Taking the entire family down to Sarasota. My folks are snow birds but only do Italian (which has been difficult to find in Sarasota) or the Beach House near Siesta Key. If we leave the restaurant choices up to my family, we’ll be eating mediocre Italian all week. Any good recommendations? We’re a big group with 2 kids, both under 6. Non-Italian is preferred, because I’m sure my father has tried every Italian place in the area.
There are a ton of good restaurants in the area, depending on price and your preferred cuisine.
Mexican, seafood or anything authentic to the area (Cuban?) would be great, although we’d be open to any type.
I like their seafood too.
Yeah I fully expect it to be unbearably hot. My folks have a house, which makes vacationing with two kids much easier.
For breakfast, Station 400. There's one in Lakewood Ranch too I believe.
I'm not sure if still offered, but the concession stand at Lido Beach has a very good lobster roll on Sundays only, value-priced too.
Columbia on St Armand's as mentioned is a fun Cuban restaurant for a group, but the food is really pretty ordinary. My revised recommendations for a larger group/kids would be: Shore on St Armand's; Yummy House (Chinese), Pho Cali (Chinese/Vietnamese), and Two Señoritas in Sarasota; Dry Dock on my home island of Longboat Key.
Siesta Key Oyster Bar (SKOB) for Oysters, or try a local favorite in Monk's for the same. SKOB will usually have some pretty good daytime entertainment.
You will be doing yourself a great disservice if you don't go to Yoder's for some of the best friend chicken you've ever had. It's an Amish place, and everything is from scratch, and you'll want to grab a pie. Peanut Butter Cream Pie is my favorite and it's friggin orgasmic.
Stop... recognize and listen...because you'll want to stop by Geier's Sausage Kitchen and Deli. Truly authentic German fare by 1st generation German immigrants. No preservatives, everything is butchered in-house. Do not be afraid of trying the blood tongue (yes, seriously). And they will give you samples complementary of anything you want to try. The All-beef salami is the best I've ever had. And don't be afraid of the herring, either, just some really good exotic eats. Get some cold cuts to go and head to Calusa Brewing for some fantastic craft beer, or Jdubs in Bradenton. If you're a beer enthusiast, go to both, you won't be disappointed.
Go to The Salty Dog on Longboat Key. There are multiple locations, but make sure you do the one on Longboat to dine on the water. More of a lunch spot. Very pretty, good drinks if you want to have a nice Pina Colada or something, and if you are down with a hot dog, The Salty Dog is a beer battered hot dog and is a total guilty pleasure. You can get it loaded with pastrami a la Adam Richmond of Man V Food, but beware, you won't want dinner that night.
For fine dining, the Crab & Fin in downtown is a great choice, or the Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse, also downtown. I've heard great things also about Duval's but have never dined there.
I second St. Armand's, kind of touristy but Columbia is very good, you'll want to try the rice pudding dessert, and I'm not even a rice pudding kind of guy.
Trust me on this, try some of these, there are culinary delights all over town but this is just a snapshot. Enjoy and please report back about your experiences. I live outside of Tampa but the wife and I LOVE Sarasota and these are our favorites, and we go there fairly often.
Enjoy!