ASK THE LOCALS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH LGBTQ INSIDERS WELCOME TO THE GAYBORHOODS TAMPA’S MOST DISTINCTIVE DISTRICTS THE LGBTQ GUIDE TO TAMPA Tampa Museum of Art INTRODUCTION: WHY VISIT TAMPA (IF YOU’RE) GAY? A NORTHERN EXPAT EXPLAINS ITS ALLURE 5 BY DAVID WARNER TAMPA PRIDE WHY TENS OF THOUSANDS FLOCK TO THIS ANNUAL CELEBRATION 7 BY MIKE SALINERO AND DAVID WARNER WELCOME TO THE GAYBORHOODS FOUR OF TAMPA’S MOST DISTINCTIVE DISTRICTS ALSO HAPPEN TO BE VERY LGBTQ-FRIENDLY. DOWNTOWN TAMPA 8 THE HEIGHTS 9 SOHO/HYDE PARK 10 YBOR CITY 11 ASK THE LOCALS INSIDER INFO FROM PROMINENT MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. ASHLEY BRUNDAGE 13 NICK CARDELLO 14 JEANNIE PIEROLA 15 TREVOR PETTIFORD 19 KEVIN BECKNER 21 THE ASK THE LOCALS INDEX 22 IT’S SHOWTIME! WHERE TO FIND THE BEST LIVE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 23 BUCKLE UP! COAST, SPLASH, THRILL, CHILL AT LOCAL PARKS 26 SIT, PLAY, FETCH! WHERE TO HANG OUT WITH YOUR BEST FURRY FRIENDS 29 The Honey THE ZA-GAY GUIDE Pot RESTAURANTS, BARS AND CLUBS WITH LGBTQ CONNECTIONS 31 DRUNKCAMERAGUY • 2 VISITTAMPABAY.COM Take in your Airport Visit us at TampaAirport.com or follow us @FlyTPA 0636MKT-0218 VISITTAMPABAY.COM 3 LAURIE ROSS WE’RE FLORIDIANS NOW: The author (right) with husband Larry and Cairn terrier Walter. WHY VISIT TAMPA (IF YOU’RE) GAY? AN EXPAT FROM UP NORTH EXPLAINS ITS ALLURE. By David Warner hen my now-husband moved of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, my Downtowns that combine the Closeups of LGBTQ-friendly to Tampa for a job in 2004, few remaining hairs ruffling in the best of big-city living with small- neighborhoods. W I wasn’t sure I’d join him. A wind, the sky an extraordinary blue, town intimacy. • Ask the Locals: Interviews diehard Northerner, I wondered I said to myself, “OK. I could get Not just one but several with prominent LGBTQ folks in what attractions there could be for used to this.” Gayborhoods, populated by LGBTQ politics, media, restaurants and me, a gay man into arts and culture But it wasn’t just the convertible. communities completely integrated civic life. and other stereotypically gay-man What he and I have discovered in into the area’s daily life. • Where to find Tampa’s best stuff, in a city known mostly for the years we’ve lived here is so much And now, there’s Visit Tampa theater, arts and live music. CULTURE. NEWS. EVENTS. MUSIC. FOOD AND DRINK. cigars, strippers and sports teams. more, and so much better, than what Gay. A collaboration between • Where to take the kids, and We’d most recently been living in we expected. Creative Loafing Tampa (the pub- where to take your other kids (of the Vermont. Could we take the culture A sophisticated arts and culture lication where I work) and Visit furry variety). clash, not to mention the heat of a scene that just keeps getting richer. Tampa Bay, this is the kind of guide • The Za-Gay Guide: A compact Central Florida summer? A vibrant dining scene, with I wish I’d had when I first arrived. list of favorite LGBTQ spots for food, Larry had already made up his nationally known chefs and restau- It’s got the info every visitor needs drink and fun. mind to stay when I came to visit. So rants, and breweries by the dozen. about Tampa Bay, plus insider tips Here’s hoping that you’ll be so he tricked me: He rented a convert- A beautiful natural setting, with from LGBTQ's in the know. intrigued that you’ll find all kinds ible for me to drive around in, and beaches just minutes away and all Turn the pages of Visit Tampa of reasons to visit Tampa Bay. on a gorgeous April day when I was kinds of opportunities to play out- Gay and you’ll find: And maybe, like my husband cresting the breathtaking expanse doors all year. • Welcome to the Gayborhoods: and me, you’ll visit — and stay! LAURIE ROSS WE’RE FLORIDIANS NOW: The author (right) with husband Larry and Cairn terrier Walter. WHY VISIT TAMPA (IF YOU’RE) GAY? AN EXPAT FROM UP NORTH EXPLAINS ITS ALLURE. By David Warner hen my now-husband moved of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, my Downtowns that combine the Closeups of LGBTQ-friendly to Tampa for a job in 2004, few remaining hairs ruffling in the best of big-city living with small- neighborhoods. W I wasn’t sure I’d join him. A wind, the sky an extraordinary blue, town intimacy. • Ask the Locals: Interviews diehard Northerner, I wondered I said to myself, “OK. I could get Not just one but several with prominent LGBTQ folks in what attractions there could be for used to this.” Gayborhoods, populated by LGBTQ politics, media, restaurants and me, a gay man into arts and culture