That bar is Big Easy in Ybor City, a New Orleans-themed labor of love built for owner Pat Riley’s then-girlfriend some eight years ago. Now, driving its revamp are Tampa’s dean of cocktail culture, Dean Hurst and industry expert Daniel Bareswilt. And while Big Easy has seen its own ups and downs, its future looks bright with these two established creatives behind the wheel.
Their story of partnership began eight years ago as well, coincidentally, when Bareswilt moved to Tampa and began doing research on who was taking the bar career path seriously in the area.
“Dean’s name came up a lot when I moved here,” Bareswilt says. “Pretty much one of the only names that came up consistently, so he was someone I became aware of right away.”
Bareswilt insists on telling this part of the story. “One day, I was working behind the bar at Ulele,” he says, “when I heard my name coming from a friend. I look over and my friend’s sitting with Dean who I recognized from my internet search and I just blurted out: ‘You’re Dean Hurst!—”
“Loudly,” Hurst laughs.
“And somehow I didn’t scare him away too much that day,” Bareswilt says.
From there, they kept the conversations going and in 2016, Hurst left his 16-year career at Bern’s—which he says wasn’t an easy decision to make as much as it was a very easy decision to make. With a newborn on the way, he wanted those first three months, completely uninterrupted, to be the type of dad he wanted to be. And so, he’d also spent a good amount of time laying the groundwork for keeping Bern’s as his first client, helping the storied Tampa steakhouse continue to seek out new, rare, and weird stuff.
“That was something that I had established early on in my path and that was always the direction I was heading in,” Hurst says. “Curiosity drove everything I did.”
And it’s what led Hurst to linking up with Bareswilt a few years ago as he consulted for Gin Joint in downtown Tampa, which was seeking a bar manager whose vision and dedication to a certain level of hospitality experience aligned with his.
“I had a short list of people I wanted to work with,” Hurst says. “And Dan was on it. My first interactions with him showed that he is somebody that is—and this is a really, really important word: curious.”
In an industry that’s so heavily influenced by money and good times, it felt rare for Hurst to find someone like Bareswilt who was not only willing, but driven to deep dive into his own bar-related interests, methods, techniques, and education.
“Dean asked me to interview for the manager job at Gin Joint as, like, their first employee hired and I just really wanted to prove myself worthy of the opportunity,” Bareswilt says.
He did a ton of reading in the three months prior to their hiring of the rest of the team at Gin Joint, and it ultimately paid off. The foundation that Hurst and Bareswilt laid at Gin Joint has helped the spot remain in good standing with its patrons and land spots on local best of lists (Best Manhattan (with Urbane Ambiance), 2023 and Best Jazz Ensemble, 2022).
From there, the two never really lost touch and continued to have active conversations about their future goals in service and consulting. Bareswilt took a state-wide liquor distribution role with Winebow from 2020-2022, and Hurst continued to consult and get involved with Nola’s own yearly bartending “conference” of sorts, Tales of the Cocktail. Both opportunities lent them a wide-angle view of what was really possible for the fabric of Tampa’s hospitality scene.
“We just started realizing we had jobs that let us see the whole scope of Florida’s hospitality, and we saw where the work we did stacked up,” Bareswilt says. “I don’t want to say that arrogantly, but there’s a certain amount of objectivity when your job is to manage the state’s spirits goings-on.”
That combined level of skill, they thought, could help them to start leveraging experts, prior expertise, and opportunities that would allow them to have more skin in the game.
Photo by Annalise Mabe
In late-2022, Big Easy, an established Ybor City bar was starting to fail, starting to see numbers drop every month, and couldn’t really sustain its business model anymore.
Enter: Big Easy, an established Ybor City bar that was starting to fail, starting to see numbers drop every month, and one that couldn’t really sustain its business model anymore. Pat Riley, one of the bar’s owner’s, approached Hurst with the proposition, asking if he would be interested in running the bar.
“And that’s when I introduced Daniel into working on this together,” Hurst says of that turning point in early 2023.
