The first thing customers will notice about Duke’s Brewhouse it that the restaurant dropped the “Daisy” from its name.
The next thing may be that the owners have blended the old in with the new.
Formerly Daisy Dukes, the new restaurant switched over to the Duke’s brand Jan. 15. Chuck Jamieson and his operating partners are working to create a franchise that can eventually branch out around the Tampa Bay area. In their minds, Plant City was the perfect place to start.
“We just kind of found a deal out here that we couldn’t refuse,” Jamieson said. “It was a great opportunity.”
The goal here was to turn the place into what Jamieson calls a “modern brewhouse,” putting more emphasis on the beer selection and bar food. Duke’s currently has two dozen beers on tap, many of which are craft beers from breweries around Florida, including two of its own house brews: a blonde lager and a brown ale, dubbed Duke’s Blonde and Duke’s Brunette. The bar is also stocking Labatt, Canada’s version of Budweiser, for Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games.
The menu has been simplified, tweaked and tailored for more than just wings and burgers. Duke’s already offers meals from several different cuisines, but has unique plans to build upon that with help from chef Paul Bonanno and the Strawberry Crest High School culinary program.
The Crest students helped Jamieson design the new menu, among other things, but haven’t been able to get back in the kitchen and experiment with new dishes yet. That will be happening soon, and Bonanno hopes that the partnership can last beyond the school year and into the summer.
“As far as Chuck and I are concerned, we want this to be a continued relationship,” Bonanno said. “We do internships with culinary schools already, so we’re hoping to have some students work in the kitchen at Duke’s and gain real-world experience.”
Fans of the original Daisy Dukes restaurant will be pleased to know that much of the restaurant — including some of the staff — remains the same.
“There was a lot of real good people that worked here, and were kind of carrying this thing at a point where it wasn’t doing so well,” Jamieson said. “We kept them on.”
There are also plans to make the restaurant into a music-friendly venue, hosting country and rock acts that will appeal to Plant City audiences.
And, perhaps most importantly for a sports restaurant, the Duke’s staff is hoping to stay connected with the local sports scene — especially wPlant City High School just up the road.
“We’ve got plenty of room for teams, award ceremonies and things like that,” Jamieson says.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
Menu: Traditional American bar fare, such as chicken wings and hamburgers; various Italian, Mexican and seafood dishes; 24 different beers on draft.
Address: 2212 James L. Redman Pkwy.
Phone: (813) 752-2700