Creative Loafing Tampa — March 28, 2024

Events and Marketing MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Leigh Wilson

MANAGER

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Kristin Bowman

Corrie Miserendino Circulation

SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING MANAGER

Circulation

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta

Corrie Miserendino Circulation

Chava Communications Group

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta

Chava Communications Group

FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Chava Communications Group

Michael Wagner

Michael Wagner

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Michael Wagner

Cassandra Yardeni Wagner

Cassandra Yardeni Wagner

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Hollie Mahadeo

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Hollie Mahadeo

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES

DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES Kelsey Molina

Kelsey Molina

Cassandra Yardeni Wagner OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Hollie Mahadeo DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES

Cassandra Yardeni Wagner OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Hollie Mahadeo DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia

Kelsey Molina

Kelsey Molina

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY Colin Wolf

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia

Colin Wolf

ART DIRECTOR David Loyola

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY

ART DIRECTOR David Loyola

Colin Wolf

Colin Wolf

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Jaime Monzon

ART DIRECTOR David Loyola

ART DIRECTOR David Loyola

Jaime Monzon

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

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EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa

EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa

EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.

Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.

Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.

Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.

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The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.

The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.

The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.

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Get loud

Photos by Dave Decker

TThe 10th anniversary of Tampa Pride went down in Ybor City last Saturday, and thousands of revelers lined Seventh Avenue to celebrate and show the world that this corner of the Bay area stands behind its LGBTQ+ community. See more photos from the festivities via cltampa. com/slideshows. - Ray Roa

do this

Tampa Bay's best things to do from March 28 - April 4

Feeling blue

We know, we know—you’re still obsessed with strawberries. While the rest of the country harvests its blueberries in the summer, Florida climes mean we get to do it between April and May. Plant City’s Keel Farms celebrates the little blue fruit starting this Saturday, with a month-long festival that takes place Saturdays-Sundays through April 21 (but not on Easter). The 25-acre, family-friendly farm, brewery and winemaker offers U-pick options, plus live music, kid’s activities, vendors, a petting zoo and more.

Keel Farms Blueberry Festival: Saturdays & Sundays through April 21. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. No cover (parking is $10). Keel Farms, 5202 Thonotosassa Rd., Plant City. keelfarms.com—Ray Roa

She’s a beauty

What is the logical outcome of being emotionally trapped while mentally fragile? Katrina Stevenson gives us a Maureen (pictured, right) for whom we feel empathy despite the mistrust, hesitation, resentment and malevolence of being Mag’s sole caregiver for the last 20 years filled with insults, threats and physical abuse. David M. Jenkins

brothers who serve to complicate the action. Jenkins also coached the consistent and authentic dialects and supervised the carefully wrought violence in a production that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go.

The Beauty Queen of Leanne: Select nights through April 7. $40 & up. Shimberg Playhouse at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N Macinnes Pl., Tampa. jobsitetheater.org— Jon Palmer Claridge

Get your roll on

To kickoff the year, 31-yearold Skatepark of Tampa ramped up its four-hour, girls meetup & skate session reserved for nonmen, who are welcome to come to the park on the last Saturday of every month to skate on their own, or get tips from experienced local skaters who will be on hand to offer guidance to anyone who wants it. Skaters of all ages will also have access to an air-conditioned room for unwinding and hanging out, plus free lunch and contests provided by SPoT, which added a women’s bracket to its pro contest in 2020.

Girls meetup & skate session: Saturday, March 30 (last Saturdays through Dec. 28). 10 a.m.-2 p.m. No cover. Skatepark of Tampa,4215 E. Columbus Dr., Tampa. skateparkoftampa. com—Ray Roa

ZBIGNEV/ADOBE

JOSH BOWSER/SKATEPARK OF TAMPA

(Pato, pictured left) and Blake Smallen (Ray) shine as two

JAMES ZAMBON PRODUCTIONS

Squadron up

Traffic is going to be hell for AirFest this weekend at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base. An advisory from the City of Tampa says upwards of 150,000 people are expected to flood the site over two days, and notes that mass transportation will not be allowed “due to personnel and logistical issues.” What’s more is that the base discourages the use of ridesharing, and instead “recommends guests carpool using their own transportation.” Folks are allowed to walk onsite, however, and if you take a bike there, know that you have to wear a helmet on base. Airplane freaks might still want to grind it out though, and not just for the Air Force Thunderbirds, or loads of vintage and new aircraft. A rep for MacDill—home to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command—told the WVTV that AirFest won’t return until 2028, due to hangar expansion to accommodate new tanker planes.

Tampa Bay AirFest 2024: Friday-Saturday, March 29-30. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. No cover. MacDill Air Force Base, 6901 S. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa. tampabayairfest.com—Ray Roa

One of The Commodore’s guiding principles is a goal to both support and create work with a point of view that is rooted in the community in which we all live. Kelly Buttermore, co-founder of the improv theater on the border of Ybor City and Tampa Heights calls the concept “comedic placemaking,” and they’re asking me to join in for the second installment of “The Catch Up.” Hosts

Coming home

In our 2022 list of Bay area rappers to watch, Zhalarina was lauded for her origins in the slam poetry scene and accolades earned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's First Wave, a theater program that integrates hip-hop. She even won an Emmy in the Chicago/Midwest region for PBS Wisconsin’s “The Light,” an autobiographical story told through three music videos which Zhalarina wrote, acted in, and produced. Zhalarina, who caught NPR’s attention in 2021 for her Tiny Desk entry “"Lala,” is back in Ybor City for a hometown show that promises to follow “the treacherous journey from perfectionism to the freedom of vulnerability, and being surprised by joy along the way.”

The Perfect Show w/Zhalarina/ DJ Afro Blanco/Gunny/more: Saturday, March 30. 7 p.m. $25. Kress Collective, 1624 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. zhalarina.com—Ray Roa

Landon Cassman and Commodore coowner John Lasavath (alum of American Stage in St. Pete) describe the action as a blend of “The Daily Show” and Weekend Update from “Saturday Night Live,” but with a Florida twist. “We use real headlines from the local news and satirize the unique events that occur in our state,” Cassman, an alum of Second City company who also worked in media in Chicago, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Improvised character interviews, comedic sketches, and filmed bits are all part of it along with an interview with a newsworthy member of the local community—last month, it was someone pretending to be Palm Harbor-based Sheila the chimp (the oldest of her species, mind you). I can’t live up to that, and no way I’ll be as interesting as Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz (pictured) who will share his own Tampa stories as the guest in the show after “The Catch Up,” but I promise not to let you down. Read more on p. 45.

30. 7:30

ZHALARINA OR PBS WISCONSIN

ADOBE/MATTHEW TIGHE OR MAXFX Opening act

The Commodore Catch-up: Saturday, March

p.m. $10. The Commodore, 811 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. commodorecomedy.com—Ray Roa

© MARKUS FELIX PUSHINGPIXELS CC BY-SA 3.

NOW AT THE DALÍ

Explore renowned French Impressionist paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, alongside the early Salvador Dalí works they inspired.

TheDali.org Open until 8pm this Sat, Mar 30. Advanced tickets recommended.

POLITICS ISSUES OPINION

Be more like Mimi

A farewell to St. Pete’s punk-rock den mother, Mimi Reilly.

By Arielle Stevenson

It’s 2006-ish, and Star Booty Salon owner Mimi Reilly is standing outside her shop on the 600 Block of Central Avenue by the old State Theater. With a hot pink hand-shaped chair next to her, her thrifted Starbucks apron is on, her hair golden in the sun, her hands are on her hips. Her big bright smile is there too, electric. A clothing rack of cheap band t-shirts and old goth boots perched next to her, the shop window packed with incense and cheap glass pipes for sale. Her dog, Dex, sleeps on the floor. Blondie or Devo or the Stooges blares from a stereo. A homeless guy comes in trying to sell her sunglasses and she politely tells him, “No thanks, maybe next week.” The walls are lined in concert posters and photos of rockers who sat in her chair for a cut or a shave. Gossip and bleach fill the air, someone is getting a purple mohawk for the first time.

were such a force to be reckoned with, it’s believed that Emerald Bar began opening at night in response to the crowd.

In 2006, Bust magazine did a feature on St. Petersburg, including Star Booty.

“In this thrifty punk-rock-clothing/various-other-stuff shop, you can grab a haircut in the makeshift salon in the back. With your freshly mohawked do, you’ll fit right in on this part of Central,” the article said. A photo of the shop window features the caption, “let Star Booty make you a cutie.”

“She brought so many different groups of people together.”

She tells me how she grew up driving old Volkswagens, just like me. She’s like this real life Annie Potts in “Pretty in Pink” to so many of us young folk looking for someone to tell them it’s OK to be weird, better even. She’s this ubiquitous and endless source of cool.

She was born Mignonne Jeannette Reilly on July 17, 1966 at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital, to parents Larry and Rogette. She was raised in Trenton, New Jersey, and moved to St. Petersburg as a teenager to attend St. Pete High School. She got her cosmetology degree at the now-defunct Tomlinson Adult Education Center, which was sold to developers in 2021. Her big heart stopped beating on Feb. 6 after complications from cancer, she was 57.

The story goes that she opened Star Booty in 1996, in what she dubbed the Doom District (aka the Dome) on Central Avenue and 11th Street. Soon, Star Booty moved to Central, right across from Daddy Kool Records. And then this thing started happening between the record store, State Theater, Star Booty, Emerald Bar and Fubar. A scene emerged.

“She was the hub of the scene,” longtime friend Kim Dicce told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “Everyone knew they could go and see her.”

Mimi and her Star Booty Xmas parties

St. Pete Indie Market founder Rosey Williams would eventually move her Ramblin’ Rose vintage shop into the salon. Print St. Pete founder Kaitlin Crockett sold her Omadarlin printed wares there. Local designers like House of Merch could be shopped within her confines, plus local artists often sold original pieces right from the salon walls.

The first time I saw folk duo Avery and Hunter Moore play was seated on the salon floor during Antiwarpt tour on a hot July night in 2011 (Avery would go on to co-found St. Pete rock band Broom Closet). We all left with hair clippings on our clothes.

“She brought so many different groups of people together,” Dicce added. “There’s so many people that wouldn’t know each other if it wasn’t for her.”

When we talk, during my hair cut or someone else’s, it’s often about what was going wrong in the city.

“Listen to this bullshit,” she’d say, recounting some horrifying decision by city leadership to support developers instead of small business owners and workers. “These motherfuckers.”

A few years back, Mimi organized some folks to fight back when the city was looking to approve a Dunkin’ Donuts on the corner of 9th Street, and First Avenue N. The project failed under so much public backlash.

When she wasn’t at the salon, Mimi was often working the merch table at shows that came through Jannus Landing and State.

continued on page 16

The

HORSE HAIR: Chris Parks (aka Palehouse, L) and Mimi Reilly.

The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg present

www.DFAC.org

APRIL

PRESENTED BY THE MARGARET ACHESON STUART SOCIETY AND THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, ST. PETERSBURG A

A grand Spring tradition, Art in Bloom presents floral interpretations of works in the MFA Collection. Designs are created by professional florists, talented hobbyists, and members of The Stuart Society. Join us as we celebrate Spring!

Floral interpretations will be displayed in the Museum’s galleries and gardens Thursday, April 4 – Sunday, April 7, and are included with the cost of Museum admission. Don’t miss our special Conversations with the Designers on Sunday, April 7, from 2-4 pm. Visit mfastpete.org for complete event information, tickets, RSVPs, and additional programs. Events are subject to change.

continued from page 13

She loved live music, her favorite band being X (second favorite being R.E.M.), fronted by Exene Cervenka who grew up in St. Pete, too. Lifelong New York friend Delissa Santos told CL about a message Mimi left on her answering machine when X decided to crash with Mimi after a show at State.

“She calls me and is like holy shit, Exene is going to spend the night in the bed,” Santos said. “She was like, I’m never gonna change the sheets ever again.”

Santos met Mimi when they were both 19 years old and Mimi was living with her pops in Trenton, New Jersey. Mimi was working in the juniors department at Macy’s back then and going to shows at Trenton’s legendary City Gardens punk venue in her downtime. Santos was in a band with Mimi’s boyfriend at the time and they hit it off talking about music. Through boyfriends, breakups, cross-country moves, and all that life brings, they stayed in touch.

“We just stayed friends through everything,” Santos told CL. “We tried to meet up at least once a year up here in New York or down in St. Pete.”

Santos recalled when Mimi started cutting her hair, just at people’s houses, before she opened Star Booty. Mimi had an idea to open

her own salon when she came back to Florida, as her own combination of the East Village’s Trash and Vaudeville vintage store with a punk rock salon nearby called Astor Place.

“They cut hair but they sold a lot of cool shit, it was before Hot Topic,” Ricky Seelbach, longtime friend and musician, told CL. “She used to sell the TUK boots, Monkey Boots, you could get studded belts, you get all your gear there that you couldn’t find anywhere else.”

Over 18 years, Star Booty moved again and again, as rents rose and forced her and others like Daddy Kool Records, off the very block they helped to make cool. She does it flawlessly each time, with the final move putting her in own building on 16th Street S.

Mimi and her longtime partner, Eddie Meade, celebrated 16 years together before she passed away. She was “the Coug” to Eddie’s life as a touring “Roadie.” When he was home, they were together. She traveled around the world to see him with bands like Steel Panther and Sevendust.

She looked out for her own, building an accessory dwelling unit for her mother Rogette to live in.

“She was larger than life.”

She visited her pops Larry in Trenton, coming home with stories and patches from swap shop meetups. Despite getting sick, despite the cancer coming back when no one thought it would, Dicce says that it never slowed her down.

