The family behind Ha Long Bay is doubling its footprint in Tampa with two brand-new concepts planned for Horizon Park Shopping Center at 3904 W Hillsborough Ave — one a stripped-down sandwich shop built around banh mi, the other a Japanese matcha café unlike anything else the brand has tried before.
Ha Long Bay has built a following around Tampa Bay as a family-owned restaurant brand with several locations in the region, according to WhatNow. The team is now preparing to branch out with two new restaurant concepts opening at Horizon Park Shopping Center, per filed plans reported by the outlet.
A Faster, Sandwich-Focused Spinoff
The first concept, Ha Long Bay Sandwich, will trim the full Ha Long Bay menu down into an abbreviated, fast-casual format centered on sandwiches, the outlet’s report notes. The lineup is expected to include appetizers, small bites, banh mi, and spring rolls, with one team member describing the plan simply: “We’ll be doing sandwiches, appetizers, and small bites. Banh mi, spring rolls.”
It’s a departure from the sit-down format familiar to regulars of the original Ha Long Bay restaurants, which serve typical dishes of Vietnam such as rice noodle soup, egg noodle, pho, boba, banh mi, vermicelli, and rice plates, according to Ha Long Bay of Tampa. Ha Long Bay New Tampa, one of the brand’s existing locations, says its goal is to bring the yummiest and freshest ingredients into its menu while staying authentic to Vietnamese food, according to its own site.
2 Whisks Brings Matcha Sourced in Japan
The second concept, 2 Whisks, marks new territory for the team entirely. It’s a brand-new venture for the group, which includes Nhan Nguyen and her sister, as reported by What Now Tampa, and it will focus on Japanese matcha rather than the Vietnamese dishes the family is known for…