CL Tampa Margarita Wars happening Friday July 27th

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Creative Loafing Tampa. Any opinions expressed are my own and do not represent Creative Loafing.

Get ready to party like it is Cinco de Mayo this month. Local newspaper Creative Loafing Tampa will have their annual Margarita Wars competition on Friday, July 27th from 7PM to 10PM at TPepin’s Hospitality at 4121 North 50th Street in Tampa.

Guests will sample margaritas from more than 15 mixologists around town and vote for “Tampa Bay’s Best Margarita” while enjoying Mexican bites from top restaurants.

Margaritas are one of the most popular drinks in the United States and Americans drink up to 185,000 margaritas per hour according to The Nibble.

In fact, The United States is the number one tequila market in the world beating even Mexico. Not only that, but the South accounts for 34.9% of all margarita sales nationwide. It makes sense considering how hot it is.

Tickets start at $45 and are now on-sale. VIP attendees will enjoy an hour of early entry as well as other perks.

This event is for ages 21+ older only.

Now to go look for my sombrero.

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Buy Tickets: http://tampabayeventtickets.com/events/54636603/margarita-wars-2018

Participating restaurants and bars include:

Beach Bar & Restaurant
Besito Mexican
Brew Bus Brewing
Bungalow Restaurant & Bar
Casa Tina
Copper Shaker
Datz
Epicurean Hotel
First Chance Last Chance Bar
Haven
Iberian Rooster
Parks & Rec
Pisces Sushi & Global Bistro
Rasoi Indian Cuisine
The Avenue Eat + Drink
The Bricks
The Living Room on Main
The Mill
World of Beer
& More

Facebook RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/1322485457897217/

4th Annual Peach Festival this Saturday at Keel & Curley

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Keel & Curley Winery located in Plant City. I have been compensated for my time.

This Saturday, May 12th is the 4th Annual Peach Festival at Keel & Curley Winery in Plant City located at 5210 Thonotosassa Road.

The event has FREE admission. It event will run from 8AM-6PM and feature U-Pick Peaches & Blueberries, Food & Craft Vendors, Peach Cider, Peach Wine and Blueberry Wine Bottle Specials for $10, Live Music, and more.

Some of the vendors include:

Stanford’s Jerky
Ben’s Soft Pretzels
Jessi’s Flaming Fruit Sauce
Lobster Maine-iacs
Alessi Bakery
Cotton Kraze
Aunt Neci’s
The Tea Jug
The Best Thai Food
& More

Parking costs $5.

Facebook RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/552397481827222/

11th Annual Blueberry Festival wraps up this weekend

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Keel & Curley Winery in Plant City. I have been compensated for my work. Any opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect Keel & Curley Winery.

Keel & Curley Winery’s 11th Annual Blueberry Festival will wrap up this weekend on Saturday, April 21st and Sunday, April 22nd. Last weekend drew thousands to the blueberry farm in Plant City.

Families and friends spent the day out on the farm picking blueberries and drinking blueberry wine and beer as well as food from trucks and vendors. Vendors were selling blueberry butter, blueberry jam, blueberry hot sauce, blueberry grilled cheese sandwiches…to name a few.

Keel & Curley is Florida’s second largest winery and makes over 20,000 case of wine a year. It is essentially Florida’s wine country located just over Interstate 4 on Exit 17 near Dinosaur World.

Joey Fatone from *NSYNC showed up last Saturday at the event and wowed visitors as he cooked up some hot dogs and Brooklyn food aboard his food truck Fat One’s Hot Dogs and Italian Ice. He was friendly and took plenty of pictures with fans and guests alike. The food truck will be back this weekend to wrap up the festival.

Guests can enjoy:

FREE ADMISSION
U-Pick Blueberries (8AM-4PM)
Live Music
$10 Blueberry Wine
Two Henry’s Brewing Co. Blueberry Beer & Cider
Limited-Edition Strawberry Shortcake Wine
Food & Craft Vendors
Kids’ Activities
& more

Event Name: 11th Annual Blueberry Festival

Venue: Keel & Curley Winery

Address: 5210 Thonotosassa Rd., Plant City, FL 33565

Dates & Time: Saturday, April 21st, 8AM-6PM, Sunday, April 22nd, 8AM-4PM

Ages: All ages welcome

Cost: FREE to attend, $10 parking

Facebook RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/896744867165660/

Tampa Bay Beer Week 2018 Guide

Tampa Bay Beer Week 2018 is going to be one for the books. There are tons of events lined up to enjoy for the celebration of Tampa’s growing craft beer scene.

