Coffee Drinks & More Take Flight At The Bean Bar Co.!

By GARY NAGER

Few people I know love a good cup of coffee more than I do, so the latest innovation at The Bean Bar Co., located just off the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. exit of I-75 (in the plaza next to Stonewood Grill & Tavern), is definitely right up my alley.

Owner Danielle Henry says that The Bean Bear’s new “coffee flights” definitely borrowed the flight concept from alcoholic beverages, like from beer to bourbon and from tequila to wine.

The flights offer customers four 5.5-oz. samples, one each of The Bean Bar’s four customer-favorite “classic” coffee drinks — café mocha, Irish nutcase, café con leche and caramel macchiato. And, Danielle says that since being introduced last month, the flights have really (pun intended) taken off.

“It’s always fun to introduce something new and see how people react to it,” Danielle says. “We’ve sold a lot of coffee flights in just a few weeks.”

In fact, leading up to Valentine’s Day, The Bean Bar offered a flight of four V-Day favorites — raspberry white chocolate, cherry almond, chocolate-covered strawberry and red velvet lattés. “We probably will experiement with other flights,” she says. “Stay tuned.”

For me, it’s difficult to stay away from the Bean Bar, whether anything new is introduced or not. I have continually switched off between the very-authentic-tasting café con leche, made with real Cuban sugar, and the better-than-Starbucks caramel macchiato since the place first opened a little more than a year ago (in Nov. of 2021). But now, I may jiust have to put the café mocha and some of the other flavors (e.g., toasted marshmallow and peanut butter cup) in my rotation. There also are a number of flavor shots available. Whatever flavor you choose — even if you just like regular hot or iced — the coffee is always outstanding. Danielle says that all of the coffee is from Naviera Coffee Mills, “an amazing Cuban roast. And, even though people have tried to get us to switch, I don’t believe I ever will.”

Danielle and her brother Kyle Trina each also operate a Bean Bar Co. food truck (and Danielle says both are new versions of their original food truck, and make regular appearances in Wesley Chapel), and she just finished a 12-day run at the Florida State

Fair. “We have the space (at the fair) right next to Peachey’s (Baking Co. of Sarasota), which sells amazing Amish donuts. It’s a perfect spot for us.”

But, as someone who can take or leave the fair, I’m just happy that The Bean Bar Co. has a brick-&-mortar location so close to where I live. In addition to the variety of hot and iced coffee drinks (including a nitro cold brew), there’s also a large menu of hot and iced tea favorites, from Earl Grey and Florida orange blossom to chai tea lattés.

But, What About Breakfast?

I’m glad you asked. I am huge fan of The Bean Bar’s breakfast sandwiches — including the croissant egg sandwiches with garlic aioli, to which you can add turkey bacon or real bacon (for just $1 more), and my favorite waffle chicken sandwich with bacon & egg, served with breakfast syrup. So good. But, even though Danielle says it’s been on the menu for a long time, I only recently sampled The Bean Bar’s light-&-fluffy quiche Lorraine. It isn’t made on the premises, but it’s honestly better than the quiche at most places that do house-bake their own. There also are garlic-&-cheddar and everything-&-gouda bagels and Danielle says mini-sized Dutch-style pancakes (with strawberry jelly, Nutella and other toppings) also will be added in March.

And, while I don’t eat avocado toast, photographer Charmaine George says The Bean Bar’s spicy version of it, served on multi-grain bread, is worth a try, too. The sandwiches also are available for lunch, as are tasty beef and chicken empanadas.

Danielle also has brought in new baked goods. The current options include (all shown on the plate above) apple Danish, apple maple and creme brulée muffin tops (think “Seinfeld”), chocolate pastry twists and lemon raspberry and pink & red marble mini loafs. Other tasty treats float in and out (including cream-filled whoopie pies and strawberry-iced scones) — so stop in to check out the latest.

Danielle and her husband Mark recently welcomed their third child — son Hudson (the others are 5-year-old son Peyton and 2-1/2-year old daughter Layne).

