Evaluation committee recommends Fusion Bowl as top-ranked proposer for County Center café license

Hillsborough County’s evaluation committee recommended Fusion Bowl as the top-ranked proposer for the County Center café license (RFP 25-0038) after a public scoring meeting where members evaluated six submissions and recorded consensus scores. Sakina Ford, the county’s chief buyer, opened the session, saying, “This is the evaluation committee meeting and possible scoring for request for proposals, RFP 25-0038.”

Committee members said the selection matters because the café will operate as a satellite location inside the County Center, serving county staff, visitors and contractors, and the license award will move to county procurement and then to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval. Dana McDonald, committee chair and business operations manager with Facilities Management and Real Estate Services, told members the space’s technical limits were a key consideration: “...the kitchen area is located and has very limited space, venting, and cooking equipment.”

The committee discussed and scored proposals from six firms: Awake Wheaton LLC, City Cafe of Tampa, Culinary Resources, Fusion Bowl, HZIP LLC and King Task Force. Members applied the solicitation’s published criteria—prior operator experience (35 points), financial resources/marketing/customer service (20), proposed menu and pricing (20), vision/theme for the license space (15), and ability to begin operating on or before Feb. 1 (10)—and then recorded consensus scores after discussion. The final totals the committee announced were: Fusion Bowl 80, HZIP LLC 63, Awake Wheaton 47, City Cafe of Tampa 42, King Task Force 41 and Culinary Resources 0. No EMWVBE/bonus points were applied to any proposer.

Committee members repeatedly raised the same practical concerns while scoring: limited on-site production capacity in the County Center kitchen, the preference in the solicitation for operators who can use an established kitchen and bring items in as a satellite operation, and the need to confirm financial/operational readiness. The group noted that proposers were able to inspect the site during a walkthrough and that some menus in submissions included items (for example, pizzas or heavy fry items) that may not be feasible without additional equipment or ventilation. John Mueller, the committee’s technical adviser, described the kitchen as suited primarily for reheating and limited hot-prepare items rather than full scratch production.

At the close of the scoring session, Sakina Ford summarized the committee’s recommendation: “We do show the highest scoring firm as Fusion Bowl.” Committee members directed Dana McDonald to prepare an executive summary of the scoring and recommendation for procurement, which will publish an intent-to-award notice and route the item to the Board of County Commissioners for final license approval. Procurement staff reminded members that the county’s cone-of-silence policy remains in effect until the county posts its notice of intent to award and the notice period elapses, and that any negotiation of sample license terms would occur only after award and with county counsel review.

Next steps noted at the meeting: Dana McDonald will draft and submit the executive summary to procurement; procurement will post the notice of intent to award and prepare an agenda item for the BOCC; if negotiations with the recommended proposer fail, procurement may approach the next highest-ranked proposer or re-solicit, depending on the reason negotiations broke down and legal guidance.

The committee’s scoring and the recommendation are administrative steps subject to county procurement rules, license agreement terms and final BOCC action. The committee did not take a formal public vote on an award during the meeting; it recorded a consensus recommendation to advance Fusion Bowl as the top-ranked firm.