The building located on North Florida Avenue between East Genesee Street and East North Bay Street in Seminole Heights will soon be home to a brand-new food hall offering a wide variety of Asian and Asian fusion cuisine.
Launched by the hospitality team behind Champion Pizza, the new food hall is expected to open before the end of the year, co-owner Hakki Akdeniz told What Now on Monday.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s coming very nicely,” Akdeniz said. “Our goal is to put eight to nine different concepts in there. There will be Korean street food, Japanese fusion, Vietnamese—but also a smashburger concept using Korean ingredients and a Korean taco concept. And we’ll have a Champion Pizza with Korean flavors.”
Akdeniz’s story is an inspiring one that took him from homelessness to becoming a pizza mogul in his own right. It has resulted in a commitment on the part of the restaurateur and chef (of NYC-based Champion Pizza fame) to feeding hungry people.
“We work with a lot of homeless shelters, and we hire a lot of homeless people—because I was one of them,” Akdeniz said. “If anybody is hungry in Tampa, they can come to my store and eat. That is never a question.”
More details are yet to come on the new Seminole Heights food hall, but keep your eyes peeled as an opening is expected before the end of the year.
