For 34 years, Mad Dogs & Englishmen served its pints at 4115 S. MacDill Ave. That run ended in January 2025, when Creative Loafing Tampa reported that the original pub would close after its final weekend. Its replacement opened later that month, less than a mile south at 4914 S. MacDill Ave. It is a 6,000-square-foot pub with two bars, a Moroccan room and a fireplace lounge.
Since then, the move looks less like a one-off relocation and more like the start of a pattern. Two newer restaurants have joined Mad Dogs in the blocks around and below Gandy, one open and one under construction. Closer to Bay to Bay, the recent news on MacDill comes mostly from city filings, rezoning requests and websites that still say "coming soon." Here is where each one stands as of early October 2026.
The Anchor Moved First
The new Mad Dogs is a planned upgrade, years in the making. A 2022 Tampa Bay Business Journal report said the original building was showing its age, and that Blake Casper's company had bought the former Love's property farther south for a larger pub. That site was once Love's Artifacts Bar and Grill, listed at 4914 S. MacDill in a 2010 restaurant preview. The 2022 timeline projected an early-2024 opening. The pub opened in 2025, and That's So Tampa included it in its year-end roundup of the year's new restaurants.
Co-founder Wilton Morley told Creative Loafing that the old operation had become harder to run. Business dropped when summer regulars left, and the pub had no liquor to sell. He said he had considered closing before Casper encouraged a new chapter. Morley described the old place as closer to a bar, or a "Florida shack," and asked for a proper English pub in the new building.
That's what opened. Morley and co-founder Rick "The Colonel" Craig now run the pub with Blake Casper and Allison Casper Adams, owners of Oxford Commons Hospitality. The new space is twice the size of the original, with multiple dining rooms and dog-friendly patios. It also added things the old pub never had, including weekend brunch, tea service and Sunday roasts. New dishes include stuffed peppadews, aubergine bolognese and tuna tartare. Current hours and the address are on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen website.
The move matters for the rest of this corridor because of what it did to the map. MacDill's longest-running pub went from the 4100 block to the 4900 block and doubled its footprint. The restaurant news since then has largely clustered around its new address.
What Has Actually Opened Farther South
The one confirmed 2026 opening on this stretch is L'Amorino, at 6102 S. MacDill Ave., Suite A. That's So Tampa reported in late July that it opened this summer, without naming an exact first day.
It is a Sicilian restaurant run by a couple named Oliviana and Serdar. They spent 12 years at Bayshore Mediterranean Grill before opening a place built around Oliviana's roots in Palermo. Before cooking, she trained in haute couture at Polimoda in Florence. The couple calls the restaurant "a niche for the niche."
That's So Tampa's review highlighted a few dishes:
- Arancina: fried saffron risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella.
- Bucatini Carbonara: described as restrained and technically precise.
- Paccheri allo Scoglio: oversized pasta with clams, mussels, calamari and prawns.
All of the pasta comes from Luca Artisanal Pasta, which is made in Tampa. L'Amorino is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is closed Mondays, which matters for anyone planning a weeknight dinner there. The menu and details are on L'Amorino's website.
So the two open, sit-down places in this story both sit in the 4900 block and below. An evening out at either one now means heading toward Gandy and Ballast Point.
Still a Permit, a Rendering or a "Coming Soon"
Taken north to south, the rest of the corridor's news is still a plan. Here are the four projects and where each one stands:
Old Heights Bistro, 3225 S. MacDill Ave. In July, Creative Loafing reported that owners Philip Hutchison and Shima would close their Seminole Heights restaurant after July 25. They planned to reopen in the former Brunchery space by late August or early September, serving breakfast and lunch only for the first two years. Hutchison handles the sushi and Shima the rest of the cooking. As of early October, the restaurant's website still lists the MacDill address as "New location coming soon." The Brunchery's own site now labels that MacDill location as no longer live.
Andy's Frozen Custard, 3423 S. Dale Mabry Hwy. One corridor west of MacDill, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reported in September on a planned 1,611-square-foot walk-up and drive-through on the site of BJ's Alabama Barbeque. The property owner, New Pagoda LLC, was seeking rezoning, and no opening date was given.
Lucky Goat Coffee, 4205 S. MacDill Ave. In June, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reported that Lucky Goat, a Tallahassee-based coffee company, had filed plans with the city to renovate a 1,107-square-foot space in St. Croix Plaza. It would be the company's first known café in the Tampa Bay region. Lucky Goat started as a wholesale roaster in 2010 and now has cafés across Florida, Georgia and Texas. The permit lists no opening date.
Graze, 5232 S. MacDill Ave. Graze took over the former Arirang Korean spot a few blocks south of the new Mad Dogs. That's So Tampa reported in early September that construction had started and the opening was expected in late 2026.
The Graze project has the most detail behind it. The restaurant announced it on social media in August:
"Graze 3 coming soon to Ballast Point! We are so excited to join this neighborhood and serve up delicious brunch, lunch and dinner 7 days a week."
Breakfast will start at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends. The plans include a patio, dining room and bar seating, a separate entrance for takeout and online orders, and a full surface parking lot. Graze says the location is meant to serve neighborhood residents, service members and visitors. It will be Graze's second South Tampa location, after the one near Plant High School at 2217/2219 S. Dale Mabry Hwy. The original Graze 1910 opened inside Armature Works in early 2018.
The Northern Blocks Are Waiting on Paperwork
Put the four projects against the two openings and a clear shape appears. Graze will sit near Mad Dogs and L'Amorino if it opens on schedule. That means every full-service place in this story, open or under construction, is in the 4900 block or below.
The northern stretch, around Bay to Bay and St. Croix Plaza, has different kinds of projects. One is a restaurant moving from Seminole Heights that has passed its own target window. Another is a coffee café that exists only as a permit filing. The third, a custard stand on Dale Mabry, is waiting on a rezoning decision. All three are smaller-format, daytime concepts, and none has a confirmed opening date. Even Old Heights Bistro plans breakfast and lunch only for its first two years on MacDill.
None of this says anything bad about the northern blocks. It shows that projects move on different timelines. Graze controls its building and has started construction. Old Heights is moving into a space another restaurant already set up as a breakfast spot. Lucky Goat is at the permit stage, and Andy's still needs a zoning approval. That's why the corridor's restaurant news has run ahead of its actual openings. A list of "new on MacDill" places will be more accurate if it marks which ones are serving food today.
What to Watch Before Year's End
Three dates or signals will settle most of this.
Graze's late-2026 target. Construction is underway at 5232 S. MacDill, and the restaurant has said it plans to open before the end of the year. If it opens on time, it will add early breakfast hours to the stretch south of Gandy.
The Old Heights Bistro website. Its MacDill listing still reads "New location coming soon," and a change to that label would be the clearest public sign that the move is done. Until then, the late-summer target from July still counts as a plan.
A rezoning outcome on Dale Mabry. The Andy's Frozen Custard project depends on the rezoning New Pagoda LLC has requested for 3423 S. Dale Mabry Hwy. No hearing outcome had been reported as of late September.
Lucky Goat has posted no date at all. The plaza it filed for in June is still the spot to watch.
Changes to a neighborhood's everyday streets, like a pub's new address or a café's permit filing, often show up in how buyers see a home before they show up in any market report. If you're thinking about how the changing MacDill corridor fits into a sale or purchase in Bayshore Beautiful, The Margliano Team is glad to talk it through. Schedule a private market consultation.
