Same Restaurants, New Doors: Where Downtown Sarasota's Favorites Landed This Fall
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
"It doesn't look like it was just built," Paul Caragiulo told Sarasota Magazine about the new home of his family's restaurant on Ringling Boulevard. "It's like a Mastroianni movie from 1968." That line fits most of this fall's restaurant news downtown. Most of the names are familiar, many of the rooms have hosted restaurants before, and several favorites now sit behind different doors. Between September and late October, a 36-year Palm Avenue institution moved to Ringling Boulevard, a French café moved two blocks down Main Street, and a Southside Village newcomer arranged to take over one of downtown's best-known cottages. If you're heading to dinner on habit, here's where everyone ended up.
Tony Caragiulo and his sons opened Caragiulos at 69 S. Palm Ave. in 1989. Over the next 36 years it became a downtown regular for pizza, pasta, the house salad and a busy lunch crowd. According to Sarasota Magazine, the restaurant's lease at the Mira Mar ran through 2040. The property sold to Seaward Development in 2023 for $17.3 million, and Seaward later won approval to restore the historic Palm Avenue frontage and build two 18-story condominium towers behind it. Caragiulos served its last meal on Palm Avenue in October 2025 with about 15 years left on that lease.
The move kept one link to the old place. Kauffmann, who sold the Mira Mar, also owns the Ringling Boulevard property where the family built the new restaurant. The address is 1833 Ringling Blvd. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that the public opening was set for Oct. 27, after an invitation-only first look on Oct. 14. That's almost exactly a year after the Palm Avenue closing.
The new building has about 4,300 square feet, 150 seats, a full bar and a covered patio. A tall brick arch marks the entrance. Inside are Murano glass fixtures commissioned from Venetian artisans, vintage Italian film posters, and furniture restored in Italy and shipped over in a container. Longtime regulars should look closely at the bar. The family saved the marble from the Palm Avenue bar, cut it into strips and built it into the new one, and artwork and film posters from the old dining room came along too. Luciano Botta of the Milan design firm Compagnia Pacifico designed the interior as a continuation of the old restaurant, not a copy of it, and Suarez Architecture designed the building.
Caragiulos isn't the only new arrival on that stretch. Tastes of the Philippines recently opened at 1987 Ringling Blvd., the Herald-Tribune reported in its Oct. 1 roundup of openings and closings. dineSarasota describes it as a fast-casual Filipino restaurant just off Ringling and Main. Once Caragiulos opens its doors, a family Italian dining room with 150 seats and a Filipino counter-service spot will sit a short walk apart on the same boulevard, and both will have arrived within weeks of each other.
Main Street saw the most changes this fall, and most of them happened in spaces downtown diners already knew.
| Address | Previous occupant | Now |
|---|---|---|
| 1766 Main St. | Cuba 1958, and before that Divino | Mademoiselle Paris |
| 1990 Main St., Suite 112 | Fork & Hen | SaraSocial, open since Sept. 15 |
| 1532 Main St. | Sorella, new Italian restaurant |
Mademoiselle Paris moved from 1605 Main St. in the Wells Fargo building, according to the Herald-Tribune. Its new space at 1766 Main St. has streetside café tables and a small dining room with a bar. dineSarasota's October visit covered the Parisian basics, including tartines, quiche Lorraine, crêpes, both croques and The Parisien, a ham, Swiss and butter baguette sandwich. The same review notes the room was most recently Cuba 1958 and, years before that, Divino. Mademoiselle Paris also has an original location near UTC, one on Anna Maria Island and one in the St. Pete/Gulfport area.
At the other end of the table, SaraSocial took over the former Fork & Hen space at 1990 Main St. Owner Bobby Khush opened it Sept. 15 with a Southern coastal menu, cocktails, music, hookah on the patio and late-night service on weekends, Sarasota Magazine reported. "We want people to make this their new place," Khush told the Herald-Tribune.
Two genuinely new names joined them. Sorella, a new Italian restaurant, opened at 1532 Main St. Baldoria opened downtown with shareable plates, including tapas that draw on the Mediterranean with Italian and Spanish touches.
The one true farewell this season had a successor lined up within days. On Sept. 15, chef and owner Steve Phelps announced that Indigenous had closed after 15 years in its cottage at 239 S. Links Ave. Sarasota Magazine reported that the owners said they were "ready for a change."
Three days later, the Herald-Tribune reported that Alma de España chef and owner Elier Rodriguez planned to move his restaurant from 1830 S. Osprey Ave. in Southside Village into that cottage. Alma de España had been drawing attention since opening in Southside Village the year before. That report gave no moving date, so call the Osprey Avenue location before you go.
That move connects downtown to the changes on Osprey Avenue. In Southside Village, The 1818 Grill at 1818 S. Osprey Ave. closed after its final day on Sept. 26, and the owners of Legends Sports Pub next door at 1816 S. Osprey Ave. are taking over the space. Once Alma de España relocates, two Southside Village restaurant spaces will have changed hands within a few doors of each other in the same season.
Downtown also lost a shop that wasn't a restaurant. Artisan Cheese Company at 550 Central Ave. announced it was closing after more than 14 years in business, and its inventory sale began Sept. 15.
The pattern of new tenants in familiar rooms shows up elsewhere in the city too. In Gulf Gate, Kolucan Mexican Bar & Grill reopened Sept. 18 under new owners Guillermo Larios and Margarito Rosas. They kept the Kolucan name for now and plan to rebrand it as Garibaldi Bar & Grill, so the sign may change before your next visit.
Up the North Trail, Comptoir, The Counter Café opened Monday, Oct. 5 at 2805 N. Tamiami Trail in Indian Beach Plaza, across from Ringling College, serving French café fare, the Herald-Tribune reported. Together with Mademoiselle Paris on Main Street and the two French spots dineSarasota recommends, C'est La Vie! and Rendez-Vous French Bakery, the city now has French café options at both ends of the Trail.
You can try the new map on these nights:
So many familiar names landed at new addresses this fall that a downtown dinner plan is worth checking against an updated map. When the conversation turns from where Caragiulos went to what your own address is worth, Christine Spelman is happy to help. Schedule a free consultation and home valuation, and get a pricing view backed by her in-house appraisal partnership.
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