The imminent opening of the Green Iguana, known for its "party atmosphere," has some Bay Pines Boulevard neighbors worried about noise.
By JAN WESNER CHILDS
Published December 14, 2003
The Green Iguana Bar & Grill, which promotes itself as a beach bar and live music venue, is opening a new location on Bay Pines Boulevard.
The restaurant is hanging its sign on the empty waterfront building formerly occupied by Joe's Crab Shack at 8790 Bay Pines Blvd. in unincorporated Bay Pines just across the bridge from the War Veterans Memorial Park. The building sits between Lighthouse Point Marina and a planned 76-unit resort development.
The Green Iguana will open Jan. 12, according to manager Jose Rodriguez. Three others are in Tampa - at Rocky Point along the Courtney Campbell Parkway, in Ybor City and on West Shore Boulevard.
Rodriguez said the Bay Pines Green Iguana will be similar to the one at Rocky Point, which advertises itself on the company's Web site as "Tampa's only beach bar and grill known for the best weekend kickoffs in the bay." The restaurant has an outdoor deck and personal watercraft rentals and features menu items ranging from grouper bites to pizza.
"It's very beachy," Rodriguez said of the theme. "It's a party atmosphere."
That has a few local residents worried.
"This is a retirement place," said Cecil Cox, whose waterfront lot in the Sea Horse Mobile Home Park is across a canal from the new restaurant.
He wonders about loud music and said he already has called police to complain about noise from a construction worker's radio.
Another Sea Horse resident, Mary Nagy, said she also is concerned about noise, but she'd rather see the bar open there than have the building sit vacant. Joe's Crab Shack closed about five years ago.
"I think that they've made a good improvement to the building," Nagy said.
Kathleen Bamberry, regional manager for Green Iguana, said there will be no live music on the bar's outside deck after 8 p.m. Live music will be played inside later, but with the doors closed.
Rodriguez said he's willing to work with neighbors to mitigate potential problems.
"We want to make sure that we're okay with the community, that we not break any laws," he said.
The restaurant expects to attract up to 500 customers a night, and will employ about 120 people.
Bamberry said the Green Iguana is embarking on an aggressive expansion plan and hopes to move outside of the Tampa Bay area.
She said the Bay Pines location was attractive because it is in a densely populated area, and is likely to draw traffic going to and from the beach.
The site is amid a glut of restaurants. Outback Steakhouse, Hops Grillhouse & Brewery, Don Pablo's and Crabby Bill's are a half-mile away, and there are numerous other chains as you drive closer to Tyrone Mall.
Bamberry said the Green Iguana bought the building for about $200,000 earlier this year from Landry's Restaurants Inc., which owns the Joe's Crab Shack chain. The sale did not include the land, which is owned by a holding company and is sublet from Landry's.
