The building at 1503 E 7th Avenue has been putting on a show in one form or another since 1917, when it opened as the Rivoli Theatre — reportedly the first theater of its kind in the country — designed by architects Bonfoey and Elliott, with a silent-movie house on the ground floor and apartments above. It was expanded and reopened as The Ritz Theatre in 1931.
The building’s second life has had almost as many chapters as its first: a shift to adult entertainment in 1965, a remodel by developer William E. Field in 1983, a bank foreclosure in 1987 that led to a lease with The Masquerade nightclub, purchase by the Capitano family in 1988, and the Masquerade’s eviction in 2006. A $2 million renovation followed, and on June 26, 2008, the building reopened as The Ritz Ybor — a live music and special-events venue, now run by operator Sunset Events.
Today the venue spans more than 17,000 square feet across three distinct rooms plus a grand foyer, holding roughly 1,100 people, and still shows off original Art Deco mirrors and wall sconces from an earlier era layered in among the modern sound and lighting rigs. Over the years its stage has hosted Tool, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Lady Gaga, and Foo Fighters, among many others — a reputation that’s kept it one of Ybor City’s main stops for touring acts across rock, hip-hop, and electronic music.
The current calendar keeps that pattern going: Qveen Herby brings her Isle of Qveen Tour through on July 24, and Chance the Rapper marks ten years of “The Coloring Book” with a stop on September 5, alongside a steady run of electronic and dance nights. Age restrictions and doors times vary by show, so it’s worth checking theritzybor.com directly before buying tickets.
The venue sits right on 7th Avenue in the middle of Ybor’s historic district, an easy walk from the neighborhood’s other bars, restaurants, and late-night spots — worth building a whole night around rather than treating as a single stop.