Central Oak Park's Newest Spots Moved Into a Gas Station, a Bakery and a Bungalow

"St. Pete and Central Oak Park have been a great customer for the past seven years," Steven Garrahan told the Tampa Bay Times this fall, speaking about the neighborhood around his first Bright Ice Scoop Shop. He was talking about his next project. It isn't going into a new building or a busier district. It's going into a 1964 gas station four blocks down the same street.

The three newest additions on and near 5th Avenue North follow the same pattern. Each one is run by someone already tied to St. Petersburg, and each one is moving into a building Central Oak Park already had. A former Shell station is turning into a pizzeria. A former bakery now serves espresso. A 1939 bungalow that was headed for demolition is becoming a museum. Here's where each one stood at the end of October and how they fit into a day on the avenue.

The pizza shop that grew out of an ice cream shop's freezer problem

Bright Ice Scoop Shop has been at 3701 5th Ave. N. since late 2019. The shop is known for flavors like Roasted Strawberries with Brown Sugar and Balsamic, and Blueberries with Cinnamon. The online menu also lists vegan flavors, including Vegan Chocolate and Vegan Caramel with Oreos. It opens at 11 a.m. every day and closes at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, so it's the late stop on this stretch.

Kitty's House of Pizza started with a business problem. According to St. Pete Rising, Garrahan and his partner Kurt Drake bought the 2,834-square-foot property at 4059 5th Ave. N. in June 2025 while they were looking for a bigger production space for Bright Ice. The building had enough extra room for a restaurant too. The production space next door will replace Bright Ice's Pinellas Park location and double its ice cream storage. That means the ice cream sold at 3701 will soon be made a few blocks away on the same street.

The building has a history of its own. It was built in 1964 as a Shell gas station and later became a convenience store. The owners stripped it back to the exterior walls, and the original gas station plans helped guide the restoration. Inside, it's now a 26-seat dining room with terrazzo floors, wood finishes and a green, orange and blue color scheme. The name comes from Garrahan's daughter's cat.

Here's what St. Pete Rising reports about the menu:

• Nine specialty pizzas plus a build-your-own option, in 12-inch and 16-inch whole pies
• Dough made with unbleached, unbromated flour and fermented 48 to 72 hours before it goes into a brick oven
• The Golden Hour, with a creamy pepperoncini white base, housemade sausage, red onions and roasted red peppers
• The Aloha Kitty, which uses a pineapple jam with sweet onion, jalapeño and lime instead of plain pineapple
• Pastas, salads, starters, a coconut cake with salted caramel buttercream, and Bright Ice pints to take home

Kitty's will focus mainly on carryout for lunch and dinner. Prices weren't set as of late October, but Drake told St. Pete Rising they want dinner at Kitty's to be an affordable alternative to shopping and cooking for a family. The owners plan to add about 22 outdoor seats later. Garrahan told the Times they also hope to serve beer and wine once the patio is approved.

In St. Pete Rising's October 22 update, the owners were targeting a November soft opening, pending final inspections. The opening day will be posted on Kitty's Instagram.

The old Tasty Treats space now opens at 7 a.m.

Across the next block, at 4130 5th Ave. N., Crooked Cup Cafe opened in late September in the space that used to be Tasty Treats Bakery. The Gabber describes the owners as first-time operators. St. Pete Catalyst reported the official opening as Sept. 23, and the grand opening celebration was that weekend.

Crooked Cup fills the morning, which is the part of the day this stretch was missing. Bright Ice doesn't open until 11, and Kitty's will open for lunch. The cafe opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. on weekends, and closes at 3 p.m. every day. I Love the Burg says the signature drinks include the Crooked Cookie latte and the Electric Avenue, which is espresso mixed with Mexican Coke and topped with vanilla cold foam. The food menu has breakfast sandwiches, bagels from Pete's Bagels, salads, sandwiches, wraps and kids' bites.

The cafe also keeps a familiar building in use. The space sold baked goods before, and now it sells coffee.

Where each building came from

The bungalow that was supposed to come down

The fourth building is a short trip southwest of the avenue, at 4754 1st Ave. N. It also came close to disappearing. According to the St. Pete Standard, a developer had bought the 1939 bungalow and planned to demolish it. Dr. Brandy Stark, founder of the paranormal investigation group Spirits of St. Petersburg, bought the house to save it. She plans to make the building itself part of the exhibit in her new Museum of Haunted History.

The museum has local roots too. The Standard reports that Stark has investigated paranormal activity since 1997. Spirits of St. Petersburg previously ran a pop-up paranormal museum at her ArtLofts studio with support from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. The bungalow will also be the group's base for investigations and evidence review.

The museum scheduled a soft opening for the evenings of Oct. 23 and 24. When it announced the opening, it said regular hours would run Friday through Sunday, with exact times still being finalized. A grand opening is planned for February 2027. Before you go, check Spirits of St. Petersburg for the current schedule.

A day on 5th Avenue North this month

Taken together, these places make the avenue useful from morning to late evening, and every stop is inside a building that has been in the neighborhood for decades. Here's how the hours line up:

1. 7 a.m. on a weekday, 8 a.m. on a weekend. Coffee and a Pete's bagel at Crooked Cup, 4130 5th Ave. N. Last call is 3 p.m.
2. Lunch or dinner, once Kitty's opens. Carryout pizza from 4059 5th Ave. N. Grab a Bright Ice pint for the freezer while you're there.
3. A Friday-through-Sunday evening. The Museum of Haunted History at 4754 1st Ave. N., once its regular hours are set.
4. Late. A scoop at Bright Ice, 3701 5th Ave. N., which stays open until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The Central Oak Park Neighborhood Association's business directory also lists two home bakeries nearby, Crust Fund at 4738 Dartmouth Ave. N. and Sourisak's Sourdough at 245 47th St. N. The association posts its board and general meetings, held at St. Luke's, 4444 5th Ave. N., on its announcements page. That's a good place to hear first when the next storefront on the avenue changes hands.

Whenever an old building gets a new owner, I hope the person running the counter is someone the neighborhood already knows. If you're near Central Oak Park and want to talk about the streets around 5th Avenue North, whether that's which corner suits your mornings or what's changing down the block, I'd be glad to buy the coffee at Crooked Cup. Kim Guillory is always happy to talk shop. Let's Get You Home.