Off-Topic Sarasota Beaches

SWFLHurricane

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@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen .....hope this vicinity Map helps put perspective on the area...Enjoy the trip...Beaches and eateries are Top notch..."If" you have the time...visit St Armands Square and/or, Mote Marine Institute...(Was gonna PM you with this Pic...but can't on PMs)
84.jpg
 
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you know I had a cousin that lived down there and it was such a fun time for me as a 7 year old going down there. She had like 30 or 40 tangerine tree's in her yard,

siesta key is beyond words, I love jacksonville but if I have a choice to retire one day the only thing I'd be half worried about is it seems every single hurricane at the very least nips that area.
 
you know I had a cousin that lived down there and it was such a fun time for me as a 7 year old going down there. She had like 30 or 40 tangerine tree's in her yard,

siesta key is beyond words, I love jacksonville but if I have a choice to retire one day the only thing I'd be half worried about is it seems every single hurricane at the very least nips that area.
One of my best friends has a Gorgeous home on Siesta Key (two of his neighbors are Angus Young & Brian Johnson of ACDC)...I grew up an hr away....spent many days in Sarasota...always has been a favorite of mine...
 
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And agree on the beaches, Lido and Siesta are easiest to access but all of Sarasota is pricey. Longboat Key is also great but very few "public" beaches, and again, pricey. Anna maria island/Bradenton/Cortez are all a little more laid back.
 
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What does anyone want to know about Sarasota? I live here now and i have lived here for over 30 of my 40 years on Earth.

Restaurants, entertainment, beaches, boat rentals, whatever you need to know about the area just @ me and i can answer anything you'd like!!!

@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen
 
@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen .....hope this vicinity Map helps put perspective on the area...Enjoy the trip...Beaches and eateries are Top notch..."If" you have the time...visit St Armands Square and/or, Mote Marine Institute...(Was gonna PM you with this Pic...but can't on PMs)View attachment 147687
Appreciate it man. I plan to eat, drink, and you know the rest of the saying. Seems like a badass place I can update y’all in two weeks for the part of the trip I remember. I only turn 32 once. If anyone else ha suggestions or knows anything going on the weekend of June 25th-27th I am all ears.
 
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I'll be going to Siesta Key for the first time June 28 - July 2. Picked that as my summer vacation spot this year. Can't wait. Been looking up places to eat and hang out.
 
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@paksat
@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen
@stoopid311

I'll post this for everyone who will be visiting and wants to visit SRQ:

Downtown has AMAZING food and it’s mostly al local chefs and owners:
Food:
Owens fish Camp -- Small so expect a wait, but the "backyard" is an experience and really good food
Selva Grille -- Peruvian one of the best restaurants SRQ has to offer
Classico -- Redone during the pandemic and they did a good job. Good food and good drinks
Duvalls -- Seafood
Patrick’s -- Bar food, but they have great burgers
me Cali -- Viet Pho
BOCA -- Chain from TPA, but trendy little place with good food and drinks
O'Bricks -- BBQ joint down town
MADE -- Great Sunday Brunch

Entertainment/Bars:
Art Ovation Rooftop Bar "Perspective"
Any Bar along Main street -- Evies, Smoking Joes, a place righ next to Smoking Joes..
Gator Club -- older crowd, 80s band and i think they still do hip hop upstairs
Classico once you hit 10pm i think still gathers a crowd
Jewfish Key on a boat or be on a boat in general
Gulf Gate area has dive bars
Go downtown and restaurant hop until you find a place you like that's hoppin

close to Siesta Key...The gulf gate area is by South Bridge or Stickney point/Clark road. The Hillview area is closer to the North Bridge or Siesta drive. Both have very good food options. Hillview is more upscale and gulf gate is more dive but both offer options.

