This particular Thirsty Marlin is one of two current sites with a third coming soon. They run a tight ship, with people in and out quite often. I see why they are ready to expand. While service took a little longer than I expected, the staff was friendly and cooperative and eager to please when they did make it over to our table.

The three of us had been out all day, so we decided we were really hungry. We started with an appetizer order of the fried onion strings. These were a bit thinner than I like, being crispy and light but with very little onion to them. They tasted good and the dipping sauce, a horseradish based dip with a little kick, was a good compliment. While I’m used to onion rings or onion blossoms that have large chunks of onions lightly breaded, this took the concept the other direction with thinly breaded strips of onions with light crusts.

I ordered the grouper sandwich, and I’m glad I did. Not only is it a value at under $10, it comes with a big plates of home fries and some sweet southern cole slaw. The sandwich itself was quite good, a lightly toasted bun open face with red onions, tomatoes, lettuce and a blackened grouper patty. The grilled and blackened grouper was tender and flavorful, just as grouper should be. It amazes me how people mess this up, but the Marlin gets it right. I wasn’t a fan of the french fries, but both Kara and Dustan ate them up quickly.

Dustan decided on the french dip. He said it tasted good, but he wanted more au jus sauce. He’s used to there being more dip than bread or beef, but otherwise he had no complaints.

Kara went for the Cuban Sandwich. Unlike most cubans which are long piece of cuban bread cut on a bias, these two square half used a different bread. The internals were all the same, and she agreed it was pretty standard for a cuban sandwich.

The Thirsty Marlin is a place for the whole family, with a bar up front for mom and dad and a playroom in back for the kids with a couple of classic coin-op machines. Seating is comfortable and relaxed and the bill, ranging from $10-20 per person on average, is within reach of most families and couples looking for a nice night out in Largo.

Trying to find the place takes some creativity in and of itself, as many of the connecting roads are torn up and re-routed right now with construction. Once it is found, you have a choice of valet or self park. I chose self park, as I’m sure having them valet my 300k mile old Miata with trash all over the floor would have scored me some strange looks. Then again, my companion and dress code should have sent off alarms all by themselves.

When we arrived, we were seated quickly and our drinks were brought out within a few minutes. The waitstaff is what you’d expect in a high end establishment, constantly moving and checking on you to assure your meal is perfect.

Within 5 minutes of ordering, a small loaf of bread was brought out with a half moon of butter and a container of sea salt. The salt was really the star of this dish, being pungent and having a mix of garlic and other herbs that really added to the bread. I knew that every expensive bite I was taking was excellent, and it didn’t disappoint.

As an appetizer, I ordered a collection of oysters on the half shell. Since these oysters are $3 each, I decided to try one of each simply to satisfy my wallet and my taste buds at the same time. Each had a side of horseradish, cocktail sauce and mignonette sauce. I chose not to use them, simply because the whole experience of oysters for me has to be about the purity of the creature itself.

First, the I tried the Kumomoto oyster, a native of Oregon that had a definitively briny taste. This oyster was one of the smallest in size, but the taste was pungent and powerful. The Pacific Orchard, an oyster harvested in British Columbia, had a slightly bitter and ammonia taste to it. It wasn’t displeasing, but it tasted for more organic and unwashed than the others.

The Blue Point (from Connecticut) was the second largest and also my second favorite, as it has a very smooth taste and an easy removal from shell. While some have that tag piece that remains, this one slipped cleanly from the shell and onto my palette. My favorite was the Apalachicola oyster, one I’m very familiar with because it’s so readily available here in Florida. When I lived in New Orleans, I ate a lot of similar oysters and this brought back memories of those times.

We ordered the Seafood Paella for two, a $52.00 dish of scallops, shrimp, clams, black mussels, chicken, chorizo sausage and saffron rice.

This dish was both surprisingly large and surprisingly filling. The taste was exactly what I was expecting, a soft of “dried out gumbo” as it were. Each bit of seafood retained it’s natural essence while blending with the rice to make a complete and balanced dish. I felt the chorizo was a little out to left field for this dish, but it didn’t harm or change the rest of the flavors. I’d say this is one of the better rice dishes that I’ve had in a good long time.