A benefit and celebration of Mimi’s life is planned for Saturday, March 30, at the Factory, starting at 3 p.m. Two stages will alternate with live music throughout the night including: Adam Turkel & Billy Summer, Spanish Needles, the Inhalers, Flag Burner, Tiger 54, Mosquito Teeth, ATL DOG, Merzky beat, VD, Star of Khorala, and Human Error. Print St. Pete’s Kaitlin Crockett has a dedicated Mimi zine set to debut at the memorial. It’s free to attend and all ages welcome. Donations are being collected to benefit Mimi’s Star Booty Rock-n-Roll Salon, where bills are piling up in her absence and repairs are needed.

“The city needs closure,” Lauren Gentry, longtime friend of Mimi’s and organizer of the memorial service, told CL. “She was larger than life.”

“Mimi had this relatable energy,” Manny “Kool” Matalon wrote on Facebook after Mimi’s passing.

“You fit in, you belonged, and you had a confidant in her.”

Without a landlord, Star Booty was set to flourish into a space big enough for her imagination. Santos said she was talking about turning part of the space into an art gallery someday.

“She was a perpetuator of the underground scene,” Santos said.

“Mimi was such a fighter. She had cancer twice, she had all these strokes. And she just kept going. She’d be going out like right after chemo,” Dicce said. “She didn’t want to waste any time.”

The fleeting moments when St. Petersburg feels very much its own, cool and gritty and strange. That’s Mimi. Her spirit infused itself into the very blood and bone of this city. More than perhaps people like the Mayor, it was people like Mimi that made St. Petersburg the place we wanted to be.

Gentry noted that Mimi’s mother, Rogette, asked that anyone who wants to send flowers for Mimi go ahead and donate to St. Pete’s Pet Pal Animal Shelter instead.

The fact is that so many people claim Mimi as their own that this tribute could continue endlessly for years. And I will never be able to encompass all that she was and did for this place we call home. That should be a testament to the kind of life she lived and the way we all ought to be.

Be more like Mimi.

LOVE MIMI: Alli Arnold's sleepless night logo, plus Reilly's dogs, Raindrop and Woody."

WUSF PRESENTS THE LONGEST TABLE

WUSF’S Longest Table will be held on Thursday, April 4th. Please mark your calendars for our rain date, Friday, April 5th.

Details available online at wusflongesttable.org or by calling (800) 741-9090.

THANK YOU

Beach, please

Mayor of Redington Beach among those urging DeSantis to veto short-term vacation rental bill.

By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix

As lawmakers were winding down in the Capitol, Florida lawmakers finally passed a contentious bill that has irked local governments over the past decade — a proposal to give the state more power to regulate shortterm vacation rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo platforms, which have changed the vacation landscape in a tourist-heavy state.

But a growing list of opponents have been inundating Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office with emails and phone calls ever since. The bill had been approved on the second to last day of the legislative session, which ended March 8.

The opponents began urging DeSantis to veto the measure, with neighborhood residents and local government officials from coastal and tourist communities saying that the bill will tarnish their quality of life.

Other opponents — such as the Florida Realtors group — say that if the measure becomes law, it will erode the rights of property owners who rent out their homes, and ultimately hurt the state’s economy.

“We are trying to educate the governor that this is a bad bill and only hurts residential communities,” says David Will, the mayor of Redington Beach in Pinellas County. Will has made numerous trips to Tallahassee to lobby against this bill and previous versions of the proposal since he was elected in 2021.

“We are one signature away from sweeping legislation that will change Florida’s vacation rental lodging association forever,” warns the Florida Alliance for Vacation Rentals (FAVR), in an email message to its members.

Fair and balanced?

Unlike other controversial bills approved in Tallahassee this past session, the opposition to the measure (SB 280) transcended partisanship, with the House passing it 60-51, one of the closest margins of any proposal that came before the chamber this winter.

Pinellas County Republican Nick DiCeglie, the Senate bill sponsor, said the measure was a “fair and balanced” approach to an issue that has divided residential communities and the rights of property owners in Florida for years. He told lawmakers at one committee meeting earlier this year that while every community in the state is unique, a state law was required to prevent local governments from enacting ordinances that are used “as a weapon to stop vacation rentals from operating at all.”

a statewide database of all short-term rental hosts, but critics note that it does not require that vacation hosts report a physical address to either the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR), nor the local government which is registering the property.

LOCAL NEWS

“Do any other bricks and mortar businesses in Florida get to hide their physical addresses from the public,” Indian Rocks Beach resident Kelly Cisarik wrote in a letter to Gov. DeSantis requesting that he veto the bill.

the emergency occurred. There will be no state license number or local registration number displayed on the exterior of a building under SB 280 either. My city requires an exterior placard with the local registration number. Those will be gone if this law is implemented.”

Similar concerns coming from all over Florida

DiCeglie boasted that the bill now creates

“How would local law enforcement or fire departments quickly find a property owner in an emergency? They respond to an address that is not listed with the state! The state registry does not list that physical address where

“The explosive growth of short-term rentals has rocked the neighborhood. It seems like it happened overnight all of a sudden,” says Carol Anderson, the president of North Beach Community Alliance Inc. in Vilano Beach, an unincorporated part of St. Johns County just outside of St. Augustine in northeast Florida. Anderson tells the Phoenix that in 2022 her organization

“This is a bad bill and only hurts residential communities.”

discovered that 40% of the properties in their neighborhood had become short-term rentals, and that 70% had been purchased since 2018. St. Johns County passed their own ordinance regulating short-term vacation rentals in 2021— an ordinance that would be stripped away if the governor signs the bill. “I just don’t think that pulling out the local limitations that we’re allowed is going to be helpful at all because the state’s not putting anything in there to be duplicative of what we have,” Anderson says.

In 2011 the Legislature prohibited local governments from enacting any new laws that restricted the use of vacation rentals. But just three years later they amended the law after

continued on page 23

DON’T SIGN IT: A sign in Indian Rocks Beach on Jan. 14, 2023.

MITCH PERRY

continued from page 21

receiving substantial criticism from local governments. The 2014 law allowed those local governments the ability to handle issues like noise, trash and parking, but said that they still could not regulate the duration of the frequency of short-term rentals.

In the bill passed earlier this month, a late-filed amendment was added: Counties can keep their own local vacation rental ordinances as long as they were passed before 2016 — which as it turns out, affects only one jurisdiction — Flagler County, which passed its local ordinance regulating short-term vacation rentals in February 2015.

That carveout has outraged some local mayors.

“We passed a comprehensive local registration process in 2020 when that was permitted but I think this bill kills [that] for us but not Flagler. But why?” Melbourne Beach Mayor Alison Dennington told the Phoenix in an email. “We spent a great deal of money (staff, numerous meetings, legal fees, drafting and redrafting, public notice, 1st and 2nd reads, etc.).

Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Cookie Kennedy says it took over six months last year for her city to come up with an ordinance regulating short-term vacation rentals. “Why isn’t Pinellas County, exempt from the bill?” she says, laughing. “How fair is that? I mean, what is this about?”

In introducing the amendment, neither DiCeglie nor the House bill sponsor, Bay County Republican Philip Griffitts, ever explained why Flagler County, which coincidentally is the home to House Speaker Paul Renner, was allowed to have their local ordinance regulating vacation rentals “grandfathered” into the bill.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of odd?” Kennedy asks.

“It’s not fair”

The city of Anna Maria is a residential community located at the northern end of Anna Maria Island in Manatee County on Florida’s west coast. Its mayor, Dan Murphy, was reportedly scheduled to meet with DeSantis this week, according to The Anna Maria Islander. Murphy did not return the Phoenix’s request for comment but did tell the local paper that the bill’s provision on regulating occupancy would be “virtually unenforceable.”

the charge for a registration fee from property owners was too low, DiCeglie amended it to now give local governments the ability to charge a “reasonable fee.” The Realtors say that risks charging “excessive fees” to property owners who want to rent their homes out.

LOCAL NEWS

The bill also calls for capping the maximum overnight occupancy at the greater of either two people per bedroom, plus an additional two people in one common area, or more than two people per bedroom if there is at least 50 square feet per person. The Realtors oppose that provision, saying it would mean that “multi-family groups could struggle to find accommodations that comfortably fit everyone,” potentially leading to higher costs for those families, prompting them to choose other states to vacation.

statewide will also feel the increasing burden of more regulations, fees, fines and more hoops to jump through,” the organization recently wrote to its members in an email.

“It’s not perfect”

Even those who supported the proposal in the Legislature aren’t doing much to sell its benefits.

Pinellas County House Republican Berny Jacques, who voted for the bill, told some constituents at a town hall meeting recently that “it’s not perfect. Sometimes you just have to hold your nose sometimes.”

the state taking over control of regulating tens of thousands of vacation rentals.

“We are a very diverse state. For us to be micromanaging vacation rentals, I am not sure that is the right thing to do,” DeSantis told reporters after a dedication ceremony at Florida A&M University, as reported by the News Service of Florida. “These are things where you’ll have kind of a quiet neighborhood. Then you will have someone doing this and there are parties going on and some of the residents get upset. My view would be, probably, that it should be determined locally.”

“Sometimes you just have to hold your nose sometimes.”

“It’s not fair. … This is something that could change the whole complexion of this city,” Murphy said. “This is something that could be really devastating to us.”

Adding some heft to the opposition is the Florida Realtors, but for different reasons than where the local governments are coming from.

For example, after receiving criticism that

Another opponent is the Florida Alliance for Vacation Rentals (FAVR), a vacation rental owner’s nonprofit association. They’re warning its members that if passed, the measure would be a bureaucratic nightmare for the tens of thousands of Floridians who currently rent out their homes to paying visitors.

“Vacation Rental Managers who operate

“I see both aspects of [the issue],” he added. “People say private property rights. I can appreciate that, but it’s also your private property rights to not live next to a hotel, right? And so how do you balance that? And there are public safety elements as well.”

Gov. DeSantis hasn’t commented publicly about SB 280, but back in 2020, when a similarly worded bill was making its way through the legislative committee process, he let it be known that philosophically he had issues with

Once the Legislature sends SB 280 to DeSantis, he will have 15 days to either sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

FEELING JUST BEACHY: Aerial view of Anna Maria Island’s Coquina Beach.

UNWIND/ADOBE

FREE EXHIBIT AT POYNTER PARK

CELEBRATING KINDNESS RESPECT & INCLUSION

MARCH 2 - MARCH 31, 2024

Experience 50 billboard-sized works of art and thought-provoking quotations by artists and writers from around the world.

FRE E ADMISSION

Easement does it

Everyone talks about Florida’s conservation easements like they’re permanent, but they aren’t.

By Craig Pittman/Florida Phoenix

Florida may be the only state where the economy depends on the willing suspension of disbelief.

I’m not just talking about the thousands of tourists drawn here by the theme park fantasy factories along Interstate 4.

I’m talking about all the developers who tout retention pond lots as “lakefront.” The Ponzi schemers who assure suckers that they’re making a sound investment. Government officials who promise the public that nothing bad could happen from rebuilding in areas where a storm surge wiped out everyone a few years before.

Now I have a new one to add to my Florida cynic’s hit parade: conservation easements.

JR.

When state government buys the development rights to land instead of spending money to buy the land itself, it has acquired a conservation easement on the property.

You see announcements about them pop out as regularly as the latest updates on Taylor Swift’s love life: “State acquires another conservation easement!” “Land preserved by new conservation easement!” “Conservation easement saves rare species habitat from development!”

Those easements have preserved a lot of Florida forests, swamps, and beaches.

“Since the late-1990s,” the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says on its website, the state has “acquired more than 140 conservation easements and land protection agreements, protecting over 262,000 acres statewide.”

But last week, I found out something a trifle disturbing about our Florida conservation easements. It snapped my head back like that scene in “The Killers” where Ronald Reagan smacks Angie Dickinson across a room.

Although everyone talks about conservation easements like they’re permanent, they aren’t.

Some agencies have been quietly disposing of theirs on a regular basis. State law allows them to do that.

as it is no longer convenient to protect land or restrict development.”

COLUMN

And because there’s no central directory to show where all the conservation easements are located, these state agencies usually don’t have anyone looking over their shoulders to object.

These lucrative land deals are supposed to preserve the property in perpetuity. But Kimberly Buchheit, a Central Florida land surveyor and environmental activist, told me, “Perpetuity has reached an expiration date: as soon

Eric Draper was in charge of the Florida State Park system from 2017 to 2021 and he’s long been an advocate for environmental land acquisition. I contacted him to ask if he knew about this loophole. He did not and was flabbergasted.

“This turns the whole purpose of those easements on its head,” he said.

Nobody paying attention

As always when I have a question about Florida’s environmental land-buying programs, I contacted Clay Henderson, who literally wrote the book on this subject (“Forces of Nature: A History of Florida Land Conservation,” order your copy today!).

He has more than a mere academic interest in this subject. About 40 years ago, in Volusia County, he helped spearhead the nation’s first voter-approved land-buying project.

Henderson confirmed that the conservation easement loophole exists. It’s apparently been there ever since a change in the federal tax code made the sale of such easements a way to ease the landowners’ tax burden.

continue forestry under more conservationminded harvesting criteria,” Henderson said. The first one issued, he said, was to save some timber property owned by Georgia Pacific in Volusia County.

“This turns the whole purpose of those easements on its head.”

In 1996, he said, conservation easements were added to Florida’s popular Preservation 2000 land-buying program (the predecessor of the current Florida Forever program).

“We believed there was interest in working with the large forestry interests to purchase their development rights and allow them to

Over time, the easements have grown in popularity as our parsimonious Legislature has balked at spending a lot of money acquiring land for parks and preserves. Buying only the easements is a way to make a little bit of cash stretch like Mr. Fantastic.

Boosting the sale of those easements even more: The Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, passed in 2001. That law allows the state to buy the development rights from farmers

continued on page 26

LET THERE BE LIGHTSEY: Leaders at Conservation Florida said, ‘Lightsey Family Ranch will never be a subdivision or hundreds of concrete homes.’

GEORGE MCKENZIE

continued from page 25

and ranchers and let them continue working the land.

So far, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the state has acquired conservation easements on nearly 69,000 acres of working agricultural land.

