Following our picks forwaterfront restaurants in Sarasota and aroundAnna Maria Islandin Manatee County, we’re southbound to revisit 10 more great places for dining, drinking and enjoying sunsets on the water.
To create this list, we picked our favorite waterfront restaurants offering outdoor dining in in Venice, Nokomis and Osprey.To determine the popular menu items, we consulted with the restaurants and also offer some personal picks.
More:10 best waterfront restaurants for outdoor dining in Sarasota
More:10 best waterfront restaurants for outdoor dining around Anna Maria Island
Casey Key Fish House
801 Blackburn Point Road, Osprey; 941-966-1901;caseykeyfishhouse.com
An Old Florida icon located right on the Intracoastal Waterway next to the historical Blackburn Point Swing Bridge, Casey Key Fish House serves lunch and dinner at its restaurant and tiki bar.
Popular menu items include the grouper sandwich, chargrilled burger and, from the dinner menu served after 4 p.m., the snapper encrusted with almonds and topped with a lemon butter sauce.
Crow’s Nest
1968 Tarpon Center Drive, Venice; 941-484-9551;crowsnest-venice.com
Named one of the“100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America for 2019”by OpenTable, The Crow’s Nest Restaurant & Marina is a Venice landmark dating back to 1976 that overlooks the South Jetty, a gorgeous sight marking the exit of Dona Bay into the Gulf of Mexico. Now with additional outdoor tables downstairs as well as the second floor open-air seating, Crow’s Nest serves lunch and dinner.
Popular menu items include the Grouper Key Largo (seared grouper, shrimp, sea scallops, lobster meat, mushrooms, citrus beurre blanc), Walnut Crusted Salmon (teriyaki glaze,ginger aioli) and, from the “Classic Steaks”corner of the menu, the filet mignon with Gunther Gebel-Williams’ steak sauce, a recipe from the legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus lion tamer who was a longtime Venice resident.
Dockside Waterfront Grill
509 N. Tamiami Trail, Venice; 941-218-6418;geckosgrill.com/dockside-waterfront-grill
Part of the Sarasota-basedGecko’s Hospitality Group,Dockside Waterfront Grillplaces diners in a fun, Old Florida setting overlooking Roberts and Dona bays. Open for lunch and dinner, popular menu items include thetwo cold water lobster rolls that are mixed with light mayo and green onion, andserved on toasted, buttered New England frankfurter split rolls and garnished with lettuce andtomato.
There’s also the freshGulf grouper filet sandwich that comes grilled, blackened or fried and served on a toasted brioche bun;and the tuna nachos featuring crispy wonton chips topped with sesame-crusted, seared rare yellowfin tuna andwakame salad, with wasabi cream andsoy sauces, garnished with pickled ginger andscallions.
Fins At Sharky’s
1600 Harbor Drive S. Venice;941-999-3467;finsatsharkys.com
Sharky’s fancier sister restaurant located next door and opened in 2013,Fins At Sharky’s overlooks TheVenice Fishing Pierand the Gulf of Mexicoon the south end of the island of Venice with outdoor seating as well as indoor dining behind polished windows overlooking the water.
Open for lunch and dinner, Fins is best known for its steak and sushi with popular menu items including theSmoked Rib Eye, which is a 14-ounce cut ofMeyer Natural Angus Choice jerk-rubbed and cooked in Fins’Josper oven that’s used as both a smoker and a grill, withfruit wood used to to smoke meats — and vegetables—before loading it with mesquite charcoal for grilling.Other Fins favorites include the Chilean Sea Bass and, from the sushi selections, theSpicy Salmon Crunch (tempura fried roll, spicy salmon, scallion, avocado, cream cheese, red pepper, tobiko, sweet soy, crunch).
Nokomo’s Sunset Hut
690 Tamiami Trail S.,Nokomis;941-488-1324;nokomos.com
Located right off Tamiami Trail on Dona Bay,Nokomo’s Sunset Hut provided two floors of open-air seating in a tropical tiki setting. Serving lunch and dinner often until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays,Nokomo’s popular menu items include all things ahi tuna: the “Sunset”appetizer, the wrap, salad, and the seared ahi tuna tacos with sweet chili slaw, lettuce, fried onions and orange mandarin ginger dressing.
Popular handhelds include the JoJo’s Lobster Roll and Philly Cheese Steak. For entrees, check out the Land & Sea Luau featuring barbecue-style pulledchicken or pulled pork on a bed of seasoned yellow Spanish rice, sazon black beans, sauteed sweet onions,sauteed green, red and yellow and orange peppers, and “island sauce”surrounded by tortilla chips.
