10 best restaurants to visit before tourist season starts in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice
The snowbirds are coming, and tourists too! They'll soon be filling up our favorite restaurants from Punta Gorda and Venice to downtown Sarasota and downtown Bradenton, to Siesta Key and Anna Maria Island.
Sure, you can make reservations at many of the region's most popular restaurants in Sarasota-Manatee. However, if you're someone like me who relishes the freedom of spontaneously walking in for a meal or prefers dining without the often overwhelming crowds, you'd better act quickly.
Here are my picks for the top 10 restaurants to visit right now, before the snowbird and tourist season ramps up in November and then surges from January through March, leaving all of these places packed for basically months straight. You should find something for just about every taste, including seafood spots serving Florida stone crab, which just became available again on Sunday (Oct. 15).
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Blue Marlin
121 Bridge St., Bradenton Beach; 941-896-9737; bluemarlinami.com
So popular that reservations are required for Friday and Saturday nights throughout the entire year, Blue Marlin on Anna Maria Island serves fresh seafood straight from the docks of the nearby Cortez commercial fishing village. You can dine either inside the 1920s cottage or outside in the Trapyard, which now features tables covered by a brand new awning and typically hosts live music on Fridays and Saturdays.
Must-try dishes include the signature stone crab specials they typically serve, the clams steamed in white wine and garlic butter, the grouper sandwich featuring the fish fillet egg-washed "Fulford" style, and the grouper entrée coated with a crushed pretzel and pecan crust, finished with honey butter. Not in the mood for seafood? Blue Marlin also serves one of Sarasota-Manatee's best burgers.
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Columbia Restaurant
411 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota; 941-388-3987; columbiarestaurant.com
Not even 11 inches of flood water from Hurricane Idalia could shut down Columbia, the wildly popular St. Armands Circle landmark that also happens to be Sarasota's oldest full-service restaurant. The restaurant's famed Cuban sandwich, as well as their Original "1905" Salad, are among the most essential dishes in Florida, while their tapas classics include the Ybor City Devil Crab Croquettes.
The ropa vieja, featuring choice beef that is shredded, sautéed, and simmered with onions, green peppers, and tomatoes, is among Columbia's most beloved entrees. Be sure to save room for dessert, as Columbia's white chocolate bread pudding, made with the same authentic Cuban bread used for the sandwiches, is worth every single decadent calorie. Finally, Columbia is also an exceptional seafood restaurant, offering various dishes including personal favorites like the Scallops "Casimiro," Snapper "Adelita," and fresh stone crab.
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Dockside Waterfront Grill and Dry Dock Waterfront Grill
509 N. Tamiami Trail, Venice; docksidewaterfrontgrill.com and 412 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key; drydockwaterfrontgrill.com
Forced to choose my two favorite waterfront restaurants in Sarasota County, I would go with Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key and Dockside Waterfront Grill in Venice. Dry Dock places you right on Sarasota Bay with outdoor as well as elevated indoor seating, while Dockside overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway by the island of Venice in a more casual setting that features an open-air tiki bar area. Both restaurants are part of the locally owned Gecko's Hospitality Group and offer similar menus.
Favorite dishes include the grouper bites with sweet chili sauce, scallops wrapped in crispy bacon strips, and the citrus grouper entrée, which was a highlight of my visit last month to Dockside. I was served a plump grouper fillet, lightly breaded and sautéed, accompanied by their house-made citrus cream sauce that evokes memories of Key lime pie. I savored every single bite of that sweet and savory, citrus-infused piece of fresh grouper.
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Mattison's City Grille and Riverwalk Grille
1 N. Lemon Ave., Sarasota and 101 Riverfront Blvd., Bradenton; mattisons.com
While the covered open-air dining room and bar may be a drawback during the dead of summer, the settings of Mattison's Grilles in downtown Sarasota and along the Bradenton Riverwalk are ideal during the cooler months when each restaurant hosts live music most evenings. Even better than the great locations, though, is the food at both places, overseen by chef and owner Paul Mattison.
Must-try dishes at Mattison's include the crispy fried artichoke appetizer, the pork ribeye, the burger, and fried chicken sandwich that are both among the best in town, as well as the newly added bowls. I'm particularly fond of the "fiesta" bowl, which you'll want topped with blackened chicken. Additionally, the brick oven pizzas are always a fun option, with my current favorite probably being the sausage and mushroom. Mattison's also boasts the more upscale Forty-One restaurant located at 7275 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.
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O’Bricks Irish Pub & Martini Bar
427 Old Main St., Bradenton; 941-896-8860; obricks.com
While you can make reservations for O’Bricks' two dining rooms, tables at the popular patio dining overlooking downtown Bradenton's Old Main Street are first-come, first-served. In addition to an impressive beer, wine, and martini menu, as well as happy hour deals, food favorites include appetizers such as co-owner Mike Carter's signature grilled whole wings, and the stuffed hot banana peppers.
The burger, chicken sandwich, and "Twisted Cuban" are all delicious handheld options, while for hearty entrees, I'm a big fan of their shepherd's pie made with seasoned ground beef and lamb. O'Bricks also serves standout seafood dishes, including fresh Gulf grouper, Atlantic salmon hand-filleted in-house, and pan-seared scallops finished with chorizo corn salsa.
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The Old Salty Dog
1601 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota; 941-388-4311; theoldsaltydog.com/city-island
Recently named one of the "15 Best Seafood Dives in Florida" by Southern Living magazine, The Old Salty Dog overlooks New Pass Inlet on City Island, just a short walk from the popular attractions Mote Marine and Save Our Seabirds.