Just last month, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced he’d spent more than $8 million to acquire easements on a 707acre ranch in Polk County, a 998-acre timber and cattle operation in Putnam County, and a 525-acre cattle ranch in Polk County.

Now the Legislature wants to funnel millions in gambling revenue that the state will receive from the Seminole Tribe to such land preservation programs. As a result, we will probably soon see a boom in conservation easement sales (unless a court halts the exclusive gambling deal).

habitats,” DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton told WUSF-FM for a story headlined, “A key portion of the Florida Wildlife Corridor will remain undeveloped.”

Except maybe it won’t, Shadix said.

For one thing, the ranch is not exactly welcoming to any wildlife that might be traveling in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, she pointed out.

COLUMN

Lightseys have been tending cattle in Florida since 1858, but this Lightsey ranch makes money another way. On its Facebook page, the ranch bills itself as a “Premier HUNTING destination as well as Corporate Retreat.” Owner Lee Lightsey made news in 2016 when a hunter he was guiding killed an alligator on Lightsey’s property that was roughly the size of Godzilla.

Sometimes the easements that are lifted were purchased by a government agency to protect the land. Others have been set aside as a required part of a mitigation project to make up for destroying wetlands elsewhere.

No one I talked to was sure when Florida government agencies started reversing the easement ownership to make land available for development again. But it’s definitely happening now.

Henderson told me that he checked the agendas for the last two monthly meetings of the St. Johns River Water Management District. He found three separate cases where the agency was giving up such an easement — far more than he had expected.

“I don’t think anyone’s really paying attention to this,” he told me. “I suspect it’s that there are so many developer consultant types who have a cozy relationship with the staff that it’s happening in an ad hoc way.”

The person who tipped me off about this surprising loophole was a woman from the Central Florida town of Geneva named Katrina Shadix, who is more than a little obsessed with bears.

She signs her emails “Beary Best Regards” and runs an organization called Bear Warriors United that sends free bear-proof straps for garbage can lids to anyone who asks.

She emailed me about the loophole last week after an organization called Conservation Florida was trumpeting how it had helped the state acquire a conservation easement on the 1,285-acre Lightsey Family Ranch near Venus. The ranch is the home of such threatened species as sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, Florida grasshopper sparrows, and burrowing owls.

“The protection of Lightsey Family Ranch further connects the Florida Wildlife Corridor, linking critical green landscapes and wildlife

When the DEP paid $4 million for the conservation easement on the Lightsey Ranch, it agreed to a host of conditions, including allowing the owners to continue bringing in exotic animals for hunters to pursue on the fenced-in property.

“This is really having your cake and eating it too,” said Lesley Blackner, a Tallahassee attorney working with Shadix who’s been giving developers heartburn for a couple of decades.

The DEP deal, Blackner said, “expressly authorizes ongoing use of the property as a canned hunt facility and further expressly authorizes ongoing importation of non-native game stock for hunting purposes,”

And, thanks to the loophole, the development rights can revert back to the Lightsey family at some point, she said.

“They can cash out in the future when development gets closer,” Blackner said.

Traci Deen, president and CEO of Conservation Florida, acknowledged that conservation easements such as this one may not last to (as Buzz Lightyear used to say) infinity and beyond.

“Easements, typically designed to protect the natural or open space value of a property in perpetuity, can be subjected to changes, terminations, or extinguishments under certain circumstances,” she said.

Nevertheless, she told me, “I am unaware of any such action on easements purchased through Florida Forever or P2000, as the Lightsey Family Ranch easement was.” Despite the possibility of a reversal of the conservation easement, Deen said, “Lightsey Family Ranch will never be a subdivision or hundreds of concrete homes — it will always be green.”

Development high-five

Shadix told me she found out about the loophole when she was at an Orange County Commission meeting some years ago.

She watched in astonishment as the commissioners voted to change the zoning on a

parcel from “conservation easement” to one that accommodated commercial development. She then saw a politically influential environmental consultant named John Miklos highfive another consultant who’d drawn up a report on the property, she said.

She called Blackner, who researched the law and found the loophole.

Up to that point, “I was ignorant of the whole process,” Shadix told me “I didn’t know if it was illegal or improper, but I was angry.”

She, Blackner, and Buchheit came up with a trio of examples and in December sent a letter about this issue to House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.

easement to make up for destroying another wetland during the construction of a nearby Walmart. The federal, state, and local governments had all signed off on that wetland mitigation arrangement (even though it constitutes a net loss of wetland acreage).

Then, in 2017, the St. Johns River water district board voted to lift the conservation easement on that property.

“They can cash out in the future when development gets closer."

Did our fine Legislature leap into action to close this loophole? They did not. They were far too busy ordering the schools to teach kindergarten kids about Communism and deleting references to climate change from state law.

You know, the really important stuff.

Contractor’s Wetlands Park?

Here’s one example from their letter, so you can see how this fast shuffle works.

In 2006, the owner of a project called Contractors Business Park in Orlando set aside a wetland to be “preserved” via conservation

The district’s board did that so that the wetland could be paved over as an office park, just as the name implies. Maybe if they had called it “Contractors Wetlands Park” it could have stayed in a natural state.

Anyway, the justification for undoing the easement is that the owner had paid for a different kind of mitigation to make up for the Walmart wetlands destruction. That way, the “preserved” wetland could be developed.

The owner had bought “credits” from a wetland mitigation bank in another area. Mitigation banks are places where wetlands have been restored or merely preserved and then state and federal agencies assign the owner a certain number of credits for that work, which he or she can then sell off for thousands of dollars each.

A lot of Florida’s developer-friendly wet-

continued on page 30

BEAR WITH ME: Katrina Shadix is from the Central Florida town of Geneva.

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WATER YOU SAYING: In 2017, the St. Johns River water district board voted to lift an easement. continued from page 26

land “mitigation banks” do little to really replace the wetlands that are lost to development. They classify dry land as wet, or merely preserve land rather than creating any new wetlands. But buying those credits makes everything look hunky-dory on paper.

You may not be surprised to hear that the consultant on the Contractors Business Park project was Miklos. He was also, at the time of the vote to lift this conservation easement, the chairman of the St. Johns River water board.

He stepped down from that post in 2019 after Buchheit filed an ethics complaint against him for similar conflicts. Buchheit told me that a plat has been filed for more commercial development to be built on that formerly “preserved” wetland.

Slap ’em like Ronnie

She was encouraging that agency to do something to track what was happening to the easements, since nobody else is. They didn’t seem interested in becoming Conservation Easement Central, she said.

Deen said one way to strengthen these easements is with “the inclusion of a ‘perpetual’ term in the deed and defining the purposes of the easement clearly.” Those steps can help prevent future attempts to dissolve or compromise the easement.

COLUMN

Blackner told me that other states have more stringent rules for their conservation easements, In Georgia, for instance, you have to go to court and persuade a judge to lift the easement, rather than simply win a majority of votes from a nine-member water board.

I tried repeatedly to reach the current chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District board, a former state senator named Rob Bradley. If his name sounds familiar, he’s the politician who sponsored a bill that forbids local governments from banning the sale of any type of sunscreen, even the kind that causes problems for Florida’s coral reefs.

If nothing else, she said, it would be nice if Florida changed its law to require that someone who sold their conservation easement to the state would have to pay back the millions to the taxpayers before the easement can be reversed and the land developed.

“Other states have more stringent rules for their conservation easements.”

Because his law firm’s website says he’s “certified by the Florida Bar as an Expert in City, County, and Local Government Law,” I’m guessing Bradley is well aware of the conservation easement loophole. He’s certainly seen it pop up on his meeting agendas.

Nevertheless, he didn’t call me back. Probably he’d been rubbing on some Coppertone and then his hands were too slippery to hold a phone.

Shadix tried to tell the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the loophole at its meeting last month.

Personally, I’d go even further. I’d say you could only buy back your development rights after running an advertisement in a general-circulation newspaper inviting any and all taxpayers to appear at a certain public place on a certain day to line up and slap you really hard.

I bet some slappers could do it even better than old Ronnie Reagan.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

FOOD NEWS

Good gulp

Craft beer passport relaunch, and more Bay area food news.

By Kyla Fields

Wherever you find yourself in Pinellas County you’re never far from a locally owned brewery, and beer bods are in for 2024 thanks to Visit St. Pete/Clearwater’s Gulp Coast Passport. The passport program debuted in 2021 and has returned to guide visitors and residents alike to over 40 local breweries, tasting unique brews from talented brewmasters throughout the county. The passport is available on users’ mobile devices and comes with deals and discounts at the participating breweries. To sign up for a pass go to visitstpeteclearwater.com, then claim your pass via text or email and add it to your home screen for immediate use. To earn points and redeem discounts and special offers passholders just have to show their mobile pass to the brewery staff member. Must-visit stops for passholders include Florida’s oldest microbrewery Dunedin Brewery, St. Pete staple Green Bench Brewing Company, and both of 3 Daughters Brewing locations in St. Pete and Clearwater Beach. visitstpeteclearwater.com—Suzanne

Openings

Townsend

The Neon Lunchbox As if millennials didn’t feel old enough, a new “retro-themed” bar and restaurant is bringing all of the fun, nostalgic vibes of the late-20th century to Central Avenue this year. The Neon Lunchbox just opened its doors at 1756 Central Ave. and now serves a variety of sandwiches, eclectic entrees and craft cocktails out of its '80s and '90s pop culture-themed restaurant. The new Central Avenue concept made its debut earlier this week and is now open from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, according to its Instagram James Castetter and Chelsey Andrew—the duo behind temporarily-closed restaurant Half Baked Potato on the same block—is bringing this new millennial-friendly concept to St. Pete's Grand Central District. Its menu consists of lunch options like perogies, fried mortadella sandwiches and steak fajitas in addition to entrees like panko-crusted Caribbean salmon, espresso-rubbed flank steak and pesto gnocchi. 1756 Central Ave., St. Pete. theneonlunchboxstpete. com

Welton Brewing Company & Oyster Bar After two-ish years of patient waiting, for-

mer regulars of Land O' Lakes' Welton Brewing Co. can finally indulge in fresh oysters and crisp IPAs once again. Welton Brewing Company & Oyster Bar took to social media to announce its long-awaited grand opening, set to take place on Saturday, March 23 at 11a.m. at its new fa-

and lobster to shrimp, clams and fish that can be ordered fried with a side of chips or served on a toasted roll. The family-owned brewery originally opened in Land O’ Lakes in January of 2020 and had an almost three year run before closing its doors in late 2022. 8098 66th St. N, Bldg. 2, Pinellas Park. thebrewcraftery.com

Closings

After 44 years, beloved South Tampa Chinese buffet Hao Wah will close After nearly-half-a-century, a staple South Tampa

cility across the bridge. The new brewery, taproom and seafood restaurant at 8098 66th St. N, Bldg. 2 in Pinellas Park will offer all of its classic brews—like the Crush on a Hot Blonde golden ale and Yellow Rose of Tampa Hazy IPA —plus an expanded food program. “We can’t wait to welcome you to our cozy corner of craft beer and ocean-inspired delicacies,” ownership wrote on social media earlier this week. The brewery’s food menu boasts a variety of different seafood options, from raw oysters, scallops

restaurant is ready to walk away. Hao Wah, located at 1713 S Dale Mabry Hwy., is one of Tampa’s institutional Chinese buffets. The restaurant—well loved by locals and a popular gathering spot for families and students of the nearby Plant High School—opened doors on April 1, 1980. It started as a humble spot, but doubled in size during an expansion in the early-2000s. For a long time Hao Wah was known for its all-you-can-eat buffet including dishes ranging from sushi to pho to Szechuan–nearly

any Asian dish you could think of. Like most others, the buffet shut down during the pandemic but it's since returned to all its glory. An employee at Hao Wah's Pinellas Park location said that the Tampa's location will close after Sunday, March 24. The Pinellas Park location (10454 66th St. N) will remain open and the restaurant's famed catering service will also continue. Hao Wah patrons on Yelp commend the restaurant’s generous portions, great service and affordability, stressing the welcoming and friendly atmosphere. It has long been a place for community to gather, for friends and family to break bread and share a delicious meal, so its closing means a lot to South Tampa residents. 1713 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa

ICYMI

The Cake Girl (aka Kristina Lavallee) was recognized by the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners on Thursday, March 21. The BOCC noted that Lavalee has been “recognized for her exemplary work in the baking and pastry field and has been featured on various TV programs and in prominent print publications.”

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is teaming up with Pier 60 and the Sugar Sand Festival to host an eclipse beach party on Monday, April 8 at Clearwater Beach, which expects to see about 66% of the sun covered during the rare celestial event. The first 2,500 sun and shade chasers “will receive specially designed collectible eclipse glasses, commemorating the 2024 solar eclipse” according to a press release. The eclipse is expected to run 1:45 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

The DoubleTree Beach Resort on North Redington Beach just wrapped an extensive renovation that includes a rebranding of the on-site restaurant, which is now the fourth location for local chain Coconut Charlie’s Beach Bar & Grill.

Sarasota-Manatee’s “Set The Bar” cocktail competition returns on Sunday, April 14. The sixth edition of the event happens at Ed Smith Stadium and features 25 mixologists competing while ticket holders ($85.-$95) sample their wares.

A new hotel, Moxy St. Pete, aims to open in mid-June, and will include the Bar Moxy concept in the central lobby, and offer specialty cocktails and light dishes at its Rose’s Coffee Bar location. Located at 1234 Central Ave. in the Edge District, the hotel also offers rooftop hospitality options including a poolside bar and Sparrow restaurant, due to open this fall.

GULP-PORT: Visit St. Pete/Clearwater’s Gulp Coast Passport relaunched this month.

VISIT ST.

PETE-CLEARWATER

Shack up

25 new restaurants coming to Tampa Bay this spring and summer.

