Buddy Brew Credit: Buddy Brew/Facebook
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS
Tampa Bay is getting the country’s first combination Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s
We all know the struggle. You pick up an order of bone-in Mango Habanero wings from Buffalo Wild Wings. You get back in your car. You haul ass to Jimmy John’s – shove the wings into a spread open, fully dressed Vito, and enjoy a “Bone’d MangoVito” within the sanctuary of your Jeep Gladiator. Luckily, the private equity overlords at Inspire Brands have decided Tampa Bay residents have suffered enough, which is why we will soon be home to the nation’s first combination Buffalo Wild Wings Go and Jimmy John’s. Located at 5241 69th St. E in Palmetto, the new fast-food alliance will debut at 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, and according to a press release, the first 100 guests in line who are 18 or older will receive free wings for a year (equivalent to six free wings per week for 52 weeks), free Jimmy John’s sandwiches, prizes and more.—Colin Wolf
Blind Tiger opens ninth location at downtown Tampa’s Rivergate Tower
The beer can building now comes with a little bit of bite. Homegrown coffee chain Blind Tiger cut the ribbon on its ninth location during a grand opening celebration inside the cube at the base of Rivergate Tower, located at 400 N Ashley Dr. The new 1,000 square-foot-location is just a six-minute walk from another Blind Tiger inside Tampa City Center. The new shop was staffed with four employees on Tuesday morning, and Roberto Torres—who opened the first Blind Tiger 12 years ago on the corner of 19th Street and 7th Avenue in Ybor City—told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that he’s “bullish” on downtown. —Ray Roa
Buddy Brew opens first Pinellas County coffee shop this week
Popular Tampa-based coffee chain Buddy Brew is headed over the bridge. Buddy Brew celebrated the grand-opening of its first Pinellas County outpost this Friday, Aug. 14 at 9:45 a.m. Unlike Buddy Brew’s more standard brick-and-mortar locations, this one’s inside the Sprouts Farmers Market at 7263 Seminole Blvd. —Colin Wolf
FOOD EVENTS
Skip a meal on Sunday, and bring that appetite to Lara in Ybor City. This weekend, Chef Suzanne Lara welcomes Chef Yariel Berrios to the historic district. Berrios, a chef at Tim Lovero’s Michelin-Bib earning Coro, recently went on TV and admitted that he loves talking story with guests. “Sometimes I spend more time talking to the guests than I do making the food,” he told WOFL. “I get lost in conversation.” Expect the Puerto Rican culinarian—a graduate of Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts who spent time at the Four Seasons and the Lake Nona Wave Hotel’s Bacán—to yap it up and cook up a storm for the collaborative six-course dinner that starts off easy enough (halo-halo oyster) before quickly pushing diners into new territory (chicken heart yakitori) and Caribbean comfort food (oxtail agnolotti). Wines, and cocktails are paired with nearly every course.—Ray Roa
Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky
This article appears in August 13 – 19, 2026.
Related