"I always said that I would get out while I was ahead of things," Steve Phelps told SRQ Daily a week after he closed Indigenous. "Five more years than I expected."
The goodbye was quiet. On the day of the announcement, the cottage at Links Avenue and Adams Lane looked abandoned. A paper sign on the door said the restaurant would stay closed through September for updates and vacation. Phelps announced on Sept. 15 that Indigenous had closed for good after 15 years. Three days later the cottage had its next tenant.
That pace explains September downtown. The month had real losses. But nearly every room that went dark already had its next restaurant named, and the two moves people will talk about most came from operators who were already cooking in Sarasota. The map moved around, and very little of it went blank.
The Cottage at 239 S. Links Ave.
Indigenous opened in 2011 in a cottage in the historic Towles Court neighborhood. Phelps is a two-time James Beard semifinalist, and he left on his own timetable. His closing post said, "After 15 years of serving this community and working with our staff, farmers, fishermen, bakers, producers, and community, we are ready for a change."
He isn't leaving the food scene. Phelps told SRQ that pop-up meals and a portable soup wagon will bring him back to the public. "Keep your eyes and ears open for really fun collabs with chefs in town and opportunities to buy soup, especially around the holidays."
The cottage is going to Alma de España. Chef and owner Elier Rodriguez told the Herald-Tribune he plans to move his Spanish restaurant from 1830 S. Osprey Ave. in Southside Village into Indigenous's former home. The Herald-Tribune reported that Alma would leave Southside Village at the end of September and reopen in early November. Alma's own website now lists 239 S Links Ave as its address, with a grand opening on Nov. 1, 2026.
That makes 47 days between Indigenous's closing announcement and Alma's planned opening. For one of downtown's best-known dining rooms, that is a short gap.
Main Street's Three Rooms, Three New Tenants
The same thing happened in three Main Street spaces. Each had an old name and now has a new owner, and all three were open by the start of October.
| Address | Previous tenant | Now open | Who's behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1528 Main St. | Block 15 Cork & Craft | Baldoria | Riccardo Margarella and Paola Pignata, owners of My Mamma Italian Kitchen |
| 1532 Main St. | Yume Sushi | Sorella | Twin sisters Dana and Danielle Malcolm |
| 1990 Main St., Suite 112 | Fork & Hen | Sarasocial | Owner Bobby Khush, with executive chef Yamzey Gonzalez |
Baldoria fits the local-operator pattern best. It is the newest concept from the owners of My Mamma Italian Kitchen, which puts it in the hands of people who already have a Sarasota following. The menu crosses the Mediterranean, with tapas that lean Italian and Spanish, focaccia sandwiches, craft pasta and specialty pizzas. Look for the truffled burrata, the Carnival Lasagna and a Surf, Turf & Truffle pizza. Reported hours are 4 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Bradenton.com reported that the owners expected to add lunch by mid-October, so the room may be open at midday within the next few weeks.
Next door, Sorella is a separate restaurant with different owners. The reported kitchen team includes head chef Giancarlo di Cosmo and pizza chef Simone Di Marco. The menu covers cacio e pepe, carbonara, Neapolitan pizza, chicken parm, osso buco and octopus, with a full-liquor bar. Opening coverage said dinner starts at 4 p.m., with later hours on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant's site says "Now open," but its menu page still reads "Coming soon," so call ahead before you plan a late night.
With these two openings, the 1500 block of Main has two new Italian-leaning dinner rooms side by side, and the Herald-Tribune's Oct. 1 roundup lists both as open.
Farther east, Sarasocial is the late-night addition. Sarasota Magazine describes it as Southern coastal comfort food made with French technique, plus cocktails, music and outdoor hookah. The menu includes Carolina Citrus Duck, a Sarasota shrimp and grit cake, hot-honey cornbread and weekend brunch. On Fridays and Saturdays it planned to stay open until 2 a.m., with food served until 1:30 a.m. "We want people to make this their new place," Khush said.
One block over, Tastes of the Philippines opened at 1987 Ringling Blvd. It adds a cuisine downtown didn't have among this fall's openings.
The Closing Without a Named Successor
One September loss hasn't been filled publicly. Artisan Cheese Company closed at 550 Central Ave. after more than 14 years, and its last day was Wednesday, Sept. 16. Owner Louise Converse told the Business Observer, "This year we were down 40%." She said the costs of staying open through Covid had "snowballed."
Even here, the space has a plan. Two people had hoped to take over the cheese shop, but Converse said the landlord approved a restaurant instead. That restaurant hasn't been named. So the space is spoken for, but the cheese counter is gone, and no other shop downtown has stepped in to replace it.
Southside Village Is Turning Over Too
Alma's move also changes the block it is leaving. On the same stretch of South Osprey, The 1818 Grill at 1818 S. Osprey Ave. served its last day on Sept. 26. The owners of Legends Sports Pub, next door at 1816 S. Osprey Ave., are taking over the space.
So within a few weeks, two restaurants on South Osprey between 1816 and 1830 changed status. One was taken over by its neighbor, and the other is moving downtown. The reporting doesn't say what goes into 1830 S. Osprey after Alma leaves. A Southside Village regular who notices a new sign there will have seen it before the newspapers did.
The same pattern showed up south of downtown. Kolucan Mexican Bar & Grill in Gulf Gate reopened under new owners Guillermo Larios and Margarito Rosas on Sept. 18. They are keeping the Kolucan name for now and plan to rebrand as Garibaldi Bar & Grill. It's another case of a familiar room getting new owners.
Planning the Next Few Weeks Around It
In practice, the changes add up to a short list of dates for anyone who eats downtown:
- Now through mid-October: Baldoria is open for dinner, with lunch expected by mid-October. Sorella and Sarasocial are open on Main.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, noon to 3 p.m.: Taste of The Bay Food Festival, presented by Sarasota-Manatee Originals with signature dishes from locally owned restaurants. It's free, part of The Bay's month-long 4th anniversary celebration from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.
- Sunday, Nov. 1: Alma de España's planned grand opening at 239 S. Links Ave. That's the same day The Bay closes its anniversary month with the Best of The Bay Music Fest from 1 to 7 p.m.
- Around the holidays: Watch for Phelps's soup and chef collaborations. He hasn't announced dates or locations yet.
If the schedule holds, on Nov. 1 the Towles Court cottage that housed Indigenous since 2011 opens again as Alma de España.
When a beloved restaurant changes hands, the blocks around it change too, and that's the kind of local detail that shapes what a downtown home is worth. If you live near Main Street, Towles Court or Southside Village and wonder how this fall's changes affect your place, Annie Jordan is happy to talk it through. Start by getting your instant home valuation.
