Unassumingly tucked away by the USF campus, Tavern at Bayboro (120 6th Ave. S.) originally opened in 1982. Though it has gone through 4 owners, each has kept this hidden gem a staple in the community: serving USF faculty and students (and employing students), Fish and Wildlife agents, the Coast Guard, and workers of the nearby children’s hospital.

“The relationship [to the local community] has always been very good and very close,” says Dennis Bixler, who currently co-owns Tavern on Bayboro with his wife Stephanie. Close relationship to the community indeed, they have specialty sandwiches that pay homage to locals, such as “The Journalist”, referring to a local USF faculty member, and “The Adventurer”, referring to the former deputy mayor.

Tavern at Bayboro has one of the best grouper sandwiches you can get. It’s a staff top-pick here at I Love The Burg. Their fish is always fresh and never frozen, locally sourced from Tarpon Springs. The grouper is either blackened in in-house seasoning or covered in a cornflake and almond batter and then deep fried. The goodness is then squished between two halves of their homemade bread. Such craft and care are the reason the community consistently nominates them for the best grouper sandwich in the Best of the Bay Awards.

Co-owners, Dennis and his wife Stephanie, commit to the old-school

The 42-year-old space is mostly original, explains Dennis, but with a facelift. Decorations of memorabilia and soccer scarves and even Dennis’s guitars festoon the interior. The bar is finished. The deck has been improved (mostly outdoor seating here), which comes in handy for their open mic nights, which Jay Colb of Radio St. Pete declares as the BEST open mic night.

Dennis has been hosting the open mic night since 2010, years before he bought Tavern on Bayboro in 2019, and he’s kept the tradition going under his stewardship, hosting the event every Wednesday from 7pm-9pm (they even supply guitars if you forget to bring yours). The operative word here is “tradition.”

Dennis and his wife Stephanie are committed to keeping the place the same, especially with so many new developments. “The new developments are great,” he says. “But they can feel plastic with all the modern updates. We are old school. It’s the difference between shady streets and an industrial complex. [Tavern on Bayboro] is what it is.” Retaining tokens of what-used-to-be threads the important fabric of the community. And there’s a sense that a lot of community has rallied around this spot.

You can check out the Tavern at Bayboro online here, but I highly recommend just popping in—there’s a little old-school Florida here that’s well worth visiting.