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The landscape on State Road 64 East is changing quickly.
Included are two popular restaurant chains that are moving into the Market Place at Heritage Harbour.
“I can formally announce that we signed two leases with the Darden Restaurant Group. One of them is for Longhorn Steakhouse, and the other is for Seasons 52,” said Joe Morris, the senior vice president of leasing and acquisition for M&M Realty Partners. “We feel that they should be open on or about this time next year.”
Two fast food restaurants are setting up shop on S.R. 64, too. A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is already under construction, and a Wendy’s is on its way.
“We’re buying the land next week and will start site work in December,” the managing director of Southeast Development for Casto, Michael Chadwick, said regarding the Wendy’s.
Wendy’s is planned for the intersection at White Eagle Boulevard. The Popeyes is at the intersection at 118th Lane East. Next to it is an AutoZone that’s also under construction.
The list of sports-themed restaurants to choose from in Sarasota and Manatee counties has expanded. A national chain founded and headquartered in Florida recently opened its second location in the area.
On Monday, Nov. 13, Miller's Ale House began welcoming guests at 7175 State Road 64 E., in the Heritage Harbour master-planned community of East Bradenton.
The 7,000-square-foot restaurant features Miller’s latest restaurant design, offering indoor and outdoor seating for more than 200 guests, over 60 televisions, and a Florida room with garage-style exterior walls that can be raised, weather permitting.
Years ago, Miller's Ale House operated a location in West Bradenton on Cortez Road. The sports-themed casual dining restaurant and bar currently has a Sarasota location by Bee Ridge and Cattlemen roads at 3800 Kenny Drive. Miller's debuted in Jupiter in 1988, maintains its headquarters in Orlando, and now has more than 100 locations across 10 states.
Miller's is probably best known for its Zingers, which are described as "buttermilk-drenched, hand-breaded, fresh-never-frozen boneless chicken tenders, tossed in a choice of 17 sauces for a wing-style taste." Another popular dish is the Mountain Melt, which finds the Zingers tossed in your choice of sauce, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, applewood-smoked bacon and scallions on a mountain of fries.
Michael Kemsley, the owner of Forked at Waterside, equates turning a breakfast eatery into a nightclub to Clark Kent turning into Superman.
“You’ve got Clark Kent in the morning, and at nighttime, he puts his cape on and turns into Superman. That’s what we do,” Kemsley said. “After it’s all said and done, we get the team back the next morning. They bring the tables and chairs back in, clean the whole place and get it set up to serve breakfast.”
Forked at Waterside is set to be a hotspot for entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. Kemsley has musicians and DJs booked through the end of the year.
“You never want to steer away from your true identity, and Forked’s true identity is breakfast, brunch and cocktails, but I do know that Waterside needs something like this and I’m giving it a trial shot,” Kemsley said. “The first night, with our Halloween party, was amazing. It was a packed house and a lot of great feedback.”
Forked at Night opens at 7 p.m. with live music on Friday nights and a DJ on Saturday nights. The lighting changes at night to help the mood go from breakfast to bar.
While Forked at Night is heavily cocktail focused and also offers bottle service, the menu features light bar bites like the “Polo Club” and “Siesta Key Salad.” To keep with the true identity of Forked, “Buried Treasure French Toast” is also on the menu.
If You Go
Forked at Night. 7600 Island Cove Terrace, Suite 100. Open 7 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Fridays feature live music, and Saturdays feature a DJ. Visit: http://ForkedEats.com
The secret behind Albert Myara’s success isn’t so secret: It's hard work
As Lakewood Ranch has grown over the last two decades, Albert Myara has had his fingerprints on many business deals, both in real estate and restaurants.
“I worked my butt off,” says Myara, who early in October was standing in front of a building under construction on Upper Manatee River Road that will become his second Ed’s Tavern. The opening is expected to be in December.
Ed’s Tavern is a favorite watering hole for Ranchers.
As Lakewood Ranch has grown over the last two decades, Myara has had his fingerprints on many business deals, both in real estate and restaurants. Currently, besides the two Ed’s Taverns, he is part owner of McGrath’s Irish Ale House at Main Street at Lakewood Ranch and two other restaurants in Nokomis and Venice.
