Bradenton Beach Bars/Restaurants?
 

Thanks to all who helped us choose Bradenton Beach for a long May weekend. <BR> <BR>Now, anyone have bar/restaurant suggestions? Both causal and less casual? We'd prefer to stay on the island. <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance.

Beach Bistro in Holmes Beach...reserve early! The restaurant is small and fills quickly. <BR> <BR>In the Sarasota/St. Armands area you have more choices than you could use on a long weekend. Cafe Europa, Euphemia Haye, Michaels on East. All excellent. Columbia House if you are dying for Spanish but we've never felt the food was anything more than ..."good". This is one of those restaurants with a long established reputation that refuses to quit. <BR> <BR>We continue to go back to the SandBar for lunch. You can't beat the location, dining al fresco on a patio overlooking the bluegreen Gulf (and dwindling beach), but again, food, is just OK. Still, for lunch it meets the needs in style, especially for those from landlocked areas! <BR> <BR>Hope you'll report back on your weekend and impressions of Bradenton Beach!

Brian, <BR> <BR>In addition to Beach Bistro, which is wonderful (and very pricey) the owner opened a second restaurant called Bistro at Island's end. Equally wonderful and more casual. Cafe on the Beach, at the public beach pavillion is a fun spot for any meal and is famous for their pancake breakfast. Duffy's across the street is a dive with the best burgers anywhere. Drinks and dinner on the patio at Sand Bar are a must. Their other restaurant on the island, Beach House, is inconsistent. Just down a ways on the North end of Longboat is Moore's Stone Crab restaurant--excellent seafood. A little farther down LBK is Pattigeorge's, (which is one of our favorites) and Mar Vista (nice outside dining. If you like Northern Italian, Osteria on St. Armand's is your best choice. Olive Oyl hit the other highlights. The little bars and restaraurants on Bridge Street are great for atmosphere and okay for food. I'd stay away from Shells. Have a great time!

Thanks Sal and OO. Just got back and had a great time. Stayed at the Queensgate Resort - really just a dressed-up old shoebox shaped motel. Cute room, tile floor, right across the street from the beach (nothing built in front of it yet), nice pool and shuffleboard. It was about a 5-minute walk down to Bridge Street (what I would consider "downtown" Bradenton Beach). Very basic, but a good $70 value. <BR> <BR>While we were tempted by the Beach Bistro, we decided to make this a more casual (and affordable) weekend. And we really tried not to use the car so that limited our dining options. <BR> <BR>We had a good breakfast at the Gulf Drive Cafe, a decent dinner and lunch on the patio of the Beach House Restaurant (right on the rocky beach), a very good dinner with bad wine at a small creperie on Bridge Street (run by a Parisian woman and her son) and finished with a good dinner at the Bridge Tender Inn on their dockside patio. Oh, and we had a decent lunch at Mr Bones. <BR> <BR>We did drive the length of the island and checked out the places you recommended, but it seemed that Bradenton Beach was the only real pedestrian-friendly area. We also spent some time shopping around St. Armand's Circle, but that wasn't really what we were after this trip. <BR> <BR>We had a great, laid-back time. Everyone we met was just as friendly as can be. We'll be back. Thanks again.

Sounds as if you were looking for laid-back and easy this trip and BBch hit the spot. <BR> <BR>Glad you had an enjoyable trip but most especially, thanks for following up on your post and letting us know what you did and how you liked it. I enjoy reading other's impressions of the area and appreciate your feedback. Come on back...and do a report on Beach Bistro next time! ;&gt;

Brian, <BR> <BR>Thanks for the feedback. Queensgate is a new one to me. I'm always glad to have a new place to recommend to friends. <BR> <BR>I'll be up your way in a few weeks to take my son to the Braves v. Mets games. It's an annual ritual for us.