Tampa Bay restaurant and bar openings: Meat Market expands to Hyde Park, Blaze Pizza heats up Trinity

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Meat Market

This popular Miami Beach restaurant is in soft-opening mode at Hyde Park Village. Meat Market sets out to turn the average steakhouse experience on its head with a contemporary attitude, paying particular attention to its ingredients. Prime cuts of beef, seafood and raw bar selections are highlights on the grub side. In sophisticated digs, they accompany familiar and original cocktails organized by Aperitif & Sparkling, House Creations and Classic & Stirred. To start, the Tampa outpost caters to happy hour and dinner guests. Lunch is scheduled to roll out next month. Meat Market also operates in Palm Beach and San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1606 W Snow Ave., Tampa. (813) 280-1113. meatmarket.net.

Aubi & Ramsa

Started in Miami, the ice cream shop has introduced its boozy frozen treats near Tampa hot spots Mise en Place and Oxford Exchange. Aubi & Ramsa is reminiscent of a chic watering hole, showcasing shelves of liquor bottles backlit with the ice cream they are used in, a reminder that you’re here for adult ice cream flavors like tangerine mimosa, Kentucky creme brulee and agave dulce de leche. The 21-and-up menu hits 11 spirited categories: single malt, Champagne, liqueur, mezcal, tequila, bourbon, Irish cream, vodka, gin, wine and rum. The ice cream comes in small (3.7 ounces) or pint-sized tubs, and insulated to-go bags are $1.50 extra. With two existing stores in South Florida, Aubi & Ramsa’s second Tampa shop is coming to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino this fall, according to its website. 442 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. (813) 505-6316. aubiramsa.com.

Blaze Pizza

Blaze Pizza’s second Tampa Bay location arrived on Oct. 7. Part of the Mitchell Ranch Plaza in Trinity, the 2,500-square-foot restaurant with 70-plus seats and more on the covered patio slings creatively dressed pies fast, for lunch and dinner. Blaze Pizza, a franchise with sites across the United States and Canada, offers pizza in two sizes: the 11-inch personal or the 14-inch shareable. Both are built with your picks from an array of toppings, including vegan cheese and plant-based chorizo, or gluten-free and keto crusts. Three salads complete the simple menu. “Our pizza is aimed at consumers that don’t just want convenience, but also seek customization and fresher, healthier, inventive options in their food choices,” said Dennis Sherer, operating partner of the Trinity restaurant, in a statement. The region welcomed its first Blaze Pizza in Lutz earlier this year. A third location will launch in Tampa at E Fowler Avenue and N 51st Street in 2020. 3194 Word Way, Suite H-3, Trinity. (727) 250-0777. blazepizza.com.

The Champagne Bar

Oxford Exchange opened this hip haven for bubbly and wine-based libations inside its splurgy retail area on Oct. 3. Designed to wet your whistle while you shop or before you snag a meal at the on-site restaurant, the Champagne Bar pours six Champagne cocktails, among them the French 75 and a nonalcoholic cranberry spritz, as well as a good-sized collection of sparking wines by the glass and bottle. There’s a $30 flight comprised of three bubbly options, too. The Champagne Bar is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (day drinking!) and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 420 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. (813) 253-0222. oxfordexchange.com.

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Lil Net’s Home Style Cooking

Lil Net’s Home Style Cooking doesn’t shy away from crossing cuisines. The casual restaurant spotlights soul food favorites like fried chicken and collard greens but also carries a variety of other down-home eats — think Italian sausage and peppers, cheeseburgers, crab salad, curry chicken and Philly cheesesteaks. 1500 16th St. S, St. Petersburg. (727) 290-6162.

Bar Chinchilla

Craft beer and fine wine drive this joint, which quietly replaced the 4 Three Nine in downtown St. Petersburg in August. As its playful name suggests, Bar Chinchilla isn’t meant to be stuffy; the global whites and reds and the bottled, draft and canned brews from Florida and beyond are featured in an approachable setting instead. Bar Chinchilla’s bonus list of “great liquids” includes an Italian wine-based spritzer and two sparkling vodka cocktails in cans. Happy hour runs 3 to 7 p.m. daily. 439 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 827-7742. barchinchilla.com.

Other openings: Bar Hwrd (South Tampa, with local chef Rene Valenzuela’s new Mexican food truck SoHo Fuego parked outside), the Blind Tiger (WestShore Plaza), Ground Foods Cafe (Seminole Heights), Lolis Mexican Cravings (South Tampa) and Mi Bello Ecuador Restaurante (West Tampa).

COMING SOON

Anthem House

Anthem House is a shake and tea bar aiming to serve up a side of empowerment. Sure, there’s a health-minded lineup of beverages to sip. But avid networker and fitness camper Anabel Ottersbach, who owns Anthem House with her husband David, said they also hope to help customers understand that they have a voice when it comes to their physical and emotional well-being. That’s why the bar marries meal replacement shakes and energizing teas with everything from a feel-good “selfie” bench to a large chalkboard affirmation wall designed for spreading positive thoughts. “I am a big believer in women empowerment, and my husband loves focusing on being a dad and empowering children to have a voice,” Anabel Ottersbach told the Tampa Bay Times via email. “So for us, Anthem House is where [you] will come to ‘find your voice.’ ... This is all an extension of what I’m already doing out in the community with my all-female fitness camps and women’s networking events.” Anthem House will offer 10 to 15 shake flavors and six to 10 tea flavors, in addition to four to six iced coffee drinks. Although the teas are primarily presented cold, some of them are available hot. The bar expects to premiere by mid-October, with a grand opening celebration slated for the first week of November. “The location, for us, is perfect,” Ottersbach said. “It’s central to everything we do. Plus, Clearwater has so much going on, and we just hope to add our piece to it.” 25028 U.S. 19 N, Clearwater. theanthemhouse.com.

Toss Salads & Wraps

Like the handful of new wine bars that are headed for St. Petersburg, more salad spots seem to be sprouting up. The latest, Toss Salads & Wraps, promises a speedy, nutritious menu that allows you to turn, or “toss,” your ingredient combination of choice into a wrap or salad. 600 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. tossdtsp.com.

The Salty Crab Bar & Grill

Beachside Hospitality Group is expanding its local footprint with a second Salty Crab Bar & Grill location. The restaurant, which opened in Fort Myers Beach in 2015, will occupy the former Captain’s Pizza space next to ice cream shop Ice & Cream. According to the St. Petersburg-based hospitality group’s website, general manager John Coughlin leads this Salty Crab, which will debut sometime this month. On top of the Salty Crab, Beachside Hospitality Group is working on bringing an ice cream place called Sweet Willy’s to Clearwater Beach. 462 Mandalay Ave., Clearwater Beach. (727) 330-1750. bshgrp.com.