Gulf Gate Food and Bars:
Brine -- new place, upscale for Gulf Gate, but not out of this world expensive. You'll get the joke once you see Gulf Gate
Screaming Goat -- Craft Tacos
Rico's Pizza -- location in gulf gate and on Bay Road. Good Delivery pizza
Monks -- Oyster Bar and staple of Gulf Gate
Napule's -- Technically not in Gulf Gate, but right up the road. Redone place that is Very nice. Good food, good drinks. Make reservations
Gulf Gate is the home of more than a few Dive Bars as well. You can always find a place to drink in Gulf Gate

HIllview Area:
Pacific Rim -- Sushi place, maybe best sushi in SRQ. Good Vibe and drinks
Veronica's -- Monks is a Dive Oyster bar, Veronica's is an upscale Oyster Bar. Whole fried snapper is delish and good drinks
Libby's -- American Cuisine
Knick's -- Smaller place and the service is not great and borderline good. However their food is pretty good. Great salad and deserts are ballin
Origin Pizza -- GREAT PIZZA. Wings are pretty good too for being oven baked and craft beer
There are a few other spokes in Hillview like Geckos is a bar and there are a couple of places next to it that i have heard good things. Just haven't been.
The Yummy House -- Across the street from Hillview, but has some of the best Chinese food out there. If you're going to eat in and want Chinese this is your spot
Shakespeares -- Corner of Osprey and Siesta Drive (coming off the North Bridge back to SRQ) Some of the best burgers you will have. English pub with good beer selection

In between the gulf gate and Hillview area you will place a few local staples:
Alpine Steakhouse -- best meat in town and most restaurants by there meat from Alpine because it’s really a butcher shop at heart
walts Fish Market -- Family run fish market (5 Generations i think), tiki bar and restaurant
Darwin’s -- Peruvian Cuisine and Amazing local chef who started Selva Grille mentioned above
Da Ru Ma -- Hibachi style

Siesta Key
Summer House -- Expensive AF, but nice place with great food
Cafe Gabiano -- italian
The Pub -- Bar food
Daquari Deck -- overprice, sugar drinks, but a local staple (2 locations on the Key)
Siesta Key Oyster Bar -- Local Dive
Gilligans -- Local Dive
Beach Club -- This will be a party on Saturday night....at least i think haha

St Armands Circle:
Shore -- Great fried chicken and the place with the most energy on St Armands
Speaks Clam Bar -- Lobster Bisque "extra lobster" is the way to go
Cafe L'europe -- Italian place. Great French Onion Soup
Cha Cha Coconuts - Little dive on St Armands
Columbia -- SRQ favotire people rave about. Not my jam, but lots of people like it

Cheap entertainment
Lazy Parrot -- Like Music place @Beneva and Webber intersection. This is also close to the Amish section of town where you will find Yoders as @CarolCityHigh mentioned
O'Leary's -- City Island or Marina Jacks location. Tiki bar with a park next to it with some great water/sunset views. Live music
Walk the beaches at sunset -- Siesta/Lido
Mote Marine -- kind of a run down aquirium that is being redone as someone mentioned above, but it's always been one of the world's leading sea research places. Cool for the kids and cheap
Jungle Gardens -- Again fun little cheap entertainment place for the kids
Ringling Museum -- A little more expensive, but i think you can get on the "Grounds" without paying for the art museum piece. Amazing views of sarasota Bay and great afternoon activity
Selby Gardens -- Again a little more expensive, but great gardens area on the water
RENT A BOAT -- CBs, Siesta Key Marina, Waves boat club at Phillipi Harbor, Hidden Harbor marina or anywhere else. SRQ is on a lot of water so boating is fun around here. STAY IN THE CHANNELS or follow other boats. The water gets shallow quick. Also if you go South in the channel you'll come to Pops and Blackburn point tiki bar. Fun times, but most boaters go North to S. Lido or Jewfish Island (Huge Party Sandbar)

