Bright Ice owners to open Kitty’s House of Pizza in Central Oak Park

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Bright Ice owners to open Kitty’s House of Pizza in Central Oak Park

A new neighborhood pizzeria is coming to St. Petersburg’s Central Oak Park, bringing brick-oven pizzas, house-made pastas, and a familiar local name behind the concept.

The restaurant is the latest project from Steve Garrahan and Kurt Drake, the founders of Bright Ice, a small-batch ice cream brand known for its creative flavor combinations like roasted strawberries with brown sugar and balsamic and blueberries with cinnamon.

Kitty’s House of Pizza is slated to open in early 2026 at 4059 5th Avenue North, just four blocks west of Bright Ice’s original St. Pete scoop shop.

The building, which Garrahan and Drake purchased in June, previously housed a gym and, before that, a convenience store.

The idea for Kitty’s House of Pizza grew organically out of Bright Ice’s continued expansion.

Bright Ice opened in St. Petersburg in late 2019 and has since expanded to Tampa, Pinellas Park, Venice, and Lakeland.

“We’ve outgrown our current commercial kitchen for ice cream production, especially when it comes to cold storage,” Garrahan said. “This new space allows us to more than double our freezer capacity and better serve our existing locations.”

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Holiday Mezzo Market brings its biggest lineup yet to the EDGE District this Saturday

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Holiday Mezzo Market brings its biggest lineup yet to the EDGE District this Saturday

One of St. Petersburg’s most popular local markets is going all out to close the year.

Mezzo Market will return this Saturday, December 20th, for its final (and largest!) market of the 2025 season, transforming Baum Avenue into a massive outdoor celebration of local art and small business.

The one-day event will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails and Green Bench Brewing in the EDGE District of downtown St. Pete.

This edition of Mezzo Market marks a major expansion, with more than 275 small and independent businesses participating, a significant jump from last year’s lineup.

“Expanding to more than 275 vendors gives people the chance to shop directly with the small businesses that make St. Pete special,” organizer Jarrett Sabatini, who is also the owner of Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails and Bar Mezzo, said in an announcement.

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Visioning begins for new 28-acre walkable mixed-use development near Warehouse Arts District in St. Pete

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Visioning begins for new 28-acre walkable mixed-use development near Warehouse Arts District in St. Pete

What would you create with 28 acres of land in St Pete? A park? An amphitheater? Attainable housing? Artist studios?

Those questions were at the center of a recent four-day community charrette that began to shape the future of a large industrial property along the Pinellas Trail, home to St. Petersburg Distillery and several vacant buildings.

The 28-acre site at 800 31st Street South, located west of the Warehouse Arts District and across from Gibbs High School, is owned by the Iafrate family and is envisioned as a new Creators District.

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Beloved downtown diner expands with new location on Pasadena Avenue

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Beloved downtown diner expands with new location on Pasadena Avenue

Central Diner, the downtown St. Pete staple known for its no-frills breakfasts, oversized portions, and loyal following, has quietly expanded west.

The longtime neighborhood favorite, at 530 Central Avenue, has opened a second location at 2525 Pasadena Avenue South in the Village Plaza in South Pasadena.

The expansion is a big step for a spot that has been part of St. Pete’s food scene for almost fifty years.

Central Diner began in 1975 as Central Coffee Shoppe, opened by John and Chris Mangels.

Over the years it became a go-to eatery for downtown workers, long-time residents, and anyone craving a dependable plate of pancakes or corned beef hash.

Their daughters, Michelle, Cassie, and Nicole, took over the restaurant in 2004 and continued running it until 2018.

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Former Hippie Shack and Sea Hags building set to be demolished and redeveloped on St. Pete Beach

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Former Hippie Shack and Sea Hags building set to be demolished and redeveloped on St. Pete Beach

The restaurant building at Blind Pass Marina on St. Pete Beach is set to be demolished.

The structure, most recently home to the short-lived Hippie Shack and Sea Hags before that, suffered significant storm damage during last year’s hurricanes and will be torn down to make way for a new outdoor dining destination.

Property owners Ping Pong Partners, a company formed by developer Steve Gianfilippo, have submitted a Conditional Use Permit to the City of St. Pete Beach outlining plans for a complete transformation of the site at 9555 Blind Pass Road.

Gianfilippo is known locally for creating two popular co-working and event spaces: Station House in downtown St. Petersburg and Hyde House Public Studio in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village.

