After 53 years of feeding Clearwater families, ball teams and hungry regulars, Capogna's Dugout has turned out the lights for good. The Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard fixture served its last slice on June 26, 2026, with the family citing a run of setbacks that finally proved too much for the long-standing neighborhood hangout.
Storm damage, a comeback and the last inning
The final closure caps a rough stretch that started in 2024, when Hurricanes Helene and Milton hammered the area and forced the Dugout to shut its doors. The family later managed a return and stayed open for roughly a year before deciding they could not keep going. As the restaurant prepared to close permanently this month, the owners shared a farewell note to customers, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Deep family roots and a five-decade run
Al Capogna launched Capogna's Dugout in March 1973, and the place quickly turned into a postgame staple for Clearwater High, Little League teams and generations of local families, the Business Observer reported. When storm losses piled up, the family announced an October 2024 closure on Facebook and the comments section filled fast with memories, condolences and thank-yous from longtime customers.
A short-lived reboot, then the final call
The Dugout briefly found new life in April 2025 through a partnership with local operator Sean Stoffel, who kept the original menu and brought back many former staffers. The owners framed the relaunch as "Capogna's 2.0," according to Bay News 9. That second act lasted about a year before the family decided this summer that it was time to shut the doors for good.
Clearwater loses a reliable home-field hangout
For many locals, the Dugout was not just another pizza joint. It was the Friday-night stop after games, the place where kids collected team photos and parents traded stories over pitchers of soda and baskets of fries. Its exit comes amid a wave of summer shake-ups across the region's dining scene. The Tampa Bay Times recently laid out the economic pressures and seasonal slowdowns that have been squeezing restaurants throughout Tampa Bay.
In their final message, the owners thanked the generations of customers who kept coming back, and neighborhood message boards quickly filled with tributes after the news broke. The response echoed the outpouring that followed the family's first public warning sign in October 2024, when a Facebook post about looming closure drew hundreds of replies, the Business Observer reported.
