Skopelos at New World
Skopelos on the Bay is a restaurant located at 670 Scenic Highway owned and operated by Chef Gus P. Silivos, who also owns the nearby Scenic 90 Café.
 | |
|---|---|
| Cuisine | Greek-inspired seafood |
| Location | 670 Scenic Highway |
| Established | 1959 (original) 1987 (current location) |
| Owner | Gus Silivos |
| Chef | Gus Silivos |
| Hours of Operation | Tu-Sa: 5:00 PM- Fr: 11:30 AM-2:30 PM (lunch) Su: 10:30 AM-2:00 PM (brunch) M: Closed |
| Phone number | (850) 432-6565 |
| Website | MySkopelos.com |
Map <googlemap version="0.9" lat="30.424031" lon="-87.180719" zoom="14" width="288" height="150">
30.42553, -87.178445 </googlemap> | |
Founded in 1959 by Paul Silivos and Pete Geeker, the restaurant was originally located on West Cervantes Street near Pace in Brownsville. Paul's son Gus began working there at age 11 and later attended culinary school. In 1987 the father-and-son team moved to the current Scenic Highway location overlooking Escambia Bay, formerly the site of the Scenic Terrace and later Machinegun Kelly's. Paul continued to work at the restaurant until around 2001.
The cuisine at Skopelos includes a variety of Greek-inspired seafood and steak entrees. The signature dish is the Scamp Cervantes, a sautéed scamp filet topped with jumbo lump crabmeat. which was served to then-President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush when they visited the restaurant in 1992. The president's Secret Service patrol inspected guests of a wedding dinner going on at the same time, for which President Bush apologized to the couple. "He was a sport," Silivos recalled. "He took pictures with the bride."[1]
The restaurant serves dinner from Tuesday through Saturday, lunch on Friday and brunch on Sunday, and is available for weddings and other events. Since 2002 Silivos has hosted an annual fundraising brunch to benefit the ARC Gateway Foundation. For many years the restaurant offered catering services under the name "Skopelos Catered Events," and in 2007 that branch of the business became independent as Nancy's Haute Affairs, led by Silivos and his wife Nancy.
Skopelos is named for the Greek island of the same name, where the Silivos family originates. It is often mistakenly pronounced with a long 'o' (as in the possessive form Skopelo's).
External links & references
- MySkopelos.com – Official site
- "Founder of Skopelos loved to treat others to Greek island's flavor." Pensacola News Journal, October 3, 2005.
- ↑ "Skopelos creates 45 days of saving to mark restaurant's 45th birthday." Pensacola News Journal, August 6, 2004.