Skopelos at New World is a restaurant located at 600 South Palafox Street, inside New World Landing. It is operated by Chef Gus P. Silivos.
| Skopelos at New World | |
|---|---|
| Cuisine | Greek-inspired seafood |
| Location | 600 South Palafox Street (New World Landing |
| Established | 1959 (original) 1987 (Scenic Highway) 2016 (current location) |
| Owner | Gus Silivos |
| Chef | Gus Silivos |
| Website | SkopelosAtNewWorld.com |
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 a new location at 670 Scenic Highway overlooking Escambia Bay, formerly the site of the Scenic Terrace and later Machinegun Kelly's, where it was called Skopelos on the Bay. 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]
Skopelos on the Bay closed in August 2009 following a four-year legal battle with the heirs to Paul's estate.[2] It reopened at its current location in 2016.
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
- SkopelosAtNewWorld.com – Official site
- "Founder of Skopelos loved to treat others to Greek island's flavor." Pensacola News Journal, October 3, 2005.