Caragiulos restaurant plans to move to Ringling Boulevard

Thirty-five years after opening in the Mira Mar building in downtown Sarasota, Caragiulos Italian American eatery will soon be on the move. 

Pending administrative approvals, construction is tentatively scheduled to begin on the restaurant’s new location at 1833 Ringling Blvd. between Links Drive and Osprey Avenue in January 2024.

When complete, the restaurant will move out of its location in the Mira Mar building at 69 S. Palm Ave. Mira Mar was acquired by Seaward Development from Mark Kaufman in May 2023, and at the time announced no plans to demolish the structure. Kaufman also owns the site for the new Caragiulos location.

Planned for 4,300 square feet, the project came before the Development Review Committee on Dec. 6. By all indications, administrative approval should go quickly.

Minor details remain, such as setbacks, because the property is bordered by two primary streets in Ringling Boulevard and Osprey Avenue. Kaufman is not developing the entire property — which currently is a surface parking lot — at this time, and those details should be ironed out before a permit for the restaurant is issued.

“The restaurant really sits in the center of this property, so I've been discussing with Dr. Kaufman on how to address that,” architect Javier Suarez, who is designing the new restaurant, told the DRC. “Option No. 1 would be to submit as part of the submittal of a Phase 2 development, because obviously Dr. Kaufman is going to develop that remnant piece of land between the restaurant and Osprey, and submit that as a future phase, or subdivide the property. Then the restaurant will be an internal piece within that setback on Osprey and it would only be frontage to Ringling.”

As for Mira Mar, Caragiulos' departure isn’t necessarily a signal regarding the future of the historic structure built in 1922. Seaward President Matthew Leake previously told sister publication the Business Observer it would be several years before any redevelopment could take place, if ever.

“Essentially, we've got multiple years that the tenants will continue to operate, and we want the community to support the local businesses here, including ours,” Leake told the Business Observer. “So there's a minimum of a number of years before anything would occur.”