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Old 10-07-2009, 08:00 PM
 
27 posts, read 65,076 times
Reputation: 17

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Hello and thanks for all I've learned from reading your posts.
We will be there the last 10 days of October to see if Sarasota is all we hope it to be Artsy, Hip, Great Food, Downtown, Beautiful Beaches, etc...
BECAUSE IF IT IS, WE'RE MOVING!
We will check out a few homes, neighborhoods, eat lots of fresh seafood, drink a little, walk on the beach, talk to potential employers...(we are both R.N.'s)

Please recommend some great casual restaurants...downtown, Siesta, Armonds...
Our Taste:
Fresh fish, Latin Fare, Indian, Organic, good breakfasts...

The best Kayak tour Company?

Could you complete this sentence...
If you are coming to check out Sarasota you must _________________ while you are here.
Thanks so much...

Last edited by gringosid; 10-07-2009 at 08:15 PM.. Reason: BOLDING THE TITLE
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Old 10-07-2009, 08:34 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,922,074 times
Reputation: 2879
Quote:
Originally Posted by gringosid View Post
Hello and thanks for all I've learned from reading your posts.
We will be there the last 10 days of October to see if Sarasota is all we hope it to be Artsy, Hip, Great Food, Downtown, Beautiful Beaches, etc...
BECAUSE IF IT IS, WE'RE MOVING!
We will check out a few homes, neighborhoods, eat lots of fresh seafood, drink a little, walk on the beach, talk to potential employers...(we are both R.N.'s)

Please recommend some great casual restaurants...downtown, Siesta, Armonds...
Our Taste:
Fresh fish, Latin Fare, Indian, Organic, good breakfasts...

The best Kayak tour Company?

Could you complete this sentence...
If you are coming to check out Sarasota you must _________________ while you are here.
Thanks so much...
For fresh fish you have to go to Capt. Brian's right next to the Sarasota airport. The atmosphere isn't fantastic but the fish is great. If you wanted to venture a little father south you should try the Casey Key Fish House in Osprey. For Indian try Tandoor off Clark Rd. A friend of mine owns the restaurant.

The Columbia on St Armand's has pretty good food.

C'est La Vie on Main St is a good place to stop in for a danish or pastry.

I've heard BH mention Blasé on Siesta a few times. I've never been there but he claims it's good.

If you're looking for a great home cooked Amish meal and wonderful pies stop into Yoder's on Bahia Vista Blvd.

DaRuMa Japanese Restaurant over on Fruitville Rd has really great tempura.

I always stop into Whole Foods for lunch when I'm up that way. They will do for your organic fix.

I loved 5one6 and the Canvas Café but I heard rumor they both closed down. Maybe someone can verify this.

Citrus Café over on Pineapple Ave off Main St is a good place to stop in for a sandwich.

The Bijou Café on 1st St is always a really safe bet and an excellent place to eat.

The Old Packing House Café off of Cattleman has a really quirky, unusual atmosphere and good food.

I've heard good things about Broken Eggs out on Siesta and First Watch on Main St downtown for breakfast but I'm usually not up that way and the morning and I don't really like breakfast food so I can't really comment on them.

OK, I'm outta ideas.

If you are coming to check out Sarasota you must __come to Sarasota a few days earlier so you can go to our meet up_______________ while you are here.

My must see list:
Babcock Wilderness Adventures Florida - Cypress Lodge - Crescent B Ranch
Swamp Buggy Races, Naples Florida
Boca Grande Historical Society & Museum
Welcome to Historic Spanish Point
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Mote Marine Laboratory - Mote Marine Laboratory
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at Sarasota Bay, near Bradenton and a few miles from Tampa,Florida
Sarasota Jungle Gardens » Welcome to Sarasota Jungle Gardens!
http://www.solomonscastle.org/
South Florida Museum > Home

Not sure about the kayak question up that way.
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Old 10-08-2009, 07:03 AM
 
17,535 posts, read 39,131,539 times
Reputation: 24289
SoFLGal, as always has given a great list! The problem here is that there are way TOO MANY great places to eat!

For breakfast, two great places downtown are Station 400 (great quality, local food!) and C'est la Vie - (delicious quality, authenitic French) and many great bakeries downtown. There is also an organic place on Siesta, I have never been, think it's called the Sun Garden.

We have all kinds of Latin food here, from Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, Colombian etc. - what do you like? Columbia on St. Armand's is a classic for good Spanish/Cuban food. One of our Mexican restaurants called Mi Pueblo on Univeristy Parkway now offers a separate organic/vegan menu. Also good Mexican downtown Main St - Cinco de Mayo. Best Thai place is Bangkok, and we have lots of other Asian/sushi etc. places.

