South Tampa is now in the midst of a shake up, a game of musical chairs when it comes to its burgeoning restaurant landscape.
Ceviche, originally housed at 1502 S Howard Ave., is moving to a new location right down the block at 2500 W Azeele St., leaving a 300-seat space in its wake.
But this Howard Avenue location will hardly sit as an empty restaurant space awaiting purchase. Famous Tampa restaurateur, Gordon Davis has already purchased the space with plans to open a new restaurant concept, Samba Room, in mid-February.
Samba Room will feature a variety of South American and Caribbean tapas dishes as well Brazilian and Colombian fare.
If his name sounds familiar, it's easy to understand why. Davis started the original Ceviche restaurant concept in South Tampa back in 1997 before expanding the concept to St. Petersburg and Orlando, then selling it in 2008.
More recently, he opened Smoke BBQ at 901 Platt Street with his son, Gene Davis before they closed the restaurant after Gene gave up his restaurant venture for an MBA degree. Gordon Davis is also the brains behind Ciro's Speakeasy and Supper Club, a hidden word of mouth, password only bar and restaurant on Bayshore Boulevard.
Still with us? Good, because there's more.
In addition to opening Samba Room in mid-February, Davis will also take the location of his now-closed Smoke BBQ and turn it into Boca Kitchen Bar and Market which will feature seafood from the Gulf of Mexico and a variety of locally-grown, organic produce, some of which will come from Davis' very own farm in Odessa.
Boca Kitchen Bar and Market will open by the end of January while Samba Room is scheduled to open in mid-February. Stay tuned to 813area.com as more details develop on these new, South Tampa restaurants.
