Kyle: Welcome to “Great Things Tampa Bay,” the podcast about great eats, great places, and great people in the greater Tampa Bay area. I’m your host, Kyle Sasser, a Tampa Bay native and realtor. This is episode 18, The Hall on Franklin. This is the great places feed of the “Great Things Tampa Bay” podcast where you will only hear episodes related to parks, stores, events, shows, and things to do about town. In our main podcast which you’ll find under “Great Things Tampa Bay,” in addition to these chats about entertainment and events, we also cover great eateries and delicious grub as well as interview some of the great people, movers, and shakers in the area. You can find our main feed at greatthingstb.com, that’s greatthingstb.com, or you can subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play just by doing a search for “Great Things Tampa Bay.” Thank you and enjoy.

A few weeks ago, the lovely wife, Abby and I, went over to Tampa and we wanted to try out this new place called the Hall on Franklin. We’d heard a little bit of a rundown on some of the news outlets. I think it was Creative Loafing, and I’d seen a couple posts on Facebook about it.

Basically, Hall on Franklin is at 1701 North Franklin Street, and that is north of downtown Tampa and Interstate 4. If you’re familiar with the area, it’s kind of close to the YMCA there. It’s a little south of that. It’s a quiet neighborhood that’s been renovated quite a bit since I lived nearby. I used to live there in Seminole Heights and Tampa Heights for a short while. But yeah, it was definitely good to see the neighborhood on the up and up, but the Hall on Franklin is there. They recently opened like a month or two at this point, but the best way to describe it, the concept is basically a gourmet food court. So just kind of think of like you go to the mall and it’s like you have all these little booths. You have a pretty wide selection.

I’ve also seen it described like a culinary incubator where chefs can try out new concepts and kind of prove the theory before you drop a few hundred thousand dollars to try to open a restaurant, which is smart. So just to give a quick thumbs up/thumbs down for the Hall on Franklin, it definitely gets a thumbs up. The food was really delicious. They have about seven or eight different booths or stalls there. So basically, you go there. You find your parking. Parking isn’t too big of an issue, but the place does actually get crowded. So definitely kind of that being a little bit more of an experience versus a dash in, dash out. You know, grab a quick meal sort of thing. You definitely want to sit down and kind of take your time picking out and kind of soaking it in.

It’s a really cool place that’s designed really well. My lovely wife, Abby, says, “It looks like they decorated with all Restoration Hardware pieces.”

Abby: Yes.

Kyle: All right, perfect, got it. My lovely wife, everyone. Yes, so there will be a bit of a crowd. Expect a little bit of a wait. There is some general admission seating, I guess, you’d call it, but I would recommend getting a table. So you have two choices. You can either go around to the actual booth to kind of see what they’re actually doing, kind of get a feel for it, and then you can place your order at the booths and they’ll bring it to the table. Or at the table, you can just review the menu and just order from the different booths.

We went the table-service route because, honestly, it was really crowded and didn’t feel like fighting. Just walking through crowds to kind of see and peer over people wasn’t really what we’re looking forward to do that day. So while we were sitting there, we went through the menu. And like I said, there’s about six or seven different booths or stalls. I’m gonna run through them briefly here just to kind of give you an overview of what’s going on there.

First off is Kofe, spelled K-O-F-E, and as I’m sure you can guess, that is like a coffee espresso bar. They do have some small pastries and stuff like that. Most of the highlight here is going to be caffeinated drinks in some manner or form. We didn’t get some coffee. I think espresso was what we got, right? Cappuccino? Yeah, we got the cappuccino and it was good. It wasn’t too bitter which if you’ve listened to previous episodes, you know that bitter coffees is not my thing, but this was brewed very well and went down very easy.

Next up, there’s Bacon Babes which they cover, as I’m sure you can imagine still, the sweeter side of life, I guess you could call it. This is gonna be sweet pastries, baked goods, lots of tasty stuff with lots of larger granulated sugar and other chocolate swizzles. I think I actually saw it looked really good. Those of you that know that I have a sweet tooth know that that section definitely caught my eye. Next up, the Melt Shop, M-E-L-T. So that’s gonna be your diner foods: burgers, sandwiches. Also milkshakes, waffle fries, and all that tasty stuff.