While The Old Salty Dog is probably most famous for its signature hot dog, made by another Sarasota institution, Geier’s Sausage Kitchen, and then deep fried, they also serve delicious seafood. For instance, the blackened grouper sandwich I had earlier this month featured a freshly filleted, thick cut of fish, expertly seasoned. Paired with an order of bite-sized chunks of deep fried hot dogs ("Dog Bites") served with a mustard aioli, I was happy as a warm puppy.
The Old Salty Dog's original location is in Siesta Key Village and the local owners also operate a waterfront Old Salty Dog on the island of Venice. You will want to visit these two spots, as well, before the snowbirds and tourists arrive.
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Owen's Fish Camp
516 Burns Court, Sarasota, and 6516 University Parkway, Lakewood Ranch; owensfishcamp.com
Building on the success of their family's namesake Italian restaurant, the Caragiulo brothers opened the Old Florida seafood spot, Owen's Fish Camp, in 2010, and as I've noted before, there has basically been a line outside the door ever since. The popularity of the original Owen's in downtown Sarasota's Burns Court district should not be diminished by the opening earlier this year of the second Owen's, located east of Interstate 75 in Lakewood Ranch. Something to keep in mind when visiting, especially since neither of the Owen's restaurants accepts reservations.
Both Owen's restaurants offer similar menus with a focus on locally sourced seafood. The menu features daily fresh catches of 'naked fish,' such as grouper or red snapper, prepared through wood grilling, searing, blackening, or butter baking. Additionally, both locations serve signature dishes like the low country boil, which includes snow crab legs, shrimp, mussels, clams, andouille sausage, potatoes, and corn. Southern comfort food is another staple found on both menus, featuring items such as shrimp and grits, deviled eggs with "redneck caviar" (mustard seeds), and a fried green tomato salad expertly complemented by country ham crisps.
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Star Fish Company
12306 46th Ave. W., Cortez; 941-794-1243; starfishcompany.com
Also listed among Southern Living's "15 Best Seafood Dives" in the state, Star Fish is the quintessential Old Florida seafood restaurant. Located in the commercial fishing village of Cortez on north Sarasota Bay, Star Fish places diners at wooden picnic tables overlooking the docks. Here, you can watch commercial fishing boats return to A.P. Bell Seafood Distributor next door with fresh catches that will soon be served at Star Fish. Established in 1940, A.P. Bell supplies fresh seafood to Star Fish and various other local, as well as international, restaurants and businesses. It's run by Karen Bell, who opened Star Fish in the '90s and is also the co-owner of nearby Tide Tables, which is also on this list.
Star Fish is about as casual as you can get: all open-air, dockside seating, cash only, order at the counter, and then, perhaps 30 or even 90 minutes later (or as I like to say, "one or three beers later"), a runner calls your name and hands you a cardboard box containing your food. Star Fish excels at so many things, but if I were to give recommendations, I would order The Cortez Special with blackened grouper, sautéed scallops, and cheese grits. It comes with their homemade coleslaw and habit-forming hush puppies. My all-time favorite Star Fish dish, though, is their blackened mullet. Cortez has been called "the town that mullet built," and I have yet to find a restaurant anywhere that cooks and prepares that gloriously fatty fish, plucked from local waters, better than the folks at Star Fish.
Finally, Star Fish serves stone crabs and, if you're lucky, they will be offering their stone crab chowder when you visit. It's the best bowl of soup around and currently priced under $10.
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Tide Tables
12507 Cortez Road, Cortez; 941-567-6206; tidetablescortez.com
I'm kind of obsessed with finding restaurants that serve fresh grouper, and perhaps no one in Florida consistently does a better job of this than Tide Tables, which is owned and operated by three beloved locals: Bobby and Gwen Woodson and Karen Bell. They cut their fish right on its Cortez dock on the Intracoastal Waterway, overlooking Anna Maria Island, and use it for delicious dishes such as their recent Thai chili grouper bites and blackened grouper sandwich. I enjoyed these ahead of a spectacular sunset earlier this month while sipping an ice-cold bottle of beer and watching a couple of frolicking dolphins. Yeah, there's good reason why Tide Tables stays crowded year-round, with its picnic tables and bar stools becoming coveted, worth their weight in precious metals during tourist season.
In addition to any and all grouper dishes you see on the menu or specials board, also be sure to consider an order of Tide Tables' famous fish tacos. Blackened fillets of mahi-mahi are served in soft flour tortillas with melted cheddar jack cheese and their show-stopping sesame ginger sauce, making them the best fish tacos you will likely find anywhere. I also love Tide Tables' large sea scallops, which I typically order grilled, but on my most recent visit, I had blackened. The salty seasoning served as a perfect counterpoint to the mollusk's innate sweetness.
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Walt's Fish Market Restaurant & Tiki Bar
4144 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-921-4605; waltsfishmarketrestaurant.com
A Sarasota institution that has been family owned and operated for more than a century, Walt's is a seafood market and restaurant that lives by the saying: "The fish we sell today, slept in the Gulf last night." And that motto keeps the restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seating as well as a tiki bar, filled throughout the year, and especially during the upcoming winter months.
Each feast at Walt's begins with a complimentary serving of their smoked fish dip made in-house with mullet and mahi-mahi. Next, you might as well splurge for an order of fresh stone crab. For entrees, Walt's has served me some of the best red snapper — which I take flame-broiled with a side of lemon cream for occasional dipping — of my life, but earlier this month it was one of their sandwiches that impressed me the most. Yes, the hilariously named Square Grouper Sandwich features the plump fillet of fish cooked to your liking (I prefer mine blackened) and served on ciabatta bread with lettuce, tomato, crispy onions, and Key lime tartar sauce for the win.
Looking for another way to enjoy fresh grouper? Try the lightly panko-fried Firecracker Grouper Bites that were indeed fire when I inhaled way more than my share the other night.
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Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.??????
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Best restaurants to visit before tourist season starts in Sarasota
