Cook Out Prepares to Open Its First Tampa Bay Location Soon.

Tampa Bay’s first Cook Out restaurant is closer than ever to opening its doors, and USF-area residents are already taking notice. Fresh signage now covers the building at 5501 E. Fowler Ave., and a newly built drive-thru signals that the North Carolina-based chain’s Tampa Bay debut is right around the corner.

The stand-alone building, once home to a Boston Market, sits on just over half an acre near the University of South Florida. Cook Out acquired the property back in May 2024 for $3.5 million, according to Hillsborough County property records, and has since poured roughly $1.2 million into transforming it.