Giancarlo's invites customers in for coffee or a nightcap at North Hyde Park location

Giancarlo's Café: Tampa's new day-to-night hotspot

Giancarlo's offers a quick-service "grab and go" menu for breakfast and lunch to accommodate people and their workday schedule.

TAMPA, Fla. - Just three blocks from the University of Tampa and two blocks north of Kennedy Boulevard lies the new North Hyde Park restaurant, Giancarlo's Café and Spirits. 

It's a family-run business that offers quick service breakfast, coffee and lunch, and then it converts into an evening hot spot with a casual yet elevated experience for happy hour and beyond.

What they're saying:

"Giancarlo's is a hybrid service model where we have a quick-service model for people that want to just grab and go stuff, order at a counter," owner Travis Kaiser said. "During the day, just classic breakfast, you know, pancakes, bacon, eggs. We have a great brunch — um, and then lunch, a lot of sandwiches, a lot of quick-service stuff. Come up to the counter, grab and go. I know everybody needs to be back at work."

Kaiser uses the venue's daytime hours to help his customers get what they need to fuel their day and get back at it. His focus is quick but quality service to maximize the experience.

That focus changes for the after-hours crowd.

"So it kind of transitions from, you know, day to night," Kaiser said. "At night, it turns into more of a, you know, bar, (full-service restaurant). My main goal is for people to be comfortable in a casual elevated experience, and I want them to have fun. I want this to be ... not just a sit-down restaurant where you sit, and you get your courses and you go home. I want the music to be really good. Um, the drinks are flowing and, you know, just people enjoying themselves."

WHAT'S THE FOOD LIKE AT GIANCARLO'S?

"We have our coffee bar, we have our pizzeria, breakfast area during the day," Kaiser said. "Pizza starts getting a lot busier, and then the, you know, the kitchen is still the kitchen, but it's lunch and dinner food, past, you know, 5 p.m."

They'll create a traditional breakfast plate for you with a choice of protein, bread and sides. They also offer up griddle options like French toast and pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar and syrup on the side. Their coffee bar will create specialty drinks like a salted caramel pistachio drink or a tiramisu drink, but they also serve up traditional americano's and cappuccinos.

"At night we have a, we call it a tavern-style menu," Kaiser said. "So we have a burger that's really, really good, tavern-style pizza, which is like super, super thin and crispy, sauce and cheese to the end."

That tavern-style menu features dressed-up sandwiches, eggplant caprese and plates of pasta with freshly made sauces and Parmesan cheese.

The backstory:

"Our first business, Santoro's, is right down the street," Kaiser said. "I live here, my kids go to school here, we're enjoying, you know, serving this community. So, we figured let's keep building in the same area. Santoro's is named after my oldest son, so I have another son, Giancarlo. Thought it was only fitting to name this after him."

Santoro's Pizzeria is located at 1329 W. Cass St. and features New Jersey-style pizzas by the slice or the full pie.

READ: Santoro's Pizzeria brings New Jersey-style slices to Tampa

"I grew up in family-owned restaurants," Kaiser said. "It's really special to, you know, have them grow up in their restaurants and have it named after them, pictures of them on the wall and stuff like that."

What you can do:

To visit Giancarlo's in person, you will find them at 1532 W. North B St. There is parking located on West North A Street. Their menu and hours are on their website here.