Chef T’s Garden Grill has recently closed for business after a long run. It’s not entirely out of the question that the popular fine-dining restaurant in a 1920s-era yellow house has a future as Chef T’s again. “But for now I’m hanging up my chef’s jacket,” Terry Doner said. More
Maybe the biggest question looming over a fledgling downtown venue called The Joinery has been answered: Craft beer will continue to flow onsite. And the list of vendors who will fill the artisan food hall is nearly complete. More
A Shells restaurant, part of a Tampa Bay chain of casual seafood eateries with entrees in the $10-$20 range, is coming to the South Florida Avenue location recently vacated by Manny’s Chophouse.
Visitors to Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market have nothing to worry about come the end of August — or beginning of September — when Honeycomb Bread Bakers opens its brick-and-mortar shop at 213 E. Bay Street.
Customers will still find the bakery at the markets on Saturdays, along with their favorite wild Maine blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls and sourdough bread. Owner Benjamin Vickers said it was important to him that fervent market-goers continue to find him — he hopes to return to his spot in front of the State Office Building. And the location comes with advantages: More
Under the headline, “Is Lakeland Florida’s next hip food city? It sure seems like it,” Tampa Bay Times Food and Lifestyle Editor Michelle Stark takes a culinary tour of Lakeland.
Her tourguide was Maggie Leach, kitchen director at the Catapult small-biz incubator, so the tour leans heavily on Catapult friends and alumni. Featured eateries include soon-to-open spots such as The Joinery food hall, Yard on Mass food truck park and Honeycomb Bread Bakers downtown bistro. Established restaurants Stark visited established restaurants including Cafe Zuppina, Black & Brew and Born and Bread Bakehouse.
Also mentioned: The Poor Porker, Concord Coffee, Cob & Pen, Stuffed, No Guilt Baked Company, Cravory Cakes & Convections, A Cow Named Moo, and Patriot Coffee Roasters.
The Aztec d’Oro Mexican restaurant chain is expanding to Lakeland. It will occupy the stand-alone Oakbridge Square building built for TooJays Deli and will compete with nearby Tex-Mex chains Abuelo’s and Chili’s. Target opening: September-October | Website
James Kerr, a 34-year-old professional poker player from Winter Haven, is bringing a biscuit-centered, breakfast-and-brunch restaurant to the Dixieland spot that housed Nineteen61 until it moved downtown recently. He tells The Ledger he’s hoping for a September opening for “Biscuits and Benedits,” which is modeled after the Denver Biscuit Company and aims for a “Southern-modern, farmhouse vibe.”
Sampling everything on the menu was a pivotal moment for Becky and Ryan Richmond, owners of the newly opened Teriyaki Madness at downtown’s NoBay Village. More
An Irish pub anchors the new restaurant-catering service at Cleveland Heights Golf Course, and city officials are optimistic that their fourth private partner providing clubhouse cuisine will be their lucky charm. More
What: Grand opening of Nineteen61, a Latin fusion restaurant that has moved from Dixieland to downtown.
Where: 215 E. Main St., the circa-2005 building that was renovated three years ago to house the Posto 9 Brazilian gastropub.
When: Today, after several days of soft openings last week. More