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Green Light Cinema expanding with new restaurant and bar in downtown St. Pete

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Green Light Cinema expanding with new restaurant and bar in downtown St. Pete

Green Light Cinema, St. Pete’s only independent art house theater, is expanding by opening a restaurant and bar next door.

Owners Mike and Sue Hazlett are converting the neighboring space at 225 2nd Avenue North into Green Light Lounge and Kitchen, a 3,300-square-foot venue where guests can grab a bite, have a drink, and enjoy live entertainment before or after catching a film.

The space was previously home to Main Grove and before that Hops 2.0.

“People often leave a screening asking where they should go next,” Hazlett explains. “Now, the answer is right next door. You can come early, have dinner or a drink, see a show, and not spend a fortune.”

The expansion builds on the Hazletts’ vision for Green Light Cinema, which they opened in 2020 to fill what they saw as a gap in downtown St. Pete’s cultural offerings.

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Postcard Inn permanently closes on St. Pete Beach, will reopen as The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel

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Postcard Inn permanently closes on St. Pete Beach, will reopen as The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel

After decades as a popular St. Pete Beach destination, the Postcard Inn has officially closed its doors for good.

The hotel at 6300 Gulf Boulevard, which has remained vacant since last year’s back-to-back hurricanes, will soon be renovated into The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel scheduled to open next year.

The change marks the end of an era for the resort, originally built in 1957 as the Colonial Gateway Inn and reimagined as the Postcard Inn in 2009.

In 2024, the hotel’s owners proposed an 87-room expansion to the Postcard Inn, but those plans were ultimately abandoned after Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused significant damage.

The LCP Group, which purchased the property in March 2022 for $83 million, is overseeing a full renovation of the nine-acre beachfront resort, working alongside management firm Crescent Hotels & Resorts.

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Beef O’Brady’s to replace Applebee's on 66th Street in west St. Pete

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Beef O’Brady’s to replace Applebee's on 66th Street in west St. Pete

A new Beef O’Brady’s restaurant is coming to west St. Pete.

The restaurant and sports bar will open at 2901 66th Street North, taking over the former Applebee’s building that closed abruptly in May, according to plans obtained by St. Pete Rising.

It will become St. Pete’s second Beef O’Brady’s, joining the location at 4775 34th Street South in the Skyway Marina District. The only other Pinellas County location is in Oldsmar.

The new restaurant will accommodate 182 guests indoors and 49 outdoors, for a total of 231 seats.

Built in 1972, The 5,853-square-foot building was home to various restaurant concepts in the 1990s, including Longshoreman Restaurant, The Knot Garden, and Suki’s before becoming an Applebee’s in the early 2000s.

Although Applebee’s still operates its St. Pete location at 4700 4th Street North, SEC filings show the chain’s total store count declined from 1,578 in 2021 to 1,501 in 2024.

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23-story Gallery Haus apartment tower set to break ground near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete

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23-story Gallery Haus apartment tower set to break ground near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete

A team of Miami-based developers is preparing to bring a new wave of residential living to downtown St. Pete.

LD&D, in partnership with IGEQ and Black Salmon, has finalized plans for Gallery Haus, a 23-story, $115 million apartment tower that will rise at 155 17th Street South, directly across from Tropicana Field and along the Pinellas Trail.

The development will contain 254 apartments, more than 10,000 square feet of amenities, and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

LD&D purchased the 0.77-acre site from Apogee Real Estate Partners in late 2023 for just over $9 million. Apogee had previously secured site plan approval for a similar tower with 204 units in 2022.

Gallery Haus is an expansion of LD&D’s “Haus” portfolio, which includes Wynwood Haus in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District and Williamsburg Haus in Brooklyn.

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Several developments move forward along The Deuces corridor in south St. Pete

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Several developments move forward along The Deuces corridor in south St. Pete

After years of promises to revive 22nd Street South, the City of St. Pete is finally making progress on projects expected to bring new life back to The Deuces.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, 22nd Street South, from 2nd Avenue to 18th Avenue, was the heart of St. Pete’s Black community, filled with thriving businesses, music clubs, and restaurants.

But after I-275 cut through the area in the mid 1970s, the busy corridor slowly fell into decline.

Now, with a growing pipeline of new developments on the horizon, the Deuces is beginning to show signs of revival.

At a community meeting this week at the Enoch Davis Center, city officials gave updates on several ongoing projects.

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