Where Sarasota's Favorite Restaurants Landed This Fall, and Who Moved Into Their Old Rooms

Anna Caragiulo, 87, sewed the 14.5-foot gold curtains that now hang in the new dining room at 1833 Ringling Blvd. Her son Paul told Sarasota Magazine they soften the room and make his vinyl records sound even better. Strips of marble from the old Palm Avenue bar are set into the new one. The original film posters are back on the walls. Caragiulos opened to the public on Oct. 27, almost a year after its last meal on Palm Avenue.

That move set the pattern for Sarasota dining this fall. Only a few of the season's changes are brand-new names. Most are familiar operators moving into rooms other restaurants left behind, with one closing passing a space to the next tenant. To find the places you knew in May, look up the street address before the name.

A redevelopment moved a 36-year-old name across downtown

Tony Caragiulo and his sons opened the restaurant at 69 S. Palm Ave. in 1989. When demolition of the Mira Mar was proposed in 2022, the lease still ran through 2040. In 2023 the property sold to Seaward Development for $17.3 million, and Seaward later won approval to restore the historic Palm Avenue frontage and build two 18-story condominium towers behind it. Caragiulos closed there in October 2025 with about 15 years left on its lease.

The continuity came from the landlord. Dr. Mark Kauffmann sold the Mira Mar, and he also owns the Ringling Boulevard property where the family built its new home, according to Sarasota Magazine. The new building, designed by Javi Suárez of Suarez Architecture, has about 4,300 square feet, 150 seats, a full bar and a covered patio.

The new menu shows how far the room has come from what Paul called a "meatball hero and Styrofoam cup kind of place." Pasolini is $23, the 37-layer lasagna is $25 and the pizzette run $14 to $15.95. New dishes include spaghettini with Cedar Key clams for $26 and a 40-ounce bistecca Fiorentina for $115. While the restaurant gets up to speed, Caragiulos says seating is first-come, first-served.

One closing on Links Avenue started three moves

The biggest chain of moves this fall began in Towles Court. Indigenous, chef Steve Phelps's restaurant, closed in mid-September after 15 years in the cottage at 239 S. Links Ave. On Sept. 28 the building sold for $1.65 million to Cathedral Hospitality Holdings LLC, which is registered to Elier Rodriguez, chef and owner of Alma de España, the Observer reported. The cottage is just under 1,100 square feet.

Alma de España opened in Southside Village in 2025 at 1830 S. Osprey Ave., in the former Ka Papa Cuisine space. It closed that location Sept. 30 and set a Nov. 1 grand opening on Links Avenue, with live guitar and percussion, a flamenco performance, tapas and cocktails. The menu runs from gazpacho to paella to flan, drawing on Spain and on Cuba, where Rodriguez was born and raised. Reservations are on Alma's website.

The second move happened a few doors from Alma's old spot. The 1818 Grill at 1818 S. Osprey Ave. served its last meal Sept. 26. Its owner, Tommy Lovell, took over the space in 2024, when it was still Knick's Tavern & Grill, which had been open since 2002. He told the Herald-Tribune that a hard off-season and rising prices for gas, produce, cooking oil and beef drove the decision. He described one cost decision this way:

"In 2024 and 2025, I had a prime rib dinner every Friday and Saturday night and I couldn't afford it anymore — I could afford it, but I didn't want to pass those costs off to the customers."

The Siciliano family, owners of Legends Sports Pub next door at 1816 S. Osprey Ave., is buying the business and plans to expand it into a full bar and restaurant. Legends now has a beer and wine license and no food menu.

Lovell is joining Alma de España as general manager and sommelier at the Links Avenue location. "I'm going to run his front of the house, and then I'm also going to be his sommelier," he told the Herald-Tribune. So a South Osprey Avenue regular who heads downtown for paella may see a familiar host at the door.

Landlords keep picking restaurants

The same thing is happening in rooms that never held a restaurant. Artisan Cheese Company closed at 550 Central Ave. in the Rosemary District in mid-September after 14.5 years. Owner Louise Converse wrote that she had found two people to take over the shop. In the end, the landlord approved a restaurant for the space, the Observer reported.

On State Street, Brick's Smoked Meats had already announced Oct. 10 as its last day, ahead of new ownership. An oven fire on the morning of Oct. 6 closed it early, and the owners said they would not reopen. No injuries were reported. Brick's started as a weekly pop-up at the Sarasota Farmers Market and opened on State Street on May 16, 2017. Monte Silva, who runs Comida nearby, said a Mexican-themed restaurant is planned for the space, according to the Observer.

The cottage on Links Avenue, the Central Avenue shop and the State Street barbecue spot all followed the same pattern. When an operator left, the next tenant was a restaurant.

St. Armands Circle has been doing this for a year

Across the bridge, the Circle shows how far the pattern can go. The Observer's Nov. 1 roundup traces it address by address. Tommy Bahama spent nearly 30 years at 300 John Ringling Blvd. After damage from the 2024 storm season, it moved to 465 John Ringling Blvd., the former Shore. The 300 address went to Pinchers, the Florida seafood brand from Naples-based Phelan Family Brands, which targeted an October opening for a 200-seat restaurant there. It is the brand's 11th Gulf Coast location, and the group also has one on Lakewood Ranch Main Street.

Across the street, at 22 S. Boulevard of the Presidents, Le Colonne served for more than 25 years. After the 2024 hurricanes, owner Umberto Salustri decided to close. His son Simone and Simone's wife, Amber Mayner, renovated the 300-seat room and opened Nonno Umberto in December 2025. "Nonno" means grandfather in Italian. Mayner names the deboned whole bronzino, dry-aged meats and shrimp cocktail as the most popular dishes. Flambo, a Trinidadian restaurant at 40 S. Boulevard of the Presidents, is close to its first anniversary. Co-owner Anthony Logan says butter chicken is its best seller. Rachel Burns, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, told the Observer that a coffee and dessert shop is on the way, along with more boutique-style eateries.

The fall map, by address

Here are this fall's changes, listed by the space rather than the name.

A few newcomers did arrive in new spaces. The Herald-Tribune's October roundup lists Sorella, a new Italian restaurant at 1532 Main St.; Tastes of the Philippines at 1987 Ringling Blvd.; Baldoria, a downtown restaurant serving Mediterranean-leaning tapas with Italian and Spanish touches; and Sarasocial, a restaurant and social space whose new owner, Bobby Khush, says, "We want people to make this their new place."

If you'd like to hear which of these rooms has been worth the walk, or what's happening with the empty spaces near you, Chris Carpenter follows these changes across Sarasota all season and is happy to compare notes over dinner on Ringling or Links. Let's Connect.