Explore our curated restaurants, hotels, bars, and wineries in Sarasota.
Accolades in Sarasota
Citywide, our guide counts 3 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence awards and 5 Award of Excellence awards. Michael's on East holds a Best of Award of Excellence, and Duval's Fresh. Local. Seafood., Sage, and Selva Grill University Town Center hold an Award of Excellence.
Michael's on East in Midtown Plaza is a fine-dining restaurant for contemporary American cooking with seafood and steaks, in a renovated Art Deco supper club. The wine program is exceptional, with an extensive list and a renowned wine cellar. It holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for 2026 and a Star Wine List for 2026, with White Star recognition.
Duval's Fresh. Local. Seafood. in downtown serves fresh local seafood, with catches sourced daily from area fishermen. It has been voted Sarasota's Best Seafood Restaurant for 11 years in a row. The wine program is curated. The restaurant holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026, and the menu is a la carte, with craft cocktails.
Sage in downtown cooks seasonal global fusion in a historic Mediterranean-style building turned into a multi-level dining space, with a rooftop lounge offering 360° views. The wine program is curated, and the restaurant holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026. Formats include a la carte, small plates, and family style, with craft cocktails.
Selva Grill University Town Center in Lakewood Ranch serves Peruvian Latin fusion, including ceviches and seafood paella, dishes the New York Times has praised. The wine program is curated, with an extensive wine list and craft cocktails. It holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026. The menu is a la carte.
Our guide counts 0 Michelin-starred restaurants in Sarasota. Lucky 8 holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and Tralia and Focaccia Sandwich + Bakery hold a Michelin Plate.
Lucky 8 in Southside Village is a New Orleans-inspired luncheonette serving Cajun and Creole comfort food, including po'boys and gumbo, in a music-filled setting. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2026. The restaurant pours beer, and the menu is a la carte.
Tralia in Gulf Gate is a small pizzeria using sourdough for artisan round pies and Detroit-style pies, with Italian comfort food. The MICHELIN Guide recognizes it as one of Sarasota’s best pizzas, and it holds a Michelin Plate for 2026. The restaurant pours beer, and service is a la carte.
Focaccia Sandwich + Bakery is an artisan focaccia sandwich shop and bakery. Sandwiches are built on 52-hour, house-made focaccia with clean, organic-leaning ingredients and no artificial additives. Work starts before dawn, and the approach is bread-first. It holds a Michelin Plate for 2026. Formats are a la carte and counter dining.
Our guide counts 10 exceptional wine programs citywide. element, Mediterraneo, Bevardi's Salute, and CasAntica Ristorante are among those programs, covering a steakhouse and Italian rooms.
element in Downtown Sarasota is a modern steakhouse with seafood and pasta. The kitchen serves hand-cut steaks, locally sourced seafood, and house-made pastas, focused on fresh, seasonal ingredients. The wine program is exceptional, and the restaurant pours craft cocktails. Formats are a la carte and small plates.
Mediterraneo in Downtown pioneered contemporary Northern Italian cuisine in Sarasota in 1996. An in-house bakery produces fresh pastas, breads, and desserts for the restaurant. The wine program is exceptional, and the wine list is extensive. The menu is a la carte.
Bevardi's Salute in downtown is a chef-owned Italian restaurant famed for house-made pasta and table-side filleted fresh seafood. The wine program is exceptional. The list is extensive, and the restaurant pours wines from its own Tuscan vineyards. The menu is a la carte.
CasAntica Ristorante in downtown serves refined Old World Italian cooking in a historic 1926 Mediterranean-style home. The restaurant has cozy dining rooms, a covered patio, and rooftop seating. The wine program is exceptional, with an extensive wine list. The menu is a la carte.
Downtown has 9 venues in our guide, the most of any neighborhood. Venues in Downtown include Mediterraneo, serving contemporary Northern Italian cuisine with an exceptional wine program, an extensive list, and an in-house bakery that makes fresh pastas, breads, and desserts. Fork And Hen serves modern Southern soul food from a scratch kitchen, Lila serves organic vegetable-forward dishes, Boca serves seasonal contemporary American cooking, Marcel DW serves French-influenced bistro dishes, and GREEN ZEBRA CAFE serves made-from-scratch cafe dishes.
Michael's on East in Midtown Plaza holds a Best of Award of Excellence, and Duval's Fresh. Local. Seafood. in downtown, Sage in downtown, and Selva Grill University Town Center in Lakewood Ranch hold an Award of Excellence. Citywide, our guide counts 3 Best of Award of Excellence awards and 5 Award of Excellence awards.
Our guide counts 0 Michelin-starred restaurants in Sarasota and 0 Michelin stars in total.
Vino Bistro of Sarasota in the Rosemary District features over 60 international wine varieties on a sommelier-led list. The wine list there is extensive. Bevardi's Salute in downtown pours wines from its own Tuscan vineyards, and its wine list is extensive.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
Best of Sarasota
Sarasota
Selected entries from the current guide for Sarasota.