The Bean Bar Co. is located at 17018 Palm Pointe Dr. and is open Mon.-Fri., 6 a.m.-5 p.m., & 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. & Sun. For more info, call (813) 442-7699, visit BeanBarCo.com or on Instagram (#beanbar_co) or Facebook (“The Bean Bar Co.”). Also, see the ad on pg. 37 to save 15% off your entire order.

Whether you try the Tiger Red or Tiger Black course at PopStroke, you’ll enjoy a true putting experience. (Photos by Charmaine George)

Tiger Woods’ PopStroke Is Now Open On The North Side Of S.R. 56!

If you’re an actual golfer who thinks that the PopStroke Eat.Putt.Drink. that opened on the north side of S.R. 56 on Feb. 17 is nothing more than your usual putt-putt course without the windmills, you need to go check it out.

The chain of miniature golf courses co-owned and designed by Tiger Woods and his TGR Design that now has six locations in Florida, Arizona and Texas (with three more set to open this year), is much more than just kids-oriented mini-golf. Yes, kids are allowed and invited to play (with adult supervision when under age 10) and there’s also children’s games, plus great food, ice cream and more to keep the young’ns occupied.

Although the Wesley Chapel/Lutz location wasn’t open the day we went to press, and we were only permitted to take pictures of the artifical turf putting courses, general manager Kurtis Phillips (he goes by “Kurt”) told me that his entire crew was “super excited” to open and that he hoped the local community would come out and support this unique, family-friendly entertainment destination.

On PopStroke.com, Tiger Woods himself said, “Some of my happiest memories are spending time with my pops on the golf course having putting contests. I’m looking forward to others enjoying time with their kids at PopStroke.”

As you can see from the top photo and the one to your left, the 36 holes at PopStroke look like real golf holes and Phillips promises that they play like real holes, too. There’s even a Jumbotron, LED TVs, bars, an app where you can order drinks while you’re on the courses, and private event space. We’ll tell you more about PopStroke’s food and beverages next issue. — GN

Grove Mini-Golf Opening Delayed...Again

Although we haven’t been able to get the management of Grove Mini Golf, which shares the parking lot for B&B The Grove 16 movie theater, to call us back, we saw a Facebook post on Feb. 1 that said:

“Missed our Jan open target. Mar/Apr Grand Opening on target, we’re planning that now. Soft open within 30-ish days or less!!”

Local residents who saw the post expressed their concern that the opening of the more Top Golf-like PopStroke might cause problems for the more traditional putt-putt course at The Grove — which features two working volcanoes and other cool “hazards.”

But, Grove Mini Golf said, “PopStroke is a completely different concept...we don’t expect to be in direct competition with each other.”

Even so, considering that Grove Mini Golf has been under construction a lot longer than PopStroke was, we’re hopeful that the family-oriented attraction in The Grove will avoid any further delays befiore opening. — GN

The Brunchery Is Now Called EggTown

Even though we told you last issue that all four of owner Al Marku’s Brunchery locations had changed their name to Brunchin’, the breakfast & lunch places on S.R. 56, BBD Blvd. in New Tampa, and in Lithia and Riverview, have now changed names to EggTown. Here’s why:

“Sadly, the Judge made a decision to stop us from using the name Brunchin, which is very shocking to us, as the name is not owned by anyone, and the word Brunch is used by hundreds of restaurants around the world. This is very disappointing, but regardless of the name, we will keep going and growing. We know we aren’t in the business of selling a name, just great food and great service; however, we owe an explanation to our guests for any changes made.

In the meantime, our guests, our restaurants, our employees, our service, and our great food remain our priority. We love and enjoy what we do, and no one can take that away from us. Our growth comes from hard work, love, and dedication for what we do. Our new name will be EggTown, which we have owned for so long but have never put it in use as we had invested so much in our previous business name. We will just keep growing and, despite the setbacks, we will never stop.”

All four EggTown locations are open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. every day. — GN

N ew T ampa & w esley C hapel

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