Village Inn Pancake House opened its first outlet in 1958 in Denver, Colorado, and in 1961 began franchising the brand. That same year, Dow Sherwood opened the first franchised store in Tampa at 215 N Dale Mabry Hwy. The 160-seat restaurant broke with tradition and offered no stools or service lunch counter style. All customers were seated at a table. They offered 19 varieties of pancakes and a selection of 7 different waffles. The part of the building facing Dale Mabry had an undulating roof line to protect the windows from the sun. The inside featured exposed ivory brick walls, wall-to-wall carpeting, and the ceiling was acoustic tile. Opened 24 hours a day, it quickly became a favorite for locals, especially late at night and around the holidays when they feature their popular pies. Sherwood went on to open 11 more pancake houses in Florida and Virginia.

In 1966, Sherwood signed a lease with the Clearwater County Commission for a parcel of land at the Pinellas County Airport to build the Showboat Dinner Theater. The paddle-wheel-shaped building opened in 1967. The theater brought in big names and big money.

By the end of the 1980s, due most likely to the competitive nature of national chains, “Pancake House” was formally dropped from the restaurant name, and the stores were known simply as Village Inn, allowing for an all-day appeal. The sign in front of the store on North Dale Mabry still says “Pancake House.”

The Village Inn's parent company has changed several times. Bankruptcies and restructuring have taken their toll on the business. In September 2015, Village Inn operated 212 restaurants. They emerged from bankruptcy protection in September 2020 with 140 locations as a subsidiary of the restructured parent company, VIBSQ Holdings LLC.

Dow Sherwood was a beloved jokester and charitable man. He called folks like Budweiser distributor Art Pepin and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who delivered his eulogy, friends. He died on August 14, 1987, at the age of 78. The Dow Sherwood Corporation is still family-owned and now runs eight Village Inn restaurants, including the original one on North Dale Mabry.

Dow Sherwood's daughter Virginia took up the leadership of the Showboat Dinner Theater after his death. As business slowed, she sold it in 1992, but the new owners failed. After falling from its glory days in the 1970s and early 1980s, The Showboat, with $60,000 in debt, closed. Its contents were auctioned off, and the building was demolished. A Chick-fil-A now stands in its place.  

© Chip Weiner. oldtampaphotos.com