Six Great Restaurants for Your Visit to Sarasota-Bradenton
Sarasota / Bradenton is one of our favorite destinations. There is so much to see and do locally, and it is a great location to venture out to other parts of Florida during your stay. The food scene in this metro area of about 760,000 is vibrant, and offers something for everyone.
Sarasota Bradenton Restaurants
Situated just south of Tampa / St. Pete on the Gulf of Mexico, you would naturally expect a lot of seafood options on the menu. The area doesn’t disappoint with seafood and more to choose. Here are our top six Sarasota restaurants that are must have stops when we visit.
Old Salty Dog
Our first stop when we hit town is The Old Salty Dog. It is our traditional kick off location for our vacation. They now have three locations; on Siesta Key, on Venice Island and our favorite location, City Island. The City Island is the original, located on Sarasota Bay very near the Mote Marine Aquarium. The Salty Dog has been featured on the TV show Man Vs. Food, and for good reason. They have some amazing hot dogs, including the fully loaded Salty Dog. If that is too much for you, the old fashioned hot dog served up here is top notch. We come for the peel and eat shrimp, and one of the best grouper sandwiches you’ll find.
They serve up the grouper multiple ways, including the traditional deep fried. Our preference is to have it as a sandwich heavily blackened, with all the fixings. The Old Salty Dog has the look and feel of the basic beach bar you dream about every winter, but they take their food seriously. The City Island location also offers a unique take on brunch for you to sample on the weekends. Also worth noting is the view. Most of their seating is outdoors, and provide the perfect setting for your vacation with great views of Sarasota Bay and the bridge.
Just up the road from The Salty Dog is the shopping area known as St. Armand’s Circle. This destination is a great place to visit for shopping, and then when you’re ready for a break make plans to eat at Venezia. Located right on the circle, Venezia offers indoor and outdoor seating with outstanding Italian cuisine. The menu has delicious options for you to choose with large portions. Their Greek salads are a great way to start off your experience. For your main entree, you have some awesome selections. Our favorites include to die for selections like chicken parmigiana, the penne quattro formaggi and the angel hair pasta with the creamy vodka sauce. They also do pizza right in their wood fire oven, if that is what you’re looking for at lunch or dinner. Venezia also have a full bar, with a very good selection of wine to choose.
Ugly Grouper
Near by on Anna Maria Island you’ll find a great selection of beach bars to choose for a cold drink or a quick bite. One of our favorites is the Ugly Grouper, home to some of the best fish tacos you’ll ever bit into.
The UG has a great selection of specialty drinks, perfect for your vacation. Might we recommend the Dragonberry Lemonade or the Coastal Colada. What to order is a tough choice, trying to figure out whether to order the fish tacos or their version of a grouper sandwich. Grouper is their namesake, and they offer it up served a variety of ways. Ugly Grouper is a popular destination on Anna Maria Island, offering live music throughout the week.
Owen’s Fish Camp
It’s time to venture off island, and head into town. You’ll want to make a stop at Owen’s Fish Camp. Their original location is located just south of downtown, and they have recently opened a new location in Lakewood Ranch. Owen’s Fish Camp offers a throwback approach to remind your of Florida from years gone by. The original location offers a front porch and a backyard that you can gather in while you wait for your table. In the backyard, you’ll find a fire pit where they might be cooking shrimp or other treats for you to savor. Once you’re seated, you will get choices for fresh seafood and great hospitality.
The menu changes, depending on what seafood is in season. We’ve enjoyed some rare selections, including Wahoo which isn’t something you see on many menus. Save room for dessert as they provide some delicious options to cap off your meal. Note, while every restaurant will see a large influx of people each winter who escape the north’s snow, Owen’s Fish Camp downtown location can have a long wait. Typically when we visit, we try to get their close to when they open and just plan on an early dinner that night. Also worth noting, finding a parking spot nearby can be a challenge. The local authorities also like to ticket illegally parked cars, so it is worth finding a spot.
The Columbia
Back on St. Armand’s Circle, you’ll find a location of Florida’s oldest restaurant – The Columbia. Around since 1905, the Columbia offers a variety of selections with influences from Spain, Cuba, the Caribbean and more. Sandwiches, tapas and full entrees await your appetite. One favorite is El Combo de Cuba which provides you a chance to sample a variety of Cuban foods beyond the sandwich. But if you want a great Cuban sandwich, The Columbia has that too. While we normally base a restaurant on its main offerings, in this case it is the salad. The now famous 1905 salad is one of the best salads you’ll ever experience. This legendary salad is tossed tableside and features crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese, Worcestershire sauce and their famous garlic dressing. You’ll want to try the salad during your visit, and then do like we did and find the recipe online to make it yourself once you’re back home from vacation.
Mar Vista Dockside
Finally, for us a visit to the Sarasota / Bradenton area wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Mar Vista. Mar Vista Dockside is located on Long Boat Key, and they take ‘dockside’ seriously, with dining offered on their private beach area right up to the water and under the canopy of a banyan tree, making them one of the best waterfront restaurants in Sarasota. They have 14 slips on the dock, so you can arrive for dinner by land or by sea (actually the bay). Main entrees range from seafood to steaks and burgers. More than about any other restaurant in the area, Mar Vista and their sister restaurants focus on locally sourced food. We’ve even been their when one of their fishing boat captains was there for dinner, so we can attest that everything is fresh. Our favorite on the menu is their appetizer beer and Old Bay shrimp. This delicious beginning for your meal includes a half pound of Gulf shrimp poached in beer, Old Bay, garlic butter, and grilled bread. Order extra bread to help soak up that delicious mix of Old Bay garlic butter and beer. Delicious!
While we picked to shared what we think are the six best Sarasota restaurants, reality is we could have easily doubled the list size and still have amazing food for you to sample. We’ll be back there again soon, and will continue to explore this rich culinary region of Florida.
Have you been to the Sarasota / Bradenton area, and have a spot for us try? Let us know. And if you’ve been to one of these tasty destinations, please let us know that, and we can compare notes. Planning a trip and looking for unique, historic, and delicious places to try? Check out our restaurant recommendations.
