Chef Nick Cruz's Big Ray's Fish Camp, at 6116 Interbay Boulevard, has earned back-to-back appearances on Michelin's national seafood shack list — a repeat recognition that, per the operator's Instagram, puts the South Tampa spot in select company for a format the guide rarely revisits in consecutive years.
The Interbay location operates in the fish-camp tradition: a casual, counter-service register with roots in Florida's Gulf-coast fishing culture, where the sourcing and technique carry the room rather than the fit-out. According to the post, the menu includes smoked fish dip, blackened shrimp served on Cuban yucca, and lobster tail corn dogs — a lineup that walks the line between regional vernacular and deliberate kitchen craft. The Cuban yucca pairing in particular signals a kitchen working with South Tampa's broader culinary geography rather than ignoring it.
Michelin's seafood shack category, distinct from its starred or Bib Gourmand tiers, tracks casual Gulf and coastal operators that execute at a level above their price point. Earning the designation once is notable; earning it in consecutive years suggests the kitchen has held its standard through the seasonal and staffing pressures that routinely sink similar operations in their second year of attention.
Big Ray's sits on a stretch of Interbay that has drawn steady foot traffic from South Tampa's residential core without the turnover pressure of the Howard Avenue corridor a few miles north. A Michelin nod at this address reinforces that the guide is ranging further south than its earlier Florida iterations, which leaned heavily on downtown and Ybor City operators.
Cruz has not publicly announced changes to the menu or footprint in response to the recognition, and no expansion plans were noted in the source. For now, the repeat listing positions Big Ray's as one of the more durably reviewed casual seafood operations in the Tampa market — a designation that typically accelerates weekend wait times before operators have a chance to scale for them.
