The Shops at Wiregrass...
I'm aware that I've been absent from LJ land for quite some time. I've been extrordinarily busy for the past few weeks. I did, however, manage to take a little time to hit the grand opening of the Shops at Wiregrass with Crazy Rob, Eileen and little D.
The Shops is a brand new shopping plaza that they've recently built in our little corner of the Tampa Bay area. It's somewhat comparable to Hyde Park. JcPenney's, Macy's and Dillard's are the anchor stores and there are plenty of mall-type staples like Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, dozens of apparel stores and the like, all in an outdoor open-air setting. They allow cars to parallel park on the main road through the complex which really gives it a kind of "Town Square" atmosphere. There are over 100 stores, shops and restaurants, but I'm only going to mention what really jumped out at me.
The Brass Tap. Let me start by saying that we have NO bars in my neighborhood. If you want to sit in a bar stool, have a beer and watch a baseball game, you have two choices. Either sit at a the bar in a restaurant like Chili's or Applebee's or the like, or drive to another part of the city.
This is our first BAR. Now I'm not really all that much of a barhopper anymore. Occasionally I'll hit up the Ale House or O'Brien's or somewhere else where I can just drink a decent beer and listen to some decent music. But finally having an option so close to home is an attractive notion.
The place had a wall of taps with 40 beers on draught and no macrobrews (no Budweiser will be served here). There are also 350 bottled beers all of which can also be purchased and carried out. The open air windows lead directly out to the sidewalk seating. When we went, there was a dude playing accoustic guitar and it was really bustling. This is my kind of place.
Ah, Barnes and Noble. With the amount of books that I read I should probably own stock in Barnes and Noble and Borders. Before today if I wanted to hit a bookstore the closest Barnes and Noble was in Carrollwood. This is very good for my gas tank but probably very bad for my wallet. Closer access to books will probably mean I will be buying more, hehe.
This Barnes and Noble has a unique layout. Instead of the standard warehouse layout they opted more for the urban style with multple floors. There are large bay windows on the upper floor that look out over the rest of the plaza. It's like an Aztec temple. Only with books...
There are a number of restaurants in Wiregrass. Yamato Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, Grillsmith, 365 Cafe Italiano, Cosi, Moe's Southwestern Grille, Juice Zone, and an as-yet-unnamed Spanish Tapas place. We chose to eat at Cantina Laredo which is an upscale mexican place.
Mexican tends to be pretty much casual dining because it's cheap to make, so I've never seen an upscale mexican restaurant in the Bay area, much less eaten at one. It did not disappoint. I had these amazing enchilladas that were stuffed with marinated chicken, spinich and oaxaca cheese, and then topped with fire roasted tomatillos and jalapenos and these raw yucca strips that were soaked in apple wine and lime juice. The blend of flavors made for a very unique meal. For desert I had a single scoop of cinnammon ice cream which was very good.
All in all, I'm very impressed with how fast this place has come together. Christmas should be interesting as they're promising many giant trees, snow machines and lights all up and down the throughfare.
On a personal note, our "hood" is a relatively new part of the Bay area. We're a little underdeveloped and just a tad off the beaten path and it kind of makes me feel like I live in the sticks anytime one of my friends who lives closer to Downtown gripes about "having to come all the way up there." Having Wiregrass here kind of makes me feel like we're on the map now.
Boogieman out...
The Shops is a brand new shopping plaza that they've recently built in our little corner of the Tampa Bay area. It's somewhat comparable to Hyde Park. JcPenney's, Macy's and Dillard's are the anchor stores and there are plenty of mall-type staples like Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, dozens of apparel stores and the like, all in an outdoor open-air setting. They allow cars to parallel park on the main road through the complex which really gives it a kind of "Town Square" atmosphere. There are over 100 stores, shops and restaurants, but I'm only going to mention what really jumped out at me.
The Brass Tap. Let me start by saying that we have NO bars in my neighborhood. If you want to sit in a bar stool, have a beer and watch a baseball game, you have two choices. Either sit at a the bar in a restaurant like Chili's or Applebee's or the like, or drive to another part of the city.
This is our first BAR. Now I'm not really all that much of a barhopper anymore. Occasionally I'll hit up the Ale House or O'Brien's or somewhere else where I can just drink a decent beer and listen to some decent music. But finally having an option so close to home is an attractive notion.
The place had a wall of taps with 40 beers on draught and no macrobrews (no Budweiser will be served here). There are also 350 bottled beers all of which can also be purchased and carried out. The open air windows lead directly out to the sidewalk seating. When we went, there was a dude playing accoustic guitar and it was really bustling. This is my kind of place.
Ah, Barnes and Noble. With the amount of books that I read I should probably own stock in Barnes and Noble and Borders. Before today if I wanted to hit a bookstore the closest Barnes and Noble was in Carrollwood. This is very good for my gas tank but probably very bad for my wallet. Closer access to books will probably mean I will be buying more, hehe.
This Barnes and Noble has a unique layout. Instead of the standard warehouse layout they opted more for the urban style with multple floors. There are large bay windows on the upper floor that look out over the rest of the plaza. It's like an Aztec temple. Only with books...
There are a number of restaurants in Wiregrass. Yamato Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, Grillsmith, 365 Cafe Italiano, Cosi, Moe's Southwestern Grille, Juice Zone, and an as-yet-unnamed Spanish Tapas place. We chose to eat at Cantina Laredo which is an upscale mexican place.
Mexican tends to be pretty much casual dining because it's cheap to make, so I've never seen an upscale mexican restaurant in the Bay area, much less eaten at one. It did not disappoint. I had these amazing enchilladas that were stuffed with marinated chicken, spinich and oaxaca cheese, and then topped with fire roasted tomatillos and jalapenos and these raw yucca strips that were soaked in apple wine and lime juice. The blend of flavors made for a very unique meal. For desert I had a single scoop of cinnammon ice cream which was very good.
All in all, I'm very impressed with how fast this place has come together. Christmas should be interesting as they're promising many giant trees, snow machines and lights all up and down the throughfare.
On a personal note, our "hood" is a relatively new part of the Bay area. We're a little underdeveloped and just a tad off the beaten path and it kind of makes me feel like I live in the sticks anytime one of my friends who lives closer to Downtown gripes about "having to come all the way up there." Having Wiregrass here kind of makes me feel like we're on the map now.
Boogieman out...