LARGO — For more than three decades, Ker’s WingHouse offered an alternative to Hooter’s, the original Pinellas County “breastaurant” titan that paved the way for a slew of imitators nationwide.
Founded by former Florida Gator and NFL lineman Crawford Ker in 1994, the local chain started on Ulmerton Road in Largo and piggybacked Hooter’s’ success by having scantily clad waitresses serving burgers, wings and beer, with a healthy dose of sports viewing and memorabilia thrown into every location.
Ker’s post-football endeavor eventually grew to include more than 20 locations statewide, and in 2014 he reportedly sold the company to a private equity firm that has since scaled back the operations, closing several locations including one on U.S. 19 in Pinellas Park last summer.
At the original Ker’s WingHouse location at 7375 Ulmerton Road, which closed a few weeks ago, a new sports-bar concept is set to replace the former Sunday afternoon hot-spot, as the red-and-white winged marquee now reads, “Closed for renovations Playmakers Bar & Grill coming soon.”
A quick scan of the sprawling site on a scorching hot mid-August morning revealed plenty of work underway to convert the outdated concept into a modern sports bar, with many trucks and workers buzzing around.
While Playmakers doesn’t yet have a Facebook page or a website, it has been reported that the owners of Downtown Pizza in Clearwater are affiliated with the new business.
In an Aug. 17 phone call to Downtown Pizza, an employee said the former owners sold the Cleveland Street pizzeria and plan to open Playmakers.
We will provide more updates as the business gets ready to open.
New York-style bagels coming to Ulmerton Road
Fans of fresh New York-style bagels will be pleased to hear Two Daughters bagel shop is setting up shop in the Home Depot plaza on the northeast corner of Ulmerton Road and Seminole Boulevard. It is the latest activity on the stretch of Ulmerton Road that’s seen a Whataburger open nearby and a new Chick-fil-A coming soon.
According to the company’s website, the bagel shop at 10593 Ulmerton Road is set to open Sept. 11 and will feature more than a dozen “kettle boiled, oven bronzed” bagel types and 16 flavors of freshly made-daily cream cheese, as well as coffees, teas and assorted “oversized baked goods” made in house daily.
The website states the business “is not a franchise. It’s a neighborhood bagel shop built by hand,” and is the product of a military vet who studied the craft before opening a brick-and-mortar spot.
Second Boardwalk Pizza location coming to Clearwater-Largo line
The half-acre lot at 1751 S. Highland Ave. and the corner of Cambridge Drive on the Clearwater-Largo border has been home to several different pizza shops over the past two decades.
In years prior, the onetime gas station also held a Peruvian restaurant, a flower shop and a farm stand.
Following the most recent pizza joint closure several months ago, an offshoot of the Boardwalk Pizza and Gyros restaurant on Countryside Boulevard in Clearwater is coming soon to the now-vacant spot.
An Aug. 17 call to Boardwalk Pizza in Clearwater revealed the owners hope to open the second spot within a month, where they will offer their signature pizzas and gyros, calzones, salads and hot and cold subs.
According to a Boardwalk Pizza social media post announcing the news, residents are thrilled to have a new location in the Largo area.
“OMG you have THE BEST PIZZA In Pinellas County!” Eric Rizzo wrote on the restaurant’s May 31 Facebook post. “Now you will be closer to where I live & I’ll be there a LOT!”
A closure and homecoming
As Boardwalk prepares to open in the coming weeks, a longtime local business across the street will be closing soon, as the owner of the Kwik Stop at 1500 Cambridge Drive on the northeast corner of Highland Avenue said he will be vacating the spot soon after nearly 30 years due to a rent increase in the small plaza.
While the longtime store owner, who asked to remain nameless, said he would miss the customers he’s grown to know over the last three decades, he said he’s happy to be moving back to his native Pakistan, where he has missed many family events and milestones in the years he and his wife have lived in America.
“I will miss this place,” he said. “But I have worked over here for a long time. I am ready to go home.”