The Lily Cafe to open in Sarasota
A new breakfast and lunch cafe is coming to south Sarasota from the same Naples-based group that plans to open a restaurant and bar in the University Town Center area.
The restaurant, called The Lily Cafe, will open in Sarasota’s The Landings plaza at U.S. 41 and Proctor Road next to Publix. The 2,900-square-foot eatery, scheduled to open in June, will be able to seat about 150 people, owner George Wood said.
Wood’s family is the driving force behind the award-winning Naples restaurant Jane’s Cafe on 3rd, and Georgie’s Garden Cafe and Bar George, two new concepts that are in the works for the West District at University Town Center. Both the West District and The Landings are owned by Benderson Development Co. of Manatee County.
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Ford s Garage nears opening of first Sarasota-Manatee location
An eagerly anticipated local restaurant opening, bringing a longtime Southwest Florida dining and drinking favorite to Sarasota-Manatee, is nearing completion.
Ford s Garage, a car-themed restaurant specializing in burgers and beer that opened its original location in 2012 in Fort Myers near Henry Ford s winter home before expanding throughout Florida as well as Michigan and Indiana, will soon open at University Town Center.
Plans are to open by early May, said Marc Brown, president of the Tampa-based 23 Restaurant Services that owns and operates Ford s Garage s Florida locations.
The University Town Center Ford s Garage, across from Dick s Sporting Goods, will be the restaurant s 16th location overall and its first in Sarasota-Manatee. Brown said they had been interested in expanding to the Sarasota area for several years, and have invested an estimated $2.5 million into this location.