University Is Bullish On A New Sports Bar

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.tbo.com/templeterrace/MGBZL9I05IE.html

UNIVERSITY AREA - A new sports bar with a Bulls theme is drawing University of South Florida students and alumni.

The Bull Ring is decorated in the school colors of green and gold and with posters from the USF athletic department. It opened last month in the former Hops Restaurant, Bar & Brewery, 1241 E. Fowler Ave.

"I like that fact that it is oriented toward the university," said customer Jerry Munn, a Wesley Chapel resident who was drinking a beer at the Bull Ring after work.

"We really needed a good location to get together," said Munn, a 1999 USF marketing graduate.

The Bull Ring, which opened Dec. 19, is owned by Shawn Pulford and Jim "Zimbo" Zmirich. Pulford, formerly in the construction supply business, and Zmirich, formerly in finance, were neighbors in Medford, N.J. They moved to Tampa to form a land-development company, Alexander Reid, named for their sons. In September, their company bought the building and began remodeling.

"We were looking for something, and there wasn't anything like this," Zmirich said.

Pulford said: "The university has 35,000 to 40,000 students. It was joining the Big East, and we knew the kind of excitement that would bring."

The co-owners said it cost $2.3 million to buy and renovate the building into the 290-seat Bull Ring.

"We bought it 'as is,' " Zmirich said, "but we had no idea what was included until we started peeling back layers. There isn't anything we touched that didn't have to be repaired or refinished."

They replaced the air conditioning and all the kitchen equipment. Televisions were installed.

They hired Bill Haines as the general manager. He attended Widener University in Chester, Penn., with Pulford, and owned several restaurants before spending the past two years as an executive chef in Key West.

Haines set the menu, which includes chicken wings, clams and oysters Rockefeller for appetizers, soups, salads, burgers, hot sandwiches and full dinners of seafood, chicken and steak. Most salads, burgers and hot sandwiches are $6.95; pasta and dinners range from $11.95 to $23.95. A full bar is available.

"It is clearly his artwork on the menu and the preparation," Pulford said.

Haines, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., said, "We tried to make sure we were competitive with upscale sports bars."

The Bull Ring employs about 45 people, many of them students who work part time.

The co-owners said the best part about opening the Bull Ring was the enthusiasm from the university and the community.

"When we approached the university, they embraced it," Zmirich said, adding that football coach Jim Leavitt and players have visited.

Right after construction began, they posted a "Bulls Country" sign. Bulls Country is a campaign to link the university and area businesses.

"The Bull Ring is the kind of partnership that Bulls Country is all about," said Bulls Country manager Bob Fiallo. "We want [the area near the university] to have a college-town atmosphere."

He said the restaurant also improves the Fowler Avenue corridor, which has lost businesses including Circuit City in recent years.

As of Sunday, Fowler Avenue is included in Tampa's enterprise zone, a state-designated area for redevelopment in which businesses are offered tax incentives for building or expanding in the zone and for hiring residents of the zone.

Zmirich said they waited until after the first of the year to undertake some improvements, including adding an outdoor bar, to take advantage of the incentives.

Although it opened Dec. 19, the Bull Ring will have grand opening promotions the week of Jan. 15, when school is in session again, Haines said.

The Bull Ring's slogan is "As It Should Be."

"It is something I have been saying all my life when something is excellent," Zmirich said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Bull Ring, new sports bar/restaurant

WHERE: 1241 E. Fowler Ave.

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily

INFORMATION: Call (813) 866-8386.

[The_Reaper]

It is a great place. !!!

[ChiTownBull]

I will be to visit when I'm down there next month. Just wish it were a little closer to the university.

[Mag Pie]

I was there yesterday.  Their food was very good and prices were not bad.  I LOVED the huge TV's!  Only thing was that I could tell the servers were new...but that will improve with time.

That will become a student hangout--USF students get discounts on drinks...

[E.T.]

Non USF Alumni see the potential ... Excellent !

[Bishop of Bulltown]

what kind of discounts on drinks?

[bullman3]

Great place, great menu, good food.  I think they would do better if at the corner of Fletcher or Fowler and 46th area.  Fowler ave that far west really needs some improvement.  I sure hope they make it.  I remember the last Bulls Sports bar next to TOdd theater wasnt able to draw in enough business.

I will recommend this place to anyone who asks.

[bullman3]

When is the university going to open a bar/restaurant on campus.  Isnt there going to be a big remodel/reconstruction of the marshall center?

[USFMikeB]

Make sure to try the jerk wings, the jerk sauce is AWESOME.

[80mins]

bullman--there is a Marshall Center renovation in the works, and last I heard they were leaning strongly towards something sports bar/pubbish being in it. That being said, this was last school year, so I don't know the latest on that progress.