“His greatest quality, bar none, is that he is such a diehard family man,” says Bob Bender, who is Myara’s partner in the original Ed’s Tavern and will be a partner with him in the new Ed’s Tavern venture along with Myara’s son, Adam. “His family is his world, and he will do anything to encourage them and to help and to guide them.”
Myara bought his first restaurant, the Old World Cheese Shop in Longboat Key in the mid-1980s. The restaurant failed, however, because he said development plans to make that area “The Avenue of the Flowers,” never materialized.
“You learn from your mistakes,” he says. “Anyone who doesn’t fail hasn’t done anything.”
In the mid-to-late-1980s, Myara worked with chain owner John Christen opening Shells Seafood restaurants. He bought two of the locations and not long afterward cashed out.
It was in the late 1990s when he went to work for John Swart, who was president of Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty. At that time, he bought a house in River Walk Meadows.
“I fell in love (with Lakewood Ranch),” he says. “The people here were nice people, including John Swart and (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch CEO and President) Rex Jensen.”
Myara went back into the restaurant business in 2008. He was trying to buy the Crow’s Nest restaurant in Venice in 2008 but ended up with Bogey’s Sports Pub in Venice instead. He still has that one.
Two years after he bought Bogey’s, he opened a second Bogey’s location in East County, in Creekwood Crossing. He had that restaurant, which is now The Parrot, for 10 years.
Next was the original Ed’s Tavern venture with Bender.
Last edited by wondermint2; 11-15-2023 at 11:38 AM..
Michelle’s Brown Bag Cafe, currently located at 1819 Main Street in Sarasota, is relocating to Burns Court in February, the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post.
The restaurant will be moving into new digs at 630 Orange Ave., the former home of Fresh Start Cafe, according to Restaurants in Sarasota.
"There are many excellent restaurants in Sarasota.
I've shared my top recommendations for downtown and waterfront destinations this year, and covered everything from best places for pizza and burgers to stone crab claws and Cuban sandwiches. A few weeks ago, I provided a list of Sarasota restaurants to visit before the beginning of snowbird and tourist season.
Typically, these lists feature 10 or more restaurants. However, today, I'm focusing on only three. Each restaurant started right here in Sarasota or Manatee before expanding with locations beyond our two-county region. All three places serve the kind of delicious comfort foods that everyone's favorite part-time Florida resident, Guy Fieri, would adore, and at very reasonable prices, making them appealing to folks like myself who love watching "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."
In the near future, don't be surprised to find these popular local restaurants, three of the best in Sarasota-Manatee, scattered across Florida proudly representing us. Presented in chronological order from the year they opened, here are the three restaurants, along with my thoughts on what makes each of them great, as well as information on their respective plans for expansion across the Sunshine State."
Two days after a much-anticipated opening, a New York-style and Jewish deli in Sarasota has temporarily closed, citing staffing shortages and issues.
The restaurant, The Original Wolfie's and Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House, issued a statement early Saturday afternoon on the temporary shutdown.
“We have decided to temporarily close our doors in order to welcome more dedicated and passionate staff into our Wolfie's and Rascal House family,” the statement reads. “Our aim is to ensure that every visit is as iconic and seamless as the first.”
A spokesperson for the restaurant told the Business Observer, sister publication of YourObserver.com, on Saturday afternoon that no reopening date has been set. The spokesperson says the first two days of the restaurant, Thursday and Friday, were packed, with waiting lists and lines 30 people deep at some points.
The Original Wolfie’s Deli and its nighttime sister concept, Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House, are at 1420 Boulevard of the Arts in the Rosemary District, just north of downtown Sarasota. The restaurateur and chef behind the concepts is Sol Shenker, who garnered a devoted following in Sarasota for his New York deli-style food at several different eateries. Shenker has been living in Colorado, where his wife has been attending veterinary school. Shenker previously operated Sol’s NYC Delicatessen in a former Applebee’s in Main Plaza in downtown Sarasota, among other restaurants.
Sarasota deli that shuttered two days after its debut reopens
The Original Wolfie’s & Rascal in Sarasota, a New York-style and Jewish deli that opened to big fanfare Nov. 2 only to temporarily close two days later due to staffing shortages, has reopened with limited hours.
