Tarpon Springs is a genuinely strange and wonderful place, a small Florida Gulf Coast city with the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the country, built around a sponge-diving industry that Greek immigrants turned into a thriving trade in the early 1900s. The historic Sponge Docks on Dodecanese Boulevard are where you’ll find Rusty Bellies, a family-owned waterfront tiki bar and grill that fits perfectly into that character: no pretense, just fresh Gulf seafood, cold drinks, and live music on the weekends while actual working fishing boats unload the day’s catch within eyeshot. The grouper, snapper, and shrimp are wild-caught and arrive daily. Sit on the waterfront deck, watch the boats drift by, and order whatever came in that morning. This is exactly what a Florida waterfront bar should be.
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