- October 19, 2022
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The Tommy Bahama corporate headquarters is based out of Seattle, Washington. However, CEO Douglas Wood said the Sarasota region is ground zero for the company’s restaurant division.
Staff is especially excited to be opening a Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar in the Center Point plaza in Lakewood Ranch on Oct. 9.
“When (the Lakewood Ranch location) came up, my entire restaurant division gave a giant cheer,” he said. “There’s a real feeling of home when it comes to (the area).”
Both the executive chef and restaurant manager for the region live in Sarasota. The St. Armands Circle location opened in 1997. Lakewood Ranch will be the 11th Tommy Bahama restaurant in Florida.
The Marlin Bar is a newer concept for the chain. The bar offers “upscale counter service,” where a diner can be in and out in 45 minutes.
Wood said it’s something the Tommy Bahama clientele have been asking for because they don’t always want to commit to a two-hour, full dining experience. Especially during the week, people are often looking for a glass of wine and a quick bite to eat.
At 8,700 square-feet, the Lakewood Ranch location features an indoor bar, patio seating and a retail store.
“We didn’t have to try to squeeze into a pre-existing building,” Wood said. “We got to build exactly what we wanted. You’re going to get the top-tier of what we do with the Marlin Bar in Lakewood Ranch.”
The indoor bar is centrally located on the first floor with patio seating on either side. The capacity is about 150 diners, and the experience is streamlined like a fast casual restaurant. Guests go to the bar to get drinks and place their orders, and the food is served in about 10 minutes.
Wood said the portions are smaller, so the menu prices are about half of what a sit-down restaurant would charge.
For example, the restaurant on St. Armands Circle offers an “all-American burger” topped with American cheese, house-made dill pickles and garlic Aïoli for $22. That menu item was pared down into the all-American burger sliders for $14 at the Marlin Bar.
A few favorites from the restaurants made it onto the bars’ menu, including the coconut shrimp and the ahi tuna tacos.
The menu reads like an all-day lunch menu until you reach the section dedicated solely to “Tacos and Tequila.”
“We want it to be a bar first,” Wood said. “Maybe people haven’t been to one of our Marlin Bars, or maybe they’ve been down to Ft. Myers, but they’re going to immediately say, ‘Wow, this bar is great.’”
The “Guava Rita” is made with El Tequileno Reposado, Cointreau, guava-serrano syrup and lime.
The rest of the menu offers a selection of appetizers, handhelds, salads, bowls and a long list of cocktails and wine. An “Island Time Happy Hour” and live music are part of the bar’s daily offerings, too.
The retail store takes up about 3,500 square feet of space, which will have items for men, women, the beach and home. Tommy Bahama has a retail store at the Mall at University Town Center, as well.
“We started looking at communities growing in Lakewood Ranch and said there’s enough of our guests here to support a Marlin Bar and support the store down the street,” Wood said.
Plus, the company already had a relationship with Casto, the developer of Center Point, because Tommy Bahama has a restaurant in a Casto plaza in Winter Park.
Because of the restaurant on St. Armands, the company already had vendor relationships in place, too. The Lakewood Ranch location will employ about 50 people.
The restaurant on St. Armands Circle is temporarily closed due to 2 inches of water seeping inside when Hurricane Helene passed through on Sept. 26.
“The business will come,” Wood said. “Right now, I’ve got employees who were affected by the storm. We’re all going to be doing our part to get people back on their feet.”