I know this is a lot, but SRQ is a place that has a lot to offer
 
@paksat
@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen
@stoopid311

I'll post this for everyone who will be visiting and wants to visit SRQ:

Downtown has AMAZING food and it’s mostly al local chefs and owners:
Food:
Owens fish Camp -- Small so expect a wait, but the "backyard" is an experience and really good food
Selva Grille -- Peruvian one of the best restaurants SRQ has to offer
Classico -- Redone during the pandemic and they did a good job. Good food and good drinks
Duvalls -- Seafood
Patrick’s -- Bar food, but they have great burgers
me Cali -- Viet Pho
BOCA -- Chain from TPA, but trendy little place with good food and drinks
O'Bricks -- BBQ joint down town
MADE -- Great Sunday Brunch

Entertainment/Bars:
Art Ovation Rooftop Bar "Perspective"
Any Bar along Main street -- Evies, Smoking Joes, a place righ next to Smoking Joes..
Gator Club -- older crowd, 80s band and i think they still do hip hop upstairs
Classico once you hit 10pm i think still gathers a crowd
Jewfish Key on a boat or be on a boat in general
Gulf Gate area has dive bars
Go downtown and restaurant hop until you find a place you like that's hoppin

close to Siesta Key...The gulf gate area is by South Bridge or Stickney point/Clark road. The Hillview area is closer to the North Bridge or Siesta drive. Both have very good food options. Hillview is more upscale and gulf gate is more dive but both offer options.

Gulf Gate Food and Bars:
Brine -- new place, upscale for Gulf Gate, but not out of this world expensive. You'll get the joke once you see Gulf Gate
Screaming Goat -- Craft Tacos
Rico's Pizza -- location in gulf gate and on Bay Road. Good Delivery pizza
Monks -- Oyster Bar and staple of Gulf Gate
Napule's -- Technically not in Gulf Gate, but right up the road. Redone place that is Very nice. Good food, good drinks. Make reservations
Gulf Gate is the home of more than a few Dive Bars as well. You can always find a place to drink in Gulf Gate

HIllview Area:
Pacific Rim -- Sushi place, maybe best sushi in SRQ. Good Vibe and drinks
Veronica's -- Monks is a Dive Oyster bar, Veronica's is an upscale Oyster Bar. Whole fried snapper is delish and good drinks
Libby's -- American Cuisine
Knick's -- Smaller place and the service is not great and borderline good. However their food is pretty good. Great salad and deserts are ballin
Origin Pizza -- GREAT PIZZA. Wings are pretty good too for being oven baked and craft beer
There are a few other spokes in Hillview like Geckos is a bar and there are a couple of places next to it that i have heard good things. Just haven't been.
The Yummy House -- Across the street from Hillview, but has some of the best Chinese food out there. If you're going to eat in and want Chinese this is your spot
Shakespeares -- Corner of Osprey and Siesta Drive (coming off the North Bridge back to SRQ) Some of the best burgers you will have. English pub with good beer selection

In between the gulf gate and Hillview area you will place a few local staples:
Alpine Steakhouse -- best meat in town and most restaurants by there meat from Alpine because it’s really a butcher shop at heart
walts Fish Market -- Family run fish market (5 Generations i think), tiki bar and restaurant
Darwin’s -- Peruvian Cuisine and Amazing local chef who started Selva Grille mentioned above
Da Ru Ma -- Hibachi style

Siesta Key
Summer House -- Expensive AF, but nice place with great food
Cafe Gabiano -- italian
The Pub -- Bar food
Daquari Deck -- overprice, sugar drinks, but a local staple (2 locations on the Key)
Siesta Key Oyster Bar -- Local Dive
Gilligans -- Local Dive
Beach Club -- This will be a party on Saturday night....at least i think haha

St Armands Circle:
Shore -- Great fried chicken and the place with the most energy on St Armands
Speaks Clam Bar -- Lobster Bisque "extra lobster" is the way to go
Cafe L'europe -- Italian place. Great French Onion Soup
Cha Cha Coconuts - Little dive on St Armands
Columbia -- SRQ favotire people rave about. Not my jam, but lots of people like it

