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Sparkman Wharf's eclectic collection of restaurants to open Nov. 30

 
The Fermented Reality Biergarten, run by Joel Bigham and Daniel K. Charley, will include 30 taps, many of them pouring beer from Florida craft breweries and a 3,000-square-foot covered bar at Sparkman Wharf, the new name for a re-imagined and renovated Channelside Bay Plaza. Rendering via Strategic Property Partners
The Fermented Reality Biergarten, run by Joel Bigham and Daniel K. Charley, will include 30 taps, many of them pouring beer from Florida craft breweries and a 3,000-square-foot covered bar at Sparkman Wharf, the new name for a re-imagined and renovated Channelside Bay Plaza. Rendering via Strategic Property Partners
Published Oct. 23, 2018

TAMPA — The beer garden, event lawn and shipping-container restaurants at Sparkman Wharf, the re-imagined version of Channelside Bay Plaza, are scheduled to open Nov. 30, developers at Water Street Tampa said Tuesday.

That's later than the October delivery time first announced by Water Street Tampa, the $3 billion mixed-use development being created by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, through his company Cascade Investment.

It also will be a month after the Nov. 1 start of the Cross-Bay Ferry, which will dock a couple of blocks away behind the Florida Aquarium.

Developers said the schedule was driven by ongoing construction, tenant requirements, the Thanksgiving holiday, and the availability of programming. The opening will include a weekend of music, fitness events and pop-up attractions.

MORE: Channelside Bay Plaza to be remade as Sparkman Wharf, with waterfront lawn, beer garden, outdoor dining and loft-style offices

All 10 of the wharf's food and beverage concepts will be open, along with Fermented Reality, an outdoor beer garden with more than 30 taps featuring Florida craft beers.

"I think it's going to be destination," Mayor Bob Buckhorn said Tuesday. "We've become a foodie city and a craft beer city, and getting that many great chefs in one location, I think, is going to be an absolute hit. I think that place will be packed similar to what the Tampa Armature Works has done on the north end."

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Sparkman Wharf will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. It also will be open any day there is a Tampa Bay Lightning home game or event at Amalie Arena.

The lawn is planned as a hub for outdoor movies, game watch parties, markets and community activities, such as CAMP fitness's first CAMP Games, planned for Dec. 1.

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Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times