I had hopes that this summer season would be different than summer seasons just past. Then the emails came.
The first showed up on May 26th in the form of a post from Creative Loafing Food Writer, Brian Ries. Two downtown Sarasota restaurants were shutting their doors.
The newly opened Urban Reef and the newly re-branded Main Street Oyster Bar (formerly Zoria). I guess they just didn’t catch on.
The next notice arrived on May 27th, this one more surprising than the first. The two story, St Armands eatery Cork, was calling it quits too. That one will leave a big hole on the circle.
What’s going on in our local Sarasota restaurant community?
Way back when (in the summer of 2008), there was a pretty big wave of restaurant closings. But, since the initial burst it seemed like things were leveling off a bit. Back in 2008, everyone was jumping on the “we have to save our local restaurants” band wagon. What about now? Does anybody really care or have we become so used to the headlines in the local press that we don’t really see them anymore?
One of the things that comes into play, at least in my mind, are the choices. Yes, choices. We have tons. By some counts there are more than 300 locally owned and operated restaurant in the Sarasota area. That’s a lot of choices. Especially, when you consider that these numbers do not include one single Olive Garden, Chili’s or Applebee’s. And, as hard as it may seem for some people to believe, an occasional Steakburger or Grand Slam Breakfast is eaten by more than a few of us. So the real number of Sarasota restaurants in much higher than 300.
When you have 300 plus places to dine the loss of a few seems inconsequential (unless it’s your favorite place). It’s just a part of the natural selection process, right? The strong survive and the weak get weeded out from a crowded field. Shouldn’t be a bad thing and in theory it should make the rest of the dining community that much stronger. Then why does it feel so bad when a place you’ve know for years shuts down?
Maybe we feel a little guilty that we didn’t do more to support our favorites while we had the chance. It’s like a death in the family. “Gee, I only wish I would have told Uncle Frank how much I loved his accordion playing”, then BAM, it’s too late. No more favorite sandwich, say goodbye to that salad I used to order and so long prix fixe pricing. You should have said it while they were alive.
But, wait, there’s still hope. We have tons of great restaurants still left that are ready, willing and able to roll out the red carpet for you. And, to make your life just a little easier here a list of some new ones that have opened that you can show a little love.
Oh, Mamma Mia!
Blu Smoke Island Grill
Pineapple Avenue Panini Press
Andrea’s
First Street Chop House
The Box Social
Two Chef’s Casual Dining
Trader Vic’s
The Breakfast House
Michelle’s Brown Bag Cafe
And on…
The Sarasota-Manatee Originals have been promoting our locally owned and operated restaurants for years. Here’s a link to their website for some more great dining ideas.
So, let’s not wait around for the next restaurant to fall. Let’s support the ones that are here now and ready to serve you. Remember Uncle Frank. Don’t starting whining after the accordion playing stops.
(OK, I’m putting my soapbox away now)
Unfortunately, neither of these two closings comes as any surprise. Once Zoria lost it’s panache, the owners would have been better off to gracefully close, rather than hang a new sign up, and pretend to be a seafood restaurant.