Passersby still knock on the door of a closed South Tampa landmark looking for a hot meal and a scoop of its famous ice cream.

While the doors of the Old Meeting House restaurant are closed for good, its ice cream production is not.

The yellow building on Howard Avenue remains on the market for more than $1 million, but the wholesale ice cream business plugging away inside has taken on a life of its own.

Here's some good news for ice cream lovers craving Old Meeting House's Coconut Zig Zag and Rum Raisin.

Old Meeting House Ice Cream, which hasn't been sold over the counter since its namesake restaurant closed last year, is opening in the Mike's Pies spot on MacDill Avenue.

The award-winning pie and coffee shop has outgrown its 9,600-square-foot space at 4004 S MacDill Ave., said owner Mike Martin. So he's moving to a 31,000-square-foot warehouse at 4330 S Manhattan Ave.

When Mike's Pies and Coffee Shop reopens, tentatively by Oct. 1, it will have a loading dock and more production space, storage, parking. The coffee shop side of the business will also expand, taking over an adjacent 2,000-square-foot building occupied by the Olive Branch Resale store. It will have more seating and a drive-through. 

OLD MEETING HOUSE REBORN: A South Tampa landmark restaurant will reopen soon, trading its quaint-for-the-commoners legacy for a more upscale and trendy outlook.

Hardly surprising, considering that the former Old Meeting House is being transformed into nouveau diner Daily Eats by James Lanza, Jeff Gigante and Luis Flores, the same trio that brought SoHo the first Ciccio and Tony's and its sushi den adjunct Water.

At least a fingerprint will remain of the old restaurant that served South Tampa since the Truman administration and closed in 2003. It will still have the indoor lunch counter joined by an outdoor diner counter under the awning. 

This is the new Old Meeting House, not the old restaurant that used to be on S. Howard Avenue and was famous for its shakes. We order a unique milkshake: the Jumbo Whopper Malted Milkshake ($4.99). This chocolate shake not only is malted but also has whopper candies mixed up in it. There is more malt in this one shake than in the entire Anheuser-Busch brewery. 

...Demolition of Mac's leaves a big hole in the already grim stretch of Howard. Catty-corner across the street, Old Meeting House closed in late 2003. Primadonna Trattoria shuttered that same year.

The good news is that the owners of Ciccio & Tony's down the street have a contract to buy the Old Meeting House. Ciccio partner James Lanza says they would like to reopen as a diner, possibly called the Meeting House. It would serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, including "the best burgers in the world." Expect beer and wine on the menu, too. 

...Convening at The Old Meeting House Another legendary damsel of South Tampa, The Old Meeting House Restaurant was founded in 1947 by the inimitable Jim Strickland. For decades, it was the premier neighborhood hangout in South Tampa, with an appreciative clientele. Its specialty was simple, homemade Southern-style dishes; friendly, fast service; and first-rate, handmade ice cream. All at rock-bottom prices.