By B.C. Manion
The owners of The Gathering Place are hoping the new restaurant in Lutz will live up to its name.
“We want it to be the local gathering place, whether you want to eat, whether you want to have a couple of drinks, a dessert, or just come see who is here hanging out,” said Chris Fuller, who owns the restaurant with his mom, Sandy.
With its sunflower yellow walls and its fun, funky signs, the restaurant at 16319 N. Florida Ave., has a warm, welcoming feel.
The Fullers have put together a menu they’re confident will appeal to all kinds of people. Pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven with an array of toppings that goes well beyond traditional choices.
There’s a Hang Ten, featuring marinara, house-smoked bacon, pineapple and mozzarella. The Aphrodite has marinara, kalamata olives, local feta cheese, mozzarella, red onion, green pepper and rosemary. The Lutz Boy is topped with house-smoked chicken, barbecue sauce, drunken caramelized onions and mozzarella. And there’s the Pizza Verde, topped with fresh pesto, spinach, fresh local feta, pine nuts and scallions.
You can also build your own pizza, choosing from numerous ingredients.
The restaurant opened March 22 and already has fans.
“It has good food, a good beer selection, fair pricing, a good atmosphere and a friendly staff,” said Mike Blackshaw, of Lutz, who was there for dinner recently, with his wife, Claire, and their friends, Iain and Bea Rowell, also of Lutz.
The couples are repeat customers because they like the fresh food and the friendly service. They said the Lutz area has lacked this type of restaurant.
Fuller said the offerings go well beyond pizza.
“We have a selection of sandwiches and salads, as well,” he said.
There’s also a soup of the day, a burger of the day and dinner entrée specials based on ingredients available that day.
“I think the most important thing is providing fresh, tasty food,” Fuller said.
A pleasant atmosphere, friendly staff and affordable prices are important, too, the co-owners said. The appetizers range from $6 to $10 and dinner entrees go from $11 to $16.
So far, pizza is the most popular choice, but the gator bombs and Cuban nachos are big hits, too, Fuller said. The gator bombs are made from tender chipotle gator tail finely chopped, stuffed into peppadews with a cheesy mixture and beer battered. They are served with Chipotle Aioli. The Cuban nachos are crispy plantains topped with all natural pulled pork, black bean and corn salsa and a mojo sour cream sauce.
Appetizers are served tapas style, to make sharing easy, Fuller said.
Besides being a gathering place for patrons, the Fullers want the restaurant to be known for serving locally produced foods.
“What we really wanted to do was bring a concept to the area where we would use as many fresh, wholesome ingredients as we possibly could,” Fuller said. “The meat that we use here is just about as natural as you can possibly get, as close to the wild. We use free-range, organic grass-fed beef, locally farmed. Same with our pork. It’s pasture-raised, so it’s free range. There are no cages and they’re not all penned up.”
Some vegetables are grown locally, too, and the restaurant is expanding that supply, Fuller said.
The restaurant makes its own desserts, including rum cakes, which are Sandy Fuller’s specialty. It also serves ice cream from The Old Meeting House in South Tampa, she said.
The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, as well an intimate space – known as the cave lounge – which can be booked for small private parties.
One advantage of being independent is the ability to respond quickly to customers, Sandy Fuller said.
“We’re looking for feedback, good or bad,” she said.
“We want to know,” agreed Chris Fuller.
During the first week, for instance, they adjusted the menu based on customer response.
They’ve also changed the hours – using a go-with-the-flow approach. The restaurant now opens at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays through Sundays, with variable closing hours, based on how business is going.
“As long as there are people here, we’ll be open,” Sandy Fuller said.
For more information, visit www.thegatheringplacetampa.com.
