Bar: Siesta Key Oyster Bar
Location: 5238 Ocean Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34242
Score: 8.5/10
When you think of your perfect beach bar a few things must be present. You need to have a great outdoor patio section, great drinks, ice-cold beer, fresh seafood, and preferably a beach view. Siesta Key Oyster Bar crosses off almost all these boxes. While it is not on the physical beach, it is only a stone’s throw away. Siesta Key Oyster Bar is located in Sarasota, FL, near Siesta Key Beach. Siesta Key Beach is considered one of the best beaches in the state and I highly encourage you to visit if you have not already. As far as the bar goes, I truly found this place on a whim. After spending all day on the beach I needed some cold beer and some oysters. By simply googling “fresh oysters near me” this bar popped up and I am glad it did. The bar itself is a dive in a non-dive environment, which is why I think it does so well. The inside of the bar is very reminiscent of the Bait House in Clearwater, FL. The patio is very large like the Bait House but has a decent amount of shade for the hot summer days in FL. The day that I went was so nice that I had to sit outside and enjoy the patio. Of course, I still had to check out the inside of the establishment to see what the décor was like. To my surprise, it was similar to the Griffon in Charleston, SC. Money lined all of the walls along with license plates from different states. This immediately created a very dive atmosphere for the bar, and it fit well with the outside patio. One of the best features of the bar was the open concept going from inside and outside. Many times, when bars have an outdoor section it can feel like two separate places, well at Siesta Key Oyster Bar it feels like one bar with a great open concept. When it is 90 degrees or hotter in Florida, cold beer is essential. This bar had ice-cold beer at a relatively good price for the area. While they had a large selection of beers, as always, I opted for a cold Miller Lite (the best beer).
As an oyster connoisseur, I would be doing a disservice if I did not mention the oysters. While this will not factor into the rating, these oysters were awesome. I ate about 4 dozen on this trip and this place had the best ones by far. They were massive in size but at an affordable price. I believe I paid $20 for a dozen. This great price gets even cheaper during their HH where oysters are a buck. If you like good drinks and fresh oysters, make sure you stop here if you are ever in the area.
Décor: A very non-beach-like décor, but I loved it. I would imagine this is what beach bars looked and felt like the 80s and it’s important to keep these places around.
Service: The area itself has many tourists, making every hour busy, our server was great, we had a meal and a few drinks and were in and out in an hour.
Atmosphere: We went at 3 pm on a Tuesday and the place was busy. Awesome mix of locals and tourists, just having a good time.
Price: Anytime you are at a beach, you are going to pay a premium. I believe a pint of Miller ran me $5 or so, not bad.
Cleanliness: Typically, from what I have seen, beach bars are exceptionally clean. This one was no different. Clean as can be.
Bonus Points: No bonus points.