Old Salty Dog
1485 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice;941-483-1000;theoldsaltydog.com
Don’t let the front fool ya. Walk throughOld Salty Dog inVenice and you’ll find plenty of open-air seating in the backoverlooking MarineMax and the Intracoastal Waterway. Part of Judy Fryer andPhilip Needs’Old Salty Dog empire that started with a Siesta Key pub in 1986 and now also includes the City Island location included in our list ofbest waterfront restaurants in Sarasota, the Old Salty Dog in Venice has been serving folks for the past five years.
Open for lunch and dinner,popular menu items include the must-try Loaded Salty Dog featured on “Man v. Food.” It’s a quarter-pound hot dog dipped in batter and fried to a golden brown and topped with sauerkraut, bacon, grilled onion and mushrooms, American, cheddar, pepper jack and Swiss cheese. Other popular dishes include the fish and chips, as well as the grouper reuben sandwich.
The Point restaurant and Tiki Bar
131 Bayview Drive, Osprey; 941-786-3890; eviesonline.com/location/the-point
The newest destination inthe locally owned Evie’s group of restaurants and bars, The Point places guests onLittle Sarasota Bay with multiple diningareas. Theground floor offersseating with two fire pits while there's a second floor ideal for a sit-down meal and then the third floor designed for sipping and sunset viewing.
Featuring a mix of Florida and New England seafood favorites, the lunch menu includes a grouper sandwich, a North Atlantic lobster rollplus standards such as a signature burger, herb-grilled chicken sandwichand salads. Among the dinner entrees, there's fish and chips, jumbo lump crabs, seared sea scallops, lobster mac-n-cheese, and a New York strip for steak lovers.
Plus, there's the adjacent tiki bar, also overlooking Sarasota Bay, that serves fun fare like burgers, sandwiches, tacos and nachos.
Pop’s Sunset Grill
112 Circuit Road, Nokomis;941-488-3177;popssunsetgrill.com
Hugging the Intracoastal Waterway across from Nokomis Beach and Casey Key,Pop’s Sunset Grill has a rich history dating back to the 1940s with the current owners running the place since 2001. In late 2018,they opened athree-level tiki bar, which joinedthe restaurant’s previous inside and outside bars.
Popular menu items include the their “Famous Grouper Reuben”and the coconut shrimprolled in a coconut breading, golden fried, andserved with an orange ginger dipping sauce. And then there’s the homage toUrbanek’s Fish Camp, which first settled on the plot of land currently occupied by Pop’s Tiki. The Original Urbanek’s Steamship Pot includes 20 steamed shrimp, corn on the cob, red bliss potatoes, onions, carrots andcelery with drawn butter, spicy co*cktail sauce and your choice of one of the following: 20 oysters, two pounds ofmussels or twolobster tails. Yeah, definitely enough for two!
Sharky’s On the Pier
1600 Harbor Drive S. Venice;941-488-1456;sharkysonthepier.com
Routinely votedbest beach bar in Florida,Sharky's is a Venice landmark dating back to 1987 that places diners right on the sand at the base of the Venice Fishing Pier overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
Openfor lunch and dinner and as late as 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, popular dishes include the Boathouse Salad — which many diners choose to top with blackened grouper —(marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, red onions, mushrooms and olives over mixed lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes with feta cheese);Mike’s Fresh Mahi Sandwich that comes chargrilled, fried or Cajun-style blackened; and the Captain Sharky’s Platter containingGulf shrimp, North Atlantic scallops and friedGulf grouper.
Snook Haven
5000 E. Venice Ave., Venice;941-485-7221;snookhaven.com
Perhaps no place in Sarasota County boasts as much delightful Old Florida history as Snook Haven.Reportedly discovered by smugglers during Prohibition, itthen became a locationfor the 1930s Hollywood films “Prestige”and“Tarzan’s Revenge” before opening to the public as a fishing camp with a restaurant in 1988.Sarasota County purchased the property in 2006 and in 2013 the restaurant reopened under its current management team, Venice Pier Group, which also owns Sharky’s on the Pier and Fins at Sharky’s.
Open for lunch and dinner, Snook Haven places diners right on theMyakka River for popular dishes such as the Jumbo Smoked Chicken Wings andthe flour tortilla tacos filled with smoked pulled pork or pulled chicken, and then topped with homemade corn salsa, lettuce andcheddar cheese. Another favorite is theSnook Platter with pulled pork, beef brisket and ribs, homemade potato chips, collard greens, and Texas toast.
An earlierversion of this story originally ran Aug. 13, 2020.
Wade Tatangelo is the Herald-Tribune’s entertainment editor. Email him at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
