SHOPPING & DINING

Savor the Flavors
Sarasota is known for its restaurants, and their extensive menus of flavors are sure to satisfy. Rub elbows with locals while downing cold brews and munching big juicy burgers in the '50s feel of open-air diners. Amish restaurants serve heaping portions of comfort food, and French bakeries tempt with delicate pastries. Elegant dining is always in vogue, and the region overflows in award winners famous in gourmet circles. Seafood reigns supreme and there's no better taste in the world than Sarasota's delicacy -- Florida stone crab claws plunged into dipping sauces.

Here are just a few of our delightful eating establishments:

Barnacle Bill's Seafood
Bijou Cafe
Broken Egg Restaurant
Cafe Baci
Cafe L'Europe
Chart House Restaurant
Columbia Restaurant
Crab & Fin Restaurant
Crow's Nest Restaurant
Fred's Restaurant
Golden Apple Dinner Theatre
Hemingway's Restaurant
Javier's Restaurant and Wine Bar
Johnny Leverocks Seafood House
Lady Sarasota
Maine Seafood Company
Manhattan Bar & Grill
Marina Jack
Mediterraneo
Munroe's Restaurant
Patrick's Restaurant
Phillippi Creek Village Restaurant Oyster Bar
Primo! Ristorante
Ruth's Chris Steak House
Saltwater Cafe
Sarasota Brewing Company
Sugar and Spice
Summerhouse Restaurant
Troyer's Dutch Heritage Restaurant
Turtles Restaurant
Waterside Room & Waterside Catering
Yoder's Restaurant

The Art of Shopping
Explore the uniqueness of St. Armands Circle with its collection of upscale shops and specialty stores. Downtown Sarasota offers small-town Americana on Main Street, while the art galleries on Palm Avenue remind you of New York and L.A. Turn the corner onto Pineapple Avenue and you'll find fine antiques to true 1950s Florida kitsch. A little further south into Venice and you'll be standing among shops that look out onto one of the best-planned downtowns in America. If you like your shopping action packed, enjoy the variety of several indoor malls or the bargain bonanzas at the nearby outlet mall.

Paradise Plaza
Corner of US 41 and Central Sarasota Parkway

Sarasota Quay
Corner of Fruitville and US 41

Southgate Mall
Corner of Bee Ridge and US 41

Gulf Gate Mall
Corner of US 41 and Clark Road

St. Armands Circle

Sarasota Square Mall
Corner of Beneva and US 41

Sarasota Outlet Center
University Parkway, just west of I-75

Ellenton Factory Shops
I-75, Ellenton exit