The reopening, first reported Thursday by the Restaurants in Sarasota Facebook page, was confirmed by an Original Wolfie’s spokesperson Friday morning. The hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and plans are to expand the hours as more staff comes on board and is trained. The spokesperson says no other information was available on the reopening, including a full reopening date.
There is a column on Newsbreak written by a Debora Sailor that has many reviews of Sarasota/Bradenton area restaurants not mentioned in the mainstream local newspapers.
Recently she reviews about several restaurants per day. These reviews are informative but not really as professional as reviews on the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Sometimes you even need to google these restaurants she mentions to find the address. But she usually mentions several items from their menu which is helpful.
IMO it's useful for finding out about more restaurants. I don't have time to individually post each of her reviews - so I'm posting her link on Newsbreak where you can have access to all of her reviews:
Bistro, the restaurant at Sarasota Art Museum, has been quietly rolling out an evening series of pop-up dinners inspired by the museum’s rotating exhibits. For $130, guests are invited on an hour-long private tour, often hosted by executive director Virginia Shearer, to dive deep into the works of a featured artist before dining on chef Kaytlin Dangaran’s four-course interpretation of the art through food.
“I spend a lot of time researching: looking at the artist’s mission, the materials they use, why they use them and what their story is,” Dangaran says. “It’s in reverence to the art, so I need to know the whole story before I write my menu. And the artists are so appreciative. There are so many different aspects to modern contemporary art, and taking that time to learn is important.”
At a recent pop-up, artist Juana Valdés and her exhibit Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories were the inspiration for the evening. Valdés’ ceramic rags were reinterpreted for one plate in which red snapper was “draped” with a crisp, cracker-like topping that had been molded like the ceramic rags upstairs. While this was a literal translation of the art, other facets of the menu were more subtle.
“For Juana, the use of color was definitely influential,” says Dangaran. “But depending on the artist, I can be influenced by textures, styles and mediums. I try to pull little pieces from the art and bring them into the food to build a cohesive story.”
Bistro’s pop-up dinners and corresponding tours, which start at 5:30 p.m., are scheduled for the first Wednesday of the month through May 2024, although there will be no pop-up dinner in the month of December. Each dinner and tour will showcase a different artist, as Sarasota Art Museum’s exhibits continuously cycle.
Bistro at Sarasota Art Museum is located at 1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For more information call (941) 330-9881 or click here:
C’est La Vie, with its cozy, inviting atmosphere, is one of Sarasota’s favorite French restaurants. Owners Christophe and Geraldine Coutelle founded C’est La Vie in 1997, bringing delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner options to the community. While many patrons frequent the establishment for morning and mid-day eats, Christophe encourages everyone to sample its dinner offerings.
The dinner menu changes based on the season, but C’est La Vie features certain staple dishes year round, like the lamb tajine with prune and apricot. “Tajine is a traditional North African dish,” he adds. The name tajine refers to the clay pot used to cook and serve the meal which features a lamb stew with honey sauce, apricot and prune served with couscous.
In order to prepare large portions of the tajine, C’est La Vie uses larger vessels, but still serves the dish to customers in the special clay pot for an authentic touch.
Other classic dishes include the sole, a mild, flounder-like fish accompanied by roasted vegetables and a lemon sauce. “Sole isn’t a strong-tasting fish. The meat is very tender and soft, and I think that’s what makes it popular here in America because some people don’t really like fishy fish,” Christophe says. “Sometimes when we try fish that are really strong in taste, they don’t sell well.”
He also recommends several appitizers, like the French onion soup, escargots, fois gras and a watermelon and feta salad with scallions and mint. The warm brie, which is melted on toasted bread with honey, tomato confit, rosemary and walnut is also a good option, as is the charcuterie board.
If guests have room for dessert, Christophe suggests they try the crepe suzette, profiteroles or creme brulee.
To complement the staple menu items, C’est La Vie will unveil new, seasonal dishes, like stews, in December, just in time for the winter months. With iconic favorites and exciting offerings to come, this French restaurant has something tasty for everyone.
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