By CL Staff

Alter Ego Described as having “energetic vibes and soulful hospitality,” new cocktail lounge Alter Ego, is opening sometime in spring 2024 on the ground floor of Water Street’s Asher building. “Visualize an experience where curated beats blend seamlessly with sleek monochromatic design, offering intimate nooks and social spaces that redefine the nightlife scene,” Water Street writes about the music-focused space. The new concept, which has a DJ booth, will share a wall with Proper House Group’s sibling Italian restaurant Ash.1050 Water St., Tampa. alteregotampa.com

Ash Ash will debut on the ground floor of Water Street Tampa’s Asher building, the district's newest residential development. The new restaurant is brought to downtown Tampa by a familiar name: Proper House Group (PHG), the minds behind Rooster & The Till, Nebraska Mini-Mart and more. PHG said that its latest concept will specialize in Italian-inspired cuisine and boast an extensive outdoor patio. Originally, the 2,400 square-foot restaurant and its accompanying 1,000 square-foot patio was scheduled to debut in the spring of 2023. As of now, the rumor is it's ready to pop any day now. 1050 Water St., Tampa. @ashtampa on Instagram

Big Chicken Big Chicken, the Shaquille O’Neal-owned fast casual poultry concept, is heading to Florida in a massive way. The company recently signed a 45-unit franchising deal with Florida-based commercial hospitality development company DMD Ventures, which means we can expect Big Chicken locations in Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami in addition to Tampa Bay. There's currently no timeline for when Tampa Bay's debut Big Chicken franchise will open, a representative for the company told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. The casual chicken spot's menu is a combination of Shaq's home-cooked childhood favorites and the hottest trending flavors, chock full of chicken sandwiches, tendies and more. theshuckinshack.com

mined. Construction plans depict Casa Cami's indoor bar, a full-service kitchen and a variety of outdoor seating on its sprawling rooftop terrace. According to casacami.com, Oxford Commons' newest hospitality concept will offer a spread of tacos and salsas, salads, small plates of ceviche, snapper crudo, flautas and blistered shishitos alongside entrees like bistec with mojo butter, shrimp fajitas and green chili chicken over a sweet plantain hash. 2545 N Rocky Point Dr., Tampa. casacami.com

DINING GUIDE

Cheeky's A new raw bar & seafood grill is coming to St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District, and it's from local restaurateur Nate Siegel, co-founder of new American restaurant Willa’s in North Hyde Park. Cheeky's, which is expected to debut sometime in in mid-2024, plans to offer up "fresh seafood, including East Coast oysters, shrimp, fish and daily specials from local waters and the Gulf, along with piping hot bowls of chowder, fried chicken, salads and more," according to a press release. 2823 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg. cheekys.net

ment. The popular coffee brand is known for its iced lattes, smoothies, teas, sodas, milkshakes, frozen blended coffees and energy drinks—all from the convenience of its drive-thru. Signature drinks include the “Golden Eagle” Dutch freeze blended with vanilla and caramel and the aptly-named “9-1-1” loaded with six shots of espresso, half and half and Irish creme syrup. 3616 W Ballast Point Blvd., Tampa. dutchbros. com

Fat Boy's Pizza New Orleans-based pizza chain Fat Boy's is making its way to the Bay, and the company claims to have the "World’s Biggest Pizza Slices." The pizza chain has locations in Louisiana and Mississippi, and now plans to open 10 restaurants across the Tampa Bay region in the next few years. Fat Boy's serves up its pizza in either a half-slice, a 10 and 16-inch pie, or a "whopping 30-inch pie." The chain also boasts wings, waffle fries, salads, meatballs, daiquiris and a full liquor bar. eatfatboyspizza.com

former parcel, which closed in early 2020 after now-defunct plans for Sundial’s food hall were announced. 153 2nd Ave. N, St. Petersburg. nxtlevelbrands.com

Glamper While summertime in Florida often means heavy rainfall and borderline unbearable humidity, a new bar and restaurant will soon bring the Midwest's laidback, midsummer vibes to St. Pete. Forward Hospitality Group recently told St. Pete Rising that Glamper will be “inspired by camping, backyard cookouts, Fourth of July celebrations, and other summertime activities,” and is slated to debut sometime this summer. In addition to an extensive drink menu of craft cocktails, beers and seltzers, Glamper will also have a full-service kitchen that dishes out burgers, hot dogs, grilled meats and any other backyard BBQtype grub. 217 Central Ave, St. Petersburg. @ glamperstpete on Instagram

Casa Cami Building permits show that Casa Cami is located on the 10th floor of Tampa’s Current Hotel at 2545 N Rocky Point Dr., right around the corner from the Rusty Pelican and The Rocky Pointe Cafe. Casa Cami will take the place of Rox, which opened in the same space back in 2019. Casa Cami’s social media says that it’s slated to debut in mid-March, although an exact opening date is not yet deter-

Dutch Bros. One West Coast-based coffee chain (with a cult-like following) has its sights set on the Sunshine State, and recently filed permits to open its first outpost in South Tampa. A 950-square-foot, drive-thru Dutch Bros is in the works for South Tampa’s Sun Bay South neighborhood. Currently, Ballast Point Car Wash occupies that parcel of land, but if Dutch Bros’ plans are approved, the wash will be razed for the coffee shop’s new develop-

Forbici Forbici’s second location is slated to open sometime in 2024 within downtown St. Pete’s Sundial mall, marking the beginning of the local brand’s possible nationwide expansion. Co-owner Jeff Gigante—who operates Forbici with partner Joseph Guggino under the Next Level Brands umbrella—estimates that 30-40 locations of the Italian restaurant could eventually open throughout the country. St. Pete’s upcoming Forbici will take up 7,000 square-feet, and will include an indoor-outdoor bar, as well as a 3,000 square-foot shaded patio. The concept will open out of Locale Market’s

Greenlane St. Pete's first Greenlane is slated to open sometime this spring, although there’s no debut date set in stone. Greenlane— which recently received some TMZ coverage due to regular customer and football star Rob Gronkowski aka "Gronk"—is known for dishing out healthy “salads and wraps at fast food prices.” The local chain opened its first location off of Gandy Boulevard in 2023 and is continuing its Tampa Bay expansion with St. Pete’s upcoming Greenlane drive-thru. 8001 4th St. N, St. Petersburg. gogreenlane.com

The Huntsman The Huntsman—a new American concept that focuses on ethicallysourced wild game and "farm & stream-to-

FEELIN’ CHEEKY: Willa’s owners are bringing a raw bar and seafood grill to St. Pete.

BLUE HOMINY PUBLIC RELATIONS

table" fare—hopes to debut out of The Mill’s former space during the third or fourth quarter of this year. With an appetizer menu of small plates like wood-fired bone marrow, grouper tartare, and fire-roasted oysters alongside entrees like boar and rabbit cacciatore, moulard duck cassoulet and seafood jambalaya, the upcoming restaurant will feature a wide spread of familiar dishes with an eclectic, wild bent. 200 Central Ave. No. 100, St. Petersburg. @Huntsmanrestaurant on Instagram

Kinjo Noble Rice and Koya will soon get a third sibling, creating a trifecta of high-end Japanese fare in South Tampa. While ItalianJapanese food might be a new concept to Tampa Bay’s foodies, Wafu-Italian or “Itameshi-style” cuisine has been a fine dining trend throughout Europe and Asia for quite some time. Kinjo's full-service bar loaded with wine, sake and spirits will be joined by an intimate menu of fresh pastas, crudo, sashimi, and a variety of meats and cheeses cured in-house. 226 S Blvd., Tampa. @ kinjo_tampa on Instagram

bowl restaurants Ato in Lakeland and Wesley Chapel. There's also a Zukku Sushi location in Charlotte, North Carolina. 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa. @zukkusushitampa on Instagram

Lucky Tigre Best of the Bay-winning Filipino sari-sari store concept Lucky Tigre is looking forward to opening a new location in West Tampa in the next month or two. Owner Julie Sainte Michelle Feliciano and her team have signed a lease on a property at 1713 Albany Ave. (across the street from a private park owned by Tampa's strip club king Joe Redner), according to Lucky Tigre social media and public records, but the building on the lot needs plenty of love before its doors open. Until then, Feliciano has also purchased a food truck which will reside on the same property to fund buildout costs for the actual building. 81713 Albany Ave., Tampa. theluckytigre.com

DINING GUIDE

Lara Seasoned Tampa chef Suzanne Lara, who was widely known as Suzanne Crouch before getting married, recently announced the opening of her upcoming, bar, fromscratch kitchen and artisan marketplace. The multifaceted concept deemed “Lara” (an ode to her newly-acquired last name), is set to open sometime in 2024. Although a building for this exciting culinary and hospitality concept has yet to be secured, Suzanne tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Tampa Heights is the ideal neighborhood due to its centralized location. Lara will offer three unique experiences—a bar, a bazaar full of locally-grown produce, artisan goods and hard-to-find ingredients and supplies for chefs, and an intimate kitchen which Suzanne describes as Lara’s “supporting member.” Suzanne stresses that Lara’s bar won’t draw the typical late night, rowdy crowd one might expect. She tells CL that it will be more of a well-rounded beverage bar inspired by the Greek word “pharmakeia,” which was once used to describe a wide range of elixirs, remedies and apothecaries. @chef_suz_lara on Instagram

Ling's Dumplings and Han Hand Rolls There's always different food stalls moving in and out of Armature Works' Heights Public Market, but one local restaurant company is responsible for quite a few new concepts. As you probably noticed, there’s construction happening on Cru Cellar’s recently-closed space and Zukku Sushi’s previous location. After these renovations, there will be enough room for Zukku Sushi 2.0 and its new sibling concepts Ling's Dumplings and Han Hand Rolls. In addition to its three upcoming concepts inside of Armature Works, Zukku Sushi also operates Zukku-San in Wesley Chapel and burrito and

The Neon Lunchbox The Neon Lunchbox is slated to the old Hideaway Cafe spot within the next few months and will soon boast a variety of themed craft cocktails, a casual food menu, local DJs and bands and tons of '80s and '90s pop culture-themed decor. When The Neon Lunchbox makes its debut it will join Tampa Bay’s other nostalgia-themed concepts like GenX Tavern, Central Avenue neighbor Lost & Found and 70s’-themed club Good Night John Boy. 1756 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. @theneonlunchbox on Instagram

Noble Tavern Noble Tavern, which is a collaborative effort between Noble Crust and Fat Beet Farm Kitchen & Bakery, is hoping to debut sometime soon. The restaurant will be located in the newly built Tru by Hilton St. Petersburg. The spot promises locally-sourced farm fresh flavors from Fat Beet Farm, and the menu will feature classic and craft cocktails, local beer and barrel fresh wines. 1650 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. nobletavern.com

Olivia Riding off the success of his new Tampa restaurant Ponte Modern American, a renowned local chef is ready to tackle his next culinary endeavor. James Beard semifinalist

Chef Chris Ponte will soon open a downtown St. Pete location of popular Italian restaurant Olivia (stylized "OLIVIA"), which currently resides in South Tampa. His very first restaurant and only concept in Pinellas County, Clearwater's Cafe Ponte, closed in spring of 2020 after Ponte was unable to reach a lease renewal agreement with his landlord. 225 1st Ave. N, St. Petersburg. @olivia_tampa on Instagram

Pepper Lunch Japanese “experimental” fast-casual concept Pepper Lunch is expanding into Florida with three cities confirmed—and one of those cities is Tampa. Currently boasting 500 locations in 15 countries, Pepper Lunch—a teppanyaki concept where customers grill their own meats and veggies on an iron griddle— hopes to establish a permanent presence in

Florida. pepperlunchrestaurants.com

Perry's Porch

The folks behind some of St. Pete's best bars are opening a new concept that will surely boast one of the most scenic waterfront views in all of The Burg.' Perry's Porch is a new restaurant that will open adjacent to the St. Pete Pier and the St. Petersburg Museum of History — a space that was most recently occupied by craft beer spot Hops and Props. This upcoming concept will be a combination of open-air and indoor seating, since its name is a homage to the 20th century developer Perry Snell, who’s known for revitalizing several St. Pete neighborhoods with his unique approach to architecture, nature, and walkability. No exact opening date has been announced. 600 2nd Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. perrysporch.com

Rainbow Cone Rainbow Cone, a popular Chicago-based ice cream franchise for people who can't decide what flavor to order, will soon open a new location in Tampa Bay. Founded in 1926, Rainbow Cone specializes in their "world famous" five flavor "Rainbow Cone," which features orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry, and chocolate flavors "sliced" on top of each other. The menu also spans a variety of sundaes, cakes, doughnuts and milkshakes. The company did not give any specifics on exactly where or when the new Florida locations will debut. But if you can't wait, Rainbow Cone's first Florida location opened in Bradenton last September. rainbowcone.com

Smalls Sliders Popular franchise operating group Purple Square Management (PSM) is bringing Smalls Sliders—a new, Louisianabased burger chain—to the greater Tampa Bay area. A press release states that the group will debut the first local Smalls Sliders at the end of 2024, and is planning to open 8 more locations over the next few years. While no specific locations have been announced just yet, PSM is looking to open future Smalls Sliders in cities like Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Lakeland, Spring Hill, Sarasota, Cape Coral and the greater Naples areas. Sliders, of course, are the

star of its menu and can be upgraded with addons like bacon or extra meat. Other items include milkshakes, waffle fries, grilled cheese and a spicy queso dipping sauce. smallssliders.com

Ten Rooms El Centro Español de Tampa, at 1536 E 7th Ave., was originally constructed as a clubhouse for cigar industry workers back in 1891, and will soon be home to Ten Rooms, a multifaceted hospitality and retail concept and the newest addition to the Centro Ybor complex. Described as a “dining and retail hub,” Ten Rooms will consist of a 50-seat restaurant called Bar Martinez, craft cocktail hotspot Genevieve the Cat, rotating vendor and art space The Shop at Ten Rooms and The Cafe, a daytime coffee shop and French-inspired bakery. While there's no exact opening date set in stone, Ten Rooms is expected to soft open sometime this spring. 1536 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. @ tenroomsybor on Instagram

Wawa Florida's first Wawa drive-thru will soon debut in Largo. The new concept will not have gas or pre-packaged items found at typical Wawas, but instead feature a limited menu centered around the chain's deli sandwiches, wraps and breakfast Sizzlies. Florida 's first Wawa drive-thru is part of the chain's plan to double its footprint and open 100 new locations around the country by 2030. 2530 East Bay Dr., Largo. wawa.com

Zen Noodle Bar A popular Asian restaurant is expanding its Tampa footprint this spring. A representative of the restaurant tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that its newest location is slated to open sometime this May or June, although the debut ultimately depends on how its build-out goes. Patrons of Zen’s Temple Terrace restaurant can expect a similar menu from its upcoming Tampa location, which includes a variety of East and Southeast Asian fare like dumplings, bao buns, spring rolls, banh mi, stir fried noodles, pork adobo and bulgogi beef bowls. 3019 W Waters Ave., Tampa. @zennoodlestampa on Instagram

ROOM FOR TEN: Ten Rooms is opening near Centro Ybor.