There’s also The Collection. Basically, alcoholic beverages, cocktails, etc. We didn’t get a chance to get over there and try that but it looked pretty cool. There’s also a North Star eatery which is gonna be your Asian street food. Then there’s Poke Rose which is…Poke Bowls which is hard to describe, but basically, just very delicious sort of Asian-inspired bowls of just delicious healthiness. That’s the best way to describe it. And then Heights Fish Camp which is your southern fish, seafood, oysters, that sort of good stuff.

So as you can see, there’s a wide selection here. If you’re with a group that’s just can’t decide on one particular thing, the Hall on Franklin is definitely a good place to go because they’re gonna have something for everybody there. So that’s the Hall on Franklin. Definitely a cool place. We’re looking forward to going back. Yeah, we wish you guys a lot of luck. The concept’s cool. Staff was great while were there, and there’s so many selections that I would definitely recommend doing what my wife always does and asking the server what their favorite thing is. It’s the easiest way to get to the tasty stuff, I guess you could say.

And that address again is 1701 North Franklin Street, north of downtown Tampa. This information is going to be in our show notes. So you can either go to our website and find this episode, episode 18, or you can go over there to the podcast application of your choice, hit the little info button and there you’ll find links and information on the Hall on Franklin. We try to make it as easy as possible for you. If you have questions or comments, shoot me an email or you can reach out to me on social media.

So we have another reader email. This one is from Michael, and he gave me some good feedback on the podcast which is always a good thing. He was saying that he would appreciate a little bit more of expansion on potential menu items specifically for vegans or vegetarians, which honestly I think it’s completely understandable. You know, it’s a very large slice of people here in the Tampa Bay area. And honestly, I was a vegetarian for a while, for a few years. I don’t know. I just saw a prime rib sandwich, just looking at it and the way the meat was laid out did not sit right with me. So I did become a vegetarian for a little while. I will say that the vegetarian options and vegan options have definitely expanded from that period of time. This would have been 2001, 2002, 2003, or something like that. Definitely a lot more than grilled cheese sandwiches out there now. So chefs and restaurants of Tampa Bay, please keep up the good work.

He gave me quite a number of vegan restaurants to check out. St. Pete downtown Tampa and Brandon. I am going to get into some of those. So Michael, thank you so much for the email. Rest assured, I will be trying out some of these recommendations soon specifically the Falafel Inn. It sounds pretty tasty, and Thai legacy which is also on Brandon. Stay tuned because I will be featuring some of these on the future episode.

So everyone knows that Neil Armstrong’s first words whenever he stepped on the moon was that was, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” However, what most people don’t know is the next mission, Apollo 12, which was on November 14th, 1969, was when they launched, whenever Pete Conrad came down the ladder and then stepped on the moon, his quote was, “Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me,” which is pretty hilarious. I can definitely see why that one is not featured on the Fourth of July videos or NASA promotional videos. He uttered these words kind of as a joke because he was relatively small in stature and also he also said these words to win a bet that he had made with a Italian journalist for $500 to prove that NASA did not script their astronauts. So pretty humorous all around, and Pete Conrad, hats off for that one.

I want to thank you for sharing Great Things Tampa Bay with your friends and family. You can share us by going to our website, greatthingstb.com. There you’ll find share buttons on nearly every page. You can share us on Twitter, Facebook, all that good stuff. If you’re looking for your own great place in Tampa Bay, I’m also a licensed realtor specializing in deep knowledge of Hillsboro, Dallas County. So if you want to talk real estate, you can give me a call at 727-300-2111, or you can send me an e-mail at kyle@sassergroup.com. That’s kyle@sassergroup.com, and I’d be more than happy to help you find your next home here in Tampa Bay.

I also need your feedback. I need you to tell me where we should be going and what we should be eating and who we should be talking to. So please go to our website, greatthingstb.com, or you can hit either the Contact Us link at the top or the Get Social Links also at the top. If you wanna be a cool guy or a cool girl, you can call our voicemail number which is 727-440-4455, and leave us a message. I’d love to hear from you. So thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time. And oh, by the way, if you don’t want to miss the next episode, please subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play. That’ll guarantee that you get the next episode delivered straight to your mobile device of choice. Thank you so much, and I’ll talk to you next time.

Welcome to “Great Things Tampa Bay,” the podcast about great eats, great places, and great people in the greater Tampa Bay area. I’m your host, Kyle Sasser, a Tampa Bay native, and realtor. This is episode 13, “Tampa’s Cafe.”

