Bonefish Grill founders start new eatery

ST. PETERSBURG — Two members of Bonefish Grill's founding team and former joint venture partners plan to open a new restaurant concept, Noble Crust, this summer in north St. Petersburg.

Construction for the 160-seat restaurant is currently underway at the former Haymarket Pub and The Hideaway property at the corner of Fourth Street North and 83rd Avenue North. The Noble Crust team purchased several properties to accommodate a 3,300-square-foot restaurant and parking lot.

Noble Crust partners TJ Thielbar and John Mays, who will handle restaurant operations, were both joint venture partners and operations managers for Bonefish Grill. Both were also involved in Hops Grill & Brewery at its early stage - Thielbar as national culinary director and Mays as regional director of operations - in the early 1990s.