The Tavern, unlike many restaurants fillets fish on site. The grouper sandwiches at the Tavern are one of the their most popular items.
Imagine sitting at college, sipping a cold beer just moments after a final.
Well, at USF St. Petersburg, you can.
The Tavern at Bayboro, a fixture that’s been on campus since 1981, offers a variety of wine, beer and homemade food.
The menu expanded when owner Tom Herzhauser, 58, took the restaurant over in 2010 and decided to put in a substantial kitchen the following year.
In 2013 and 2014 the restaurant won the Best of the Bay “College Hangout’ award.
Today, Jim Kensinger, 52, Ed “Chubby” Smith, 52, and Herzhauser work together to prepare freshly baked bread and homemade soups.
There are many popular menu items, but none rise to the level of the grouper sandwich. The $10 specialty is filleted on-site daily and is the top seller.
But the most remarkable version of the sandwich is “The Dardenne,” named in honor of the late USF St. Petersburg journalism professor Bob Dardenne, after his passing in October 2013.
The $11 sandwich is served blackened or grilled, and features mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese # just the way Dardenne liked it. For each one sold, the Tavern donates a dollar to the Robert Dardenne Memorial Scholarship Fund.
And in September 2014, the Dardenne won the Tavern the Best of the Bay’s “Best Sandwich Named After A College Professor” award.
The acclaimed grouper sandwich is just the beginning.
The “Tav” holds monthly contests and offers on- and off-premise catering. They host numerous events and fundraisers for student and community organizations, including the annual Rowdies tailgate party and a 350-pound crawfish boil, which will take place next month. The restaurant also has live, local entertainment from 7-10 p.m., every Wednesday through Friday.
Academics aren’t left out either. They take interns each semester from the Project 10: Sting Ray program, an organization that helps students with disabilities prepare for independent living. Students in the program are required to complete one internship on campus.
The restaurant also plans to offer “The Art of Crafting Beer,” a certificate-based course that will open for enrollment in the fall 2015 semester. The Tavern is partnering with local breweries throughout the course, including St. Pete Brewing Co., Green Bench, Coppertail, Cycle Brewing, 3 Daughters and Florida Avenue.
If you go:
The Tavern is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closes at 9 p.m. on Fridays.
