Super Bowl exposure 2 years ago set Bay Area restaurants up for continued success

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa’s Super Bowl 55 game set the national spotlight on local businesses, and that exposure was transformative for two Tampa restaurants.

The Super Bowl experiences for 7th and Grove in Ybor City and Eggs Up Grill Riverview carried over into growth and success over the last two years.

A bartender pours a drink at 7th and Grove in Ybor City. 

"It’s been just a wild ride," stated Dr. Jamaris Glenn, the co-owner of 7th and Grove. "The Super Bowl commercial was just a beautiful experience for us, for us to see our names on the screens all around honestly the nation."

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The restaurant 7th and Grove was featured in Pepsi ads, and Glenn said the commercial attracted lots of visitors and sparked partnerships with big-name brands, including Visa, Wells Fargo, and Grow Financial.

7th and Grove in Ybor City was featured in a Pepsi commercial during Super Bowl LV. 

"It’s been all around great, and I think that when people come to Tampa, 7th and Grove is slowly but surely becoming one of those household names," said Glenn.

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They also grew their reach beyond their walls, opening a food truck in December 2022. In January, Flourish Hospitality Group, founded by Glenn and Khalilaa McDuffie, which includes the 7th and Grove brand, opened Roast Deli and Bakery along with the speakeasy concept Madame Fortune’s Dessert and HiFi Parlour, honoring Tampa’s black history.

7th and Grove recently opened Roast Deli and Bakery along with the speakeasy concept Madame Fortune’s Dessert and HiFi Parlour.

"We just recently signed on with Aramark. They’re a great partner of ours, and we’re now at the USF Marshall Center," Glenn said, of the restaurant’s reach to students at the University of South Florida.

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"Me being just this Black kid from Tampa, not having much intergenerational wealth, and still not where I need to be wealth wise but to see the visibility and to have these businesses, it means everything."

7th and Grove is still benefiting from Super Bowl LV exposure. 

Eggs Up Grill is also a Black-owned eatery that shined in the Super Bowl spotlight. Priscilla Conyers and her husband John had opened up their first location in the franchise in November 2020, and they were just three weeks into their brand-new restaurant when FOX13’s Briona Arradondo caught up with them.

Eggs Up Grill Riverview was a featured restaurant as part of the Super Bowl’s "Road to Game Day" Restaurant Week.

Eggs Up Grill Riverview is still benefiting from attention it got during Super Bowl LV. 

"That definitely was an honor to be listed on the website because especially for us we were newbies into the restaurant industry, and we’re still quite a novice. But to be featured as one of the restaurants as a go-to spot in the Tampa Bay community was absolutely just heartwarming for us," explained Priscilla Conyers, co-owner of Eggs Up Grill Riverview.

Two years in, Eggs Up Grill has added to their egg counter with their family at their side.

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"We have two daughters, ages 7 and 3, and whenever they are out of school they try to be in the business," said Priscilla Conyers. "My little 7-year-old is the ‘hostess with the mostest’ is what she calls herself. My three-year-old is just here running around, and my guests absolutely just love it."

Eggs Up Grill Riverview was a featured restaurant as part of the Super Bowl’s "Road to Game Day" Restaurant Week. 

They also hired more staff, added new menu items, and increased sales.

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When FOX13 first visited the restaurant, the egg counter was at 16,700 in 2020 and has since grown to more than 489,000 eggs by the second week of February.

"It’s grown in more ways than one. Our online sales have definitely increased along with our catering sales. When we first started off we were a little nervous about partaking in the catering sector of the industry because catering is a tough business. But now we are pros at catering we cater breakfast and lunch items for a lot of people in the community, so that’s always pretty fun," said Priscilla Conyers. "We do several big events on a monthly basis. Just yesterday we had 8 or 9 caterings that went out the door as early as seven in the morning."

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Priscilla appreciates the support from the Super Bowl exposure and wants to be a staple place in the community.

Eggs Up Grill Riverview's egg counter was at 16,700 in 2020 and has since grown to more than 489,000 eggs by the second week of February. 

"We enjoy the vibe that we get when people come into our doors, and it’s just something that you can’t experience anywhere else because it’s here at Eggs Up Grill," said Priscilla Conyers. "I would just like people to know we want to be here. We absolutely enjoy the Tampa Bay community. We want to be a staple restaurant in the Tampa Bay market."

Both restaurant owners have established vibes they hope patrons keep coming back to feel.

"We’ve just created this incredible culture and we have the city on our backs," said Glenn Conyers. "We just want to make our community proud."