My total bill came to just over $100, chopped down to about $75 with the gift certificate. While the food was good and the service was excellent, I most likely won’t be going back again simply based on cost. Perhaps when my wallet expands, thus will my ability to catch some more oysters in this pleasant high end atmosphere.

When you walk in, you’re surrounded by mish-mash of decorations that remind me a lot of the island-themed restaurants I remember drunkenly stumbling into while in Mexico. The staff is quick to greet you and seat you, and the dining area is pretty packed for a Wednesday night. At 8PM, you can hear the reggae band fire up through the screened in porch, leading to the outside music area. If you can measure value in the atmosphere a place portrays, Skippers has the charm and style of a dockside fishery mixed with a nighttime beach party. The $2 Red Stripes sealed the deal.

Having never been there before and hungry, Dereck and I decided to try a bit of everything. We intentionally ordered way more than we would eat because we wanted to make sure we sampled all this place had to offer and still have some to take home. There’s no fine china or expensive accoutrement here. Everything is served on either foam plates or in foam containers with plastic forks. It makes cleanup easy and everything is already packaged to go, so I can appreciate this simplistic approach to dining in an environment like this.

The first round consisted of fried gator tail, Cajun popcorn and onion rings. The gator tail was to be expected, soft with a slightly rubber texture. The dipping sauce was a spicy mayonaise-based concoction that gave a bit of kick. If the sauce was a little thinner, I’d have used it with everything we ordered. It was quite good. The “cajun popcorn” is bits of fried seafood. Imagine popcorn chicken, but with seafood. The texture was soft and lightly fried and worked well with both cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. The onion rings came with their own sauce, a honey mustard that was thick and tangy. The sheer size of the onion rings would have made a meal all their own, but we pushed on.

We ordered both the Skipper’s Platter and the Steam Platter to share. The former being a breaded and fried version of similar components to the latter. The Skipper’s Platter featured fried shrimp, oysters, gator tail, smoke fish disp, calamari and basa. The Steam platter featured steams favorites from the sea, including shrimp, clams, snow crab legs and stone crab. Both came with hush puppies and sides. We opted for the barbeque beans, fries, black beans and rice and steamed veggies. As I said, we got a lot of food! I’m honestly surprised we finished as much of it as we did, even with how hungry we both were.

The Skipper’s platter shrimp were actually both larger and more plentiful that I had assumed. I believe there were five all together and they were jumbo shrimp. They were a bit oily, but not overly done or greasy. The oysters, on the other hand, were small and a bit too crunchy. They were helped by cocktail sauce and were still palatable. The gator tail that came with the Skipper’s Platter was much the same as the appetizer portion. While eating it, I realized how much I really liked gator meat. They season it with this kinda-salty, kinda-smokey combination that brings out the flavor.

The smoke fish dip reminded me of a tuna salad. The fish taste was not overwhelming, but it was flavorful. My only wish is that there was more of it, as the portion in this platter is quite small. The calamari I wasn’t a fan of. It was too mooshy and tough to enjoy. I usually like calamari both raw and fried, but this wasn’t quite right. Luckily, the Basa, a fish similar to grouper was cooker perfectly and a large portion was served so it made up for any misgivings with the calamari. The hushpuppies were excellent. While I’m used to hushpuppies that are doughy or greasy, these were filled with a very fine lumpy texture and stuffed with something that made them pop with flavor in your mouth.

The black beans and yellow rice were served a way I haven’t had since I left New Orleans, with onions and sour cream. When mixed together, you have a flavorful treat that could easily be a much bigger part of any course. Rice was cooked to perfection, beans were done just right and the sour cream and raw onions really brought out the flavor of the dish. Highly recommended. The steamed veggies were standard. Nothing note worthy other than how full I felt by the time I attempted to eat them.

