Spanish Pointe

In 1910 Chicago socialite, and widow of Potter Palmer, Bertha Honore Palmer, came to Sarasota to establish a winter estate. She purchased thousands of acres for cattle ranching, citrus groves, and real estate development. The Webb homestead was part of the land she chose for her 350-acre estate which she named "Osprey Point" which is now know as Historic Spanish Point. It is now a museum/park open to the public.
Just south of that is a little Restaurant & Pub by the same name called Spanish Pointe.
It is well know to some but many people do not know it is there and locals would prefer that it stays that way. It is truly old Florida waterfront dining…not sure if dining is the right word as most meals are served out of a baskets but yes it is right on the water. In fact, many arrive by boat. There’s a large dock the accommodate boaters, and the little wooden structure teeters on the edge of the waterfront welcoming everyone.

We wanted to catch sunset and arrived early for cocktails….. it was still very sunny & hot. Coincidently all of the Divas arrived in black tanks tops. We were hot in more ways than one. We sat outside, ordered margaritas and Bloody Marys, then settled in to watch the sun go down.

There is no table service so we went into the little bar to place our order. They called out our name from the side window when our order was ready. Get the picture. The inside is classic…. very small and raw, a few tables and a long bar, again old Florida.

FOOD…….

We dug into conch fritters, nachos, crispy calamari and toasted ravioli. The fritters and calamari were good, but the ravioli was not a big hit with the Divas. A cup of Spicy Conch Chowder tantalized the taste buds. Our favorite was the Sesame Seared Tuna – delicious!


We had just finished munching and all of a sudden the skies turned and it started to pour. We grabbed our salty rim plastic cups and darted into the bar. It was a down pour. The bartender said “you ain’t going no where”. So we ordered another round. And another….. After a while it became apparent that they were waiting for us to close.
Outside the wind and rain would not let up and from the kitchen we heard a voice say..
“it’s like a river out there in the parking lot so just keep to your right”.
As we prepared for our exit they gave us each a large white plastic bag and poked a hole for our faces to pop through. Nice look. We had turned into diva bags. We went from sleek black to nun white. Anyway….We proceeded out the door to the tune of “how do you solve a problem like Maria” while laughing hysterically.
In the parking lot {yep, the voice was right} we were knee deep in water. We couldn’t make it to the right, the current was so strong. We could barely see a foot in front of us. We didn’t think we would make it out alive…..kidding…. Thank goodness for those key things that make a beep sound and unlock your car…we followed the lights to the cars and were safe! Adventure Diva, of all people, experienced wardrobe malfunction when the bag slipped and she lost the face hole that the bartender had carefully executed with his thumb. Clawing at her car, she finally found the door handle. Whew!
So that ended our adventure at the Spanish Pointe Restaurant & Pub where you can
come by land or sea.
By land: 135 Bay view Dr. By sea: between markers 38 & 39.
Open 7 days a week - 11:30am – 10:00pm or until they throw you out with bags over your heads. 941-966-5746