From fine dining to fast food, Mall at UTC is a foodies delight

Auntie Anne's: 109

Pretzel-maker Auntie Anne's will offer its line of snacks to mall customers. Its first retail location was in the Florida Mall in Orlando, then expanded to the Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg.

Brio Tuscan Grille: 107

Brio Tuscan Grille will create as many as 130 jobs. It's part of a restaurant group in Ohio that includes Bravo!, Cucina Italian and Bon Vie Bistro. Brio -- Italian for "lively or "full of life" -- is an upscale, affordable casual dining restaurant offering lunch and dinner. Its menu offers northern Italian cuisine including bruschetta, flatbreads, pasta, steaks, seafood, soups and salads.

Burger and Beer Joint: 174

Burger and Beer Joint will open a one-of-a-kind restaurant for the Miami-based chain. The oversized burger bar will be beside Kona Grill on the mall's east side. The 5,300-square-foot restaurant includes a large outdoor patio with a stage area for live music. The restaurant features an eclectic mix of sandwiches, salads and burgers, including the popular Hotel California with bacon and a fried egg. There's also a $150 10-pound mother burger.

Capital Grille: 105

Capital Grille, part of the Orlando-based Darden Restaurants family, is a fine-dining steak house competing against the likes of Ruth's Chris. The dinner menu includes dry-aged porterhouse steak, bone-in Kona-crusted dry aged sirloin with shallot butter, lobster and crab cakes, seared salmon, lobster mac 'n' cheese and classic crème brûlée. The restaurant's wine list features more than 350 selections picked by master sommelier George Miliotes. Reservations are recommended.

Cheesecake Factory: 101

Cheesecake Factory is known for its page-turning menu with more than 200 selections and large portions, made fresh each day -- and, of course, its famous cheesecake desserts. Cheesecake Factory has 16 locations in Florida, including ones in Brandon and Tampa.

Cold Stone Creamery: 299

Cold Stone, opened in 1998 in Tempe, Ariz., is known for a make-your-own ice cream experience with the singing staff mixing candy and ice cream on a cold marble slab. Cold Stone has more than 1,500 locations in 25 countries, including on Cortez Road in Bradenton and two Sarasota locations.

Godiva: 129

Godiva is opening a 821-square-foot chocolatier boutique. Joseph Drags started Godiva in 1926 in Brussels, Belgium, to create Belgian chocolates. Today, Godiva has more than 450 boutiques and shops around the world.

Great American Cookies: 298

The Atlanta-based cookie company started in 1977 using a family chocolate chip cookie recipe, eventually expanding to all-things cookies. The bakery typically hands out free cookies every year on tax day, April 15. The parent company of Great American Cookies, Global Franchise Group, also owns Marble Slab Creamery and Pretzelmaker.

Kona Grill: 173

Kona Grill, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is known for its upscale casual dining with sushi and cocktail offerings, and has a location near International Plaza in Tampa, and about 25 restaurants across the country.

Le Macaron: Kiosk

Le Macaron French Pastries is a Sarasota business through and through. The macaron is a French delicacy made with two baked almond flour shells with a filling in the middle. The flavors include ganache, buttercream, lemon, jam and basil with white chocolate. The pastries, averaging about 80 calories each, aren't even close to the similarly spelled American macaroon, a coconut cookie. The kiosk also will take custom orders on macaron towers for weddings, tea parties, corporate gifts and will deliver catering orders in the Sarasota area. For the grand opening, Le Macaron has a "buy eight macarons, get two free" special.

Mandarin Express: 150A

Chinese fast food restaurant Mandarin Express will open a 1,600-square-foot space. The restaurant has seven Florida locations, and is one of the largest Chinese fast-food chains in the country, primarily in the Southeast.

Rise Pies: 150

This largest franchisee of Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels is launching a new pizza concept here called Rise Pies Handcrafted Pizza. The pizza joint will offer more than 20 toppings, three crusts (including gluten free), six sauces and seven cheeses--and will bake in three minutes. There also will be pre-set pizzas, meatballs, salads and inside seating.

Seasons 52: 103

Seasons 52, a fresh grill and wine bar developed by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, is known for a "seasonally inspired" menu that changes four times a year, with no items more than 475 calories. The restaurant features a casual, but sophisticated, dining room with rich mahogany accents, a custom-built wine cellar and two private dining rooms. Seasons 52 will have a piano bar with live music nightly.

Smoothie King: 102

Smoothie King's 900-square-foot space is part of a new prototype design being rolled out in a few spots around the country. Patrons can expect a smaller variety of retail products. There are four Smoothie King franchise locations already in Manatee County. The first Smoothie King opened in 1973. The Louisiana-based company specializes in nutritional, fresh blended smoothies, energy bars, vitamin supplements and other sports nutrition products.

Sophie's: 120, inside Saks

Saks Fifth Avenue will feature Sophie's, an upscale full-service restaurant serving breakfast and lunch, with the possibility of introducing early dinner. Sophie's in University Park will be the second in the world. The first Sophie's opened this year on the seventh floor of the Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago. The name salutes American designer Sophie Gimbal, who presided over couture at Saks for more than 40 years. Sophie's menu and design is modeled after the woman herself: elegant, contemporary, sleek. It will feature an indoor, 60-seat dining room and bar as well as a 60-seat outdoor terrace for dining, lounging and a second bar.

Starbucks: K102

The Seattle coffee giant will have a location inside Macy's and a kiosk attached to an escalator in the mall's center court. This would make the fourth Starbucks within a two-mile radius of the mall. Starbucks at Macy's is a Macy's-owned division.

Sweet Doctors: 150B

Sweet Doctors, operated by son and mother Michael and Cheryl Stinson of Sarasota, is a 1,200-square-foot bakery on the first level of the mall near Macy's. The shop will offer cake balls, tarts and pies, and will have a coffee station and some seating.

Teavana: 124

Shoppers looking for a spot of tea in the new mall can have their thirst quenched at Starbucks-owned Teavana. Customers will find premium loose leaf teas brewed on the spot and the tins of tea leaves for sale. Customers can use their Starbucks Rewards card to gain and redeem points. The first Teavana opened in Atlanta and now has more than 300 locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Yo! Sushi: 125 & 126

The London-based sushi restaurant is opening America's only Yo! Sushi here. The chain is known for moving its sushi and other dishes on a conveyor belt, allowing people to choose their food. Prices are based on a color-coded system, with the color of the plates matching the price of the food. Hot and cold food to order is also available.

This story was originally published October 12, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "From fine dining to fast food, Mall at UTC is a foodies delight ."