2025.4.25 | LIFE & CULTURE | FOOD | Published June 12, 2024
This popular Tampa restaurant is opening a second location in Hyde Park
Modern Chinese restaurant Hales Blackbrick will open a new spot this fall.
Chef Richard Hales and Jenny Hales pose for a portrait at Hales Blackbrick in Tampa on Nov. 22, 2022. A new, second location of the restaurant will open in fall 2024 in Tampa’s Hyde Park. [ IVY CEBALLO | Times ]
By Helen Freund Times staff
TAMPA — Dumplings, anyone?
Fans of chef Richard Hales’ Sichuan- and Cantonese-inspired dishes will be thrilled to hear that roughly a year and a half after opening his modern Chinese restaurant in Drew Park, Hales Blackbrick will expand with a second location later this year.
A new Hales Blackbrick will open at 1809 W. Platt St. in Hyde Park this fall, according to a post on the restaurant’s website and a spokesperson for the company.
The flagship Tampa location opened in November 2022 at 4812 N. Dale Mabry Highway in the former home of the long-running Pop ‘N Sons Diner. There was plenty of hype prior to the spot’s opening, mostly due to Hales’ celebrated Miami restaurant with a similar name and theme.
Blackbrick Chinese, which opened in Miami in 2013, collected accolades from critics and fans alike, including a cameo on Guy Fieri’s show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and a spot on Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants list in 2014.
A collection of dumplings is served at Hales Blackbrick in Tampa. [ IVY CEBALLO | Times ] (2022 pic)
Divided into sections of dumplings, appetizers, chef’s specialties and tasting menus, the menu at Hales Blackbrick explores various expressions of Chinese cuisine, from Sichuan-style dan dan noodles made with pork, bucatini noodles, sesame and peanut sauce to Cantonese-style barbecued pork (char siu) and a Hong Kong-style dim sum service on Sundays.
Hales was born in Marrero, Louisiana, but grew up in Tampa. After culinary school, he cut his teeth working in New York restaurants under celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and later moved to Miami. He spent years traveling across the globe, where he trained in restaurants all over Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Hales eventually made his way back to Miami, where he first worked at the Mandarin Oriental and later went on to open multiple restaurants, including Sakaya Kitchen, Blackbrick Chinese, Bird & Bone and Society BBQ. The chef, who is half-Filipino, said cooking Asian food has always resonated with him the most.
Miami’s Blackbrick Chinese, which has since closed, will reopen in 2025, said Debbie Hunter, Hales’ assistant.
Hunter said no changes are afoot at the original Tampa location, which will remain open.
No exact opening date for the new restaurant was provided.
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