Cheap entertainment
Lazy Parrot -- Like Music place @Beneva and Webber intersection. This is also close to the Amish section of town where you will find Yoders as @CarolCityHigh mentioned
O'Leary's -- City Island or Marina Jacks location. Tiki bar with a park next to it with some great water/sunset views. Live music
Walk the beaches at sunset -- Siesta/Lido
Mote Marine -- kind of a run down aquirium that is being redone as someone mentioned above, but it's always been one of the world's leading sea research places. Cool for the kids and cheap
Jungle Gardens -- Again fun little cheap entertainment place for the kids
Ringling Museum -- A little more expensive, but i think you can get on the "Grounds" without paying for the art museum piece. Amazing views of sarasota Bay and great afternoon activity
Selby Gardens -- Again a little more expensive, but great gardens area on the water
RENT A BOAT -- CBs, Siesta Key Marina, Waves boat club at Phillipi Harbor, Hidden Harbor marina or anywhere else. SRQ is on a lot of water so boating is fun around here. STAY IN THE CHANNELS or follow other boats. The water gets shallow quick. Also if you go South in the channel you'll come to Pops and Blackburn point tiki bar. Fun times, but most boaters go North to S. Lido or Jewfish Island (Huge Party Sandbar)

I know this is a lot, but SRQ is a place that has a lot to offer
@Fawk_U Haters ....I came soooo close to buying a Townhome in Sarasota...about 2 miles from the Airport....I bought a Townhome in Ft Myers/San Carlos instead only because of my 91yr old Aunt, who lives in Cape Coral...just in case she needed me pronto...her 2 sons run a production/content house company in NYC, who were incredibly grateful that I'm close for her....
 
For real great home cooked food at an excellent price that is unreal go to Yoders Restaurant - Sarasota Portions are unreal especially the fried chicken that looks like a small turkey and the pies are homemade and super!

Shoot you stole my thunder. I had the link copied and ready to go! A trip to Yoder's is a must on any visit.
 
@paksat
@BloodEunsOrangeAndGreen
@stoopid311

I'll post this for everyone who will be visiting and wants to visit SRQ:

Downtown has AMAZING food and it’s mostly al local chefs and owners:
Food:
Owens fish Camp -- Small so expect a wait, but the "backyard" is an experience and really good food
Selva Grille -- Peruvian one of the best restaurants SRQ has to offer
Classico -- Redone during the pandemic and they did a good job. Good food and good drinks
Duvalls -- Seafood
Patrick’s -- Bar food, but they have great burgers
me Cali -- Viet Pho
BOCA -- Chain from TPA, but trendy little place with good food and drinks
O'Bricks -- BBQ joint down town
MADE -- Great Sunday Brunch

Entertainment/Bars:
Art Ovation Rooftop Bar "Perspective"
Any Bar along Main street -- Evies, Smoking Joes, a place righ next to Smoking Joes..
Gator Club -- older crowd, 80s band and i think they still do hip hop upstairs
Classico once you hit 10pm i think still gathers a crowd
Jewfish Key on a boat or be on a boat in general
Gulf Gate area has dive bars
Go downtown and restaurant hop until you find a place you like that's hoppin

close to Siesta Key...The gulf gate area is by South Bridge or Stickney point/Clark road. The Hillview area is closer to the North Bridge or Siesta drive. Both have very good food options. Hillview is more upscale and gulf gate is more dive but both offer options.

