Eat Here - Sarasota
1888 Main Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
Phone: 941-365-8700
8.1
Food
Presentation
Decor
Service
Value
8
8
8.5
8
8
Eat Here is a Must Try!
For those of you unfamiliar with Sean Murphy, he is a long time restaurateur establishing one of the area’s most highly acclaimed fine dining restaurants, the Beach Bistro. With its surfside location, high quality ingredients, and outstanding service, the Beach Bistro has established a unique, special occasion, destination dining experience.
With Eat Here-Anna Maria about 1 year old and Eat Here-Sarasota recently opened, Murphy’s latest dining concept is beginning to take shape. Eat Here is not some "watered down” version of the Beach Bistro. Rather it is creating its own identity which is complementary to and independent from Beach Bistro. Offering a brightly colored, well decorated restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a full bar, individual and community tables and a truly extensive menu with a wide range of choices, Eat Here is focused on providing a casual, comfortable, quick-turn dining experience with an emphasis on quality. For our meals we choose the following:
Serendipitous Salad: Fresh greens, cheese, croutons, tomato, garden veggies and anything “salady” that grabs us. $8.00 My kind of salad… full and fresh. Each bite a different ingredient; from basic salad greens, to blueberries and strawberries and everything in between. The Titanic (Iceberg and Blue): Chilled iceberg lettuce and Maytag blue cheese with basil-roasted tomatoes, a sprinkle of bacon and blueberries. The last thing the passengers saw...iceberg and blue. $8.00 Fresh, crunchy, and flavorful, a blue cheese lover’s delight. Bistro Blue Tomato: Famous tomato soup, with a little Maytag. $6.00 Thick, creamy, the blue cheese adds a layer of rich flavor. Chef Gator’s Gulf Coast Grouper Cakes: With crawfish, dusted with Japanese panko, sautéed, kissed with key lime butter and finished with mango beurre blanc. $11.00 Delicious, real fish, no filler, nicely spiced, the mango was a nice sweet touch. Shrimpcargots: With a little collard green and smoked bacon. $9.00 Very clever, for those of us who love escargot and the ritual but would prefer shrimp. Tempura’d beets: Lightly battered (but not beaten) with chevre and crème fraiche. Because Sean’s grandmother would roll over in her grave. $6.00 An interesting menu item we had to try…delicious batter, firm tasty beet in the middle. Fish Tacos: Day-fresh Cortez rockfish lightly seasoned and seared, taco’d with pico, lime and a little lemon butter. $10.00 Presentation is in a taco holder, it keeps it orderly and much easier to eat. The fish is fresh, the cole slaw and green apple add to make the tacos delicious, crisp, and refreshing. Gulf Coast Oyster Fry: Corn meal dusted, served with aioli garlic toast, slaw, frites and remoulade. $14.00 Lightly fried, golden colored tender sweet oysters, served in a nice basket, could have been on Cape Cod. Cedar Key Clams: Pan cooked with Chardonnay, a splash of pernod, a little garlic and sweet cream and a soupcon of curry....and frites. $14.00 A fantastic presentation of sweet baby clams with a rich flavorful sauce…the pernod adds a distinct anise flavor. Marvelous Veal Meat Loaf: With uncommon mushrooms, pan gravy and mashed. $15.00 A simple presentation of delicious comfort food…warm and satisfying…a winter’s dish. Apple Fruit Crisp: Pecans and ginger and just a little ice cream. $8.00 Crisp sweet flavors with just the right amount of crunch. Chocolate Budino: Fancy Italian name for really decadent chocolate pudding that is nothing like your mother’s...topped with sea salt. $8.00 It is so smooth that it feels like ice cream, very rich chocolate and the sea salt keeps your taste buds guessing. Polynesian Pineapple Cake: With a ginger glaze. $8.00 Moist, light and flavorful.
Eat Here offers a full bar service, beer, wine, and soft drinks to accompany your meal. Although the water served is filtered, there is no bottled water service. We do hear this may change in the near future.
One of the attributes defining the concept behind Eat Here is fast service; which means dishes are brought to the table when completed in the kitchen. Likewise when a dish is finished it is removed quickly from the table. At first this may seem a little surprising to the uninitiated, however the hustle and bustle is part of the ambience and is just fine once you know the routine. Service is fast, friendly, and very efficient.
A restaurant’s success is not only defined by the quality of the food but by the quality of the concept and the team. Sean Murphy’s concept of casual culinary quality coupled with a committed team should prove to be winning recipe.
SRQ Reviews, the restaurant guide you need to find the best dining in Sarasota, Florida.
Insider Tips Upstairs in the bar area there is a slightly different menu and it is the only area in the restaurant where you can get a cup of coffee. Also, since reservations are not accepted, planning an early or late dinner will reduce the wait.
