On a Tuesday morning in late September, Carlos Carrillo and Adam Hendricks were rolling more coats of bright blue paint onto the single-story building at 4815 N. Nebraska Ave., according to Creative Loafing Tampa. In photos from Sept. 29, a covered patio with picnic tables and string lights sits on one side, and on the other a black ordering window under painted palm trees faces a lawn forecourt. The sign reads Coco's.
If you live anywhere near Nebraska Avenue, you know this corner. It has been the Nebraska Mini-Mart, then King of the Coop, then a food trailer park that was announced and never opened. Through all of it, the lot has stayed the same: the patio, the lawn and the outdoor seating. Coco's In the Heights is putting about $100,000 into making the lot itself work harder, and that is the most useful way to understand what opens here next.
Three tenants and a plan, on the same patch of grass
The lot has carried a mid-century identity from the start. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Nebraska Mini-Mart, a Proper House Group concept, was built to imitate an old-school mini mart that stood on the same lot in the 1950s. Here is how the corner has changed hands since:
- 2018 to March 30, 2025: Nebraska Mini-Mart opens in 2018 and serves its final day on a Sunday at the end of March 2025, as Creative Loafing reported.
- March to September 2025: Joe Dodd signs a lease on March 17, 2025, before the Mini-Mart's last day, and brings King of the Coop back to Seminole Heights in mid-April. King of the Coop first opened in the neighborhood in 2019. The hot chicken spot closes in September 2025 after about six months, per Creative Loafing.
- June 2026: A food park called Nebraska Roadside is announced for the address. The plan promises an outdoor, family-friendly mix of food, drinks, games and gathering space with a 1960s feel, and aims to open in fall 2026.
- October 2026: The Times reports that Nebraska Roadside "never came to pass" and that its Instagram account has been deactivated. Coco's In the Heights is finishing the build-out.
The outdoor lot runs through the whole story. The Mini-Mart described itself as a third place, and the food park pitch was built around outdoor food, games and gathering space. Coco's is keeping that approach and paying to expand it.
What $100,000 changes on the lot
Carrillo told Creative Loafing the renovation will cost about $100,000. That covers tile in the air-conditioned indoor dining room, both bathrooms and the kitchen, plus new umbrellas, shade structures, lighting and palm trees. "We're basically just elevating every aspect of the property," he said.
Two numbers show how the corner will feel different:
| Item | Before | Coco's plan |
|---|---|---|
| Parking spaces | 12 | 24, with 12 added |
| Indoor dining seats | Not reported | About 24 in a tiled, air-conditioned room |
| Patio | Ping-pong table | Ping-pong stays, plus regulation cornhole and giant Jenga |
| Evening programming | None announced | Live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings |
Doubling the parking matters most on a corner that has always depended on people stopping in. The added shade matters too, since the outdoor seating is most of the space. Carrillo described the goal plainly to Creative Loafing: "We want to take full advantage of the outdoor space."
The operators come from Tampa's sandwich counters
The Coco's name comes out of Tampa's early-morning sandwich trade. Creative Loafing describes a 4 a.m. line at Coco's Sandwich Shop in Palmetto Beach, often made up of workers in reflective gear, and a 6 a.m. line at Coco's on 40th Street, about ten minutes away. According to the Times, Carrillo grew up working at his father's Coco's Sandwich Shop on 22nd Avenue.
He and Hendricks built their own business from a food truck. Carrillo started Coco's Latin Cuisine as a truck in 2019, posting its stops in New Tampa, Temple Terrace and Apollo Beach on social media. The pair moved into the Coco's at 40th Street building in 2024, after spending a year serving from the truck in that building's parking lot while they sorted out permits. The Times calls the Seminole Heights location their second concept.
Carrillo's approach, as he explained it to the Times, is about repeat business, not reviews. "Not everyone's going to think you had the best Cuban, but if people like it, if it's the same every single time, they will keep coming back." For a corner that has had three tenants in about eighteen months, an operator focused on consistency is a real change.
What's on the menu, and when it's open
The Times says the Seminole Heights menu goes a step beyond 40th Street. Expect loaded tostones, Cuban-style bowls, and beer and wine alongside the sandwich-shop basics: a Cuban, a palomilla steak sandwich and handmade devil crab. The sandwich in the preview photos is the Carlito's Steak Sandwich: mojo-marinated palomilla, Swiss, caramelized onions, tomato, potato sticks and garlic aioli on pressed Cuban bread. Fresh-ground espresso and cafecito aren't on the menu, but Carrillo told the Times you can order them.
Published hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. That covers lunch and dinner. Carrillo has said he would like to add breakfast in the new year, which would bring the Seminole Heights shop closer to the early hours of the other Coco's counters.
The opening date is still soft. Creative Loafing says the restaurant will open "by the end of October," and the Times says late October. Check the restaurant's social accounts before you head over this weekend.
Halloween night on the lawn
The first event Coco's has announced is set on the lawn. On Halloween, which falls on Saturday, Oct. 31, the restaurant plans to show a classic, kid-rated Halloween movie from 8 to 10 p.m. so children can "get their candy crazies out" after trick-or-treating, Carrillo told Creative Loafing. He described it to the Times as one example of the community programming he wants to run here. "We're open to doing anything as long as people show up and the community is supporting us," he said.
Two other neighborhood events are close by. The Seminole Heights Great Pumpkin Patch at 6111 N. Central Ave. runs through Oct. 31, with proceeds going to the Hampton Terrace Community Association and Seminole Heights United Methodist Church. The Seminole Heights Sunday Market meets on the second Sunday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at American Legion Post 111, 6918 N. Florida Ave. Its next date is Nov. 8.
Nebraska catches up with Florida Avenue
Several of this year's Seminole Heights openings landed on the next major street to the west. Creative Loafing's roundup of 2026 openings lists three on North Florida Avenue:
- J's Asian Kitchen at 5229 N. Florida Ave., opened in February.
- Con Amor, a Mexican restaurant at 5240 N. Florida Ave., also opened in February.
- La Central at 4410 N. Florida Ave., from the owners of downtown's Central Coffee & Sandwiches, opened earlier this year.
Nebraska has seen less of this. The other 2026 project on the avenue is Bavaro's, which has built a central kitchen there for bread, pasta, sauces and catering. Owner Dan Bavaro has described a planned 500-square-foot Cafe Bavaro storefront for craft coffee, prepared foods and catering pickup, according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth. No opening date for the cafe has been announced. Until it opens, Coco's will be the main new place to sit down and eat on this stretch of Nebraska, on the same corner lot that has hosted every concept since 2018.
A corner that changes tenants this often shows how much a site's layout affects the businesses that lease it. Parking counts, outdoor space and what a build-out costs can decide how a restaurant fares as much as the menu does. If you are weighing a restaurant or retail site in Tampa and want help testing those numbers before you sign, Alan J. Kronenberg works with tenants on site selection and lease negotiation across Tampa Bay. Let's Connect.
