May 14, 2025

Circo Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen to relocate to the Skyway Marina District

May 14, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

Circo Pizzeria Italian Kitchen will bring its fresh house-made pastas and specialty pizzas to the Skyway Marina District.

The family-owned restaurant is relocating from its current spot at 114 Pinellas Bayway South to 5035 34th Street South in the Bay Pointe Plaza.

The neighborhood pizza joint is relocating to the new location this July - one year following Portofino Italian Restaurant's closure after serving south St. Pete diners for 30 years.

Circo Pizzeria Italian Kitchen, which debuted in Tierra Verde in 2021, is known for slinging New York and Sicilian-style slices in an inviting atmosphere.

May 13, 2025

The Vinoy's new signature restaurant Elliott Aster announces May opening date

May 13, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

The Vinoy Resort and Golf Club's highly anticipated new signature restaurant, Elliott Aster, is preparing to welcome guests next week.

The restaurant, located at 501 5th Avenue Northeast inside the historic waterfront resort, is set to open on May 20th.

Elliott Aster replaces Marchand's Bar & Grill, which closed in 2020, and introduces a sophisticated Italian steak and seafood concept developed in collaboration with the Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group. Leading the culinary team is Michelin-award-winning Chef Lee Wolen, a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist.

May 13, 2025

Chicken tender chain Raising Cane's planning new restaurant in Largo

May 13, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

Louisiana-based fried chicken chain Raising Cane's is expanding its footprint in Tampa Bay with a new Largo location.

Raising Cane's plans to open a new drive-thru restaurant on an outparcel at 10500 Ulmerton Road, near the Largo Plaza shopping mall. The site was previously occupied by a Red Lobster, which closed in May 2024 after the company announced it was considering filing for bankruptcy.

Plans submitted to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) show that the existing building will be demolished and replaced with a new 2,683-square-foot Raising Cane's restaurant featuring a two-lane drive-thru and surface parking.

May 12, 2025

Beloved Community Café to bring pay-what-you-can dining and worship to the Grand Central District

May 12, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

Healing, hope, and hospitality are on the menu at a new pay-what-you-can café, where no one eats alone and everyone is welcome.

Good Samaritan Church, currently based in Pinellas Park, and Recovery Epicenter Foundation in Clearwater are transforming a retail space in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District into Beloved Community Café, a pay-what-you-can café and worship center.

Recovery Epicenter Foundation will use the space as a membership-based recovery center.

Last month, Good Samaritan purchased the 3,150-square-foot building at 1940 Central Avenue for $1,225,000. The building was previously home to a consignment shop called Retreat.

May 09, 2025

New kava lounge Cozy Kava opens in the Grand Central District

May 09, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

A new bar has opened in St. Pete, but instead of shots and cocktails, it’s pouring shells of kava.

Derived from the ground roots of a South Pacific pepper plant, kava is known for its calming, anxiety-reducing effects—and it’s at the center of a growing scene in Pinellas County, where more than 50 kava bars have opened in the last decade.

This surge reflects a broader nationwide trend, as younger generations increasingly turn toward wellness-focused, alcohol-free social spaces.

Cozy Kava quietly opened last month at 2309 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District, formerly home to The MAR St. Pete, a performing arts incubator and studio that has since relocated to the St. Pete City Theatre.

May 08, 2025

60-unit Bayou Court opens in south St. Pete with affordable apartments for teachers and government workers

May 08, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

One year ago, city leaders and a local developer broke ground on a transformational project in south St. Pete that aimed to create more housing opportunities for teachers and faculty. Today, the community has officially opened.

The new 60-unit apartment community, Bayou Court Apartments, is located near the southeast corner of Lake Maggiore at 4201 6th Street South, directly behind Lakewood Elementary School.

The project, which recently welcomed its first residents, was made possible through a public-private collaboration between the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and Gravel Road Partners, a Washington D.C.-based workforce and affordable housing developer that acquired the property in 2022 for $1.7 million.

May 08, 2025

Florida Holocaust Museum announces reopening date for remodeled and reimagined museum in downtown St. Pete

May 08, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

After more than a year of closure, The Florida Holocaust Museum has announced it will welcome visitors back starting Tuesday, September 9th following an extensive renovation.

With a collection of over 25,000 artifacts, The Florida Holocaust Museum, located at 55 5th Street South in downtown St. Pete, is one of the largest Holocaust museums in the country and one of only three nationally accredited Holocaust museums.

The renovation project includes a new entrance with enhanced security features, an open-air second-story balcony, a theater that will house its interactive Dimensions in Testimony exhibit, and a temporary installation housing elements of the Elie Wiesel Collection.

The full Elie Wiesel exhibit, which will occupy the museum’s third floor, will come in a later phase of the museum’s building projects.

May 07, 2025

Here are the first renderings of Forbici Modern Italian coming to Sundial in downtown St. Pete

May 07, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

In February, Tampa Bay restauranteur Jeff Gigante announced his popular modern Italian restaurant Forbici would take over the 12,000-square-foot Sea Salt space at Sundial in downtown St. Pete. And now we have a closer look of what the restaurant will be like.

The restaurant originally planned to move into the ground-floor space previously occupied by Locale Market but shifted its plans to the second floor space at 183 2nd Avenue North following Sea Salt’s closure on December 31st.

Forbici is part of Next Level Brands, a Tampa-based restaurant group founded by restaurateur Jeff Gigante, real estate investor Andrew Wright, and attorney Joseph Guggino.

Expected to open by year’s end, renderings reveal that the 350-seat St. Pete location will mirror the flagship Forbici in South Tampa’s Hyde Park, which opened in 2019, but with a more refined and upscale twist.

May 06, 2025

Construction begins on 325-unit apartment community near YMCA in Grand Central District

May 06, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

Construction has officially commenced on a 325-unit apartment community that will anchor a new live-work-play neighborhood in St. Pete’s Grand Central District.

As first reported by St. Pete Rising, the five-story apartment building, dubbed The Henry at Whitney Village, is part of a larger development, which will also include a 32,000-square-foot pedestrian-only retail village and a 600-space parking garage for residents and visitors.

The mixed-use project will occupy 4.5 acres on the east side of the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA at 3200 1st Avenue South.

South Carolina-based multifamily developer Greystar Real Estate Partners purchased the property from the neighboring YMCA in February for $12 million.

The 25-year-old, 55,000-square-foot YMCA will undergo a major renovation funded by proceeds from the sale of the athletic field property.

May 06, 2025

Historically St. Pete: The oldest surviving school building in St Pete still stands 124 years later

May 06, 2025/ Rui Farias

At St. Pete Rising, we are constantly providing comprehensive coverage on everything new and coming soon to the Sunshine City, but we think it’s also important to take a look back at our city's rich history.

Historically St. Pete, a monthly column on St. Pete Rising written by Executive Director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History Rui Farias, covers everything from the legend of underground mobster tunnels to the buildings and people that created the Sunshine City.

This month we explore the captivating history of the 124-year-old Manual Training School building — Florida’s first vocational school and the oldest surviving school building in St Pete.