Cappy's Pizza 'Long Overdue' In New Tampa, Manager Says

New Tampa will have a new pizza place come early August.

That's when Cappy's Pizza is slated to open in Tampa Palms in a roughly 2,000-square-foot space that was formerly part of Ciccio's Lodge. It's in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center, which is at the corner of Tampa Palms and Bruce B. Downs boulevards.

"It was long overdue in my opinion," said Harold Hasselback, who will manage the location with Bryan Bates.

Cappy's Pizza was founded in 1995 in South Tampa. The original location on Howard Avenue has since relocated to Bay to Bay Boulevard. Other Cappy's have opened up in Seminole Heights, Riverview and St. Petersburg. They're known for New York and Chicago-style pizza, as well as their Greek salads, Hasselback and Bates said.

The restaurant has been looking to expand into New Tampa for years.

"We were just trying to find the right spot that made sense," Bates said. "This is one of the first places we looked at two years ago, and we ended up back here."

The Tampa Palms location is perfect, they agreed, because of its proximity between the University of South Florida and Interstate 75.

The two were at the location Tuesday overseeing renovations to the space.

"We're excited," Hasselback said of the Tampa Palms restaurant.

"The response has been really great in the community," Bates added.

They said people have been poking their heads in to check out the progress and welcome them to the neighborhood.

"It's been crazy the amount of people stopping by," Bates said.