Handy GPS Addresses for your Visit to Sarasota

Gone are the days when a host can suggest activity destinations to house guests by describing the routes. Now that most visitors use their GPS to discover our beaches and attractions, the easiest way to orient them is to provide local addresses that they can enter into their smart phones. And away they'll go!

Here's a selection of handy GPS locations for exploring Sarasota:

Downtown Sarasota: Mattison's City Grille, 1 Lemon Avenue, Sarasota 34236
There are lots of international restaurants on Main Street, especially between Palm Avenue and Orange Avenue. Whole Foods Market is around the corner from Mattison's.

Burns Square: 556 S Pineapple Ave, Sarasota 34236
Charming shopping and dining district, with Burns Court art cinema. Just two blocks south of downtown Sarasota

Siesta Key Village: 5124 Ocean Boulevard, Sarasota 34242  
(Sun Garden Cafe, Village Cafe, or The Broken Egg are good for breakfast; also, farmers market on Sundays 9-1, with artisans, a little food, live music)

Southside Village: 1859 Hillview Street, Sarasota 34239
Restaurants & shops, including Gateway to India, Chutney's, Fandango, Pacific Rim, MoJo's, Veronica Fish & Oyster, Libby's, Morton's Gourmet Market, The Serving Spoon, Knick's Tavern, and moreNote: Fandango sometimes has live music.

Sarasota Bayfront: Marina Jack restaurant, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota 34236
the Blue Sunshine Patio Grille (first floor, in back of
restaurant) is a great place to relax and watch sunset over the
bayfront; live music every afternoon and evening

St Armands Circle/Lido Key: 300 Madison Drive, Sarasota FL 34236
many restaurants and shops, with easy access to the beach

Boomers Relocating to Sarasota: Neighborhoods Close to Downtown

Sarasota is not a "walk everywhere" town--it's too spread out--but there are neighborhoods you can live in that give you easy access to shopping and close enough proximity to downtown and the beaches. 

I think of Sarasota as a city of "pods": Each pod, or district, is walkable, but you need a car, or bus, to get from pod to pod.

While houses and condos in downtown, Burns Square, Gulfstream Drive and Laurel Park can be prohibitively expensive, the following "east of the Trail" neighborhoods offer affordability and access to local shopping:

• Arlington Park
• Alta Vista  
• Paver Park
• Gardens of Ringling Park
• Tamaron
• Riverwood Park
• Phillippi Gardens

Consider adding them to your drive-around list when shopping for property to buy in Sarasota.

Libraries in Sarasota

One of the most beautiful and unusual buildings in downtown Sarasota is Selby Library, one of 4 libraries located in Sarasota.

Selby Library, downtown Sarasota FL

Selby Library interior, downtown Sarasota FL

The other Sarasota branch libraries are Fruitville, Gulf Gate, and North Sarasota (Newtown). 

There are additional libraries in Venice, Englewood, and Northport, which are part of Sarasota County. See Sarasota County Libraries for location details.

Dining Districts in Sarasota

In addition to restaurants sprinkled all over Sarasota in various shopping strips and busy intersections, Sarasota has appealing, walkable dining districts in key scenic locations.

• Downtown Sarasota: Restaurants with many kinds of international and American cuisine. On Main Street, Palm Avenue, 1st Street, Lemon Avenue, Pineapple Avenue

Mattison's City Grille, corner of Main Street
 and Lemon Avenue, downtown Sarasota

• Sarasota Bayfront Park: O'Learry's Tiki Bar & Restaurant, Marina Jack's
• Burns Square: Pineapple Avenue and Burns Court
• Rosemary District: 4th Street, just east of Lemon Avenue
• St Armands Circle, on Lido Key: Restaurants on every street that comprises the Circle
• Southside Village: Hillview Street and Osprey Avenue
• Gulf Gate Village: international and local cuisine on Gulf Gate Drive, Gateway Avenue, and Superior Avenue
• Siesta Key Village: Ocean Blvd and Avenida Madera
• Siesta Key Midnight Pass & Stickney Rd: several restaurants on Midnight Pass just past Stickney Rd, and more in the shopping center further down that's anchored by City Pizza

Javier's Peruvian restaurant, Midnight Pass Rd, Siesta Key

Blending Old Urbanism with New Urbanism in Sarasota FL - Part I

Sarasota FL, a lush and quirky small city on Florida's Gulf Coast, is trying to use principles of New Urbanism to weave its various charming "old urbanism" districts into a cohesive live-work-culture-nature experience.

Blessed with a gorgeous location, nestled alongside the mid-Gulf Coast, an hour south of Tampa, protected by even more gorgeous barrier islands--here called "keys"--including Longboat Key, Lido Key, St Armands Key, Bird Key and Siesta Key--Sarasota is also the arts and culture capital of Florida.

In its very walkable and compact downtown, you'll find theatres, a beautiful opera house, a soaring modern library, a purple-painted waterfront concert hall, a municipal auditorium, upscale shops and restaurants, Whole Foods Market, and many art galleries.

Main Street, downtown Sarasota

A few blocks away, across the only scenic section of Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41), is the magnificent Sarasota Bayfront Park, lined each winter season with modern sculptures, and featuring a lovely tree-shaded walking path and park, impressive yachts, and two restaurants, one upscale and one of the sea-shack variety.

Sarasota Bayfront Park

Several blocks south of Main Street, separated by a non-descript, pedestrian-indifferent office-building-zone, there is a charming antiques district, called Burns Square, along Pineapple and Orange Avenues, with restaurants and boutiques, an art movie house, and a neighborhood of artist studios offering monthly Friday night studio/gallery strolls.

