Skipper’s returns tonight: ‘The vibe is still alive’

To borrow a phrase from Neil Young, tonight’s the night.

Skipper’s Smokehouse, the iconic North Tampa restaurant and live music venue, re-opens for business today (at 3 p.m.) after 10 months closed. Owner Tom White shut Skipper’s down, after 40 years, when the rigors of business-during-Covid got to him.

He almost sold the place, then thought better of it.

With a few key changes, Skipper’s is back. “You’re going to see a brighter, more colorful landscape,” points out White’s partner Cricket Larson, Skipper’s de facto operations manager. “We have some new art installations with a music wall that was all done by our staff. We’ve got some really talented, artistic folks on our staff.”

Skipper’s is now a no-smoking establishment.

The new landscaping isn’t quite finished yet, nor is the new and improved stage. Live music returns July 22 with a show by Uncle John’s Band.

A “soft opening” in early July allowed Larson and the staff to find what tweaks were still needed to keep everyone – including them – happy.

“I spent a majority of my time during the soft opening going from table to table,” Larson says. “Talking to people and gathering that candid feedback. Overwhelmingly, it was ‘Oh my gosh, this is the best food Skipper’s has ever had.’ So that was encouraging, and made me extremely happy.”

Forty years in business – and doing good business – classifies Skipper’s Smokehouse as an institution. And that’s something Larson and her team take seriously.

“For a patron coming through the doors, I don’t think that it will feel different,” she adds. “Except for maybe, it’s almost a little happier feeling. To me. That’s just my personal thoughts on it.

“But from the comments I’ve fielded in person, and on social media, the vibe is still alive. And we kind of feel like a vibe is soul-deep, you know? No matter how many colors we paint Skipper’s, or no matter how many times we change the paint or change the menu, it’s really about the soul of the place. And that soul is not diminished at all.”