Restaurant and bar openings and closing for Sarasota-Bradenton heraldtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ford s Garage nears opening of first Sarasota-Manatee location
An eagerly anticipated local restaurant opening, bringing a longtime Southwest Florida dining and drinking favorite to Sarasota-Manatee, is nearing completion.
Ford s Garage, a car-themed restaurant specializing in burgers and beer that opened its original location in 2012 in Fort Myers near Henry Ford s winter home before expanding throughout Florida as well as Michigan and Indiana, will soon open at University Town Center.
Plans are to open by early May, said Marc Brown, president of the Tampa-based 23 Restaurant Services that owns and operates Ford s Garage s Florida locations.
The University Town Center Ford s Garage, across from Dick s Sporting Goods, will be the restaurant s 16th location overall and its first in Sarasota-Manatee. Brown said they had been interested in expanding to the Sarasota area for several years, and have invested an estimated $2.5 million into this location.
After spotlighting local restaurants and their cocktails for a Set the Bar week in October, the Sarasota-Manatee Originals will soon hold a similar days-long celebration for their food dishes.
The organization comprising more than 60 independently owned area restaurants will hold the inaugural Original Eats from Friday to Jan. 31, with Sarasota-based, national deli company Boar s Head serving as sponsor. The event is set to feature around 30 restaurants highlighting signature dishes, with several offering discounts and/or dish pairings.
Sarasota-Manatee Originals shifted Set the Bar from a cocktail competition night to a weeklong event at several restaurants last year due to the pandemic. The organization also presents the annual Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival, which was moved to April and May this year as it determines the best way to hold events.