Per the website “The inaugural Tampa Bay Beer Week was established in 2012, and has since hosted thousands of events ranging from large-scale festivals to beer tastings, beer dinners and more”.

“The success of TBBW has been a major factor in the continuing growth of the Tampa Bay area craft beer community. Tampa Bay Beer Week begins on the first Saturday of March and ends 8 days later. It has become the premier Beer Week destination in the Southeast”.

This is my guide to the events going on and my recommendations:

Friday, March 2nd, 2018 – The Ultimate Brewer 3 – 7PM-10PM at Brew Bus Brewing
Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 – Florida Brewer’s Guild Craft Beer Festival – 2PM-5PM at Cotanchobee Park
Sunday, March 4th, 2018 – Brewer’s Ball 2018 – 12PM-5PM at Water Works Park
Sunday, March 4th, 2018 – 9th Annual Brewer’s Ball After Party – 6PM at The Independent Seminole Heights
Wednesday, March 7th, 2018 – Sons of CANarchy Pub Crawl – 6PM at The Bricks Ybor
Wednesday, March 7th, 2018 – Brewery Battle of the Bands – 7PM at Crowbar Ybor
Wednesday, March 7th, 2018 – Dinner: A TBBW Pairing Event – 7:30PM at American Social Tampa
Saturday, March 10th, 2018 – TBBW Beer Dinner at The Restorative

Visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TampaBayBeerWeek/

Tampa Theatre WineFest 2018: Wine’s World This Week

Tampa’s historic Tampa Theatre located in Downtown Tampa will have their 16th Annual WineFest: Wine’s World 2018 event this week. The event is Tampa Theatre’s largest annual fundraiser.

The event will kick off on Thursday, March 1st with a screening of Wayne’ World at 7:30PM. On Friday, March 2nd guests will enjoy a special Wine Pairing presented by Mise En Place Chef Marty Blitz. The stage of the Tampa Theatre will be expanded to host these special guests.

The main event will occur on Saturday, March 3rd with the two-tiered Wine Tasting. Guests can enjoy dozens of independent restaurants and wineries and bid on special auction items (note: the auction is already open for bidding).

Pre-bidding: http://www.bidpal.net/TAMPATHEATRE

The Premium Tasting is from 7:00PM-8:00PM and features exclusive wines for a limited audience. The Grand Tasting is from 8:00PM-10:00PM. The Premium Tasting is already SOLD OUT, but the Grand Tasting still has tickets available while supplies last.

Buy tickets to The Grand Tasting: https://tampatheatre.ticketforce.com/orderticketsarea.asp?p=1884&a=2&src=eventperformances

Participating vendors:

1895 Bar – Kitchen – Market
American Social Tampa
Anise Global Gastrobar
Bavaro’s Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria
Bizou Brasserie
Breakthru
Cape Classics
Carne Chophouse
Ceviche
Cremaschi Wine Imports
Cru Cellars
Culinary Creations
CW’s Gin Joint
Daughters Wines
District Tavern
Dominio de Punctum
Duchessa Lia
Ella’s
Folio Wines
Hess Winery
J.J. Taylor Distributing Florida, Inc.
La Crema Winery
Little Donut House
Mettler Family Vineyards
Michael David Winery
Noble Wines
O Cocina
Oberan Wines
On Swann
Opici
Oxford Exchange
PRP Wines
RNDC
Si-am Thaimerican
Sokol Blosser Winery
Southern Brewing
Terroir Wine Group
Totara Wines
Villa Sandi

The event is sponsored by Mise en Place, APG, Bank of America, The Bank of Tampa, Casper’s Service Company, Creative Contractors Inc., DeBartolo Family Foundation, Florida Health Care News, Growman Brand, Gray Robinson Attorneys at Law, Harris & Hunt P.A., HCP Research Strategy Marketing, Mutual of Omaha Bank, Phelps Dunbar LLP, Quarles & Brady LLP, Nichols Geegan King of Raymond James, Shumaker, Southwest Airlines, Silva & Associates, Tampa Steel Erecting Co., TECO, and more.

