The family behind Ha Long Bay is doubling its footprint in Tampa with two brand-new concepts planned for Horizon Park Shopping Center at 3904 W Hillsborough Ave — one a stripped-down sandwich shop built around banh mi, the other a Japanese matcha café unlike anything else the brand has tried before.
Ha Long Bay has built a following around Tampa Bay as a family-owned restaurant brand with several locations in the region, according to WhatNow. The team is now preparing to branch out with two new restaurant concepts opening at Horizon Park Shopping Center, per filed plans reported by the outlet.
A Faster, Sandwich-Focused Spinoff
The first concept, Ha Long Bay Sandwich, will trim the full Ha Long Bay menu down into an abbreviated, fast-casual format centered on sandwiches, the outlet's report notes. The lineup is expected to include appetizers, small bites, banh mi, and spring rolls, with one team member describing the plan simply: “We’ll be doing sandwiches, appetizers, and small bites. Banh mi, spring rolls.”
It's a departure from the sit-down format familiar to regulars of the original Ha Long Bay restaurants, which serve typical dishes of Vietnam such as rice noodle soup, egg noodle, pho, boba, banh mi, vermicelli, and rice plates, according to Ha Long Bay of Tampa. Ha Long Bay New Tampa, one of the brand's existing locations, says its goal is to bring the yummiest and freshest ingredients into its menu while staying authentic to Vietnamese food, according to its own site.
2 Whisks Brings Matcha Sourced in Japan
The second concept, 2 Whisks, marks new territory for the team entirely. It's a brand-new venture for the group, which includes Nhan Nguyen and her sister, as reported by What Now Tampa, and it will focus on Japanese matcha rather than the Vietnamese dishes the family is known for.
Nguyen says the matcha selection wasn't left to chance. “We went to Japan, we went back home, and we selected the best matcha,” she told the outlet, describing a sourcing trip the sisters took together before settling on their offerings.
Target Opening and What's Still Unknown
No specific opening date has been set for either concept, but Nguyen says the target opening is for late November. Both Ha Long Bay Sandwich and 2 Whisks are expected to land at the same Horizon Park Shopping Center address on W Hillsborough Ave in Tampa.
The move builds on a brand that has steadily grown since at least 2022, when a Ha Long Bay location that opened that October was described as the chain's fourth, joining existing restaurants in St. Petersburg, Dunedin, and Largo, according to Neighborhood News. That New Tampa location was managed by local residents Kay and Mandy Vongsa and served a mix of Vietnamese and Asian fusion dishes, including stir-fry, fried rice, gyoza, poke bowls, sushi, and boba teas, per that outlet's reporting.
Business owners pursuing new storefronts in unincorporated Hillsborough County typically work through the county's online systems for permitting and licensing. The Hillsborough County government directs applicants to its HillsGovHub portal for permits, licensing, and inspections, while a separate Hillsborough County permits and records page lists codes, ordinances, and permit-office locations for anyone navigating the buildout process.