But the road ahead has not come without obstacles or sacrifice. “We’re reintroducing ourselves to a neighborhood that’s seen a lot of change,” Bareswilt notes.
And one that will continue to see change as the district's GasWorx project develops Ybor and the surrounding area further.
“We’re doing the work of reshaping the business, but also the physical, manual work of being behind the bar and being present with guests,” Hurst says, “teaching everyone and providing them with our view of hospitality.”
Along the way, they’re building a pretty all-star team, too—one that is helping them execute at the level they know is possible for the world-renowned New Orleans style of food, drink, and hospitality.
After making a few difficult decisions, Hurst now says they have a team they truly believe in, a team that’s come together by no stroke of luck.
“Maurice was sent to us from Cody,” Hurst says. And that’s Cody Tiner, executive chef of District Tavern who Dean met while working together at Gin Joint. “Chance was previously Ray Lampe’s Pitmaster and then Sous Chef; I did work with him at Dr. BBQ when we built out Burnt Ends and he’d show up at 6 a.m. to roast all the meats.”
One day, they gave Chance a menu of things they wanted to serve eventually, and two days later he had recipes written for them.
“The third day, we were cooking them,” Bareswilt says, “platings and everything.”
And with Cheney, the kitchen manager, Aaron, who’s got incredible drive, and Joe who is a genius at prep, the team is gelled, Hurst says. “What can I do to challenge them?”
For starters? All food is scratch-made with intention.
Bareswilt, who just finished a Monday Hospitality Night special of pork ribs in a coffee and cayenne dry rub served with homemade guava BBQ sauce explains exactly what this means.
“I don’t buy ranch dressing,” he says. “I buy buttermilk and mayonnaise and I buy spices and I make the ranch.” Same goes with the rest of their ingredients.
It’s this approach to their food that is setting them apart from other bars serving “bar food” in the area. And the results are proving worth their time and efforts.
Already, they’ve seen one guy come in who was visiting the area who ordered three of their beef po’ boys in 24 hours. If you’re curious, it’s their take on a classic, featuring slow roasted brisket, debris gravy, romaine lettuce, and tomato, served on freshly baked Sullivan Street mezzo doppio hoagie bread.
Another woman came in and said: “This is the prettiest salad I’ve ever had at a bar.”
“She did think it was delicious as well,” Hurst adds. “And it didn’t take a whole lot of work, but it takes being mindful and intentional with your moves.”
It comes down to freshness, and the team here agrees on not cutting corners.
“When the bar gets super busy like we were on Saturday night,” Hurst says, “it’s easy to cut a corner. Is the average consumer really going to know if we squeezed lemon juice fresh or if we bought a good frozen product? Most people won’t know the difference, but we don’t ever put that product out.”
And if they don’t have what you’re looking for behind the bar, they’re more than ready to take the opportunity to introduce you to something new, pour a taste, and “share delicious things.”
“I look over and see a guy come in after work, stressed, asking for an end-of-day martini,” Bareswilt says, “I know the feeling because I’ve had that drink before and I’ve had a long day before. But being able to make that drink with intention and care, serve it, and see that little reprieve in our guests, that’s what I love about it.”
Up next, the Big Easy team is rolling out a late-night menu (so Ybor night-goers can have more options beyond a pizza slice) and will work to merge Ybor’s daytime and nighttime rhythms with Saturday and Sunday brunch complete with a jazz trio or quartet in the front corner.
“A lot of the newer things in town are working to sell exclusivity,” Bareswilt says, “but that’s not what New Orleans is or what this concept is. We’re about inclusivity and taking care of each other.”
“We want everybody who walks through the door to feel welcome, relaxed, and happy,” Hurst says. “That’s the goal.”
Stop by and scope out their limited Holiday Cocktail menu featuring the Yuletide Daisy, the Lumberjack, and the Grasshopper, which Hurst says is amazing, featuring cognac, menthe, cacao, and cream. Or pass on through on New Year’s Eve to ring in the New Year with bubbles, Bourbon Street style.