Not everyone spends 4/20 getting stoned at home and sitting on the couch, and that’s obvious when you consider the seasonal events happening in April. We’ve started compiling 4/40 events around Tampa Bay and have a few to share below. From casinos to art shows and concerts, we’re betting that more of these will pop up over the next few weeks. Don’t see yours? Submit it to the events calendar at cltampa.com and email rroa@ cltampa.com to let us know.

4-20 Smoke & Mirrors Fundraiser The Mad Monk art collective is working to become a nonprofit, it’s hosting a daytime 4-20 market with bands, munchies, vendors, artists, an art raffe and scavenger hunt. The party turns up after the sun does down with DJs and lasers from a company that’s done lights at Epcot Italy, Bonnaroo and more. Saturday, April 20, 3 p.m. $40 & up. The Graffiti Gallery. 2634 Emerson Ave. S, St. Petersburg. themadmonk.art

420 Wonderland+Canna Casino I’ve been working on my “Rockstar” 250 mg THC gummy ring from Bliss for a full week. The wellness market is always popping up at festivals across Tampa Bay, and for the holiday it turns the Dale Mabry Highway location into a Mad Hatter casino (for entertainment only) complete with hold ‘em, blackjack, roulette, plus raffles, munchies, samples, live music, tarot and more. blisswellnessmarket.com. Saturday, April 20. 2 p.m.-7 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Bliss Wellness Market. 13721 N Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa.

Harmony & High Spirits Artisanal

Largo

with an open mic and live music, community bonding, and a kava ceremony. “Rest assured that our event prioritizes a safe and inclusive space for all attendees, fostering respect, acceptance, and unity among diverse individuals,” organizers told CL. Saturday, April 20. 8 p.m. No cover. All 5 Elements Kava Lounge and Metaphysical Shop, 12682 Starkey Rd, Largo. all5elements.net

Secret Stash Party w/DJ Donnie Luv There are a lot of things not allowed at Shuffle, including dogs and smoking weed. Still, the six-year-old Tampa Heights neighborhood bar and sports emporium is hosting an homage to everyone’s “secret stash.” Soundtracking the festivities is DJ Donnie Luv (pictured), founder of St. Pete’s Official 7/27 Day and member of the Bay area’s Slugged Sounds rap and producer collective. Saturday, April 20. 4:20 p.m. Shuffle, 2612 Tampa St., Tampa. @tampashuffle on Facebook

St. Pete Opera: Bella Voce Party Like It’s the 1960s St. Pete Opera’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Bella Voce, happens on 4/20 this year, and while there are no guarantees on whether or not you’ll be ejected to sparking one up at the Morean Center for Clay, the company is putting on what it calls its “Grooviest Gala Ever” featuring “a kaleidoscopic mix of 60s memories.” Tickets include appetizers, two entrees, full bar and a goodie bag (VIP gets even more) Saturday, April 20. 6 p.m. $150 & up. Morean Center for Clay, 420 22nd Ave. S, St. Petersburg. stpeteopera.org - Ray Roa

vendors, spiritual artifacts and more are part of the agenda in

along

Twice a year, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay does a big update on this listing featuring Tampa Bay’s many breweries. Help CL with this ongoing project. Did we miss a brewery or leave out an important detail? Let’s get that in here. Email rroa@cltampa.com and kyla@cltampa.com. Include brewery name, address, phone number and website, plus a short description of the unique offerings. (Last updated Feb. 22, 2024)

3 CAR GARAGE Small-batch craft beer and rotating food trucks plus live music and happy hour specials. 8405 Heritage Green Way, Bradenton. 941-741-8877, 3cargaragebrewing.com

3 DAUGHTERS BREWING One of downtown St. Pete’s most popular hangouts and a beautiful facility in which to drink some great brews. The brewery also has an outpost on Clearwater Beach. 222 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg. 727-495-6002, 3dbrewing.com

3 KEYS BREWING South-of-the-Skyway restaurant and brewery and gastrobrew specializing in small batches. 2505 Manatee Ave. E, Bradenton. 951-2180396, 3keysbrewing.com

5 BRANCHES BREWING Soon-to-open veteranowned brewery, slinging small batches of IPAs, stouts and more. Serving brews and a clear view of the Tarpon Bayou. 131 Hibiscus St, Tarpon Springs. 727483-9122, fivebranchesbrewing.com

7VENTH SUN BREWING Some of the best sours, IPAs and collabs going at one of Tampa Bay’s OG breweries. 1012 Broadway, Dunedin. 727-733-3013. 7venthsun.com

81BAY BREWING CO. South Tampa’s first craft brewery boasts a wide variety of styles. You can still drink it, but the taproom is closed for renovation. 4465 W. Gandy Blvd., Tampa. 813-837-BREW, 81baybrewco.com

ANECDOTE BREWING CO. Sip inside or on the patio of Indian Rocks Beach’s first micro brewery. 321 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach. anecdotebrewing.com

ANGRY CHAIR BREWING Crazy-good Seminole Heights beer, open Tuesday-Sunday. The taproom has tons of parking and a food shanty that low-key slings some of the best chicken wings in Tampa Bay. 6401 N. Florida Ave., Seminole Heights. 813-238-1122, angrychairbrewing.com

ARKANE ALEWORKS A wide variety of styles and flavors from the second brewery to open in Largo. 2480 E Bay Dr., #23, Largo. 727-270-7117, arkanebeer.com

BARRIEHAUS BEER CO. Lager-specific brewery, carrying on a more than 150-year brewing legacy. With Zydeco gone from the historic district, it serves the cleanest beers in Ybor City. 1403 E 5th Ave., Ybor City. 813-242-2739 barriehaus.com

BASTET BREWING Named after the Egyptian catgoddess, the brewery offers seasonal ales, ciders and even the occasional ginger beer. 1951 E Adamo Dr. Suite B, Tampa. 813-242-0064, bastetbrewing.com

BAYBORO BREWING CO. Veteran-owned kidfriendly brewery that has tons of events to go with its creative tap list and low-key music venue/listening room that tops most others in Pinellas. 2390 5th Ave. S, St. Petersburg. 727-767-9666, bayborobrewing.com

BIG STORM BREWING CO. Brewery with fun, signature brews (Bromosa, anyone?), and a gigantic footprint that includes a Pasco Storm Room, Clearwater outpost and new Ybor City spot overlooking 7th Avenue. bigstormbrewery.com

BIG TOP BREWING Perhaps Sarasota’s premier purveyor of locally crafted beer, Big Top’s reputation has spread far beyond the region and gets served up at two locations just south of Tampa and St. Petersburg. bigtopbrewing.com

BOOTLEGGERS BREWING CO. This Tampa taproom from Bootleggers Beer & Wine Home Brewing Supplies offers house-made suds and guest beers.10256 Causeway Blvd., Tampa. 813-643-9463, bootleggersbrewco.com

BREW HUB Some of the area’s best beers are produced here along with suds for their own label. 3900 Frontage Rd. S., Lakeland. 863-698-7600, brewhub.com

BREW LIFE BREWING Ultra-small batches and a lot of ‘em at this unassuming plaza brewery. 5765 S. Beneva Rd., Sarasota. 941-952-3831, brewlifebrewing.com

BRIGHTER DAYS BREW CO. Tarpon Springs spot specializing in music-inspired brews like the “So Fresh n’ So Clean sour” and “All the Single Belgians.” 311 N Safford Ave., Tarpon Springs. 7272-940-2350, @brighterdaysbrewco on Facebook

BULLFROG CREEK BREWING CO. A multitude of styles from former garage brewers is on tap in Valrico. 3632 Lithia Pinecrest Rd., Valrico. 813-703-8835, bullfrogcreekbrewing.com

CAGE BREWING Custom brews in the Grand Central District from one of the ‘Burg’s best brewery-music venues. 2001 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-201-4278. cagebrewing.com

CALEDONIA BREWING Great in-house beers in the historic Dunedin Times building. 587 Main St., Dunedin. 727-351-5105, caledoniabrewing.com

CALUSA BREWING Family-owned and operated; open Tuesday-Sunday. 5377 McIntosh Rd., Sarasota, 941-552-8846, calusabrewing.com

CIGAR CITY BREWING Tampa’s most famous craft brewery has its headquarters and mothership in Carver City. There’s also a taproom at Amalie Arena and inside Tampa International Airport. 3924 W. Spruce St., Tampa. 813-348-6363, cigarcitybrewing.com

CHANNELSIDE BREWING CO. This new addition to the bustling Channelside district is a contract brewing facility with a few neat pilsners and IPAs of its own. 802 N 12th St., Suite C, Tampa. 813-5925700, channelsidebrewing.com

COMMERCE BREWING Live entertainment, events, and a wide variety of brews live at this newly-opened taproom. 521 Commerce Dr. S, Largo. 727-330-7011, commercebrewing@gmail.com

COMMON DIALECT BEERWORKS Seminole

Heights’ new family and dog friendly brewery—located right next to the Health Mutt pet store—has a familial and welcoming feel for all walks of life, plus beer from longtime brewer Mike Conze. 5023 N Florida Ave., Tampa. 813-443-6659. commondialectbeer.com

COPP WINERY & BREWERY A

one-stop shop for all wine, beer and brewery needs in Crystal River. 7855 W Gulf Lake Highway, Crystal River. 352-228-8103, coppbrewery.com

COPPERTAIL BREWING CO.

Some of Tampa’s best beer, in one of its best tasting rooms complete with killer kitchen. 2601 E. 2nd Ave., Tampa. 813-247-1500, coppertailbrewing.com

CORPORATE LADDER BREWING COMPANY Brewery focused on customer experience and celebrating social gatherings. 4935 96th St. E, Palmetto. 941-479-4799, corporateladderbrewing.com

COTEE RIVER BREWING Craft beer in the heart of historic downtown New Port Richey. 5760 Main St., New Port Richey. 727-8076806, coteeriverbrewing.com

CRAFT LIFE BREWING Originally based in Land O’ Lakes, this small-batch spot brewery now serves sips out of its larger location in Hudson. 46810 Tower Dr, Hudson. 727-378-4530, craftlifebrewingcompany.com

CROOKED THUMB BREWERY Safety Harbor’s first brewery boasts homegrown flavor and local guest taps, plus local food trucks and a stacked live music calendar. 555 10th Ave. S., Safety Harbor. 727-7245953, crookedthumbbrew.com

CUENI BREWING CO. Located off the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin and is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary there. 945 Huntley Ave., Dunedin. 727-266-4102, cuenibrewing.com

2024 | cltampabay.com

7venth Sun Brewing

CYCLE BREWING A true destination of The ‘Burg’s and one of the OG craft breweries in downtown St. Pete, quietly slinging one of St. Pete’s best beer menus to devoted regulars who watch the world go through Cycle’s garage doors. 534 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-320-7954. cyclebrewing.com

DADE CITY BREW HOUSE The heart of downtown Dade City’s destination for original beers, wines and ciders. 14323 7th St., Dade City. 352-218-3122, dadecitybrewhouse.com

DE BINE BREWING CO. This addition bolsters the Northern Pinellas craft beer scene. 933 Florida Ave., Palm Harbor. 727-233-7964, debinebrewingco.com

DENTED KEG ALE WORKS Local brewery nestled in downtown New Port Richey. 5500 Main St., New Port Richey. 727-232-2582, dentedkegaleworks.com

DEVIANT LIBATION Latest project from local beer god Tim Ogden now open in Ybor Heights. Food trucks are regularly on site, and you might catch a local hardcore show there, too. 3800 N Nebraska Ave., 727-379-4677, deviantlibation.com

DISSENT CRAFT BREWING CO. Unique flavors and adventurous style outside downtown St. Pete. 5518 Haines Rd. N., St. Petersburg. 727-342-0255. @dissentcraftbrewing on Facebook

DUNEDIN BREWERY Florida’s oldest microbrewery features beer, eats and live music in what’s now become an iconic setting. 937 Douglas Ave., Dunedin. 727-736-0606, dunedinbrewery.com

DUNEDIN HOUSE OF BEER This beer stop brews its own, and also has 40 guest taps. 927 Broadway, Dunedin. 727 216-6318, dunedinhob.com

ESCAPE BREWING CO. Another very worthy Odessa-Trinity destination that’s in the process of building out a new food hall. 9945 Trinity Blvd., Suite 108, Trinity. 727-807-6092, escapebrewingcompany. com

FLORIDA AVENUE BREWING CO. Beer for the Sunshine State brewed in a family-friendly taproom. Its newly-opened location in Seminole Heights dishes out a full food and cocktail menu, while the Wesley Chapel hub gives the greater Bay area a chance to imbibe. floridaavebrewing.com

continued

IN THE community Lakes brewingcompany.com

INFUSION

the good-beer-packed 6345 Grand infusionbrewingcompany.com

KEEL from the anyone W. Thonotosassa landcurleywinery.com

KING fee roaster made the Tampa rent. 520 king-state.com

LATE merly building

Cass St.,

FLORIDA BREWERY Built in 1937, the second oldest brewery in Florida offers a Lager-focused brew menu that’s distributed to 15 countries around the globe. 202 Gandy Rd., Auburndale. 863-965-1825, floridabrewery.com