Fresh fish - plenty of places, we just ate at a fabulous little place on Anna Maria Island called the Waterfront - freshest fish I ever tasted and very "foodie." Captain Brian's does indeed have delicious fresh fish, but the place and location have no ambiance.

Kayak Tours:

Kayak Tours in Sarasota and Bradenton FL - Almost Heaven Kayak Adventures

Sarasota Bay Explorers Nature Tours & Cruises | Guided Kayak Tours

Artsy areas - check out Towles Court artist colony, just south of downtown, and Burns Court, Laurel Park areas. Definitely check out the Ringling Museum area, there are three colleges on the north trail including Ringling College of Art and Design. There is a kayak place on North Trail, also. Selby Gardens is also nice to see, and you may want to stop in for a beer or beverage at the O'Leary's Tiki at Bayfront park after. Definitely thoroughly explore downtown and St. Armand's Circle/Lido Beach. I would definitely get up to Anna Maria Island, you will love it, honestly it's a must, IMO. Lots of fun places to eat there, too, and gorgesous beaches.

Honestly, there is so much to do and see in this whole area I can't even name them all. If you get up to Bradenton and Anna Maria there are a whole slew of neat waterfront restaurants to eat at, you just can't beat the ambiance. There is an artist colony in Bradenton also, called Village of the Arts.

If you are looking for a home, be sure to check out what is available in my neighborhood, Whitfield Estates. We are smack dab between Sarasota and Bradenton, so can enjoy both towns. But mostly you mentioned kayaks, and we have access points to the bay (this is a bayfront neighborhood) for anyone who lives here to launch a kayak or canoe. It is a beautiful, artsy, eclectic neighborhood. It is near the airport, but none of us find the airport to be a problem at all. My neighbors are both therapists, one works at hospital in Sarasota, one works in Bradenton, so the neighborhood is ideal in location.

Hope you have a great time, I know you will, you will just love this area. Hopefully our weather will be better by then, we are having an uncharacteristic heat spell due to a high pressure system, but hopefully it will be gone by then.

Have fun!
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Old 10-10-2009, 04:52 AM
 
175 posts, read 543,978 times
Reputation: 69
As newcomers to Sarasota we can't provide a huge list, but a couple of places not mentioned that we really like and find ourselves going back to:

Pacific Rim in Hillview: martinis and excellent sushi. 'Nuff said.

Crab and Fin on St Armand Circle, pricey but great seafood. Eat dinner outside, then stroll around the circle for an ice-cream and walk down to the beach with it. Awesome!

By the way, we went to Towles Court artist colony at the end of September and found that most of it (galleries and restaurant) is closed until the season starts again, so if you're visiting soon you may not see much there.

If I were going to do just one thing while in Sarasota, it would be to go to Siesta Beach at around 6:30 pm with my sweetie and a nice bottle of wine and watch the sunset.
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Old 10-10-2009, 05:40 AM
 
385 posts, read 1,159,420 times
Reputation: 115
Canvas Cafe is closed but an Indian restaurant has opened in it's place. You will be here for stone crab season, make sure you get your fix!
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Old 10-10-2009, 04:53 PM
 
27 posts, read 65,076 times
Reputation: 17
THANKS! and yes...since we will be staying on Siesta Key a glass of wine and the sunset will happen.
There is a great seafood restaurant in Jupiter called The Food Shack if any on you ever get to the other coast. We ate there years ago. They give yo9u a choice of the fresh catchs of the day and the choice of how you want it encrusted. We remember it well. We had Hog fish encrusted in a breaded butternut squash or sweet potatoe coating. The filet was hanging off the plate on top of a big fresh salad.....basil tuna rills....DESERT was Fresh rasberry key lime pie. OH MY it was so good we think about driving over while we are there. We go to extreme lenghts for top quality fresh food.

I have a problem with a 16 inch diameter dish with a cute little artsy entree in the middle 3 inches that is gone in 4 bites and cost 30 bucks.
We wont go out to eat for every meal. We'll stock up at Whole Foods and eat on the beach alot but when we do go out we want good fresh food even if the atmosphere is funky. Some times funky atmosphere equals fun. We have a restaurant bar here called the admiral that appears to be a real dive but has a super menu and fabulous chef. I recently had a Kobe beef burger there. Best burger ever! 10 dollars.
Keep those ideas and recommendations coming. THANKS and sorry we wont be there for the meet up...Join us for a meal while we are there!
gringosid
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Old 10-12-2009, 01:46 AM
 
175 posts, read 543,978 times
Reputation: 69
For really fresh fish in a funky atmosphere right on the water try Casey Key Fish House. Very casual, very economical, nice people, great fish. There's also a tiki bar right there. Just watch out for the birds!
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