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.
Fieri brings Flavortown to UTC
As to-go food options remain in high demand during the pandemic, ghost kitchens that don t offer dine-in have grown in popularity. Now a celebrity in the culinary world has launched his own delivery-only concept, including a Sarasota-Manatee location.
Guy Fieri s Flavortown Kitchen, themed around the namesake restaurateur and host of Food Network s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, has opened at University Town Center. The menu offers a variety of comfort food staples, including burgers, sandwiches, wings and more.
According to Eater, the Flavortown locations mostly operate out of the kitchens of restaurants such as Brio Italian Grille, Bravo! Italian Kitchen, Buca di Beppo and Bertucci s. All four of those chains are owned by Robert Earl, who also co-founded the restaurant Chicken Guy! with Fieri and is a founder of Virtual Dining Concepts.
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