The Ritz Ybor
A 1917 silent movie house on Seventh Avenue, still packed every weekend
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Thu, Jul 30 Tampa Anime Rave Fri, Jul 3110:30 PM Tobehonest Sat, Aug 1 Hard Techno Boiler Fri, Aug 7 Old School Reggaeton Party Sat, Aug 8 Walker & Royce Fri, Aug 14 Club 90s presents Off Campus Night • The Official Party Sat, Aug 1511:00 PM Wax Motif Fri, Aug 21 MADVKTM (MAD DUBZ + VKTM) • The Amalgamation Tour Sat, Aug 22 OUT OF OFFICE • ’90s / 2000s Throwback Party (5pm to 9pm) Sat, Aug 22 William Black • The Shadow Realm TourAbout The Ritz Ybor
The red brick building at 1503 East Seventh Avenue opened in 1917 as the Rivoli Theatre — silent films downstairs, apartments upstairs, built for the Afro-Cuban community taking root in Ybor City's cigar-factory boom. A 1931 expansion turned it into the Ritz Theatre and pushed capacity to around 700 seats.
What happened next is the kind of thing that happens to grand old rooms: cinema, then playhouse, then adult movie theater, then nightclub, then decades of decline. A $2 million restoration brought it back toward its original specifications, and in 2008 it reopened as The Ritz Ybor.
Today it holds about 1,100 people standing and runs as one of Tampa's busiest rooms, home base for Sunset Events since 2016. The bookings swing hard between worlds — Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar and Skrillex have all played the room, and on any given weekend it might be a touring metal bill, a Latin headliner, or an all-night dance party.
Walk out the door and you're on Seventh Avenue in the middle of Ybor, which means the night doesn't have to end when the house lights come up.
Only Here
- Opened in 1917 as the Rivoli Theatre — silent movies on the ground floor, apartments above
- Became the Ritz Theatre in a 1931 expansion that seated roughly 700
- Spent stretches of its life as a playhouse, an adult movie theater, and a nightclub before the 2008 restoration
- Standing room only and fully cashless — cards and digital payments only
- Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons and Skrillex have all played the room since it reopened
Plan Your Night
1502 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605