The new bar at Caragiulos on Ringling Boulevard has strips of marble in it, cut from the bar the family used on Palm Avenue for 36 years. Murano glass fixtures hang over the dining room, and the original Italian film posters are back on the walls. Sarasota Magazine reported that the restaurant opened to the public on Tuesday, Oct. 27, almost a year after its last meal at the Mira Mar.
That opening was one of several downtown address changes in the six weeks before season. In most of them, the deciding factor was who controlled the real estate. One restaurant bought its building. One rebuilt on land owned by its longtime landlord. One kept its address and its owners and changed its name. A whole block of cottage businesses is still open because a property sale fell through. Menus barely changed. Addresses did.
A lease that ran to 2040 didn't keep Caragiulos on Palm Avenue
Tony Caragiulo and his sons opened at 69 S. Palm Ave. in 1989. When demolition of the Mira Mar was proposed in 2022, the family said its lease ran through 2040. The property sold to Seaward Development for $17.3 million in 2023 with that lease still in place. Seaward later won approval to restore the historic Palm Avenue frontage and build two 18-story condominium towers behind it. The restaurant closed in October 2025 with about 15 years left on the lease.
Your Observer reported in April 2026 that the city had issued the construction permit and that every tenant had moved out. The first work stabilizes and rehabilitates the historic building, and completion was expected by the end of 2028.
The family stayed with the same owner. Kauffmann, who sold the Mira Mar, also owns the Ringling Boulevard property where Caragiulos built its new home. The new building at 1833 Ringling Blvd. was designed by Suarez Architecture and covers about 4,300 square feet. It has 150 seats, a full bar and a covered patio. Lunch regulars from Palm Avenue should call ahead to check the new service hours.
Alma de España bought its address on Links Avenue
Alma de España settled its address problem by buying the building. The Spanish restaurant opened on South Osprey Avenue near Southside Village and closed there on Sept. 30. Two days earlier, on Sept. 28, Cathedral Hospitality Holdings LLC, which is registered to chef and owner Elier Rodriguez, bought 239 S. Links Ave. for $1.65 million, according to Your Observer's reading of county property records.
That works out to about $1,500 per square foot, since the building has nearly 1,100 square feet. The space was previously home to Indigenous, which closed in mid-September. Alma planned a Nov. 1 grand opening with live guitar, percussion and a flamenco performance. The menu runs from gazpacho to paella to flan, drawing on Spanish and Cuban cooking. Rodriguez was born and raised in Cuba. The restaurant's website lists dinner daily from 5 to 9 p.m. and happy hour Monday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m.
On Main Street, the same owners changed the name and kept the address
At 1660 Main St., the owners of Lucile Pizza & Wine Bar, Ryan Boeve and Mark Baldwin, closed Lucile and opened Mitchell's Food and Wine in the same space. SRQ Magazine describes the new menu as a return to Boeve's classical-style cooking, with seafood, duck, short rib and small plates. Pizza stays on the menu. The name honors Boeve's grandmother Lucile and his mother's maiden name, and SRQ lists hours of 4:30 to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Mitchell's skipped both the year-long gap Caragiulos faced and the building purchase Alma made. The owners and the address stayed the same, and only the concept changed.
| Restaurant | Where it was | Where it is now | What made the move possible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caragiulos | 69 S. Palm Ave., Mira Mar | 1833 Ringling Blvd. | New building on land owned by the Mira Mar's former owner |
| Alma de España | South Osprey Avenue near Southside Village | 239 S. Links Ave. | Owner's LLC bought the building Sept. 28 |
| Mitchell's Food and Wine | Lucile Pizza & Wine Bar at 1660 Main St. | Same address | Same owners, new concept |
| The Breakfast House | 1817 Fruitville Road | 1817 Fruitville Road for now, then 128 N. Briggs Ave. | Owner bought the Briggs property in May 2026 |
Fruitville Road's cottages got more time, not a guarantee
The Breakfast House story turned the other way partway through. Its owner bought about an acre at 128 N. Briggs Ave. and the adjoining 0 Briggs Court in May for $1.15 million. The plan is to convert an existing house of roughly 1,900 square feet into a restaurant with 54 seats inside, 40 outside and the same hours it keeps now, Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. According to the Breakfast House's website, the restaurant will stay open at 1817 Fruitville Road until the new building is ready and is aiming for summer 2027.
