A vegan cinnamon roll bakery known for letting customers build their own combinations of frosting and toppings opened its doors in Wesley Chapel on Friday, marking the second Tampa Bay location for franchise owners Thiago and Juliana Mendes. To celebrate, the new Cinnaholic shop sold cinnamon rolls for $3 apiece from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., limited to one roll per guest with a maximum of three toppings.
The new bakery landed at The Hub at Lexington Oaks, 27145 Halter Loop, according to That's So Tampa. Thiago and Juliana Mendes, a husband-and-wife team who came to the United States from Brazil and later moved to Wesley Chapel, waited nearly a year for the right space before signing on, the outlet reports. The couple already owns and operates Cinnaholic's South Tampa location, which opened at 927 S. Howard Ave. in November 2023 as the chain's 96th store nationwide and its first foothold in the Tampa Bay area, according to WTSP.
At the new location, Thiago Mendes handles the baking while Juliana Mendes runs customer-facing operations, the same division of labor the pair established in South Tampa. Cinnaholic's menu centers on made-to-order cinnamon rolls that are entirely plant-based, free of eggs, dairy, lactose, and cholesterol, and customizable with more than 20 frosting flavors and more than 20 topping choices. The shop also sells bite-sized baby buns, cinnacake, brownies, cookies, and soft serve.
From Shark Tank Reject to Nationwide Franchise
Cinnaholic's rise to a nationwide franchise traces back to a memorable pitch on Shark Tank, where the chain's co-founders received a $200,000 offer from investor Robert Herjavec in exchange for 40% equity. That deal was contingent on pivoting to nationwide online shipping of frozen rolls, but the founders ultimately turned it down, betting instead that fresh, made-from-scratch bakeries would serve the concept better than mail-order boxes, according to Mashed.
That bet paid off. Cinnaholic adopted a full franchise model in 2015 and has since surpassed 90 locations nationwide, with 85 franchise bakeries operating across North America as of March, another 10 slated to open this year, and 20 more in development, per Block Investor Relations. The brand's growth has stretched well beyond the Tampa Bay area this year, including a return to its original Berkeley, California roots on Hearst Avenue, a New Orleans debut on Freret Street, and a Richardson, Texas franchise deal that fell through before that store ever opened.
Why Wesley Chapel, and Why Now
The Hub at Lexington Oaks, where the new Cinnaholic sits, is a 40,000-square-foot walkable commercial center built by Center Connect Development at Wesley Chapel Boulevard and Lexington Oaks Boulevard, designed as a gathering spot for nearby communities including Sentosa Lexington Oaks. Cinnaholic joins a curated dining lineup there that includes Latin-inspired La Creación Bistro, Bonchon Korean Fried Chicken, and Urban Crunch ice cream and coffee, according to a report from The Wesley Chapel Loop.
The timing lines up with explosive growth in the surrounding area. Wesley Chapel's population has climbed to an estimated 78,400 residents in 2026, nearly eight times its size in 2001, with a median household income of $107,504, per the World Population Review. The unincorporated Pasco County community sits within a county that grew 639% between 1970 and 2020 to reach 561,891 residents, and county planning projections estimate another 223,500 people will move to Pasco County by 2045.
That population boom has fueled a broader wave of South Tampa dining concepts pushing north into Pasco County, including South Tampa favorite Wright's, which recently announced expansions into both Brandon and Wesley Chapel. Cinnaholic's entirely plant-based menu also arrives amid strong tailwinds for meat- and dairy-free food. The global vegan baking ingredients market reached an estimated $1.7 billion in 2026 and is projected to grow to $2.7 billion by 2033, while U.S. retail sales of plant-based foods overall doubled from $3.9 billion in 2017 to $7.9 billion in 2025, according to the Good Food Institute.