I’d like to thank you for giving us your time. I know there’s lots of things buying for your attention, and I appreciate you choosing to you spend your time listening to me in this podcast. I promise I will do everything I can to bring you something awesome. Also, wanna let you know that we now have express feeds. If you’re only interested in our food reviews, just do a search for “Great Bites Tampa Bay.” If you want more of our interviews with interesting movers and shakers in the area, just look for the feed “Great People Tampa Bay. And for things to do in the area shops, or other events, just do a search for “Great Places Tampa Bay.” These feeds are listed on our website greatthingstb.com under the heading “express feeds” up at the top there.

Segment one, Tapas Spanish Cafe. If you’ve listened to the podcasts, I’m sure there’s probably some sections on Tampa Bay that you feel like that they’re not getting any love. And I wanna give one of my little hidey-hole special spots over in east of Tampa. Honestly, I used to live over there in Brandon I lived there for a few years, seven years, something like that. And this was the place where we would go, you know, when we wanted something tasty for lunch, authentic, delicious, and affordable. Some places called Tapas Spanish Cafe. Please do yourself a favor, skip the Taco Bus on Falkenburg, and make the trip here. It’s right up the road, kinda across from the jail a little bit. It is, kind of, catty-cornered around back behind the bunch of stuff. The easiest way to find it is you go on Falkenburg, and I’m sure you’ll be able to spot the jail there between Broadway and north of Highway 60.

So, you’ll take Falkenburg north from 60, in front of the jail, you’ll take a right on the Windhorst, and then a right on Tech Boulevard. It’s kind of in little commerce park there. The place have been there for 17 years. They’ve been doing it right from day one. They have some completely amazing cubans, the beans and the rice are delicious. There’s nothing tremendously fancy, it’s not artisanal, and, you know, there’s no new takes on anything. There’s no fusion. This is just down-home, delicious Cuban staples, great prices, pretty friendly service, down-home friendly experience. It’s a great place to grab lunch. They’re not really open for dinner or anything like that. This is mainly, you know, they just serve the lunch crowd. So, if you find yourself in Brandon there, definitely give them a look because it’s absolutely worth it.

The other cool thing is with them being positioned kinda back to this little commerce park there. It’s not tremendously busy, you know, it’s not gonna be like a first choice barbecue experience. You know, you’re waiting out the door, waiting on your collard greens and samplers, and all that. You can go in and, you know, it’s busy healthfully so, but you’re not gonna have to wait a tremendously long time for a table or anything like that. You can also order in for take out or catering which is also delicious. So, that’s Tapas Spanish Cafe, and that’s 1202 Tech Boulevard, Suite Number 100 in Tampa.

Segment two. Feed Missy Moore. So, here’s a little fun fact about rice. I’m sure you have seen pictures of rice patties and all that good stuff. And I can imagine you picturing it in your head right now. You’re thinking…something with, you know, some raised beds, horderning off either terraced or a squared fields, and the fields are flooded, and, you know, just a little stalks of green coming up. So, the interesting part about the rice is that they don’t need to be flooded to survive. They can actually do just as well with traditional irrigation techniques. But the reason that the fields get flooded is because the rice can survive the flooding, but all the weeds cannot, so it helps with cultivation. Keeps, you know, all the weeds are drowned up and helps to increase the crops. So, if you ever find yourself in a situation where maybe you’re at a trivia game or, you know, maybe the world ends and you have a couple grains of rice, so that is the tip for rice cultivation. The rice don’t needit to survive, it just helps increase the yields.

Outro. I wanna thank you for sharing “Great Things Tampa Bay” with your friends and family. You can share us by going to our website, greatthingstb.com. There you’ll find a share button on nearly every page. You can share us on Twitter, Facebook, all that good stuff. If you are looking for your own great place in Tampa Bay, I’m also a licensed realtor, specializing in deep knowledge of Hillsborough and Pinellas County. So, if you wanna talk real estate, you can give me a call at 727-300-2111, or you can send me an email at kyle@sassergroup.com. That’s kylesasser.com, and I’d be more than happy to help you find your next home here in Tampa Bay.

I also need your feedback. I need you to tell me where we should be going, and what we should be eating, and who we should be talking to. So, please go to our website, greatthingstb.com, or you can hit either the contact us link at the top, or the get social links also at the top. If you wanna be a cool guy, or a cool girl, you can call our voicemail number, which is 727-440-4455, and leave us a message. I’d love to hear from you. So, thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time. And oh, by the way, if you don’t want to miss the next episode, please subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play. That will guarantee that you get the next episode delivered straight to your mobile device of choice. Thank you so much, and I’ll talk to you next time.