FRONT PAGE BREWING CO. This Bartow brewery offers Wednesday trivia, Thursday bingo and live music on the weekends. 190 S Florida Ave., Bartow. 863-537-7249, frontpagebrewing.com

GRAND CENTRAL BREWHOUSE 10,270 square-foot brewery, taproom, beer garden, and event venue with a lager-focused tap list. 2340 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-202-6071, grandcentralbrew.com

GREEN BENCH BREWING CO. A space worthy of the adventurous beers it produces, and you can always walk over to the James Beard-nominated Webb’s City Cellar for funky ferments. 1133 Baum Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-800-9836, greenbenchbrewing.com

GOLDEN ISLES BREWING CO. This new, kid-friendly neighborhood brewery in St. Pete features its own ales, IPAs, porters and lagers on tap and also hosts a handful of different food trucks each week. 3000 Dr M.L.K. Jr St N, St. Petersburg. 727-502-9446, staygoldenstpete.com

GOOD LIQUID BREWING CO. Dozens of taps and beerfriendly fare from a husband-and-wife duo, who also operate a nearby distillery and cocktail lounge under the same company umbrella. 1570 Lakefront Dr, Sarasota, 941770-4282, thegoodliquidbrewing.com

GRINDHAUS BREW LAB Small batches and no extracts from this Pinellas-based “boutique brewery.” 1650 N. Hercules Ave. #1, Clearwater. 727-240-0804, grindhausbrewlab.com

GULFPORT BREWERY + EATERY Small batches—like its Gulfport Golden Ale or Hippie Oasis hazy IPA—plus an artisanal food menu. 3007 Beach Blvd., Gulfport. 727954-4109, gulfport-brewing.com

HIDDEN SPRINGS ALE WORKS This Tampa Heights brewery features a rotating tap selection of unique craft beers. 1631 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-226-2739, hiddenspringsaleworks.com

HOB BREWING CO. Rotating taps, with some brewed on-site and alongside a combination of local breweries, plus local and international craft beer makers. 931 Huntley Ave., Dunedin. 727-474-5584, hob.beer

IF I BREWED THE WORLD A self-described “mixtape of breweries” with a bit of everything from the classic to the fun and outrageous. 2200 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727-201-4484, ifibrewedtheworld.com continued on page 41

LEAVEN by folks 11238 brewing.com

LIQUID tional automotive-themed Blvd., rage.com

MAD meads Beach.

MAGNANIMOUS block provides pickup. quarters, Seminole Tampa.

MARKER craft brewery Cortez

MASTRY’S rant to Pass Rd., ingco.com

MOTORWORKS den featuring 1014 9th worksbrewing.com

MR. DUNDERBAK’S garten own beers. 977-4104,

OLDE brewery a beachy 229-8010,

OLOGY pany opened offers 6401 N ing.com

OVERFLOW of St. company.

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OZONA made heart 9390,

continued from page 39

IN THE LOOP BREWING Family-friendly with a lot of community support and plenty of events. 3338 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land O’ Lakes. 813-997-9189, intheloopbrewingcompany.com

INFUSION BREWING CO. Another great location in the good-beer-packed Trinity/New Port Richey area. 6345 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. 7272-484-4757, infusionbrewingcompany.com

KEEL FARMS AGRARIAN ALE + CIDER Tasty brews from the folks behind Keel & Curley winery. Perfect for anyone who likes farm vibes with their craft beer. 5210 W. Thonotosassa Rd., Plant City. 813-752-9100, keelandcurleywinery.com

KING STATE This Tampa spot is a beer brewer, a coffee roaster and whatever else it wants to be. Beer is made offsite, but available on tap and in package at the Tampa Heights headquarter and St. Pete restaurent. 520 E Floribraska Ave., Tampa. 813-221-2100, king-state.com

LATE START BREWING Beloved Tampa label formerly doing its thing inside the Pour House, but is now building a new location in downtown Tampa. 1018 E Cass St., Tampa, latestartbrewing.com

LEAVEN BREWING Riverview’s first brewery is run by folks who’ve got experience brewing big and small. 11238 Boyette Rd., Riverview. 813-677-7023, leavenbrewing.com

LIQUID GARAGE CO. Trendy one-offs and traditional styles all in Jeffery Ashline’s industrial and automotive-themed taproom. 1306 Seven Springs Blvd., New Port Richey. 727-645-5885. theliquidgarage.com

MAD BEACH CRAFT BREWING Brews, ciders and meads by the beach. 12945 Village Boulevard, Madeira Beach. 727-362-0008, madbeachbrewing.com

MAGNANIMOUS BREWING In a warehouse a halfblock north of I-75, this addition to Tampa’s beer scene provides a large variety to drink in or to go curbside pickup. In addition to its OG Tampa Heights headquarters, Magnanimous also operates taprooms in Seminole Heights and Bradenton. 1410 Florida Ave., Tampa. 813-415-3671, magnanimousbrewing.com

MARKER 48 BREWING Hernando’s first production craft brewery with tasting room and beer garden 12147 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville. 352-606-2509, marker48.com

MASTRY’S BREWING CO. From CD Roma’s restaurant to sweet new digs on St. Pete Beach. 7701 Blind Pass Rd., St. Pete Beach. 727-202-8045, mastrysbrewingco.com

MOTORWORKS BREWING A taproom and beer garden featuring full liquor and wine as well as 30 taps. 1014 9th Street West, Bradenton. 941-567-6218, motorworksbrewing.com

MR. DUNDERBAK’S The longtime restaurant, biergarten and homebrewers’ hangout is serving up its own beers. 14929 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa. 813977-4104, dunderbaks.com

OLDE FLORIDA BREWING Largo’s newest craft brewery is open Tuesday through Sunday and features a beachy outdoor space. 1158 7th St. NW, Largo. 727229-8010, @oldefloridabrew on Facebook

OLOGY BREWING CO. This Tallahassee-based company opened its first Tampa location in 2023 and now offers a variety of in-house brews, coffee and spirits. 6401 N Florida Ave., Tampa. 850-296-2809, ologybrewing.com

OVERFLOW BREWING CO. Laid-back spot courtesy of St. Pete native and head brewer Troy Bledsoe and company. 770 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-9140665, overflowbrewing.co/

OZONA BREWING COMPANY Fresh, local craft beer made on site, wine, food and live entertainment in the heart of Ozona. 315 Orange St., Palm Harbor. 920-3929390, ozonabrewing.com

PEE-PA’S GARAGE CRAFT BREWERY We think your dad will totally love this new brewery, which is known for its lighter ales, stouts and fruited goses. 6340 49th St. N, Pinellas Park. 727-526-2300, peepasgaragecraftbrewery.com

PEPPER BREWING The Angry Pepper Taphouse’s in-house label, available “on a limited basis.” 9366 Oakhurst Rd., Seminole. 727-596-5766, angrypeppertaphouse.com

PINELLAS ALE WORKS PAW offers a dog-friendly environment in addition to tasty brews, with a portion of proceeds regularly going to local animal-centric nonprofits. 1962 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg. 727235-0970, pawbeer.com

POUR HOUSE With new release events and special feature nights, Pour House celebrates all things beer. 1208 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. 813-402-2923, pourhousetampa.com

PYE ROAD MEADWORKS Located in Odessa, Pye Road focuses on mead but also keeps beer and wine in house for naysayers of the fermented honey drink. 8533 Gunn Hwy., Odessa. 813-510-3500, pyeroad.com

RAPP BREWING COMPANY The late Greg Rapp’s award-winning styles are carefully crafted at this “nano-sized” brewery. 10930 Endeavor Way, Seminole. 727-544-1752, rappbrewing.com

SEA DOG BREWING COMPANY This Treasure Island craft brewery also operates a handful of food trucks throughout Tampa Bay. 9610 Gulf Blvd.,Treasure Island. 727-954-7805, seadogbrewing.com

SOGGY BOTTOM BREWING More Dunedin goodness, including some truly original flavors and inventive brews. 660 Main St., Dunedin. 727-6011698, soggybottombrewing.com

SOUTHERN BREWING & WINEMAKING Multiple brews only available in its tasting room, which is also home to products and guidance for homebrewers. 4500 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa. 813-238-7800, southernbrewingwinemaking.com

SOUTHERN LIGHTS BREWING CO. Only the finest hops, grains and natural ingredients go into these handcrafted small-batch ales and lagers. 2075 Sunnydale Blvd., Clearwater. 727-648-4314, southernlightsbrewing.com

SPONGE CITY BREWING A

“fresh take on modern brew houses,” this newly-opened taproom dishes out IPAs, stouts and beer-friendly bites. 501 South Pinellas Ave.,Tarpon Springs. 727-937-8677, spongecitybrewing.com

ST. PETE BREWING COMPANY

Beers crafted specifically for the climate, plus a bumpin’ “Nest” event space next door. 544 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-692-8809, stpetebrewingcompany.com

STILT HOUSE BREWERY Friendly joint specializes in high-ABV ales and other styles you won’t find elsewhere. 625 U.S. Hwy Alt. 19, Palm Harbor. 727270-7373, stilthousebrewery.com

SESH The newest concept from the owners of Mad Beach Craft Brewing Co. is also a restaurant serving craft cocktails and house-brewed craft beers, seltzers and ciders in a supposedly-haunted historic building. 2221 4th St. N, St. Petersburg. 727-933-0266. Seshstpete.com

SIX TEN BREWING Wide variety and a real passion for the craft-brew community. 7052 Benjamin Rd., Tampa. 813-886-0610, sixtenbrewing.com

TAP THIS! BAR AND BREWING CO. Neighborhood beer and wine sports bar. 10730 US-19, Port Richey. 727-378-4358, tapthisbar.com

TBBC Formerly Tampa Bay Brewing Co., local favorite has served local craft beer lovers for nearly two decades with two locations including one in the heart of historic Ybor City and another in the Westchase ‘burbs. tbbc.beer

THIRSTY BUFFALO BREWING COMPANY Located at The Hub, Land O’Lakes’ new brewery features ales, IPAs, the Midnight Bull vanilla milk stout and a coffee blonde made with beans from Bexley-based Yummee Coffee Roasters. 16794 Focus Loop, Land O’ Lakes. 813-475-5591. thirstybuffalobrew.com

THREE BULLS TAVERN & BREWERY Smallbatch handcrafted beer and food made from scratch wrapped in a creative atmosphere. 4330 Bell Shoals Road, Valrico. 813-381-3853, threebullstavern.com

TIDAL BREWING COMPANY Small batches in Spring Hill. 14311 Spring Hill Dr., Spring Hill. 352-7011602, tidalbrewingfl.com

TROUBLED WATERS BREWING An easygoing taproom featuring draft and bottled craft brews, billiards and live music. 670 Main St., Safety Harbor. 727-2219973, troubledwatersbeer.com

TWO FROGS BREWING COMPANY Tarpon Springs’ latest brewery and taproom focuses on American ale styles. 151 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs. 727-9406077, @twofrogsbrewing on Facebook

ULELE SPRING BREWERY Beer crafted in accordance with traditional Bavarian purity laws, inside a gorgeous municipal pump house turned awardwinning restaurant. 1810 N. Highland Ave., Tampa. 813-999-4952, ulele.com

UNREFINED BREWING All-natural and only in-season ingredients go into these craft brews. 312 E Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs. 727-940-4822, unrefinedbrewing.com

WELTON BREWING CO. Its Land O’ Lakes brewery closed at the end of 2022, but its upcoming Pinellas Park location—which seems to share its property with Pinellas’ German-American Society—has experienced serious construction delays. Its most recent update said a grand opening was slated for December 2023. 8098 66th St. N, Pinellas Park. 813-820-0050, thebrewcraftery.com

THE WILD ROVER BREWERY What started as an English pub in Odessa is now a higher-production facility in Westchase. 13921 Lynmar Blvd., Tampa. 813475-5995, thewildroverbrewery.com

WOODWRIGHT BREWING COMPANY Traditional German styles in downtown Dunedin. 985 Douglas Ave., Dunedin. 727-238-8717. woodwrightbrewing.com

WOVEN WATER BREWING CO. Tampa Heights brewery with a focused menu often using fresh fruit as part of its beers. 456 W Columbus Dr., Tampa. 813-4439463, wovenwaterbrew.com

WULFAVEN BREWING CO. Carrollwood’s new brewery, making crisp and clean beers, but also some juicy and bitter IPAs and pale ales for the hop-chasers. 10828 Perez Dr., Tampa. 813-374-8226. wulfaven.com

YUENGLING BREWING CO. One of just two U.S. Yuengling destinations, and now home to recentlyopened Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen. 11111 N 30th St., Tampa. 813-972-8529, yuengling.com

SUN KING BREWERY This Indiana-based brewery expanded its footprint to Florida in 2022 and now operates an airy taproom in North Sarasota. 1215 Mango Ave., Sarasota. 941-893-3940, sunkingbrewing.com

SWAN BREWING Nearly four decades of combined brewing experience go into the offerings at this pet-friendly joint. 115 W. Pine St., Lakeland. 863-7030472, swanbrewing.com

ZEPHYRHILLS BREWING COMPANY East Paco’s first microbrewery. 38530 5th Ave., Zephyrhills. 813715-2683, zbcbeer.com

ZYDECO BREW WERKS This New Orleans-inspired brewery and restaurant closed its flagship location in Ybor City in eary 2024, but is still pouring reserved brews at its scaled-down operation at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry aka MOSI. 4801 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. 813-240-5213, zydecobeer.com

Email rroa@cltampa.com and kyla@cltampa.com for any corrections and updates. Thanks!