The move came out of a sale that is now off. Bristol Development Group had planned a five-story apartment building with six levels of parking on about 3.44 acres and 22 parcels bounded by Fruitville Road, Fourth Street, North Osprey Avenue and Gillespie Avenue. In an Oct. 3 email, the block's owners told tenants the contract was no longer in effect and the property was not being offered for sale. Longboat Key News reported that the 17 locally owned businesses there had been told to expect 90 days' notice to vacate after a closing. With no closing, that clock has stopped.
So the block's familiar businesses are still open where they have been. They include Siegfried's Restaurant & German Biergarten at 1869 Fruitville Road, The Artful Giraffe at 1861 Fruitville Road, SoHo Downtown at 1843 Fruitville Road, The Cookie Cottage at 335 Gillespie Ave., Blue Bird Salon & Boutique at 329 Gillespie Ave. and The Little Day Spa at 323 Gillespie Ave. The same outlet noted that the cottages have no new protection. The Downtown Edge zoning that let the apartment project go forward without a City Commission vote has not changed.
The collapsed sale also changes the plan the tenants had been discussing since July: a Sarasota Bungalow Village on the Briggs corner, with the cottages lifted and rolled about a mile east. That depended on Bristol selling the tenants their buildings once construction began. With the current owners keeping the block, the cottages stay where they are. The Breakfast House rezoning application also carries a binding promise that limits the Briggs site to a single restaurant:
"The proposed use will be a casual restaurant not to exceed 2200 square feet of floor area."
At the Oct. 7 Development Review Committee meeting, the city's case planner said that limit may require an amendment to the rezoning ordinance if more uses are proposed later. The project received partial sign-off on its first review. In other words, the breakfast restaurant is the only part of the corner currently in the city's process. The Breakfast House's website lists fall 2027 as the target for the larger village.
Brick's had already planned its handoff before the fire
The fall's most abrupt downtown closing also involved a change in ownership. Brick's Smoked Meats at 1528 State Street opened on May 16, 2017. It had announced Saturday, Oct. 10, as its final service day ahead of new owners taking over. Your Observer reported that an oven fire on Oct. 6 closed it four days early, and that a Mexican-themed restaurant was planned for the space.
St. Armands Circle is reshuffling its addresses too
The same pattern shows up on the barrier island. For nearly 30 years, 300 John Ringling Blvd. was Tommy Bahama. After damage from the 2024 storm season, Tommy Bahama moved to 465 John Ringling Blvd., the former Shore space. Pinchers, the seafood brand owned by Naples-based Phelan Family Brands, is the planned next tenant at 300 John Ringling. The company has described a 200-seat restaurant there that would be its 11th Gulf Coast location.
Across the street at 22 S. Boulevard of the Presidents, Le Colonne served for more than 25 years. Its founder closed it after the 2024 hurricanes. His son, Simone Salustri, and Amber Mayner renovated the 300-seat room and opened Nonno Umberto, an Italian seafood and steakhouse, in December 2025. Your Observer reported that the family behind the old restaurant is running the new one at the same address.
Downtown, the clearest timeline belongs to Mira Mar, with completion expected by the end of 2028. The Breakfast House is aiming for summer 2027 on Briggs Avenue. Alma de España, Caragiulos and Mitchell's are serving dinner at their new or renamed locations.
If you're weighing a downtown Sarasota address, from a Links Avenue storefront to a condo near the Mira Mar, The Nix Team can walk you through the ownership changes and redevelopment plans that affect it.
