Southeast Asian restaurant Sunda New Asian coming to Midtown Tampa

Celebrity restaurateur Billy Dec’s Chicago-based eatery serves fare from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and more.

Midtown Tampa, the $1 billion development off Interstate 275 and N Dale Mabry Highway, has inked its next restaurant tenant.

Sunda New Asian, a Chicago-based eatery that also has an outpost in Nashville, will open its third location in Tampa this year, developers the Bromley Companies announced Wednesday.

Sunda was developed by Billy Dec, a Chicago restaurateur and hospitality veteran known for appearances on the Today show and acting roles in EmpireCriminal Minds and other shows. The Chicago Tribune once described him as occupying “the white hot center of the nightclub-restaurant-celebrity scene in Chicago.”

“After a lifetime of visiting family throughout the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater area, as many from the Midwest have for generations, I’ve always wanted to bring our Southeast Asian culture and modern culinary offerings to the community when the time was right,” Dec said in a statement. “The all-around explosive growth and evolution that is occurring in the area, along with the strategic location of Midtown Tampa in the middle of it all, makes that time and location here and now, and our Sunda family couldn’t be more honored, humbled and excited.”

Sunda’s fare blends an array of styles from Southeast Asia and beyond, from the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to China and Japan — dim sum, sushi, noodle and rice dishes and so on. It also serves craft cocktails, sake, Japanese whiskies and other drinks. The restaurant announcement says it will offer sake tastings, sushi-rolling classes, “a traditional island-style feast” and other events.

Sunda will take over a 6,000-square-foot space near the entrance to the Aloft and Element hotels. It is expected to open by the end of 2022.

“As Sunda begins a national expansion of its incredible concept, Midtown Tampa is pleased to be home to its only Florida location,” Bromley Companies CEO Nicholas Haines said in a statement.