Among changes, Carrabba's coming to TIA

Hungry travelers should find some changes on the menu at Tampa International Airport this time next year.
What’s in: veal marsala from Carrabba’s Italian Grill, wheatgrass shots at Zia Juices and Popeye’s New Orleans spicy chicken. What’s out: Taco Bell burritos, Edy’s ice cream and waffle fries at Chick-fil-A.
Officials with Tampa International and HMSHost, the airport’s master concessions operator, have mapped out a plan to bring six new food and beverage brands into the main terminal and two oldest “airside" terminals.
The deal is part of a proposed five-year extension of the company’s airport contract through 2015. The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority governing board is scheduled to vote on the extension at its Dec. 13 meeting.
If the agreement passes, HMSHost and subcontractors will pay $13.7-million to build out and remodel restaurants and retail stores. Work would start early next year and wrap up by December — in time for the 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa, said HMSHost spokeswoman Susan Goyette.
The biggest change would bring Carrabba’s, the chain owned by Tampa-based OSI Restaurant  Partners, into its first airport location next August, said Diane Vercelli, senior director of properties and contract administration at the airport.
Carrabba’s would replace the Wharf Grille & Brewhouse. a traditional seafood restaurant that suffered from thin crowds. It rang up revenues of just over $111,000 in September, less than a quarter of the till at T.G.I. Friday’s just a few steps away.