Maya Lora: Gaskins, Nick's Deli to add Lakeland locations; virtual guns coming to Ax-Caliber

Sporting the odd — but popular — combination of barbecue and seafood, Winter Haven favorite Gaskins is coming to Lakeside Village.

At the spot formerly occupied by Beef O'Brady's Express, Gaskins will open at 1614 Town Center Drive at the end of September or beginning of October, depending on equipment delivery. It's the third location for Jeané and John Gaskins, who owned a store in Maine for five years and opened their Winter Haven spot on Cypress Gardens Boulevard in 2019. 

"We started Gaskins because Maine had no barbecue, so we were really one of the first in that area to do barbecue since we were from the South," John Gaskins said. "But obviously, if you open a barbecue joint there, you have to sell lobster rolls. Right, because you're in Maine and you're in a tourist area [and] people want lobster rolls." 

Despite adding lobster rolls more or less as a necessity, Gaskins was soon known as one of the best places to grab the popular seafood treat in Maine. The couple brought the same recipe, which uses a special bread made by a small bakery in Massachusetts, to Winter Haven, where it quickly became their best-selling item despite the $20 price. 

The Gaskinses are aware that their restaurant's combined offerings can raise some eyebrows. But Jeané Gaskins urges customers to just give it a chance.

"People thought the same thing in Maine, they were like, 'Barbecue and lobster? What's that gonna be like?'" she said. "Well, it's not barbecued lobster. We don't smear barbecue sauce all over the lobster."

The Gaskinses recently closed their original Maine location, a casualty of shutdowns brought on by COVID-19 and still not completely lifted in the northeast. John said while sales were down 60% at the Winter Haven store in 2020, they plummeted 90% in Maine, where the restaurant operated only on a seasonal basis.

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"Last summer was horrible. And then this summer doesn't seem to be any better. The towns have canceled all the festivals, even this year they've canceled all the festivals, they've canceled all the fireworks, they've canceled everything for the summer," he said. "On the beach, if you don't have the summer crowds, it's really not worth opening." 

After the Gaskinses sold the land under their Maine store, they decided to invest in a Lakeland location. John said the demographics are well-suited for a quick-service eatery with high-ticket items because of the higher household income levels and average home prices. Additionally, Gaskins sits next to higher-end restaurants and the movie theater, which fits the seafood spot's price point. 

John said the higher-priced items ensure that all full-time Gaskins employees can make between $15 and $20 an hour. 

"There's two things we pride ourselves on, and that's serving all-natural, the most all-natural fresh food that we can buy, the most premium products we can buy, and we pride ourselves knowing that every single staff member in our restaurant makes a living wage," Gaskins said. "So we pick premium, premium locations in order to sell premium products, which isn't cheap." 

The Lakeland Gaskins will be a little different than its Winter Haven sister store. John said Fish City Grill in the same shopping plaza has a "seafood exclusive," so the couple had to agree to limit seafood sales in their store. As a result, the Lakeland location will focus more heavily on barbecue and lobster dishes, basically eliminating fried seafood except for specials on certain days. 

Additionally, while not necessarily available at opening, Gaskins will eventually feature beer and wine to pair with all of your favorite dishes. John said if the idea is successful, they'll also roll it out to the Winter Haven location. 

The restaurant will have about 74 seats inside and 40 outside in case you want to dine-in. But the Gaskinses envision the spot catering mostly to the grab-and-go crowd. 

At its core, Gaskins is a family-owned and operated business. The couple's two kids — Tristen, 20, and Skylynn, 14 — have grown up in the restaurant industry, helping where they can. Tristen has even commemorated his dedication to his parents' ventures with a tattoo of their last name on his arm, with the "G" fashioned after the Gaskins logo. He's set to run the Lakeland location alongside Jeané's cousin, Christa Ford.

In the future, the Gaskinses hope to expand their unique eatery into Tampa and then the rest of southern Florida. 

Lakeland deli gets new location 

Gaskins isn't the only beloved local spot getting an expansion. Uncle Nick's Italian Deli, Bagels and Catering is opening a "spin-off" location named Christopher's All American Deli on Monday. 

