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Everybody's Business

One Zudar's is zonked, other is full of zeal

The SoHo deli closes, but the cafe farther east on Platt continues to thrive.

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published January 27, 2006

Marc Zudar won't miss the confusion. With two restaurants bearing his name on W Platt Street, it happened from time to time.

Customers would arrive at his Marc and Didi Zudar's Deli Cafe and Caterers, at 201-A W Platt St., looking for food they actually ordered from Zudar's Deli Cafe at 1818 W Platt St.

It won't happen anymore since Zudar's Deli Cafe, at 1818 W Platt St. near SoHo, recently closed.

Marc Zudar opened his decades-old family restaurant business there in 1998. Two years later, he and his wife, Didi, sold it and allowed the new owner to operate under the Zudar name. In 2003, the Zudars opened Marc and Didi Zudar's Deli Cafe and Caterers farther east on Platt near Bayshore Boulevard.

Meanwhile the SoHo Zudar's struggled, switched owners again and finally went out of business last month.

Marc Zudar said he realized the potential for confusion having two Zudar's cafes. "But people in South Tampa, being a small community, they know what's going on," he said. "And they patronize us. Everything came out in the wash."

And just so there's no more confusion, he said, his business is doing fine. "We're very, very busy."

Ronnie Fonte, of Morris Fonte and Sons dry cleaning, owns the building at 1818 W Platt St. He wouldn't comment on who might occupy it next.

GOT ANY TORTILLAS HERE? Don't ask that question if you find yourself at 1617 W Platt St., near Dakota Avenue. There's a tortilla company upstairs, and a Tijuana Flats set to open downstairs.

Franchise owner Steve Finelli says there's no connection between his pending Tijuana Flats and La Bonita Ole, producer of Tam-X-ico tortillas, which has its offices on the building's second floor. "But there's always that possibility," he said.

For now Finelli plans to stick with his current tortilla supplier when he opens Tijuana Flats, tentatively by late May or early June.

The Orlando chain has 37 restaurants. Three of them are Finelli franchises, two in North Tampa and one in Brandon. Finelli plans to open a Westchase location about the same time as the Platt Street restaurant. Eventually he'd like to have about 15 Tijuana Flats throughout Hillsborough County.

Tijuana Flats offers all the famous Mexican staples but emphasizes fresh ingredients prepared to order, along with a large retail selection of hot sauces.

The restaurant also offers its own brand of hot sauce, Smack My A-- and Call Me Sally, which comes in four flavors. The hot sauce bar typically offers 20 varieties that span the temperature scale. Wine and Mexican beer are sold.

Two novel decor approaches will help keep Finelli's Tijuana Flats from looking like another one. A ceiling tile painting contest will be held every couple of months, with the winning customer scoring free meals. He also plans to commission a wall mural alluding to the neighborhood.

The 3,000-square-foot restaurant will seat about 100. Yogani yoga studio formerly occupied the space. It's now at 1112 W Platt St.

TOYS "R' US CLOSING: Toys "R" Us at 1701 N Dale Mabry Highway, next to Walter's Crossing shopping center, will close in early spring, spokeswoman Susan McLaughlin said.

The store is one of about 70 Toys "R" Us locations slated to close. Another 12 stores will be converted to Babies "R" Us this year. The restructuring will eliminate about 3,000 jobs, according to Reuters news service.

The Toys "R" Us stores on Fowler Avenue and Brandon Town Center Drive will remain open, McLaughlin said. She wouldn't comment on what Toys "R" Us Inc. plans to do with the Dale Mabry building, which it owns. The store employs 38 people.

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 08:57:08]