New York, New York - Sarasota, FL

My family and I made the long drive over to Sarasota one afternoon, and we happened to drive by the New York New York Restaurant and Piano bar and we were intrigued enough to stop in and have lunch there. As it was the middle of the afternoon, there was no one there and they were setting up for dinner. After being first seated in the restaurant portion, we went and peeked in at the bar and asked to be moved over there because we thought it looked so much cooler over there. They had this big piano bar, so that when they have someone playing, the patrons can just set themselves at the bar that is attached to the piano. The restaurant has this whole New York theme going on and the servers are all wearing I Heart NY shirts.

My only disappointment there was the fact that they were out of Guinness on tap, but I just moved on to something else. My husband have a house Cabernet, which he enjoyed. I ordered the soup of the day, which was a tomato and blue cheese soup that turned out to be quite nice. They also served a cheese crusted bread with a herb and olive oil dipping sauce that we enjoyed while waiting. For our entrees, we ordered a cheeseburger, the bianca flatbread made with three cheeses and roasted garlic, and the butternut squash cannelloni. Everything was absolutely fabulous, but the butternut squash cannelloni that my husband ordered was my favorite. We really appreciated the fact that the restaurant offered a nice menu selection for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. The service there was nice, too. I hope I get the chance to go back sometime and try it in the evening when they have someone playing the piano, or perhaps we will try their Sunday Jazz brunch when we make the trek over to Sarasota in the future.

New York New York
1934 Hillview Street
Sarasota, FL 34239
941-955-6969

Shackleton's Folly - St Petersburg, FL

After hearing about the annual Rock Swap that is held here, my family headed to South St Pete to give Shackleton's Folly a try. Five bands were playing that we wanted to hear, plus we had the chance to try a new restaurant. This is a fun and relaxed place to have a beer with friends, or you can take the whole family, too. With the family, without the family, it is comfortable either way. Shackleton's is one huge room with a very longgggggggggggg bar. There is a place set up for bands at the back of the room with plenty of bar top tables and some regular tables in the corner. There are plenty of tv's for watching the game, too. The day we were there, bands alternated between inside and the outside patio. We noticed some volleyball nets there, too.

My son and I grabbed cheeseburgers and that was served with cubes of roast potatoes for dipping in ketchup. It was a good, basic burger and made a perfect side for my Guinness;). The only thing my husband was able to eat was the roast potatoes because there was not really any alternatives for vegetarians. St Pete does seem to have a sizable vegetarian population, so it would have been nice to see something besides salads as a meal alternative. Not really a big deal, but just something I wanted to let any vegetarians out there know before heading over. We would still go there again for drinks and the live music that they offer because it has a fun atmosphere. To sum it up: the food was nice; would love one good vegetarian option; and Shackleton's offers a really fun atmosphere with live music on some nights.

Shackleton's Folly
4300 6th Street South
St Petersburg, FL 33705
(727) 329-8847