The restaurant is owned and will be run by Sam DeBellis, 26, and his father, Ken DeBellis, 51. The new eatery is named after Sam's 4-year-old son, Christopher. Sam said Christopher is convinced he owns the restaurant and has been informing employees who is and isn't allowed to work there upon opening. 

Fans of the Italian bagel spot will recognize the new location at 1755 East Edgewood Drive, which previously featured another Uncle Nick's spot that closed in 2018.

Sam said the family took on too much when they attempted to expand the Nick's brand with three additional stores; they had to shut the one in Edgewood, one in the Nobay Village complex and another in Bradenton. 

"I think when we opened the Edgewood store we were still trying to figure out what we really were and just really being able to perfect what we were doing," he said. "And now we've been here at Uncle Nick's for six years, going on six years, three years without having to juggle between stores. You're really, you're able to just get down and really focus on the exact things that you're doing."

Sam said he's not nervous about expanding this time around, mostly because the problem with the Edgewood store wasn't a lack of success, but rather the eatery was just too much to manage. 

"It got a little too hectic for us, so we had to cut it back a little bit, get back to the roots. And now we're ready to expand it a little bit," he said. 

When the DeBellis family first tried to expand, they kept the Nick's menu and brand across the board. This time, they're giving the new restaurant an American theme, changing it just enough while maintaining the menu's signature items. 

If Uncle Nick's fans are looking for traditional Italian entrees or to shop at the Italian market, they'll have to visit the original store. But if they just need a grab-and-go sandwich or a burger, the new store will suit their needs perfectly. Plus, while all seating has been eliminated at Uncle Nick's, there will be 10 seats inside and between four and six seats outside at Christopher's. 

"We're Italian by heritage, but we're Americans. We were born and raised here. We're very proud of our country [and] we wanted to do something in an all-American theme," Sam said. "We thought going for an all-American theme would be a different story, a different feel than Uncle Nick's." 

Christopher's struck a deal with some pretty big brands. Meats will be provided by Boar's Head and coffee offerings will be brought to you by Joffrey's, a large Tampa-based roaster that boasts locations in Disney parks. 

Ax-Caliber prepares for 'ax-pansion' 

Still looking for somewhere to eat? How about shoot virtual machine guns? Because Ax-Caliber, Polk County's only ax-throwing venue, is getting an expansion. 

The first phase of the venue's expansion was the addition of three more ax-throwing pits in the back of the building, which opened in mid-July. Joyce Woodrow, who owns and runs Ax-Caliber with her husband, Kraig, said the pits were needed to mitigate crowds. 

"On the weekends, we're extremely busy, and sometimes we have two- and three-hour waits," Woodrow said. "We were turning away a lot of people so we decided to add three more pits to hopefully manage that when people come in on the weekends." 

The Woodrows rented the other half of the building they use to operate Ax-Caliber, which also functions as a restaurant and coffee house. With the expansion, Ax-Caliber totals 13,000 square feet, nearly double its opening square footage. The unused space will be transformed into The Range: A Virtual Experience, the county's first virtual gun range. The Woodrows originally wanted to open a gun range before going with their ax-throwing venture. 

At The Range, customers will hold realistic fake guns fitted with lasers used to shoot at a projection on the screen in multiple gameplay modes. There will be four shooting lanes that can accommodate up to four shooters each, Kraig said. While the guns are non-lethal, they will have the weight and recoil of real weapons. 

He added that while the main focus of The Range will be recreational, customers could also learn how to shoot in a concealed carry class or the space could be used for training purposes for local police agencies.

The Range's projected opening is late August or early September. While guests will be able to walk through Ax-Caliber's current space to access it, there will also be another entrance and lounge area on the other side of the building.

The Woodrows are hoping their expansion will help them keep the 60 to 80 customers they say walk away each weekend because of long waits. 

"We really want to keep our customers here in downtown Lakeland," Joyce said. "We don't want them to walk out the door and go find some other place to play. We want them to play here." 

Maya Lora can be reached for tips or questions at mlora@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @mayaklora.