Sarasota, United States
Lucky 8 brings a New Orleans cue to Sarasota’s South Osprey dining corridor, where Gulf Coast expectations meet a city that often leans Mediterranean, coastal American, and polished neighborhood dining. The useful way to read it is through pantry and mood: spice, seafood culture, and Southern reference points matter more than formal fine-dining signals.
Sarasota, United States
On Main Street in downtown Sarasota, Duval's Fresh. Local. Seafood. has tracked the city's shift from tourist-facing fish houses toward a more ingredient-driven approach to Gulf and Florida seafood. The format centres on what the region's coastal waters can actually deliver, placing it squarely in a growing tier of Florida dining rooms that treat provenance as a structural commitment rather than a tagline.
Sarasota, United States
Focaccia Sandwich + Bakery in Sarasota's Bee Ridge corridor occupies a category that sits somewhere between Italian-inflected sandwich counter and artisan bakery. The team begins work before dawn, and the operation reflects a bread-first ethos that shapes both the format and the sourcing priorities.
Sarasota, United States
Michael's on East has anchored Sarasota's serious dining scene for decades, earning a Star Wine List White Star recognition for a wine program that matches the ambition of the kitchen. Located on South East Avenue in the city's Southside Village, it represents the kind of locally rooted fine dining that Florida's Gulf Coast has historically under-produced relative to its Miami counterpart.
Sarasota, United States
On Sarasota's First Street, Sage operates in a dining register that rewards the curious over the casual. The room rewards patience, the kitchen rewards attention, and the collaboration between front-of-house and kitchen places it in a tier above most of what Sarasota offers at the table. For a city still writing its fine-dining chapter, Sage reads like a confident paragraph.
Sarasota, United States
Selva Grill's University Town Center location brings Latin-inflected cooking to Sarasota's northern corridor, where imported culinary technique meets Florida's Gulf Coast pantry. The format fits a city that has grown comfortable pairing serious food with a relaxed coastal tempo. For Sarasota diners seeking something beyond the downtown core, this address fills a distinct gap in the local restaurant map.
Sarasota, United States
Tralia serves some of Sarasota's highly rated pizza in a Gateway Avenue location that keeps a lower profile than the beach-front dining corridor. The kitchen focuses on quality ingredients and traditional technique, earning local recognition in a market where casual Italian runs deep but standout execution is harder to find.
Sarasota, United States
15 South by Napule sits on the Boulevard of the Presidents in Sarasota's St. Armands Circle, bringing Neapolitan Italian cooking to a city that has quietly developed one of Florida's more considered dining scenes.
Sarasota, United States
On the central stretch of Main Street that defines Sarasota's dining corridor, 1592 takes its address as its name and its surroundings as its brief. The restaurant sits at the intersection of the city's arts-district energy and its increasingly serious food culture, offering a dining room experience that reads as a reliable anchor in a scene that has grown steadily more ambitious over the past decade.
Sarasota, United States
Alma de España brings Spanish culinary tradition to Sarasota's South Osprey corridor, a stretch that has quietly accumulated some of the city's more serious independent dining options. The name signals intent: a kitchen rooted in Iberian sourcing traditions and regional cooking logic, rather than the broadly Mediterranean approach common across Florida's Gulf Coast restaurant scene.
Sarasota, United States
Amore Restaurant occupies a residential address on North Lime Avenue, away from Sarasota's busier dining corridors, positioning it as a neighborhood-first Italian-American option rather than a destination for first-time visitors. The location places it in a quieter competitive tier within a city that has developed a diverse and demanding mid-scale dining scene across multiple European-origin cuisines.
Sarasota, United States
Arts & Central occupies a corner on Sarasota's Central Avenue where the city's arts district meets its dining scene. The address places it within walking distance of the Ringling Museum corridor and the galleries that line this stretch of downtown. For visitors building an evening around culture and food, it serves as a practical anchor on the west coast of Florida.
Sarasota, United States
Baker & Wife occupies a quiet stretch of Siesta Drive, south of Sarasota's main dining corridor, where the neighbourhood's residential character shapes the room as much as any design decision. The restaurant draws a local following that treats it as a regular rather than an occasion, placing it in a different tier from the downtown-facing dining options that dominate visitor itineraries. For travellers willing to move beyond the waterfront, it offers a more grounded read on how Sarasota actually eats.
Sarasota, United States
Lemon Avenue and the Question of What Italian Means in Sarasota North Lemon Avenue sits close enough to Sarasota's downtown core that you can hear the bay if the evening is quiet. The block has the character of a city that takes its arts...
Sarasota, United States
On Sarasota's downtown First Street, Bijou Cafe occupies a position that reflects the city's broader shift toward neighbourhood dining with genuine culinary intent. The room draws a mix of locals who treat it as a regular and visitors discovering that Florida's Gulf Coast has moved well past tourist-track fare. Reservations are advisable, particularly during the winter season when Sarasota's population swells considerably.
