LARGO — Dale Robinson has spent years wondering whether a sports bar can become a place people go for the pizza.
He’s finding out at Playmakers Pizza and Sports Bar, which recently opened in the former Ker’s WingHouse at 7375 Ulmerton Road after a top-to-bottom renovation.
“We’re a sports bar with better food,” said Robinson, who took over the sprawling building in June.
Robinson previously owned Downtown Pizza on Cleveland Street in Clearwater, in the former Tony’s Pizza space, before selling it two years ago. He said he wanted to see whether his fresh, wood-fired pies would work in a more visible, heavily traveled location.
“Our last place was known for pizza, and we turned it into a sports bar,” he said. “And I always wondered if our concept would work outside of downtown Clearwater, and could we turn a sports bar into a place known for pizza.”
Robinson, who owns Playmakers with his wife, Sarah, said he originally wanted a smaller space than the roughly 6,200-square-foot former WingHouse, which is surrounded by a large parking lot.
“But I knew this location would be great,” he said. “I knew it couldn’t get any better with the clear visibility from Ulmerton, easy access and plenty of parking. So, I thought, what if we transferred our concept to a larger space? Could we make it work?”
Days after closing the deal, Robinson began renovating the aging building.
“We gutted the place and rebuilt it from the ground up,” he said.
That meant “new everything,” he said: floors, ceilings, air conditioning, plumbing, beer taps, bathrooms, tables and booths. The long wooden bar kept its shape but now has a thick granite countertop. The remodel also added 32 flat-screen TVs, an electronic sports ticker and new signage.
Robinson kept some of the WingHouse staff, a move he said pleased many regulars.
“We wanted to keep the same vibe as the WingHouse — a fun, casual sports bar atmosphere — and incorporate some stuff to make it more modern,” he said. “So, we fused what we were doing (at Downtown Pizza) with what WingHouse had, and we hope it will lead to success.”
Playmakers still sells “a ton of wings,” Robinson said, but he believes fresh pizza sets it apart from other sports bars.
“We make the pizza fresh daily,” he said. “We use fresh dough, fresh sauce and fresh ingredients. And people seem to really like that.”
The menu also includes calzones, antipasto, burgers and more.
At least one customer noticed the shift. A commenter on the Playmakers Facebook page wrote that WingHouse “was not known for pizza” and said they were excited to try a place that puts the word on its sign.
Robinson, a Pinellas County native who attended Pinellas Park High School, said he’s still building the website and ramping up marketing, but he believes Playmakers will catch on once word gets out.
“The first two weeks after we opened, we had unbelievable support,” he said. “It’s settled down a bit. But we know we’re doing some great things in here, and hopefully people will come and check us out.”
Largo business bites
Across the street, Sneaky’s Sports Bar and Grill in the Rosetree Plaza, 7500 Ulmerton Road, recently got a makeover from the TV show “Bar Rescue.”
Host Jon Taffer and his crew visited the longtime Largo bar in early October, according to social media posts. On Oct. 14, Sneaky’s held a soft-opening “stress test,” in which staff serve a packed house while putting the show’s recommended menu and drink changes into practice.
The event drew a long line. Facebook commenters said the seats filled quickly, and some who had waited said they were turned away when staff began handing out the wristbands required for entry.
During a late-October visit, Sneaky’s — renamed Sneaky’s 2 after the makeover — had new decor and game machines, and a bartender said business has picked up since the rescue.
“Bar Rescue” has visited at least two other Pinellas County bars in recent months: the Patio Lounge in Dunedin and Knock n’ Boots at 201 Keene Road in Largo.
Farther west on Ulmerton, Two Daughters bagel shop opened in early October at 10593 Ulmerton Road in the Home Depot plaza.
Owner Justin Miller, a military veteran with no formal culinary training, spent two years studying bagel making to bring what he calls “the perfect New York bagel” to Pinellas County, according to the shop’s website.
“I did what a lifetime of military discipline and business experience taught me to do,” Miller wrote on the site. “I identified the problem, studied the solution and built it myself.”
The shop uses a custom water filtration system to replicate the chemistry of New York water, along with cold-fermented dough, kettle boiling and high-heat baking. The goal, according to the website: “oversized, bronzed, chewy-but-crisp bagels” that no chain or grocery store can match.