SPONGE CITY BREWING

Sponge City Brewing

By Josh Bradley & Ray Roa C CL Recommends

THU 28

C Spring Beer Jam: Joe Marcinek w/Dave Watts/Steve Molitz/Lemon City Trio/Brain Emoji/more Summer’s hot breath is around the corner, and Dunedin Brewery is celebrating these relatively cool breezes with its 10th annual Spring Beer Jam. The three-day festival of music and art includes more than a dozen musicians playing music that’s somewhat familiar to most music fans (Joe Marcinek’s fun blend of jazz and funk, the jam led by rapper Jon Ditty, fusion from Lemon City Trio, or loungey jazz from Twyn) to the more experimental sounds of outfits like Brain Emoji Orchestra. Visual artists will also be on-site for the no-cover weekend. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)

FRI 29

Al Stewart & The Empty Pockets Al Stewart’s current band, The Empty Pockets has previously backed the likes of Kenny Loggins and the late Gary Wright, and even had a few tracks appear on a handful of early-2000s Nickelodeon sitcoms. The 78-year-old Mr. “Year of the Cat,” has pretty much stolen the youthful, rock fourpiece—described as one that holds “a joyful friction between Americana, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll spiked with roots soul”—and even allows it to open for him every night. (Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)

C The Black Lips w/Jacuzzi Boys/Liquid Pennies The last time Tampa Bay had a chance to see The Black Lips was in January 2020, at an album release party for the eerily-aptlynamed Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart . Four years later, the world is still doing that, and the Atlanta-based garage rock band’s latest release Apocalypse Love only has a pinch of its original heavy sound (it also features a heavier presence from acoustic guitars, a tabla to open “Whips of Holly,” and a lot of They Might Be Giants vibes in some of the lead vocals). Miami-based fuzz-rock outfit Jacuzzi Boys, and St. Pete’s own psych-rock darling Liquid Pennies open. (Floridian Social, St. Petersburg)

C Descendents w/Circle Jerks/The Adolescents Descendents took an interesting approach on its latest album 9th & Walnut The sessions—featuring early members Tony

Black Lips

Lombardo and the late Frank Navetta—happened in 2002, but were shelved until frontman Milo Aukerman decided to record some proper vocals during COVID-19 lockdowns. The California punk band’s current lineup is only playing one track from presumably the final Descendants album with the since-departed members (Lombardo still occasionally joins the band, and Navetta died in 2008), but with a setlist of over 30 tracks, Friday night in St. Pete will be nothing but good, good things all-around. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)

C Homeboy Sandman w/E-Turn/Onry

Ozzborn/Rahim Samad Nearly two decades after his debut EP, Angel Del Villar II is still nourishing the appetites of rap fans who demand conscious, clever and sometimes dry hip-hop.

“Do It Right,” is the latest from the Queens emcee better known as Homeboy Sandman and is part of an effort where the 43-year-old says he will release new music every month for the rest of his life (a dozen of the songs, including last month’s “Real Good,” are supposed to be compiled in an album called Year of the Dragon). Grayskul rapper Onry Ozzborn opens the show along with Central Florida hip-hop staples E-Turn (Orlando) and Rahim Samad (Tampa) (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)

C VNV Nation w/Traitrs Tampa Bay has a vibrant legion of EBM apostles, and the bands take notice. Just last week, Ministry pummeled St. Pete with songs old and new, and this week, we get a spin with Ronan Harris, the 56-year-old founder and principal of European futurepop pioneer VNV Nation. The band kicks off a U.S. tour in Tampa with a new album, Electric Sun , which does not stray from the formula but stands tall among some of Harris’ best stuff. (Orpheum, Tampa)

SAT 30

6 Volt Rodeo The 14-year-old, Clearwater-based Texas-style swing five-piece takes its influence from the big band sounds of the ‘30s and ‘40s (Benny Goodman, King Cole) as well as those who stayed mainstream in the honky-tonk sections of the decades to follow (Buck Owens, Ernest Tubb). According to a bio, a handful of lineup changes over the years has allowed 6 Volt to expand its sound with elements of “Dixieland and gypsy jazz, Cajun two-step, and even Mexican mariachi music.” If you’re craving something as eclectic, this divey neighborhood favorite is where you’ll wanna be. (Bauser’s, Dunedin)

C The Celebration of Mignonne ‘Mimi’ Reilly: Adam Turkel & Billy Summer w/The Inhalers/Flag Burner/Mosquito Teeth/more Mimi Reilly’s 57 years on earth were marked, in big part, by her huge contribution to the St. Petersburg underground where she used the conduit of the Star Booty salon to straight up build a scene that made the Sunshine City a really cool place to live weirdly. Reilly passed on Feb. 6 (read more on p. 13), but her friends, fans, and family need closure, so they’re having a gigantic celebration of life featuring a whole slew of the punks who more or less saw Reilly like a den mother. (The Factory, St. Petersburg)

Commodore Corpse: The Paul Mazurkiewicz stories Tampa Bay, in many ways, is the global cradle of death metal, and Cannibal Corpse’s presence here is proof. For this show, founding drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz isn’t playing music, but telling stories from his life, which a troupe

continued on page 47

The

of improv comedians will then turn into performance. If you’re looking for a full night of local lore, get to this emergent comedy venue early to see Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s own Ray Roa guest on “The Catch Up.” (read more on p.10) (The Commodore, Tampa)

C Covers Are F*cking Dead: Wolf-Face w/ You Vandal/Suburban Wasteland Covers are dead, but Wolf-Face is also a band borne of one man’s obsession with “Teen Wolf,” so there aren’t really any rules anymore, right? The storied St. Petersburg punk outfit takes a short road trip across the Sunshine Skyway for this set featuring songs by hardcore OG Refused. The wolves are in good company, too, thanks to Gainesville’s You Vandal (doing Taking Back Sunday), plus Bradenton band Suburban Wasteland performing a spread of emo favorites. (Oscura, Bradenton)

C Silverada w/Tony Logue “Silverada” isn’t just the name of Mike and the Moonpies’ upcoming album—it’s also the Americana quintet’s new moniker. Frontman Mike Harmeier wrote the new album, out June 28, in his backyard as a departure from his band playing the same set every gig. He cites sci-fi selections, astronomy texts, and even some of Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting books (which every songwriter in the world needs to pick up) as his inspiration. Silverada 's first two singles “Anywhere But Here” and “Wallflower” are definitely a change in direction from releases past, and in terms of its sound, could actually be confused with material from Jakob Dylan and the, err, Wallflowers. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)

SUN 31

C Cold Steel w/Juicebox/Substance/ Playground Drug Dealer/Jit The cover art on Substance’s 2022 EP, Frightening World , is a zoomed-in crop of the bloodied mustache and mouth of hard-living French-Canadian heavyweight boxer Jack Delaney. The record will leave you torn up, too. Hardcore in sound, but unafraid to be vulnerable in subject matter, vocalist Derek Rathbun recently told Vice that the songs are him letting out rage. “They're all about real people and experiences that I've encountered while being around all the ignorant machismo that one tends to encounter,” Rathbun added. Fellow Texas hardcore band Juicebox is on this brewery show along with local slam and hardcore acts Playground Drug Dealer and Jit. (Deviant Libation, Tampa)

For The Fallen Dreams w/Elijah/Versus Me/Chasing Airplanes The Michigan-based metalcore band (which doesn’t only include screamo-style lead vocals) promises new music this year, but arrives leaning on its eponymous 2023 album, For The Fallen Dreams’ first release on indie German punk label Arising Empire.

continued from page 45

Unlike in a few recent music videos, there won’t be any explosions at Oscura this weekend, but an explosive lineup, featuring up-and-coming metal bands Elijah and Versus Me, as well as local synthwave legends Chasing Airplanes, has been promised. (Oscura, Bradenton)

Rough Dreams w/Low Season/Send and Delete/more Easter is apparently a great day for rock shows. Hardcore and metal bands are in Tampa and Bradenton this weekend, and Rough Dreams visits from Knoxville, too. The quartet plays a melodic, extremely catchy brand of punkpop that sounds a little like Chuck Ragan or Ben Nichols fronting an emo band. Low Season is among the Bay area locals opening the show along with New Port Richey’s Send and Delete. (The Nest at St. Petersburg Brewing Co., St. Petersburg)

TUE 02

C St. Petersburg Jazz Festival: Helios Jazz Orchestra w/Mauricio Rodriguez/Markus Gottschlich/O Som Do Jazz/more Kicking off Tuesday, the five-night St. Petersburg Jazz festival features sets at Palladium Theater (Helios Jazz Orchestra with Alexis Cole, bassist Mauricio Rodriguez), plus St. Pete College (pianist Markus Gottschlich), the Warehouse Arts District (Brazilian jazz outfit O Som Do Jazz with Latin Grammy-winning composer Jose Valentino Ruiz and drummer Rafael Pereira), and the gorgeous Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement (southern “Gypsy jazz” band Hot Club SRQ). More information is at stpetejazzfest.com.

WED 03

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox It’s surprising that Postmodern Jukebox known for turning songs from the latter half of the 20th century and beyond into jazzy, 1920s-style jigs—doesn’t have any Taylor Swift in its current setlist. The 13-year-old band has tackled Miss Americana’s material before, but even those who have a stick up their butt over her can enjoy Bradlee and friends’ villain-esque cover of “Look What You Made Me Do.” Instead, you’ll mostly hear classic rock bangers with the extra razzle dazzle. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)

Teddy Swims If you couldn’t get enough of Swim’s set at last year’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, or you didn’t score tickets to see the 31-year-old Georgia boy at Jannus Live last fall, Mr. “Lose Control”—whose absolute banger of a debut I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) is slowly but surely making him a household name—makes his Hard Rock Tampa debut for this gig that finds him joining Willie Nelson and Gladys Knight in an exclusive club featuring national acts that have played Tampa Bay thrice over the course of one year. (Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa)

THU 04

C Tampa Jazz Club: Jack Wilkins (album release) The Tampa Jazz Club takes a break from holding shows at Hillsborough Community College in Ybor CIty, and is moving into New

Tampa for the release of the seventh album from Jack Wilkins, a saxophonist in charge of the University of South Florida’s jazz department. Acadian Rhythms was inspired by Wilkins’ time as an artist-in-residence in Maine two years ago, and an 11-piece repertoire will back him, along with Elements co-founder-slash-drummer Danny Gottlieb as a special guest. (New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa)

C Madonna Amalie Arena made its announcement of this once-postponed show in January 2023 with a cool video showing someone going into Seminole Heights record store Microgroove, finding a "Madonna Celebration Tour" CD, sticking it into the stereo and playing "Like A Prayer." In a press release, Live Nation said the tour takes fans through four decades of Madonna’s career and pays respect to New York City where her career began. “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna added. (Amalie Arena, Tampa)

C Rock The Park: Domino Pink w/Aych & Friends/MPM Aych & Friends’ Gasparilla Music Festival debut last month happened as so much other music was going on, and if you missed it, the longtime Tampa rapper—plus the local talent he thinks represents the future of the scene— take to another park for a free, family-and-pet friendly. show alongside Palmetto psych-rock band Domino Pink. (Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa)

See an extended version of this listing at cltampa. com/music.

Aych

TYLER DOWNEY/GASPARILLA MUSIC FESTIVAL

HAPPY HOUR AT AMSO

Monday - Friday, 4pm-7pm Saturday 3pm-6pm

$4, $5 & $6 Liquor, Beer & Wine $8 Hand-Cra ed Cocktails

Jimmy Eat World is one of those bands that always seems to play headlining shows everywhere else in Florida not called Tampa Bay, but that sort-of changes this summer thanks to the local baseball team (coincidentally the band played the since-shuttered baseball-themed Innings Festival in 2021).

Quaint Delusions w/Teen Cobra/Navin Ave/ Andy Brey Friday, April 5. 7 p.m. $10. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa

Flatland Cavalry Sunday, April 7. 8 p.m. $24.50. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

Tampa Bay Symphony: International Composition Competition Finals Sunday, April 7. 2 p.m. No cover. Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg

The Tampa Bay Rays announced three artists for its summer concert series this week, including a July date from the emo hero, plus shows from country dude Riley Green, and fucking-awesomerap-andR&B-guy who can actually do really good country shit, T-Pain.

The postgame concerts at Tropicana Field are included with game tickets, but you’ll have to purchase an additional postgame wristband ($30-$40) to get on the Trop playing field for the concerts.

Here’s the schedule for the 2024 Tampa Bay Rays concert series: Jimmy Eat World (Friday, July 26 v. Cincinnati Reds), Riley Green (Saturday, Aug. 10 v. Baltimore Orioles), T-Pain (Friday, Aug. 16 v. Arizona Diamondbacks).