Burns Square, Sarasota

Crossing Tamiami Trail and south a few blocks more, is the tiny retail crossroads called Southside Village, surrounded on one side by a lush neighborhood of old residental streets and on the other by the expansive Sarasota Memorial Hospital Center. Southside Village has been undergoing "upscaling" in recent years, and it's a delightful mix of lux gift shops, gourmet markets, restaurants featuring international cuisines, as well as cozy neighborhood bar-restaurants, bakery-cafes, hair salons and boutiques.

Continued in Part II

Live Music Venues in Sarasota

Your best resource for deciding where to experience live music in Sarasota is the wonderful online entertainment guide called GoTonight.com. It lists most venues throughout Sarasota County and Tampa Bay, as well as performing artists, with links to their Web sites, so you can sample their musical styles before going out for the evening.

For profiles of selected local performers, check out BestMusicTonight.blogspot.com.

Popular entertainment districts in Sarasota include:

• Siesta Key Village
• Siesta Key Midnight Pass/Stickney Point
• Downtown (Main Street & Lemon Avenue)
• Downtown (Bayfront Park)
• Southside Village (Hillview St & Osprey Avenue)
• Gulf Gate Village
• Rosemary District (4th Street off Lemon Avenue)
• Cattlemen & Packinghouse Road (just west of I-75, near Bahia Vista St or Fruitville Rd)

Each area has its own flavor, and Sarasota's so compact that it's easy to check out the performances in several districts on the same day or evening.

If you're looking for a print entertainment guide, pick up a free copy of the Ticket, the Herald-Tribune newspaper's weekly schedule. You can also access the Ticket online: ticket.heraldtribune.com

Burns Square Shopping District in Sarasota

Technically part of downtown Sarasota, but separated from the Main Street area by Ringling Boulevard, Burns Square is a quaint, stylish shopping and dining district worth exploring. Because Burns Square is hidden from view when you're driving along Tamiami Trail and downtown, you have to know where to find it.

 

OK, now let's head over to Burns Square and see what you'll find: Coming south from downtown, take Pineapple Avenue, crossing Ringling Boulevard, and you'll be at the northern end of Burns Square. On the right, Awesome Orchids is a beautifully merchandised gift shop crammed with locally grown orchids, jars of condiments and gourmet treats, horticultural art, some jewelry, furniture and lighting. (Awesome Orchids also has a booth at the Downtown Sarasota Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.)

Scott James Salon will keep you coiffed for all your social events, with their convenient location in the yellow building on the left side of Pineapple Avenue.

If you're coming to Burns Square from south of downtown on Orange Avenue, cross Mound Street (Tamiami Trail), and you'll come upon a "V" where Orange Avenue and Pineapple Avenue intersect at Matto Matto restaurant. There's a fountain in front of the cafe, and it's housed in an historic "Herald Square" apartment building with stores on the ground floor.

In the Herald Square building, Clothesline is a custom screen printing shop that creates arty t-shirts with designs by local creative types, of which Sarasota boasts a lot.

Across from Matto Matto, L Boutique is a department store for women, girls, and boys, with clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories from casual to formal. This is a real upscale quality lifestyle shopping experience, not your regular department store. The service is very personal and attentive. Next door is L Spa.

Parallel to Pineapple Avenue, to the west, is Burns Court, home of Burns Court Cinema, which shows art films in its can't-miss-it purple building. Next door is 501 Fish Camp restaurant. Also in Burns Court is I-Optics, a popular source for eyeglasses that are as fashionable as they are functional.

On Orange Avenue, one block east of Pineapple Avenue, The Woman's Exchange is a well-organized bazaar of consigned furniture, rugs, dishes, glassware, lighting, and miscellany, with all the sales going to local charities that help women. There are additional shops on Orange Avenue, across from the Woman's Exchange.

Besides enjoying the various shops and restaurants, notice how relaxed and happy you feel when exploring Burns Square. It's an island of historic and contemporary charm, and the local business owners will really appreciate the time you take to discover what they offer.

Downtown Sarasota Shopping Streets

Downtown Sarasota FL offers several shopping streets, each one with its own character. 

There's a lot to discover at Whole Foods Market Centre on First Street, which is a mixed-use complex with stores and restaurants on the ground floor and condominium apartments above. 

Looking east from Selby Public Library, you can stop into each shop along the way to see what's new and interesting.  

At the end of the block is Whole Foods Market, with convenient parking on ground level across from the entrance.

You can select tasty items from the hot, cold, and soup bars inside and enjoy eating and people-watching from the cafe tables located out front. 

Main Street is a multi-block Sarasota shopping district that runs from the Sarasota Bayfront Park to the west, to Rte 301 (Washington Blvd) to the east.  

The blocks in the immediate downtown area are lined on both sides with local shops and international restaurants.

Sarasota is an outdoor cafe town, from the ever-popular Mattison's City Grille at the corner of Main and Lemon,   

to Pastry Arts diagonally across Main, to Epicure at the corner of Main Street and Palm Avenue.

Lemon Avenue is the site of the weekly Downtown Farmers Market on Saturdays from 7AM to 12PM, year-round. 37 years old, this popular market is chock-full of fresh local produce, including a lot of organics, flowers, crafts, prepared foods, baked goods, live music, etc. 

During Season, to add variety to your Sarasota shopping , there are numerous arts and crafts shows on Main Street, as well as street fairs and festivals.

Palm Avenue, which runs perpendicular to Main Street, is the center of the gallery scene in Sarasota FL, with a regular First Friday evening art walk that takes place during Season.