As the City of St. Pete continues its explosive growth, one of the more fascinating things to watch is the local businesses that grow alongside it. The Galley, which is closing in on 8 years as St. Pete’s “Legit Local Tavern,” is perhaps one of the best examples of organic growth that stays true to the city while reflecting its diverse needs. From originally being told their location “will never work,” to now resting in the shadows of 400 Central in the middle of a bustling downtown economy, The Galley has evolved alongside the city and become a stalwart in the Sunshine City’s dining and nightlife scene.
Recently, it’s the elevated food and beverage experience that has been drawing rave reviews and bringing our attention back once again to the celebrated downtown pub. In addition to significant developments on the food menu – thanks to new Executive Chef, Managing Partner, and culinary wunderkind Rob Camera – one of our favorite new twists is that the entire menu is available until 2 am every single night of the week.
As a result, The Galley is the only late-night steak and seafood restaurant in downtown (and one of the few anywhere in the region), a reflection of the growing needs of DTSP. The service industry has always been a huge part of St. Pete’s fabric, especially in downtown, and it’s for that reason that The Galley and the neighboring Ship’s Hold always had a late night menu no matter what. Now, with the infusion of more hotels, more business travelers, more condos and more vacationers (as well as more bars and restaurants bringing in more hospitality workers), the team at The Galley discovered there wasn’t just a lack of full restaurants at later hours – there was a strong demand for them.
Whether you get off work in the wee hours, or get into town late on a business trip, the team at The Galley is ensuring you don’t have to sacrifice quality when finding something to eat (or drink).
“To be a high-end and late-night seafood and steakhouse is an amazing thing to see,” Camera said.
Camera also revealed that The Galley will be debuting an entirely new food menu this fall that he has been dutifully working on with his team in the kitchen. Pair that with having NFL, college football, and Premier League all on the horizon, and the list of reasons to stop into The Galley and Ship’s Hold this fall is getting longer by the day.
From sidecars and beer buckets to martinis and mai tais, get it all in one spot
Alongside Camera, managing partners Joey Frasco and Tim Allaman, and the incredible mixology team behind the bar, founders Pete Boland and Ian Taylor have also overseen an impressive dedication to the cocktail and drinks program at The Galley. Led by a truly incredible group creating some of the region’s most inventive concoctions at Ship’s Hold, The Galley has evolved alongside the changing demands of the neighborhood. You can still get a Miller and a shot after a long day of work, but now you can also experience high-end craftsmanship without breaking the bank. If it’s been a few years since your last visit to The Galley, you may hardly recognize some of the craft cocktails being put together with care behind the bar.
That elevated experience ties into the expanded ethos of The Galley team, particularly its dedication to providing high-end food and drink no matter what time of day. If you want yellowfin sashimi and ribeye at 2 am, with a smooth Irish coffee to wash it down, it’s all yours. And of course, if you’re just looking for a plate of wings and some draft beer, they have you covered there, too.
“We still want to be approachable and fit in the regular guy’s dining budget,” Boland said. “Beach Drive quality, with Central Avenue style fun.”
Employees take literal ownership at The Galley
While the ever-expanding food and drink menus are what keep us coming back to The Galley, we’d be remiss not to give praise for the specific way The Galley has grown over the last seven years and change. In a city – and region – more and more run by large hospitality groups and outside investors, The Galley has not only remained locally owned and run by a small group, but it has provided a pathway to ownership for employees.
We wrote last year about Frasco’s growth from bartender at Ship’s Hold to becoming a partner alongside Taylor and Boland, and this summer, two more longtime employees have made the step from bar staff to managing partners. The aforementioned Camera and Allaman have joined the crew, each taking ownership of their own areas of expertise.
Allaman, who has more service industry experience than any on the team with 27 years in the business, is a natural fit. He’s worked everywhere from high-end bars in Times Square and Hawaii, to South Carolina college bars and, of course, downtown St. Pete. Perhaps no one understands the changing and varied needs of a diverse downtown better than he, and that experience is helping The Galley and Ship’s Hold grow to accomodate the new version of St. Pete it occupies.
As the new General Manager and events coordinator, Allaman was one of the most vocal members of the team when it came to expanding hours for the tremendous work he saw the culinary team accomplishing.
“It’s filling a much desired need for downtown, and establishes us as the only late-night full menu kitchen,” he said, noting that The Galley has always gone on against the grain, and typically done so with great success. “People say, no, you can’t do that. We say, just watch us.”
Camera, meanwhile, has gone from back of house, to front of house, back to back of house, and now, metaphorically anyway, to the top of the house. As the Creative Director of The Galley and Ship’s Hold, he’s wielding his unique talents – a chef and bartender who blurs the lines between mixology and culinary arts – to ensure The Galley’s growth includes stellar food and drink, provided at a reasonable price locals and business travelers alike can appreciate.
His work on the cocktail menu at Ship’s Hold is some of the most innovative we’ve seen anywhere, where he was given carte blanche to experiment, modify, and eventually debut some absolutely wild – and delicious – creations. It’s a freedom that Boland and his team have made sure is intrinsic to their culture and remains a part of the fabric of what The Galley and Ship’s Hold do on a daily basis.
“Being in a place that allows you to keep the company goals and vision but also embrace your creativity is unlike any other place I’ve worked at,” Camera said.
“If someone comes up with an idea, there’s no shooting anything down,” Boland elaborated. “It just becomes, how can we make this vision a reality? And then we work together to pull it off. It’s a positive and collaborative thing, and it’s all about getting a little bit better every day.”
The Galley is legit local
So of course, as we talk about local businesses that have stayed true to the spirit of St. Petersburg, it’s refreshing to see somewhere like The Galley that has grown in a manner reflecting that community-first approach. They reward hard work, take care of their own, and never forget that ultimately it’s all about the guests who come in the door. And while doing so, they keep that dream alive of providing pathways forward for those in the industry.
“I think of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys,” Frasco said. “Pete and Ian were able to scrape enough money to open a bar by the skin of their teeth, and now we’re all next in line … It’s a very cohesive, thought-out thing. No one is above anybody. There are no egos.”
Ultimately, Frasco said, “It’s the interactions with guests that drive us.”
Follow The Galley on instagram and on facebook to see the latest offerings and happenings. In the meantime be on the lookout for a new cocktail menu dropping at Ship’s Hold in October, and don’t forget that The Galley hosts Florida State University football watch parties every Saturday during the college football season.
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