Galuppi’s gallops into 20th year as one-of-a-kind South Florida music venue

In its 20th year, Galuppi’s is stepping it up as the place to go for a night under the stars, an appetizing meal and a professional-grade musical trip back to the glory days.

Not long before the Rolling Stones release their newest album, Hackney Diamonds, an ersatz yet entertaining Mick Jagger is doing his jagged moves onstage at a packed Pompano Beach outdoor venue. Illuminated from behind by the Stones’ giant lips logo, the sinewy soundalike prances about the king-sized, covered stage in a smoke-machine cloud as his six bandmates tear through a respectably rowdy Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

Basking in the balmy South Florida night are maybe 400 concertgoers, many of whom appear to have been rocking out with the Stones since the ’60s British Invasion. It’s obviously another classic rock tribute band show — but there’s a difference. Tonight, the band Roll the Stones is not the show’s sole source of … satisfaction. Dining alfresco at a hundred tables spread out across the massive patio, the audience is also enjoying such appealing offerings as a short rib bourbon melt or pistachio encrusted grouper, complemented, perhaps, by a Provençal rosé.

Oh, then there’s this: When the check arrives, it doesn’t include a cover charge.

This is a weekend evening at Galuppi’s, the Pompano Beach institution that in its 20th year as a  restaurant and banquet center is amplifying its reputation as a one-of-a-kind South Florida music venue.

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Just off Federal Highway, Galuppi’s has been hosting musical acts on Friday and Saturday nights since it opened — as many as 2,000 in that time, estimates owner Grant Galuppi. At first they were cover bands, but over the last seven or eight years, Galuppi’s has been catering primarily to tribute bands — and the fans of the original bands who come to see them.

“We’re probably 60 or 70 percent tribute bands now,” Galuppi says. “This past summer we were holding approximately 10 acts a week. We would have happy hour music every day. On Sunday we would have an act during Sunday brunch. And then, obviously, our big bands on Friday and Saturday nights.”

Despite the unusually hot and wet summer — “I feel like it rained a lot on Friday and Saturday nights” — Galuppi estimates that the venue was at 80 or 90 percent occupancy. In the season, though, business naturally picks up.

“In January, February or March, there’ll be a wait for a table or we’ll be at max capacity where it’s just standing room.”

And this season, those guests are coming to a Galuppi’s whose music scene has evolved. The venue is now hosting ticketed concerts featuring national, non-tribute acts, such as the recent show by ’80s hard-rockers Zebra and a Jan. 11 performance by Carmine Appice, who was the drummer for Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy Osbourne and others.

Galuppi’s is also moving the action indoors for dinner shows themed to Motown, dueling pianos or a black-tie optional tribute to Michael Bublé and beyond, including a three-course dinner.

“These shows are more like a supper-club event,” Galuppi says. “People get dressed up for it. We’ll sell up to 115 tickets to those shows.”

But the weekend tribute shows continue on the outdoor stage without a cover charge, extending a tradition that Galuppi began about 13 years ago.

“I saw how big the local musician network is, and I felt it really trending towards the tributes. ‘Hey, Grant, we started an Elton John tribute band.’ ‘We started a Fleetwood Mac tribute band.’ ‘Hey, we started a Van Halen tribute band.’ I saw the following. And as they grew, you know, we grew.”

Galuppi recalls the first such bands he booked were The Long Run and Turnstiles, playing the hits of the Eagles and Billy Joel, respectively. Both remain among the venue’s biggest draws today.

“Not only do those acts have great music, but they put on a show,” he says. “A lot of our bands play anywhere from a couple to five or six times a year. And a lot of them come back as customers and support other bands.”

Born and raised in the Pompano Beach area, Galuppi, 42, has the restaurant and bar business in his DNA. His grandfather owned restaurants and bars up in Upstate New York, and his father, Pat, owned different establishments in Pompano Beach.

“The most popular was probably Pat’s Place [on East Atlantic Boulevard], which dates back to the mid-’70s,” he says.

A Lighthouse Point resident, Galuppi and his father opened their eponymous restaurant in 2004, taking over the shuttered site of Sand Traps, bordering Pompano Beach Golf Course.

“Probably five years ago,” he says, “I looked at where the bands were playing and it just didn’t appear first class to me. So I said, listen, these bands aren’t going to go anywhere. This has definitely become a music venue. So I said, let’s build the stage. And it snowballed.”

A five-person team now handles the technical components of the 20-by-30-foot stage — lights, sound and, yes, smoke machines.

“We built it in three different phases,” Galuppi says, “and we literally closed out the permits during the Covid shutdown in 2020.”

When the shutdown ended, that outdoor stage became an undeniable advantage. And, Galuppi says, because booking entertainment was a main element of the venue’s pre-pandemic business, it was permitted to continue.

“As horrible as the Covid shutdown was, it made us move our reservations online and eliminate lines at the front. And the shows became a lot more organized.”

Also during that time, the restaurant side of the operation was able to more closely match Galuppi’s goals for the total customer experience.

“When I had that vision for the stage, I wanted the guest experience to be elevated. I didn’t want it to just be, you know, guys playing on the stage. I wanted the tables to match and the chairs to match, and I wanted it to be covered.

“I wanted the musicians to want to play there, to feel like they’re on a big, professional stage. And it’s worked. We’re very fortunate to have a lot of regulars come in. They know the table they want.

“They’re there to be entertained.”