Tampa's First Michelin Stars + KPOT Korean BBQ Coming To Brandon
Looking for some last minute Mother's Day plans? I put together a list for you.
Hello all. Welcome to our next issue of Carlos Eats - Tampa Edition. I’m Carlos Hernandez, back in your inbox with all the good eats. It’s been a busy week in Tampa’s food scene. Let's get you caught up on the latest news happening in town.
News:
Tampa has its first Michelin-starred restaurants. Michelin stars tend to draw tons of business for a city and was the main reason the tourism bureau for the city spening money on The Michelin Guide last year. That investment may just pay off now. The winners in Tampa are Rocca, Koya, and Lilac. It shouldn’t be particularly shocking to anyone who has paid attention to Tampa’s food scene for the last few years. Congrats to everyone involved. (WFLA)
Dark Door Spirits is relocating from their Anderson Road location in Tampa. The news was made on social media without earlier notice. The new location has not been revealed at this time. Dark Door is one of Tampa’s fastest growing distilleries and has grown during a time of changes in Florida distillation laws. (Instagram)
Mel’s Hot Dogs is for sale. The owner wants to pass the Chicago-style hot dog business on to someone who will keep up the legacy of the business with over 50 years of history in Temple Terrace. Here’s to hoping someone will honor that legacy. Personally, I love their corn dogs and loved stopping by all the time in college at USF. They also have the best baked beans in Tampa, in my opinion. (Creative Loafing Tampa)
Water Street and Midtown have their own signature Asian restaurants open or opening soon, now Hyde Park Village has announced its own concept coming soon called Ro. It's calling itself a "modern Asian & sushi concept." The restaurant group involved also own Steelbach at Armature Works, Stones Throw off the Riverwalk, and Ciro's Speakeasy in SoHo. (That’s So Tampa)
KPOT is a popular Korean BBQ and hotpot chain coming soon to Brandon at 1025 W Brandon Boulevard Brandon, FL 33511. The address listed on their website appears to be the same address as Sa Ri One BBQ currently, which sold AYCE Korean BBQ before the pandemic. No opening date is available at this time, according to the restaurant group.
Feature: K Bop Box + Annie’s Tea House
A new Korean restaurant opened in Apollo Beach not far from Big Bend Hwy. and off U.S. 41 recently called K Bop Box. It’s a small cafe with Korean dramas playing on television and they sell Korean meat dishes (bulgogi, katsu, LA Galbi), soups, noodles, appetizers, and more. Their Korean fried chicken is amazing. It has the perfect crunch and mix of sweetness and spiciness one expects in the dish. The lunch combos are also fairly priced (for Korean food that is) and will run you between $11-17.
I enjoyed a bulgogi lunch box (pictured above) with banchan and rice dishes. My friend enjoyed their ramyun bowl with kimbap and also ordered some Korean Fried Chicken. It was all delicious. Fully recommend. It’s been a long time since I had good Korean food like this close to home.
One thing that’s different at K Box is you order your food ahead of time, but a server still comes and takes care of you. It makes leaving a breeze at the end of your meal. I also like that they sell Korean snacks and drinks including Milkis.
After lunch we grabbed some bubble tea to keep catching up at this spot called Annie’s Tea House in Brandon off SR-60 near the Brandon Mall. The shop has really comforable couches and this Matcha Brown Sugar Boba was perfect! Just the right mixture of sweetness and bitterness. The boba was cooked with the perfect chewiness. I recommend Annie’s if you haven’t been. They also have Vietnamese food which I didn’t try on my visit.
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Are you still looking for Mother’s Day plans? The Tampa Bay Times has a nice list rounding up the deals and options around town. Reservations might be a little challenging at this point though. We are planning to spend ours at Samurai Blue in Ybor City.
I have rounded up some Mother’s Day events as well for your enjoyment:
MOM-OSAS For Mother’s Day at Bulla Gastrobar. (10 a.m.)
Mother's Day Brunch Specials at Epicurean Hotel, Autograph Collection. (10 a.m.)
Mother's Day Second Sunday Market + Art Walk at Armature Works. (11 a.m.)
Heights Local Market at Common Dialect Beerworks. (noon)
Astro Skate Mother's Day Skate. (1 p.m.)
Haya Lounge Latin Sunday at Hotel Haya. (3 p.m.)
That’s all for this update! Hope you guys have a wonderful Mother’s Day with those that matter to you.
-Carlos