The updated facade of Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, Florida, pictured in June of 2021.skipperssmokehouse1980/Facebook
Starting Thursday, Skipper’s Smokehouse is ready to welcome back fans who’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to the famed Tampa restaurant and music venue—but you’re going to need a reservation for the limited-capacity four-day soft opening that runs through Sunday, July 11.
“There are just a few reservations left in the 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. slots,” Cricket Larson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Larson, previously handled marketing at the local institution, but she joked and told CL that she’s now the “head bottle washer.”
In all, Skipper’s plans to welcome 200 guests a day during the soft opening, and every guest will need one of those reservations to take part in what’s being dubbed an “extended training exercise” for the staff.
“...please be patient with us while we might encounter kinks that will need to be addressed,” Skipper’s wrote.
Last summer, the 40-year-old institution closed in the wake of the pandemic. Eight months later—after entertaining several officers that just weren’t the right fit—Skipper’s surprised locals by announcing plans to reopen soon.
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Larson, who actually does a lot more than wash bottles, told CL that over the nearly year-long closure, she pored over years of books and dug deep into food cost numbers. Over the years, Skipper’s had tried its best to accommodate customers’ every wish, but the menu had to be scaled down before this reopening.
As a result, even some of Larson’s favorite menu items—like the conch fritters—had to be 86’d along with other items like the deviled crab and tacos.
“What we’re doing right now is to ensure survivability. Not just for the next three months, but for the next five years,” Larson added. “We want another four decades of Skipper’s.”
So along with other changes (read: no smoking), Skipper’s loyalists will also get to try new menu items made by chef Mike Smith, who previously worked at The Refinery in Seminole Heights and the Pearl and the Grove in Dade City.
One of those new options is hush puppies, which are now served with a side of guava butter. Larson actually hates guava, but in North Florida’s Taylor County—home to her Poppy who passed in 2010—hush puppies always get served with guava jelly.
“That’s a tip of the hat to my roots,” Larson said.
She and Smith—who’s making nearly everything including pimento cheese (for grits) and BBQ sauce from scratch—are working to make Skipper’s a food destination in addition to a revered live music venue that’s played host to acts like the Black Keys and countless legends of the blues, Americana, folk and the jam scene.
The pandemic shut down live music, the lifeblood of Skipper’s, Trying to live on takeout alone taught Larson that the beloved venue and restaurant had to find a sustainable business model. “God forbid another pandemic happens again,” she said.
And while this weekend’s soft opening won’t have live music, Larson told CL that there are already shows booked, which will probably be announced within the next week.
For the last seven years, Larson fought requests for her to get more involved in day-to-day operations, but being away from the Skipperdome changed her mind.
“Frankly, with Skipper’s being closed for an extended period, there was a shift in emotion,” Larson said. “I missed it so much.”
A lot of people did. And after a few hundred more give it a test try this weekend, we’ll all be able to dance under the Skipperdome again.
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Iconic Tampa restaurant and music venue Skipper's Smokehouse soft opens on July 8 - Creative Loafing Tampa
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