Ed Chiles remains involved after the sale of his three iconic island eateries

A year and a half ago, entrepreneur and Anna Maria Island resident Ed Chiles says he knew he was ready to let go of his three waterfront restaurants in Manatee County. Selling the properties, while a strategic move, would represent a seismic transfer of ownership of three well-known eateries that had catered to both tourists and locals for years. 

A sale came together by the end of July. The buyer, Beachside Hospitality Group of St. Petersburg, acquired the Sandbar on Anna Maria for $16.4 million; Beach House in Bradenton Beach for $9.6 million; and Mar Vista on Longboat Key for $5.4 million, according to Manatee County property records.  

Yet Chiles, 69, says he’s “far from retired.” He is still opening restaurants outside Florida and is looking to expand the organic farm he owns in Parrish, as well as working on other projects focused on sustainability. He also owns commercial real estate on Anna Maria and Longboat Key.

Chiles says after 45 years in the waterfront restaurant business, it was time to move on; he bought the Sandbar in 1979 with partners, including his late father, former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles. He acquired Mar Vista in 1989 and Beach House in 1993.

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While Chiles says he could have stayed at the helm of the restaurants because he loved it, the idea of “one storm” or “one pandemic” on the horizon was in his mind — something that “could really diminish what I had built up and what our team had built up.” (Chiles spoke with Key Life magazine in September, a few weeks before Hurricanes Helene and Milton.) 

The three restaurants were amid best-ever revenue years so far in 2024 — another motivation to sell. “Our numbers had never been better, top line and bottom line,” Chiles says. “So you know, that felt like a good time to go out.”

People had been watching their spending in the last quarter of 2023, but then “business, all of a sudden roared back” in 2024, Chiles says.

From January to July, his restaurants experienced record growth.  “It all clicked, and it all really came together,” he says. The culture and menus were the best they had been, he says, and diners were coming in droves.

He asked himself what was to be gained by staying another 15 years. “My health is good, and I have a new grandson, and the restaurants are all operating at the top,” Chiles says. His grandson is 2.5 years old and lives in Montana, where Chiles spends part of the summer.

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And Chiles, who has been in the restaurant industry since his first exposure washing dishes at Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach in 1978, says he is not quite getting out of the kitchen.

“I’m still in the restaurant business in a big way,” Chiles says. One way is in Buds and Brews, a multilocation Tennessee cannabis bar. He is a partner in two Buds and Brews locations in Nashville and one in Chattanooga, with a fourth one opening soon in Memphis. He is also a limited partner and investor in Poppo’s Taqueria, a fast-casual concept with four locations in Manatee County and one in St. Petersburg. And, outside restaurants, but not too far, Chiles is a partner in California-based Lola Wines and Sarasota mushroom business Petrichor. (He notes he does not have any operational responsibility in the restaurants he owns.) 

“So it’s far from retired,” Chiles says. “It’s not being 100% owner of three waterfront restaurants anymore, not being out there on the edge and being a little bit more nimble now. It’s going to allow me to cast my net in different ways that I wasn’t able to do on the projects that I’m really concerned about.”

Sustainable pursuits

With the waterfront restaurants off his list of worries, Chiles has turned his focus to promoting sustainability, both through his farm and nonprofit work.

“We’re living on the edge of the largest gulf in the world,” Chiles says. “We have a responsibility living here to be stewards of this land and take care of it.”

When he owned the trio of waterfront restaurants, he supplied them with produce from Gamble Creek Farms, the working farm he owns in Parrish, and the establishments engaged in composting. Gamble Creek Farms also provides goods for other restaurants and community members through its on-site farm market. Its bestsellers are microgreens, leafy greens, herbs and squashes.

Chiles’ vision is to expand the 26-acre farm in northeast Manatee County into a nearby 18 acres he owns off Rye Road. He is working on securing a space in Sarasota that will enable him to “pick, pack and ship” goods from the farm around the country. 

He also is a partner in Tanasi, a Tennessee-based company that sells hemp-related products. His involvement in Tennessee projects comes because his business partner has ties there, Chiles says. 

Outside of his businesses, he says the top two organizations he is involved with are the Gulf Shellfish Institute and Blue Community Consortium. He is the vice president of the shellfish institute, dedicated to expanding shellfish production through research and outreach. The Blue Community Consortium, which Chiles co-founded, helps protect, restore and enhance coastal and marine environments.

His greatest accomplishments, he says, are his daughters, who are 35 and 37.

Chiles believes his legacy is in creating “great experiences for people” and teaching them about sustainability. Says Chiles, who spent childhood summers on Anna Maria before moving there as an adult: “I worked on trying to preserve the Florida that I grew up in.”

This story was updated to reflect that the acquisition prices are for the real estate properties.