The Steam Platter was also quite good. The shrimps and clams here were even better than the fried. Both were served in larger portions and had a creamy and consistent texture, the way seafood should be served. Nothing rubbery or foul about this, and very fresh. The snow crab legs and stone crab were also quite good. That said, I always feel frustrated when I have to fight with their armor plating, even when given the proper tools. I fussed with the cracker several different ways before I gave in and simply used my teeth and a fork to extract the inner crab goodness.

At this point, we were both stuffed and still had plenty of cajun popcorn and onion rings left, which we took home. It was time to visit the outdoor music venue.

Outside has a lot of the charms you’d expect from a venue that seats about 300 people with a full capacity of about 700 people. The stage was large enough to house an entire band. The sound system was adequate. The outside bar was well stocked. The seating was standard outside fair, including picnic tables, lawn chairs, patio furniture and bar stools. I can see this being the kind of place that you could just chill, drink a few Red Stripes, listen to reggae and relax.

Here’s what’s coming up over the next few weeks:

THURSDAY MAR 19
Grateful Dead Night w/Uncle John’s Band (JAMBAND/TRIBUTE) Bringing the music & spirit of the Grateful Dead to Skipper’s every Thursday. Uncle John’s Band has been together since the early ’90′s and raising the Dead at Skipper’s since 1998. Hippies please use side door. All bottled beer on special in Skipperdome. Uncle JohnsBand.com
8PM $7

FRIDAY MAR 20
Spiritual Rez (REGGAE/FUNK/AFROBEAT) Boston-based sextet provides a unique blend of Reggae, Funk and Afrobeat, bringing together the ferocious live energy and bombast of the Red Hot Chili Peppers/PFunk with chill island grooves. myspace.com/spiritualrez
w/The Hip Abduction (JAMBAND) THA draws on the stories of acoustic driven blues, overlays jazz/funk style instrumental melodies, and crafts high-energy festival style free improvisations featuring tight drumming coupled with a strong melodic groove. www.thehipabduction.com
8PM $8

SATURDAY MAR 21
Halcyon Long-running trio featuring the trademark harmonies, insightful original songs and aggressive guitars of Debbie ‘n’ Stephanie plus the polyrhythmic percussion of Alvon Griffin. The Weekly Planet says “they generate the best harmonies this side of heaven.“ They’ve sung the national anthem for the Rays, Braves and the Bucs and continue to please crowds in the southeast. www.halcyonmusic.com
w/Kelly Neff www.myspace.com/kellyneff
8PM $12

SUNDAY MAR 22
Pieces (VARIETY) Long-running Tampa Bay horn-powered variety band, formed in the early ’70s and disbanded in 2003, reunites for a special one-off concert. The group predominantly plays crowd-pleasing dance music from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s; attendees can look forward to tightly-arranged and well executed selections from groups such as Santana, Average White Band, Kool and the Gang, Allman Brothers, and War.
5PM FREE

TUESDAY MAR 24
Freight Train Annie’s Girlie Show #8 (ASSORTED) This month’s performers:
Sunset Bridge featuring Gracie Greishop
www.sunsetbridgeband.com
Lorna Bracewell
www.lornabracewell.com
Emily Roff
www.myspace.com/emilyroff
Speakeasy Band
www.myspace.com/speakeasyclearwater
8PM $7

WEDNESDAY MAR 25
Island Night A 23-year-old tradition continues. Reggae and Afro-beat under the stars with Red Stripe beer on special. Hooray Beer!
Tribal Style (REGGAE/SOUL) With a tremendously appealing synthesis of old-school reggae, R&B, funk and subtle turntablism that is at once classic and contemporary, Tribal Style are beloved for their earthy and eclectic approach to reggae. People are still abuzz over Tribal Style’s amazing performance at WMNF’s tribute to The Clash. www.myspace.com/tribalstyle
8PM $5

THURSDAY MAR 26
Grateful Dead Night w/Uncle John’s Band (JAMBAND/TRIBUTE) Bringing the music & spirit of the Grateful Dead to Skipper’s every Thursday. Uncle John’s Band has been together since the early ’90′s and raising the Dead at Skipper’s since 1998. Hippies please use side door. All bottled beer on special in Skipperdome. Uncle JohnsBand.com
8PM $7

