St. Petersburg’s Trophy Fish will open a second location in Seminole Heights

TAMPA — Trophy Fish, St. Petersburg’s popular cocktail bar and fresh seafood hub, is crossing the bay.

A second location of the bar and restaurant will open later this year inside the old Bodega space at 5901 N Florida Ave. in Seminole Heights.

This is good news for fans of the spot’s wildly popular “boat drink” program (hello, pistachio mai tais), the upscale Floridian fish camp theme and the dock-to-dish fresh seafood program.

Owner Ryan Griffin, who also runs neighboring craft cocktail bar Mandarin Heights as well as Mandarin Hide in downtown St. Petersburg, says he hopes to have the restaurant open by August.

Modern Cuban spot Bodega closed its Seminole Heights location in October 2021. (The St. Petersburg outpost is still open.) Since then, the space next to Mandarin Heights has sat vacant. Griffin, whose team at Seed & Feed Hospitality is also working on opening a new restaurant in downtown St. Petersburg, said permitting lags and construction setbacks have caused some of the delay in opening the Tampa spot.

Griffin called Seminole Heights “a great neighborhood for us,” and emphasized that the Tampa location, though similar to the nautical-inspired flagship, will feature some distinct elements.

The Seminole Heights space is slightly larger and will include additional indoor seating plus an area for private dinners. In a nod to Mandarin Heights, Griffin said Trophy Fish’s “bait shop chic” aesthetic will be coupled with some 1950s, mid-century modern elements.

Guests at the Tampa Trophy Fish will be greeted with an outdoor bar where raw and chargrilled oysters will be served and diners can order off the restaurant’s full menu from a separate walkup window.

Like the St. Petersburg restaurant, the kitchen — led by executive chef Jon Robben — will feature a menu heavy on fish and seafood specials, always highlighting whatever’s freshest that day.

The beverage program, helmed by Morgan Zuch, will also feature some new drinks unique to the Seminole Heights location. Griffin said his team is in the process of revamping the rum- and gin-forward cocktail menu, but fans of some of Trophy Fish’s biggest hits needn’t worry: Those pistachio mai tais aren’t going anywhere.