Florida bar serves up fun twist on shuffleboard

TAMPA, Florida -- Playing shuffleboard by the motel pool is part of the classic Florida vacation experience. But if you're in Tampa, you can skip the motel part.

Welcome to Shuffle, billed as the Southeast's only indoor shuffleboard court, bar and restaurant.

"We are a women-owned business. My best friend and I started the business and we're the only two involved and it was founded in March of 2018. We pride ourselves on shuffleboard. We have league nights. We have people come here to play shuffleboard, corporate meetings, corporate outings, team building. However, if you just want to come sit at a bar and watch people play shuffleboard, you're welcome to do that, too. We're kind of a neighborhood bar as well," co-owner Danielle O'Connor said.

Co-owner Jennifer Evanchyk prides herself on the sense of community Shuffle has created.

"We want people to take away that this is a comfortable place for everyone to be ... it's a community space. We have good drinks. We have great food and we have a fun game of shuffleboard that you can play and really become a part of the community," she said.

On the first and third Sundays of the month, Shuffle offers a fun twist on brunch with its Wu Tang and Biscuits Brunch.

"It's the stick (in shuffleboard) that's called the tang and then we've got our biscuits, which are the discs. So Wu Tang and Biscuits .. . we only listen to Wu Tang all day," Evanchyk said.

If jazz is more to your liking, Shuffle offers a Jazz Rehab brunch on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. There are also open-mic nights called Shuffle Play as well as karaoke. If you're looking to find new musical talent, a visit to Shuffle is worth your while: the space has been named the best place to find new talent in Tampa by the site Creative Loafing.

Customers are always game for the experience here.

"I've been playing shuffleboard for about almost four years now. I love the competition of shuffleboard because everybody who comes, comes from a different place. A different walk of life. So the people that you meet, it just makes it that much more interesting," said Michael Vokoun.