The Rays are currently wrapping up Spring Training, and play a sold-out home opener in St. Petersburg on Thursday, March 28 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

See Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.- Ray Roa

Spring Bluegrass Festival: Leftover Salmon w/Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen/The Cleverlys/Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley/Dry Branch Fire Squad/Lonesome River Band/ more Thursday-Saturday, March 21-23. 12 p.m. $20 & up. Florida Sand Music Ranch, Brooksville

Spring Break Slaughter: Generation Underground w/Spiritual Chaos/Forest Ov The Witch/Send All Friday, March 22. 7 p.m. $12. Brass Mug, Tampa

Abstract Citizen w/La Lucha Wednesday, April 10. 7:30 p.m. $20. The Far Forest, Tampa

The Verve Pipe Wednesday, April 17. 7:30 p.m. $24.50 & up. Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo

Grrrls Night! Tampa: The Haunt w/Peace Cult/more Saturday, April 20. 6 p.m. $15. Crowbar, Ybor City

The Venus w/Spoiled Rat/Radaghast/Lil Jerry Springer Saturday, April 20. 6 p.m. No cover. Bandit, St. Petersburg

Gorgon City w/Azzecca Sunday, April 21. 11 a.m. $35 & up. Hard Rock Event Center Pool at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa

Simon Lasky Group Monday, April 22. 8 p.m. Prices TBA. New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa

The Fixx Tuesday, April 30. 8 p.m. $39 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater

Hope Darling w/Henleys Friday, May 3. 7 p.m. $10. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa

Toto Wednesday, May 8. 8 p.m. $48.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater

Diana Ross Thursday, May 9. 8 p.m. $50.50 & up. The Sound, Clearwater

PHIL DESIMONE

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Dom and dommer

By Dan Savage

I’m having a weird reaction to someone I'm involved with. I find myself wanting to punish him for the slightest transgressions and scold him or give him the silent treatment until he apologizes. The poor guy hasn’t done anything very wrong—nothing wrong wrong—he’s just failed to meet my unreasonably high expectations for him. To make matters worse, we seem to have fallen into some sort of roleplay, verbally at least, where I order him around. He seems to want me to punish him and give him orders and I’m doing both, but I've never been a Dom or had a sub or whatever it is we’re doing. Honestly, I’m confused about what we’re doing but he seems to be inviting it somehow. How do I navigate this?—Problems

Understanding Nuances In Situationship Here

“This situation reminds Me of the kinkster classic ‘Secretary,’” said The Funny Dom. “It’s a fascinating look at

a Dom and a sub who don’t fully understand their identities or how to pursue the dynamic functionally. It’s sweet and hot watching Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader fall into a problematic spanking scene, but in real life we know better.”

SAVAGE LOVE

behaviors he wants to see from you—I’m guessing your boyfriend is just as confused about the dynamic you’ve stumbled into as a couple. But since you seem to enjoy punishing him, PUNISH, and since your boyfriend seems to enjoy being punished by you, this sounds less like a problem and more like the beginning of a beautiful (and very hot) relationship.

dynamic further. And if so, how they can pursue it mindfully.”

The Funny Dom is the pen name of a 44-year-old Daddy based in Melbourne, Australia. A long-time kink practitioner and educator, The Funny Dom has been “holding light-hearted (but stern!) space” for Doms, subs, and switches online since the start of the pandemic.

“It sounds like these two have developed a kind of Dom/sub dynamic,” said TheFriendlyDom. “PUNISH should think of it like a particular kind of dance they’re both loosely following. And while it’s all well and good for her to say he’s inviting it, it takes two to tango.”

Maybe your boyfriend already knew he was a sub when you met and he’s subtly training you to dominate him—by rewarding the punishing

“It’s obvious from the way PUNISH and her boyfriend respond to each other’s behavior that D/s resonates for both of them,” said TheFunnyDom.

“They have a real opportunity here to explore a big juicy part of their identities. But to take those steps, they need to have a conversation about the moves they’ve both been pulling— and what those moves mean to them—and then discuss whether they’d like to pursue this

One of you needs to say, “Hey, what are we doing here?”, and since you’re the one who wrote to me first, PUNISH, I think you’re the one who needs to say it. And if you’re concerned about where this is heading— if you’re worried about this dynamic escalating in ways that make you feel uncomfortable about your actions—identifying what it is you’re doing and will help contain it. Right now, PUNISH, you’re punishing your boyfriend and kindasorta hoping he likes it as much as you think he does; once you’ve talked about it, you’ll be able to punish your boyfriend confident that likes what you’re doing. And remember: this conversation isn’t just about identifying your boyfriend’s limits as a sub, PUNISH, it’s also about identifying your limits as a Dom.

“To start the conversation they can watch a

decent kinky movie together,” said The Funny Dom, “something like “Secretary or Love & Leashes”—a much less problematic and even sweet depiction of a male sub dynamic—and then talk about what they liked, what they didn’t like, and what, if anything, reflected what’s happening between them. They can also grab a how-to book—and there are many—and look for a kink class or workshop to attend together and independently.”

One how-to book you might want to pick up and read with the boyfriend: “The Funny Dom’s Guide to Kink” (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), which is available now.

“PUNISH and her boyfriend— really, all couples who interested in kink—need to remember that kink is a big, big, hot, transformative, messy, wonderful adventure,” said The Funny Dom, “and it shouldn’t be done in a non-conscious vacuum, folks.” In other words, PUNISH, you gotta talk about it. Or as we like to say here at Savage Love, Inc., you gotta use your words.

Cis-het dude here in my 30s. I've had to spend several multi-month periods away from my wife over the last couple years for work. During the last long separation, I started writing letters—long letters, horny letters, emotional letters, and lots of smut. I sent notebooks filled with horny letters and erotic short stories, drawings, and elaborate choose-your-own-adventure-style pieces. I let her in on some of my kinks. (I know, Dan: I should’ve done this when we first started dating but I wasn’t listening to the Lovecast then.) As it turns out, she's pretty vanilla and she asked me to pull back on the kink. Since the letters and stories were gifts, I obliged. I'm not great at talking about my feelings and desires but I can write them down. Not everything was horny—I sent love letters, not just lust letters— but I never get much of a response. For example, I wrote her an “ice cream menu” with codes aligning with different themes and kinks. The idea was that she could pick what she wanted to read in future notebooks. I got a couple requests, but she never used the menu system, let alone asked for “lavender honeycomb” or “mint chocolate chip” options. (Yes, vanilla was also on the menu!)

I guess the issue here is that I feel like I'm not getting much back. Are these projects worth pursuing? Should I put my kinks (mostly subby stuff with me as the sub) back in my stories or does that come across like I'm trying to pressure her? We're going to be back together full time for the next couple years. I love the heck out of this woman— that’s why I married her—but it doesn't feel good to be the unreciprocated lust letter writer.—Boy Overconfidently Oversharing Kink Stories continued on page 53

continued from page 51

“First of all, one cis-het bloke to another, a big bloody well done on the beautiful and creative outlet BOOKS found and explored and here’s to making space for sharing, vulnerability, and playful kinky discussions,” said The Funny Dom. “Our fellow cis-het blokes could do with more of this. Unfortunately, I’m thinking BOOKS transformation from a not-very-comfortable-speaking-about-feelings-and-desires guy to something like a coked-up-Aaron-Sorkin-like pen pal may have overwhelmed his partner.”

You say it wasn’t your intent to make your wife feel pressured—not pressured respond in kind, not pressured to embrace your kinks—but it sounds like she feels pressured, BOOKS, and it sounds like you actually are disappointed she hasn’t responded in kind and embraced your kinks.

“I totally understand that BOOKS is feeling a little underwhelmed by the lack of reciprocation here,” said The Funny Dom. “That’s only human. But he’s gotta remember that no one asked him to cook this five-course meal. Before anyone does something like that for you, you gotta discuss tastes, appetites, and menu options before playing chef. Kink-dynamic wise, sending someone smut and possible scenarios for play that place your partner in the Dominant role— without clearly ascertaining whether that’s who they are or what they want—is a form of manipulation you often see in relationships

that have been essentially vanilla but now one person wants to explore kink.”

Needless to say, it’s not a recipe for success. So, what can you do?

“BOOKS shouldn’t put the pen down,” said The Friendly Dom, “but he should keep the writing for himself—start an anonymous blog or write for a smut lit erotica type platform— and then, when he’s home, have a face-to-face conversation with his partner how he’s feeling and, most importantly, how she’s feeling and whether she wants to explore any of this at all. And if not, well, BOOKS needs to take that into account before spending the next umpteen years together. Fundamental kink compatibility is not like simply going for different footy team. It’s bloody vital to a functional relationship.”

Follow The Funny Dom on Instagram and Threads (@thefunnydomreturns). The Funny Dom is available for one-on-one online coaching sessions with couples and individuals.

My last relationship collapsed because my exboyfriend needed a sexual performance I could deliver. Everything else was spectacular, and we really did love each other, but I’m one of those rare gay men who insists on monogamy. (We do exist, Dan.) Which means I couldn’t agree to him exploring domination and degradation with other men. We had excellent vanilla sex (both vers) and he said he was satisfied but he kept asking for my permission to get dominated by other men.

I felt I had no other option than to end our relationship. I read your column and listen to your show, Dan, so I know my ex-boyfriend didn’t choose his kinks to sabotage our relationship. I did, however, hope that exploring them though porn and fantasy would be enough for him, but it sadly wasn’t. It’s two years after the breakup and I am happy to report that we are friends. He’s been seeing someone for six months and it’s getting serious, and his new boyfriend dominates and degrades him in ways I simply could not because I loved him too much to do things like that. I still have love for my ex and want what’s best for him and it’s very hard for me to interact with his new boyfriend knowing how he treats my ex. It has hard for me to see their relationship as a loving or healthy one. Do I say something to my ex? I want to start by saying, “I’m happy for you, but….” But what comes after the “but”?—The Loving Vanilla Ex

Here’s what you say to your ex: “I’m happy for you.” No “but,” just a period.

Zooming out: BDSM and Dom/sub dynamics don’t do anything for you. (And by, “don’t do anything for you,” I mean, “they don’t make your dick hard.”) So, it’s not that you couldn’t do these things with your ex because you loved him too much to dominate or degrade him — it’s not that you’re too loving and virtuous for that shit — it’s that you don’t wanna to do these things with anybody because those things don’t make your dick hard.

Now, I’m gonna assume that like most vanilla vers gay men, TLVE, ass fucking makes your dick hard and ass fucking in the context of an intimate relationship feels loving and healthy. But let’s say you weren’t into ass fucking and someone decided to fuck your ass anyway. You wouldn’t experience ass fucking under those circumstances as loving; you would experience ass fucking under those circumstances as violence. Well, just as you’re capable of experiencing ass fucking as a loving act because you love having your ass fucked by someone who loves you, your ex-boyfriend is capable of experiencing domination and degradation as a loving act because he loves being dominated and degraded by someone who loves him.

Consensual BDSM, Dom/sub play, erotic humiliation: not for you, you don’t get it, you don’t have to do it. But hundreds of millions of straight people—maybe even billions—don’t see how one man fucking another man in the ass could ever be a loving act. They don’t get it. And luckily for you, straight people—the ones who don’t get it (#NotAllStraightPeople)—don’t get to tell you how you’re allowed to love your next boyfriend, TLVE, and you don’t get to tell your ex-boyfriend how he’s allowed to love his current boyfriend.

Got problems? Yes, you do. Send your question to mailbox@savage.love! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

AFRICA STUDIO/ADOBE

EQUIVALENCY TEST 2000

by Merl Reagle

ACROSS

1 Pontiac muscle car

8 Jai alai basket

13 Lighter?

18 Ease

19 One of the 12 labors of Hercules, cleaning the ___ stables

20 Animal rights crusader Cleveland

21 AA offshoot

22 2000 = a ___

24 Lapel attachment

25 Entered on horseback

27 Distant

28 Org. from which Eleanor Roosevelt resigned in 1939 (over its policy toward singer Marian Anderson)

29 2000 = the number of ___

34 Singer Sumac

35 Be of ___ (help)

36 Baseball-stat trio: abbr.

37 Ground breakers

38 Diatribe

40 2000 = the miles of ___

46 Like some college walls

48 Always, to poets

49 Above, to poets

50 2000 = a ___

59 Mil. rank

60 Point systems, in math

61 With 75 Down, a Charlie Brown exclamation

creative loafing puzzler

62 Furnishings scheme

63 At ___ for words

66 Italian commune (anagram of RITA)

68 Alcazar inhabitant

70 Magnon opener

71 2000 = a ___

76 Actor Stephen

77 “Scram!”

78 Jean Brodie’s charges

79 2000 = the number of ___ (with 92 Across)

86 Hud director Martin

87 Ger.

88 Vegas opening

89 See 42 Down

91 “It’s ___-win situation”

92 See 79 Across

100 Clause’s cousin: abbr.

101 He’s often in the hole

102 Hammered

103 Fed. agcy. that oversees tribal lands

104 2000 = the number of ___

108 Most prying

111 Gun-toting

112 Surfing, perhaps

113 Dining out, perhaps

114 Inclement

115 Approaches

116 Brian Williams, for one

DOWN

1 Devices for the unsuspecting

2 Ignited anew

3 George Hamilton’s ex

4 Pick opening

5 Consult

6 Opposed (to)

7 Amahl’s creator

8 Physicist Marie

9 Eddie of Badge

373 and Richard of Pollyanna

10 Ted K. was one

11 Smidge

12 “Deliver him up ... ransomless ___” (Shak.)

13 TV’s Povich

14 Envoy: abbr.

15 “I ___ so!”

16 Part of a tea set

17 Multi-headed monsters

19 Terse review of a great little film

23 Horse tidbit

26 Titanic soundtrack vocalist

30 Smock’s cousin

31 Ms. Lauder

32 Nov. 22, 1963, for ex.

33 Electrical unit

37 Neigh sayer

38 Lake undulation

39 Funicello co-star

41 Long for

42 With 89 Across, a confident assent

43 Math branch

44 George W., to George

45 Long-standing quarrel

47 650

50 “Scram!”

51 Bread unit

52 When Richard dies in Richard III

53 Eugene O’Neill verb

54 Pasture chorus

55 Indiana Jones find

56 Of the mystic arts

57 “___ for the wicked”

58 Love god

64 Showy walk

65 The Mets’ former park

67 Press (clothes)

69 Gas-pump abbr.

72 Ben-Hur was chained to one for three years

73 Crackpot

74 Part of Argentina’s capital

75 See 61 Across

79 Lisbon lass

80 House minimums?

81 Joy

82 Droop

83 Exodus subj.

84 Egyptian goddess

85 Maigret’s creator

87 New York bridge, the ___ Zee

90 Tiled anew, e.g.

92 Word after big or sugar

93 It’s got you covered: abbr.

94 Up and about 95 Deimos and Phobos, for example

96 It might be whistled

97 Girder type

98 Panorama

99 Gobbled

105 ___ earnings

106 One ans. to “which way?”

107 In the style of

109 Wood cutter

110 Hosp. bracelets