Pictured Above: Dennis and Stephanie Bixler own and run the Tavern at Bayboro.
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
By Annalise Anderson
USF heeded the call of 197 Tavern-loving voices this month thanks to a student-led petition.
The Tavern at Bayboro nearly became a consolidation casualty when the university announced changes to its Bull Bucks system earlier this month.
The change would have removed The Tavern from the Bull Bucks system, leaving The Reef as the only dining facility available to students who rely on Bull Bucks for campus expenditures.
USF would allow for the campus hub to remain a Bull Bucks location only if its owner, Dennis Bixler, paid a $2,500 fee to the university.
Though Bixler sees significant revenue from Bull Bucks transactions, he admits that the lofty fee would not have been feasible for his business.
“If everything were normal and people were lined up out the door like they used to be, I would’ve had to bite the bullet,” Bixler said. “I would have done what I could to help the students out.”
Because USF just replaced its Bull Bucks system last year, Bixler believes the adjustment is a result of consolidation.
“I already knew there was going to be backlash because students use their meal cards here,” Bixler said. “They do it all the time.”
When a student handed over his Bull Bucks card after his meal, Bixler explained why he had to deny it. Disgruntled with the apparent shafting of a USF St. Petersburg staple, the student declared “This is BS!” and, to Bixler’s surprise, said that he was going to start a petition.
The Change.org petition titled “Save The Tavern” gathered more than 100 signatures in a single day.
“Then the next thing I know, my wife comes into work and she gets a phone call,” Bixler said.
The university decided to purchase a Bull Bucks machine for The Tavern after receiving word about student upset.
Andrew Vandenberg, an accounting senior at USF St. Petersburg, called The Tavern “a central part of the USFSP campus and culture.”
Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
“The Tavern is where I met some of my closest friends at USFSP,” Vandenberg said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “… (It) is somewhere students can always go to escape from the stresses of student life, as well as socialize and dine together.”
Isabelle Schmidt, a management senior at USF St. Petersburg, said The Tavern has been on the campus for as long as she can remember.
“It is a staple to the campus and a legendary place,” Schmidt said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “No matter what the school year looks like, it is always a place for students to feel welcomed and get good food.”
Bixler appreciates and is proud of the students’ support but emphasizes that The Tavern would have survived either way and that it maintains a positive relationship with the university.
“We have a good relationship with (USF),” Bixler said. “They are not obligated to include us in the meal program … So, we appreciate it and we’re grateful for it.”
The Tavern has yet to receive its new Bull Bucks system but Bixler believes it should be in place within a few months.
Until then, good luck to students in their ventures at The Reef. The Tavern’s fried grouper sandwiches are worth the suffering.
Great story well written