Wesley Chapel sports bar coming to downtown Tampa office tower
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 22, 2022

The owner of downtown Tampa's Truist Place has signed a deal with a sports bar to fill the restaurant space that was once home to TooJay's Deli.

North Carolina-based Highwoods Properties Inc. said that Top Shelf Sports Lounge will lease the 4,674-square-foot restaurant space on the ground floor of the office tower at 401 E. Jackson St. It will open in 2023.

Top Shelf has roots in Tampa's suburbs: Owners and longtime friends Joe Boyd and Keelan Cottle opened the first location in 2017 in Wesley Chapel, inside the AdventHealth Center Ice complex. The downtown Tampa location, Cottle said, will be an "elevated" version of the Wesley Chapel restaurant.

"The Truist Building is the perfect location for the fun, fast-paced environment we plan on creating at our restaurant,” Cottle said in a statement.

The Truist Place location will include a patio.

"Our customers are showing an increased desire for well-located, high-quality office space with an abundance of retail, restaurant and entertainment options within steps of their workplace," said Dan Woodward, Highwoods senior vice president and Tampa market leader. "With the addition of Top Shelf at Truist Place, we are providing customers with that dynamic work environment.”