be just $5 all day long; the first 23 people in line will score a free sandwich, too. HCK is also giving away free sandwiches for a year to one lucky winner. Anyone interested in winning a year's worth of sammys has to register online. As the name suggests, the Virginia-based chain specializes in made to order Nashville-style chicken tendies and sandwiches, made with 100% certified halal chicken. The menu also features loaded fries, salads, fried pickles, wings, mac and cheese and waffles. 3343 S Westshore Blvd., Tampa. eathck.com—Colin Wolf
Closings
Dairy Inn After seven sweet decades, a piece of St. Pete history has quietly closed its doors at 1201 Dr M.L.K. Jr St N. Crescent Lake's longtime ice cream and snack shack Dairy Inn is now closed, and all of its equipment and signage has been removed. While Dairy Inn’s Instagram account has remained relatively inactive over the past few years, its bio now reads “Relocating…Look forward to updates.” Calls to Dairy Inn—which is not yet listed as “permanently closed” on Google—did not go through and its phone number seems disconnected. As of now, the Pinellas County Property Appraisal website shows no activity happening with its St. Pete property, although ILovetheBurg writes that a nearby business owner said that the former Dairy Inn building will be razed to make way for new development. Dairy Inn's building has undergone extensive renovations over the past year or so, rendering its once-orange building with a large, wraparound awning into a stripped down shack. The history of Dairy Inn dates back to 1947 when it first opened as a Dairy Queen, according to a Creative Loafing article from 2006. 1201 Dr M.L.K. Jr St. N, St. Petersburg. @dairyinnstpete on Instagram
Events
Krampusnacht 2023 Every December, Seminole Heights’ Independent Bar & Cafe hosts a free-to-attend party that celebrates drinking, untraditional holiday festivities and St. Nick's “devilish companion”, best known as Krampus. Ancient European folklore says that the horned beast roams the streets looking for naughty children to scare about 20 days before Christmas day. The local watering hole honors him on Tuesday, Dec. 5 with an annual holiday gift market full of local makers, tarot readings by Diana Mystic of the Dark, harp music from Katara’s Seth Adam Lynn, hot mulled wine and lots of flowing beer. The vendor lineup for Krampusnacht currently includes Microgroove Records, Krystal Ralph Art and Hobo Renaissance alongside a few more that have yet to be announced. And if you happen to have any horns or hairy costumes laying around at home, feel free to dress up as the half-goat, half-demon and maybe you’ll get a beer on the house. 5016 N Florida Ave., Tampa.independentbartampa.com Siesta Key Seafood & Music Festival December means cooler weather soon, but you can always drive a bit south and enjoy a sunny, seafood-filled day on the beach to remind yourself why you live here in the first place. This year’s rendition of the Siesta Beach Seafood & Music Festival spans three days and features dozens of fish mongers, a marketplace of local artisan vendors and lots of family-friendly fun. Organizers say that all of the festival’s seafood offerings are fresh and cooked on-site at Siesta Beach Park, featuring “fresh, local and sustainable ocean resources from the Florida Gulf Coast.” Both alcoholic and N/A beverages will be available for purchase throughout the festival grounds. The event’s three-day live music lineup features local artists like popular blues guitarist Damon Fowler, Port Charlotte-based Gas House Gorillas and Florida Music Hall of Fame inductee Sean Chambers performing genres like rock, blues, reggae and Americana. 948 Beach Rd., Sarasota. @siestabeachseafoodandmusicfestival on Facebook ICYMI
Downtown St. Petersburg’s ‘First Friday’ block party is canceled indefinitely A longtime nightlife tradition in The 'Burg may be coming to an end. The organizers of downtown St. Pete's First Friday block party took to social media to announce a temporary pause on the popular event. “As much as we love this event and the history behind it, First Friday St. Pete is still paused for now,” the organizers of the event wrote on Facebook this week. “It costs $12,000 to put on the event (insurance, city sanitation and police, permits, production, etc) with no profit to our company, and with a lack of interest from local businesses to sponsor the event, much less larger sponsors, we do not have the funds at this time.” There will be no First Friday block party happening on Dec. 1 in addition to November’s canceled event, but it’s still uncertain if January’s event will happen. The post ends with event organizers asking the community for more business sponsorships, one of the only ways that the annual party could continue. firstfridaystpete.org
‘Feels like home’: Actor Tyler Lepley on his new Seminole Heights restaurant and what brought him to Tampa If you’re one of the thousands of drivers that traveled on Florida Avenue last summer, chances are you noticed the exterior of the Social House restaurant change from gray to a sleek, dark blue seemingly overnight. When Hollywood actor Tyler Lepley first posted a sneak peek of himself outside the old Social House back in July, he and the rest of his team already had the keys to their new restaurant, lounge and bar. A few weeks after soft opening, Lepley’s Kitchen & Lounge located in Seminole Heights, hosts an invite-only grand opening celebration on Friday, Dec.1. It kicks off with a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Castor at 3 p.m. and continues throughout the night with plenty of drinks, Southern-Caribbean plates, and live DJs. The new restaurant is 21-and-up at all times, including weekend brunch. 6310 North Florida Ave., Tampa. @lepleystampa on Instagram
Safety Harbor favorite Pizzeria Gregario now pops up at Sweetwater Organic Community Farm each Sunday Last year, dough-obsessed Greg Seymour of Safety Harbor’s now-closed Pizzeria Gregario told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he wasn’t done with Florida and planned to participate in the “ethical snowbird” lifestyle. Well, winter is swiftly approaching and Seymour has made his perennial return back to the Bay area, and now slings his prized pies at a local farm’s market each Sunday alongside a variety of other vendors. Town n’ Country ‘s Sweetwater Organic Community Farm hosts a local vendor market each Sunday from noon-3 p.m., full of farm-fresh produce, Florida native plants, arts and crafts, yoga, homemade goods, entertainment and piping hot 10-inch pizzas. Former Pizzeria Gregario customers may recognize a few of Seymour's current pies, which include menu favorites like the “Fungus Among Us” loaded with roasted mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese, the “Tomato-Potato” with sundried tomatoes and smoked fontina. 5521 Hanley Rd. , Tampa. sweetwater-organic.org
Event Details
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