📜 A Few Reasons to Scroll Today:
Hidden History: Bring back cheap Mexican food
Local Businesses: New restaurant openings
Fun Things to Do: Happy hours at WestShore Plaza
Site Seeing: Where to avoid Kennedy
Connect with Nature: It’s lightning season
Worth the Drive: A knight in shining pierogis
Community Contributions: Out-of-towner recommendation?
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Hidden History
Bring It Back: Mexican Burro
The 1980’s Mexican Burro Restaurant in South Tampa.
We recently asked readers what place in South Tampa you would bring back if you could, and here it is!
Mexican Burro was on West Gandy through the 1980s. Many people on Facebook said it was the only Mexican restaurant in South Tampa at the time, which helps explain the wording of the 1979 newspaper clipping we found. It mentions “prices are extremely low: You can eat a filling meal for”… take a guess…
.
.
.
Two dollars! This price included three items: a bean burrito— which the reporter felt the need to explain as a “a soft, rolled flour tortilla”— a chili relleno (also explained), and a beef enchilada, which for some reason is explained as only “a soft, rolled corn tortilla”. They also pointed out in all caps that “FIVE OF THE SIX” Mexican dinners cost $3.10, and the sixth was $3.50. Each of those included various combinations of multiple items filling the plate, so the reporter couldn’t even finish it.
These days in South Tampa, you can’t even get a 2-bite taco for two dollars! Bring back the Burro!
➡ If there’s a South Tampa place you’d like to see again, reply to let us know and we might bring it back in a future edition.
Local Businesses
Businesses on the Move
The Meeting House restaurant will open on Aug. 20 for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch in the former Daily Eats location at 901 S. Howard Ave.
Hattricks sports bar announced they will be opening their second Tampa Bay Area location in South Tampa at 4075 Henderson Blvd. within 6 months.
Fun Things to Do
Happy Hours at WestShore Plaza
Deliciously frothy coconut mojito at Curry Indian Leaves Cuisine. (By Danielle Glick for The South Tampa Scroll).
With the recent announcement that WestShore Plaza will be razed and rebuilt, we should take advantage of their happy hours before they’re gone! Out of their seven restaurants, five currently have happy hours. Here’s what they’re discounting:
Besito Mexican Restaurant: food and drink discounts vary each day of the week.
Curry Leaves Indian Cuisine: beer, cocktails, sangria, and appetizers— only in the bar area.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria: cocktails, beer, sangria, spritzes, mocktails, wine glasses and bottles, starters, and salads.
P.F. Chang’s: beer, wine, cocktails, and appetizers.
Seasons 52: wine, sangria, cocktails, small plates, and flatbreads — only in the wine bar area.
Site Seeing
Traffic Changes
I-275 ramp and surrounding lanes at Exit 39 to Kennedy Boulevard will close nightly on Aug. 16–20 at 10 p.m.–5 a.m. with traffic detoured to Exit 40B at Lois Avenue.
Kennedy Boulevard from Woodlynne Avenue to Brevard Avenue will have nighttime lane closures Aug. 18–20 at 10 p.m.–6:30 a.m.
Connect with Nature
Upcoming Natural Events
Notable Weather Changes: The heat index is going to be above 100F this whole week!
Hurricane Prep: There are two blobs in the tropical Atlantic, but their chance of development has been downgraded over the last few NHC updates. However, we are in lightning season, so check the batteries in your emergency flashlights, emergency radio, and other backup electronics— before your power goes out in a thunderstorm.
Major Sky Events:
Even though the Perseid meteor shower peak has passed, there are still extra meteors coming from it through August 24.
This weekend, Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation and shines low in the west after sunset.
➡ Have you seen a rare animal this month? Please reply to let us know when and where! Include a photo for a chance to see it featured next week.
Worth the Drive
Tampa Bay Area Foodie Find
The entrance of Pierogi Grill in Clearwater. (By Danielle Glick for The South Tampa Scroll)
There’s not many restaurants where you can take a selfie next to a full suit of metal armor on a medieval knight; but weirdly enough, a pierogi restaurant in Clearwater is one such place!
While South Tampa has more than it’s fair share of Eastern European dumplings and pierogis, they are not the same style or fillings as those served at Pierogi Grill. Theirs are more Polish style, while South Tampa’s restaurants are Ukrainian, Russian, and Georgian style. It’s like how pizza has its regional styles; and Chicago deep dish doesn’t taste like Neapolitan. If you like Babushka’s, Chanta, or Nene’s, you need to try Piergoi Grill, too.
They also have a small grocery market inside, so you can take home their frozen pierogis and other Eastern European foods they probably don’t sell at Publix.
Nearby Events
FitFest sports festival is on Aug. 15-16 at Florida State Fairgrounds’ Expo Hall in Tampa.
Monster Jam Freestyle Mania is on Aug. 15-16 at Benchmark International Arena in downtown Tampa.
Unofficial USF Bulls Bar Crawl kicks off the football season on Aug. 15, 3–10pm at Maloney’s Local Irish Pub in downtown Tampa.
Community Contributions
Your Recommendation?
➡ When you have out-of-town visitors, which South Tampa restaurant do you usually recommend?
Maybe it’s not the same restaurant you usually go to or would recommend to a local. Perhaps it’s more of a crowd-pleaser, a dish people can’t get elsewhere, or a unique vibe? Reply to let us know, and we’ll sum up everyone’s answers next week! You might discover a new idea to consider for your next guests.
Results of last week’s poll:
We asked for your favorite South Tampa shopping areas and let everyone check more than one answer. The winner surprised us: Britton Plaza. Apparently we need to check it out again!
💡 If you learned something interesting, share it with a neighbor!
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Independent & Transparent: The Scroll is independently owned and written by a South Tampa resident. Positive mentions can’t be bought. We only include things we have personally tried or trust the person who did doesn’t benefit from mentioning it. We do not include links to businesses unless they are not-for-profit or paid sponsors we have vetted and noted as such. Clicking on asterisked items (*) may provide us with affiliate compensation, which helps fund us to keep creating for you!
Your Local Writer & Founder: Danielle is a lover of food, craft cocktails, wine, travel, nature, and history. After living in Ohio, Dallas, New Zealand, and 37 countries as a digital nomad, Danielle decided South Tampa was the best place to settle in 2022. She blends a world’s worth of experiences with local expertise as a Meetup event organizer and marketing director to ensure The Scroll is always worth your read!