Rocco’s Tacos Grand Opening Sunday, February 11th

Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar will have its Grand Opening on Sunday, February 11th, 2018 at International Plaza & Bay Street starting at 7PM. Guests will be joined by Co-Owner, Rocco Mangel and Big Time Restaurant Group.

Guests can enjoy Rocco’s signature chips, guacamole and salsa complimentary, as well as live entertainment and a cash bar during the event.

When party goers hear the buzzword “Tequila!” echo through the restaurant, Rocco will take his spot on top of the bar with a bottle of tequila in hand, ready to pour complimentary shots for guests.

Rocco Mangel is the restaurateur behind Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar and has 7 restaurants in Florida and 1 in Brooklyn, New York. He is a New York native who began his start as as a busboy for Big City Tavern, another venture of Big Time Restaurant Group.

His first location in Florida was in West Palm Beach with co-ownership from Big Time Restaurant Group back in 2008. The brand plans another expansion to Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale International Airport this year. Additionally, you can find his “Rocco’s Spice” in the spice aisle of all Publix Super Markets.

Guests should regularly expect upbeat music, a spirited happy hour, Taco & Tequila Tuesday, and Bottomless Brunch on the weekend at Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar.

Over 300 varieties of tequila will be on the menu and can be enjoyed alone or mixed in their signature margaritas.

Dinner service in Tampa begins Monday, February 12th and lunch service will begin on Monday, February 19th.

Winter Whiskeyfest this Friday, February 9th, 2018

Do you love whiskey? I know I do. Winter Whiskeyfest is happening this Friday, February 9th, 2018 from 6PM to 9PM. The event is presented by I Love The Burg. It will take place at La Florida above Red Mesa in Downtown St. Petersburg (128 3rd Street South St. Petersburg, FL 33701).

Tickets are limited and there are only 250 tickets available. Tickets cost $75 per person for admission.

Use discount code CARLOSDRINKS for $10 OFF until February 7th.

Whiskey glasses.

This includes entry to the event, over 12 different whiskey brands to taste, a commemorative tasting glass, light bites such as steak crostinis and ceviche, as well as live entertainment by DJ Austen Van Der Bleek.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit METRO to support their LGBT, Transgender, and Youth programs.

Participating distillers:

Belle Meade Bourbon
Coopers Craft
Old Forester Signature 100
Old Forester Statesman
Jack Daniels
Michters
Whistle Pig
High West
Kentucky Owl
Hillbilly
Elijah Craig Small Batch
Pikesville Rye
Larceny
Evan Williams Single Barrel
Deanston
Bunnahabhain
Ledaig
Breaker Bourbon Whisky
Kozuba Distillery
Horse Soldier Bourbon
Amador
Kentucky Peerless Distilling

Buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winter-whiskeyfest-tickets-41520523002

Gasparilla Party @ The Drynk Soho – 1/27

The Drynk Soho will have a Gasparilla party from 4PM-3AM on Saturday, January 27th, 2018. The event will be hosted by Floribama Shore’s Gus Symrnios.

The Drynk is located at 302 South Howard Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606.

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Tickets are now on-sale and are currently at $15 for General Admission. The event is presented by The Black Heart Group.

Buy tickets: https://www.tablelist.com/e/gasparilla-2018-day-party-at-the-drynk-soho-d68b062de86254f4

Gasparilla Block Party @ WaterWorks Bar & Grill

Celebrate Gasparilla at WaterWorks Bar & Grill on the Riverwalk across from the Straz Center on Saturday, January 27th, 2018 from 8PM-Midnight in the Riverwalk Room. WaterWorks Bar & Grill is located at The Barrymore Hotel (111 West Fortune Street Tampa, Florida 33602).

According to the event page there will be one FREE shot for everyone. Complimentary chips & salsa for everyone and $6 Pirate Beers and Rum Drinks. The Mermaids from Sugar Island Rum will be there from 9:30PM-11:30PM.

Event name: Gasparilla Block Party

Venue: WaterWorks Bar & Grill – The Barrymore Hotel

Date & Time: Saturday, January 27th, 8PM-Midnight

Address: 111 West Fortune Street Tampa, Florida 33602

Cost: FREE to Attend, Food & Drinks for-sale

Website: http://www.waterworksbarandgrill.com/