But it wasn’t just the convertible. communities completely integrated civic life. and other stereotypically gay-man What he and I have discovered in into the area’s daily life. • Where to find Tampa’s best stuff, in a city known mostly for the years we’ve lived here is so much And now, there’s Visit Tampa theater, arts and live music. CULTURE. NEWS. EVENTS. MUSIC. FOOD AND DRINK. cigars, strippers and sports teams. more, and so much better, than what Gay. A collaboration between • Where to take the kids, and We’d most recently been living in we expected. Creative Loafing Tampa (the pub- where to take your other kids (of the Vermont. Could we take the culture A sophisticated arts and culture lication where I work) and Visit furry variety). clash, not to mention the heat of a scene that just keeps getting richer. Tampa Bay, this is the kind of guide • The Za-Gay Guide: A compact Central Florida summer? A vibrant dining scene, with I wish I’d had when I first arrived. list of favorite LGBTQ spots for food, Larry had already made up his nationally known chefs and restau- It’s got the info every visitor needs drink and fun. mind to stay when I came to visit. So rants, and breweries by the dozen. about Tampa Bay, plus insider tips Here’s hoping that you’ll be so he tricked me: He rented a convert- A beautiful natural setting, with from LGBTQ's in the know. intrigued that you’ll find all kinds ible for me to drive around in, and beaches just minutes away and all Turn the pages of Visit Tampa of reasons to visit Tampa Bay. on a gorgeous April day when I was kinds of opportunities to play out- Gay and you’ll find: And maybe, like my husband cresting the breathtaking expanse doors all year. • Welcome to the Gayborhoods: and me, you’ll visit — and stay! VISITTAMPABAY.COM 5 GETTO ATHIS SEA OF DIVERSITY CLOSE Here we welcome and celebrate everyone’s refreshing individuality. fl aquarium.org | 813.273.4000 you prefer a the ChoiCe is yours, same great priCe! • players sports pub: serving fooD ‘til 2am & premium CoCktails • Close to Westshore shopping anD DoWntoWn nightlife • 10,000 sf ballroom for your fabulous WeDDing • reservations 800-514-3956 4800 W Cypress street tampaDoubletree.Com 813.879.4800 6 VISITTAMPABAY.COM LUIS SANTANA TAMPA Tampa Pride Parade in Ybor City grill touts itself as a place where international flair of Agora. Ybor “dinner classics and cocktails City (see p. 8) has a long history PRIDE Mike Salinero and By meet quirky entertainment.” of welcoming diverse commu- David Warner Smaller gay-friendly bars and nities, and the businesses here eateries include The Bricks, of- and throughout Tampa embrace fering “eclectic bites, even late the diverse crowds that come to FESTIVALS, RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS town. WELCOME THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY Welcoming accommodations are also plentiful in Tampa Bay evin Beckner—the first hospitality and party area, with with at least 20 hotels that openly gay elected official dozens of gay-friendly night- are TAG-approved as being K in Hillsborough County— clubs, bars, restaurants and LGBTQ-friendly. stated, “We’ve torn barriers retail shops. “Once you attract somebody down and we’ve become known On 7th Avenue, Ybor’s main to a community, that can lead to as a welcoming destination for strip, bars with weekly drag longer stays and having people the LGBTQ community.” who want to move to your com- In fact, the Tampa Bay area munity,” Beckner said. “It all has become the ultimate splash starts with tourism and having pad for gays and lesbians. The a reputation of being open and annual Tampa Pride Parade at- Hamburger Mary's welcoming. In the long term, it COURTESY OF HAMBURGER MARY'S COURTESY tracts tens of thousands, ac- grows our economy.” cording to Carrie West. He and at night"; Tre Amici at The Bunker, Read more about Kevin on p. 21 of longtime partner Mark Bias a popular spot for lunch, coffee this guide’s Ask the Locals section. were founding members of the and live music; Reservoir, a self- GaYBOR District Coalition. The described "dive bar"; and prime business group, based in Tampa’s shows include Bradley’s on 7th, live music venues Crowbar, Ritz Ybor City, includes hundreds of Southern Nights Tampa and The Ybor, and Orpheum. Gay-friendly TAMPA BAY local and national gay-friendly Honey Pot. Hamburger Mary’s, a shops in Ybor are as varied as PRIDE businesses. nationally known chain of gay- the entertainment options, Discover more at Just east of downtown, Ybor owned restaurants, has a loca- including the well-curated vin- ConquerWithPride.com is Tampa’s ultimate LGBTQ tion in Centro YBOR.