FRIDAY MAR 27
Glory Days and Buddy Rowe present
Toubab Krewe (AFROBEAT/JAMBAND) Since forming in 2005, the magnetic instrumental quintet has been credited with bridging the gap between West African and American music unlike any group before them, quickly winning a diverse and devoted following at top venues such as the Bonnaroo and Voodoo festivals to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Their live shows and self-titled debut album have won international acclaim from the New York Times, Global Rhythm, fRoots, NPR and more. With extensive touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, and plans to release its much anticipated sophomore album, 2008 is shaping into an incredible year for the fast-rising band credited with “setting a new standard for fusions of rock ‘n’ roll and West African music” (Afropop Worlwide). www.toubabkrewe.com
w/Jar-e (SOUL) With an infectious ethos that dissolves boundaries, Jar-e’s music recalls soul, rock and funk and most importantly, it’ll make you dance. myspace.com/jare
8PM $12/15
Buy Tickets

SATURDAY MAR 28
Vodkanauts (SURF/POWER LOUNGE) Imagine a twilight world of sonic make believe where Dean Martin and Neil Diamond share equal billing with Danny Gatton and Hank Marvin, where reverb-drenched surf freakouts segue into a small jazzy combo playing a Vegas nightspot frequented by The In Crowd and where roadhouse-rockin’ twangfests coexist with tranquil atmospheric meditations. It is in this musical parallel universe that surf/lounge/rock ‘n’ roll combo The Vodkanauts work their magic, simultaneously paying respectful tribute to musical masters while creating a soundtrack to a mid-to-late 20th century America that never quite was … but should have been.The Vodkanauts’ continuing mission expands the band’s repertoire to include rhythm ‘n’ blues, jazz and other roots-informed genres while still encompassing the surf classics, lounge numbers and original compositions that cemented the band’s reputation as one of Tampa Bay’s most engaging live acts. www.vodkanauts.com
w/Stolen Idols (EXOTICA) Stolen Idols play authentic 1950s/60s-era exotica, the tropical mood-music jazz subgenre pioneered by Martin Denny and Les Baxter, perfroming their own exotic arrangements of standards, recreations of classic exotica recordings, and original music written and arranged in this style. Keeping true to tradition, the Idols’ core lineup is a quartet with piano, upright bass, vibes/marimba, and percussion. With its tropical climate and historical image as an exotic paradise getaway, Florida has long deserved its own exotica combo…and now it has one. myspace.com/stolenidolsexotica
8PM $10/13
Buy Ticket

SUNDAY MAR 29
WMNF 88.5 PRESENTS
2nd Annual BLUES BLAST!
An afternoon and evening for all Tampa Bay blues fans to come together to celebrate the richness of the great local blues scene. Damon Fowler, Nervous Turkey, T.C. Carr, Jimmy Griswold, Greg Poulos, Gary Brown Blues Band, Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues and in the grand tradition of blues shows since W.C. Handy’s days, a big closing Grand Finale Jam!
4PM $12/15
Tickets for WMNF concerts here at Skipper’s are available
in person at Skipper’s or online via WMNF’s website here

TUESDAY MAR 31
That 1 Guy “When That 1 Guy is in town, his funky bass-n-drum grooves are so bombastic they rattle china cabinets and dissolve kidney stones well into the next zip code.” So sayeth Judah Gold of Relix Magazine while J.G. from Bass Player Magazine says, “Like a one-man band plucked from the pages of Dr. Seuss, That 1 Guy delivers earthshaking future funk from ”the magic pipe” to accompany his madcap lyrics about turbo snails, meat storms, and weasel pot pies.” www.that1guy.com
8PM $7/10
Buy Ticket

For a list of upcoming shows at Skipper’s, here’s their continually updated list:
http://www.skipperssmokehouse.com/venue/upcomingshows2008.shtml