Triple-headed comfort food castle opens in Seminole Heights as 3 Bay Area businesses team up

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS, Fla. - Westshore Pizza, King of the Coop and Rock Brothers Brewing have joined forces to create a culinary common house that cuts down on cost while creating a mini-food hall for diners.

Before there were fists in the dough, breading on the tenders and beer on tap, there were three buddies on a trip to Nashville, marveling at a food hall's success.

"The three of us are sitting there and we are talking about how this would go great in Tampa," said Joe Dodd, the owner of King of the Coop.

So Dodd threw in his Nashville hot chicken tenders from King of the Coop, Travis Masters put in a Westshore pizza pie, and Joey Redner added some fizz, and they found the old location of the 8,500 sq. ft. Refinery restaurant on N. Florida Ave.

After almost a year of renovations, a three-headed comfort food castle opened Thursday night.

"We wanted to create the experience, the vibe, the look of the place," said Dodd.

By putting three businesses under one roof, they can save on costs like rent, staff and utilities.

"It also lets you have more of a draw than any of the businesses might on their own," said Redner. "That's one of the really good things, it lets you team up."

But they can also make it a place that feels like home in Seminole Heights with different foods, art and community.

"These size buildings are in neighborhoods everywhere. It's big businesses that swallow them up," said Dodd. "If local businesses got together and said hey we are going to do this together, you are able to create something for the community."

All 40 employees live in the neighborhood, and all the art is by local artists.

They call their tasty trio, "Flocale," a blend of Florida, local and locale.

"We want everybody to realize this is a place for them," explained Masters. "It's not a place we are coming into, just to try to get the to frequent, but for them to make this a home."

Flocale is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 11 to 2 a.m. on weekends.

LINK: Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/officialflocale/.