Sarasota, United States
On St. Armands Circle, Blu Kouzina brings a Greek kitchen sensibility to Sarasota's most tourist-trafficked dining corridor without softening its edges for the crowd. The menu draws on Mediterranean sourcing traditions that prioritize olive oil, legumes, and seafood over protein-heavy Americanized Greek formats. It occupies a specific niche in a city where European-style casual dining is less common than the steakhouse-and-sushi axis that dominates downtown.
Sarasota, United States
On South Lemon Avenue in Sarasota's downtown core, Boca occupies a position that reflects the city's broader shift toward serious, destination-worthy dining. The address places it within walking distance of the arts district and the cluster of independent restaurants that have redefined what Gulf Coast Florida dining looks like for visitors who arrive with high expectations.
Sarasota, United States
A fixture on Sarasota's Main Street dining corridor, Cafe Amici draws on the Italian-American neighborhood restaurant tradition that rewards regulars and walk-ins alike. The address places it inside the city's most active dining block, where the balance between casual comfort and considered cooking defines how locals eat. For visitors orienting to Sarasota's restaurant scene, it serves as a useful early reference point.
Sarasota, United States
A fixture on St. Armands Circle, one of Sarasota's most recognisable outdoor retail and dining rings, Café on St. Armands draws a loyal local following that returns as much for the setting and rhythm of the Circle as for the food itself. It occupies a well-trafficked position among a dense cluster of independent restaurants, placing it in the casual-to-mid-range tier that defines most Circle dining.
Sarasota, United States
A North Palm Avenue address puts Casami Italian Bistro inside Sarasota's walkable Rosemary District, where Italian-leaning bistros compete on atmosphere and kitchen consistency rather than awards-room prestige. The format sits closer to neighbourhood anchor than special-occasion destination, making it a practical reference point for visitors mapping the city's mid-tier Italian dining options against more ambitious rooms elsewhere on the Gulf Coast.
Sarasota, United States
CasAntica Ristorante on North Palm Avenue occupies a quiet stretch of Sarasota that rewards those who seek out the city's more considered dining rooms. The name signals something deliberate about tradition and setting, and the address places it within easy reach of the Rosemary District's growing concentration of independent restaurants. For a fuller read on Sarasota's Italian dining scene, the EP Club guide covers the wider picture.
Sarasota, United States
On Main Street in downtown Sarasota, C'est La Vie occupies a stretch of Florida's most ambitious dining corridor, where European technique increasingly meets Gulf Coast produce. The restaurant sits within a local scene that prizes imported culinary methods applied to regional ingredients, making it a reference point for visitors tracing Sarasota's shift toward serious, ingredient-led dining. Check the seasonal calendar before booking: the Gulf's larder changes markedly between summer and winter months.
Sarasota, United States
Cha Cha Coconuts sits on St Armands Circle, the open-air shopping and dining ring that defines Sarasota's barrier island leisure culture. The address places it squarely in one of Florida's most visited pedestrian districts, where the crowd skews toward afternoon browsers and sunset seekers rather than destination diners. It reads as a casual counterweight to the more formal dining rooms that have taken root around the Circle in recent years.
Sarasota, United States
Clayton's Siesta Grille sits on Old Stickney Point Road in Sarasota's Siesta Key corridor, drawing the kind of crowd that plans meals around milestones. The setting and menu position it as a go-to for occasion dining on the barrier island, where Gulf-facing restaurants occupy a distinct tier in Florida's coastal dining scene.
Sarasota
Selected entries from the current guide for Sarasota.
Sarasota, United States
Occupying 11 acres in downtown Sarasota with direct marina views, The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota operates across three distinct physical footprints: a 276-room city hotel, an exclusive Beach Club on Lido Key, and a Tom Fazio-designed golf course certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The property holds a 4.,278 reviews and sits within Marriott International's portfolio at the upper end of Florida's Gulf Coast luxury tier.
Sarasota, United States
Carrying Michelin Selected recognition in 2025, Art Ovation Hotel is Sarasota's art-integrated downtown property within Marriott's Autograph Collection. The hotel positions itself at the intersection of Florida's Gulf Coast cultural scene and design-led hospitality, sitting a short walk from the Ringling Museum district and the city's performing arts venues.
Sarasota, United States
A Michelin Selected boutique hotel on Sarasota's University Parkway corridor, Kompose sits in the mid-scale independent tier that has grown steadily as alternatives to the city's larger resort properties. Its selection in the 2025 Michelin Hotels guide places it in a small peer group of Florida independents recognized for quality above their price point.
Sarasota, United States
Cirque St. Armands Beachside sits in the Sarasota conversation where beach proximity, resort-scale comfort, and St. Armands access matter more than formal city-hotel polish. With public database fields leaving price, awards, booking method, and room count unlisted, the useful reading is contextual: judge it against coastal stays rather than downtown arts hotels or full-service luxury resorts.
Sarasota
Selected entries from the current guide for Sarasota.
No venues found.
Sarasota
Selected entries from the current guide for Sarasota.
No venues found.
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