Tampa spawns new chain concepts amid population boom

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 16, 2000 by Jack Hayes

TAMPA, FLA. -- The market that gave birth to such chains as Checkers, Hooters, Hops and Outback is feeding a new generation of brand fever driven by the exploding local economy and the emergence and success of concepts like Bonefish Grill, Crispers, Fred Fleming's Famous Bar-B-Que, Taqueria Quetzalcoatl and Zazarac.

Four of the latter five are newcomers, and one is a seasoned brand that recently enacted an aggressive strategy of expansion. All are energetic concepts that are attracting attention in a market that also is primed for continued growth.

"Tampa Bay is getting bigger and wealthier by the minute," said independent fine-dining restaurateur and Florida Restaurant Association chairman Bill Shumate, whose Bella's Cafe began operating here in 1986. "There's money to be spent, and people are spending it."

According to Shumate, the Tampa market's soaring expansion has driven its unemployment rate down to 2 percent, and the strong economic pull is luring restaurant growth from all directions.

For example, the one-mile stretch of Howard Avenue that is home to such old-time neighbors of Bella's as Bern's Steak House has mushroomed from six to 28 restaurants during Shumate's 14 years on the block. That area's biggest growth spurt came in 1995 when 600 new dining seats appeared in a six-month period.

Nevertheless, Shumate said, there's still plenty of business to go around.

"You're going to see 3,000 new restaurant seats coming to South Tampa alone in the next 12 months," said Tampa veteran Greg Stinson, who operates Jackson's Bistro-Bar-Sushi on the rapidly developing South Harbor Island corner of Tampa's downtown waterfront.

Stinson and his peers confirm major South Tampa developments are in progress, not only in Ybor City, which has been anchored by the legendary Columbia Restaurant since 1905, but also near the new Tampa Ice Palace and in the Channelside district, where five new concepts are opening.

"We had a market study done, and we're seeing two areas -- the old South Tampa and the new North Tampa -- developing at a rapid pace," said Howard Avenue restaurant pioneer John Agri, who developed the original Jonathan's, Plum's and Gianni's as well as Fresco and Pacific Coast Grill there.

Agri's newest hot brand, Taqueria Quetzalcoatl -- soon to be renamed La Boca Loca -- is a big-burrito concept that has exploded to 11 Florida locations and beyond the state's border to Atlanta and San Antonio.

"We're, in the same category with Chipotle [Mexican Grill of Denver]," said Agri, "but we've got a bolder flavor profile, and we [also serve] quesadillas. And our new stores have a contemporary spin -- old adobe design with a modern twist."

Taqueria Quetzalcoatl units, whose openings are pegged to cost a maximum of $125,000, are grossing as high as $750,000 annually, according to Agri.

"We're going to become very involved with minority and individual investor partnerships," Agri added. "The reason is that you can open more than a dozen of these for the same money you'd spend building a 150-seat casual restaurant."

Targeting the same $7-to-$8 check average as Taqueria Quetzalcoatl is Crispers, a hotsandwich and salad concept created by former Chili's operator Bill Whitaker and his wife, Vanessa.

Whitaker's first Crispers unit opened more than a decade ago in Lakeland, on the eastern fringe of Greater Tampa Bay. Since then the brand's growth has been fueled by cash from three former Discount Auto Parts executives, who bought a 50-percent stake in the Crispers operation.

Crispers serves between 10 and 12 soups daily and specializes in large salads and massive sandwiches in the $4.95-to-$6.25 price range. The chain will have a total of eight stores open by year-end and 15 by the close of 2001, according to Whitaker.

In Florida "we've got two Crispers in the plan for Tampa, one for St. Petersburg and one for Sarasota," Whitaker said. "It's amazing to think that it took me nine years to consider adding a second unit, and now all of a sudden we're exploding."

Tampa's most successful restaurant chain by far is Outback Steakhouse, the Australian-theme casual brand that has broken through the 600-unit mark and the $1.5 billion milepost in revenues. But the Outback group hardly is sleeping on its steak-house laurels.

Having re-engineered its oncestruggling Carrabba's Italian Grill and acquired the more upscale Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Roy's concepts, the group is testing a hot southern-Louisiana-theme prototype in Tampa called Zazarac.

The fine-tuning of the bistro-style Zazarac is being overseen by Outback's Jacksonville, Fla.-based joint-venture partner, John Cooper, a 20-unit operator whose team includes front-of-house and kitchen veterans Patrick McLaughlin, Ann Kearney and chef-partner Jayson Polansky.

Tampa-based Hops Restaurant Bar & Brewery, considered by many to be the hottest of the four casual-dining concepts in the portfolio of the struggling Madison, Ga.-based Avado Brands, is poised for expansion under Hops new president, Ron Magruder. He is best known for piloting the fast-paced growth of the Cracker Barrel and Olive Garden chains.