Gulf Gate Food and Bars:
Brine -- new place, upscale for Gulf Gate, but not out of this world expensive. You'll get the joke once you see Gulf Gate
Screaming Goat -- Craft Tacos
Rico's Pizza -- location in gulf gate and on Bay Road. Good Delivery pizza
Monks -- Oyster Bar and staple of Gulf Gate
Napule's -- Technically not in Gulf Gate, but right up the road. Redone place that is Very nice. Good food, good drinks. Make reservations
Gulf Gate is the home of more than a few Dive Bars as well. You can always find a place to drink in Gulf Gate

HIllview Area:
Pacific Rim -- Sushi place, maybe best sushi in SRQ. Good Vibe and drinks
Veronica's -- Monks is a Dive Oyster bar, Veronica's is an upscale Oyster Bar. Whole fried snapper is delish and good drinks
Libby's -- American Cuisine
Knick's -- Smaller place and the service is not great and borderline good. However their food is pretty good. Great salad and deserts are ballin
Origin Pizza -- GREAT PIZZA. Wings are pretty good too for being oven baked and craft beer
There are a few other spokes in Hillview like Geckos is a bar and there are a couple of places next to it that i have heard good things. Just haven't been.
The Yummy House -- Across the street from Hillview, but has some of the best Chinese food out there. If you're going to eat in and want Chinese this is your spot
Shakespeares -- Corner of Osprey and Siesta Drive (coming off the North Bridge back to SRQ) Some of the best burgers you will have. English pub with good beer selection

In between the gulf gate and Hillview area you will place a few local staples:
Alpine Steakhouse -- best meat in town and most restaurants by there meat from Alpine because it’s really a butcher shop at heart
walts Fish Market -- Family run fish market (5 Generations i think), tiki bar and restaurant
Darwin’s -- Peruvian Cuisine and Amazing local chef who started Selva Grille mentioned above
Da Ru Ma -- Hibachi style

Siesta Key
Summer House -- Expensive AF, but nice place with great food
Cafe Gabiano -- italian
The Pub -- Bar food
Daquari Deck -- overprice, sugar drinks, but a local staple (2 locations on the Key)
Siesta Key Oyster Bar -- Local Dive
Gilligans -- Local Dive
Beach Club -- This will be a party on Saturday night....at least i think haha

St Armands Circle:
Shore -- Great fried chicken and the place with the most energy on St Armands
Speaks Clam Bar -- Lobster Bisque "extra lobster" is the way to go
Cafe L'europe -- Italian place. Great French Onion Soup
Cha Cha Coconuts - Little dive on St Armands
Columbia -- SRQ favotire people rave about. Not my jam, but lots of people like it

Cheap entertainment
Lazy Parrot -- Like Music place @Beneva and Webber intersection. This is also close to the Amish section of town where you will find Yoders as @CarolCityHigh mentioned
O'Leary's -- City Island or Marina Jacks location. Tiki bar with a park next to it with some great water/sunset views. Live music
Walk the beaches at sunset -- Siesta/Lido
Mote Marine -- kind of a run down aquirium that is being redone as someone mentioned above, but it's always been one of the world's leading sea research places. Cool for the kids and cheap
Jungle Gardens -- Again fun little cheap entertainment place for the kids
Ringling Museum -- A little more expensive, but i think you can get on the "Grounds" without paying for the art museum piece. Amazing views of sarasota Bay and great afternoon activity
Selby Gardens -- Again a little more expensive, but great gardens area on the water
RENT A BOAT -- CBs, Siesta Key Marina, Waves boat club at Phillipi Harbor, Hidden Harbor marina or anywhere else. SRQ is on a lot of water so boating is fun around here. STAY IN THE CHANNELS or follow other boats. The water gets shallow quick. Also if you go South in the channel you'll come to Pops and Blackburn point tiki bar. Fun times, but most boaters go North to S. Lido or Jewfish Island (Huge Party Sandbar)

I know this is a lot, but SRQ is a place that has a lot to offer

What is that really nice (and expensive) little spot on the beach on Longboat Key? It's literally up against the sand out the back iirc. Small and family owned.

Edit: Beach Bistro in Holmes Beach. Love that spot.

 
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