Last Bite Late Night Eats
When dinner is a distant memory—or you’re having so much fun you’ve forgotten your supper altogether (it happens!)—downtown Sarasota holds several late-night oases to rescue you when you’re loath to succumb to fast food (but hey, that happens, too). Here are some of our favorites:
CASK & ALE KITCHEN
Countless selfies have been snapped against the black-and-tan wood paneling that zigzags down the wall of Cask & Ale Kitchen.
A newer establishment among Main Street’s restaurants and watering holes, this craft pub stirred up significant buzz when it opened two years ago, and its extra-long bar and benches have remained packed with hungry night owls ever since. The menu favors fried delights, meaty handhelds, and a poutine that indubitably becomes more and more irresistible the longer your night hums along.
Cask & Ale Kitchen makes for an ideal stop after a few rounds of bowling next door, and if all the pin-toppling has left you thirsty, the knowledgeable and friendly barkeeps won’t let you down. With a top shelf that can only be reached by a 10-foot ladder, Cask & Ale Kitchen boasts an illustrious collection of premium spirits, particularly in the whiskey and Scotch department. With the warm glow of polished wood all around, and another warm glow of a 30-year-old single malt on its way down, it’s no wonder those Cask & Ale Kitchen selfies are positively incandescent!
STATE STREET EATING HOUSE + COCKTAILS
The lounge at State Street Eating House + Cocktails feels like a parlor in some palace, where an ordinary evening out transforms into holding court among your fellow late-night royals. Heavy drapes and plush seats lend the space an intimate atmosphere, even on busy nights when the bustle around the bar resembles a ballet. It feels downright luxurious to lean back in your cushions and take in the show as you pass around sharp, sweet, and smoky morsels from a charcuterie board.
This lounge lends itself well to delicious snacking and engrossing conversation after taking in any number of the “finer things” that are easy to find in downtown Sarasota: art openings, poetry readings, the theater and opera. Never pretentious, however, and always inviting, State Street Eating House + Cocktails makes it easy to live the good life after sundown and well into the wee hours.
MELANGE
Adventurous palates and expeditious foodies rejoice at MeLange’s welcome to the all-hours epicure. In a menu that deals in exploration, Chef Lan Bradeen sources ingredients locally and her inspiration from international travel. MeLange defies expectations of late-night food with exotic dishes such as rabbit tacos, frogs’ legs, and sweetbreads served ’til the clock strikes midnight. Even if your tastes run closer to the mainstream, you’re still encouraged to wander among dishes from around the globe; Japan, Italy, Spain, France, and the United States are all represented in crowd favorites.
Whether Bradeen is executing on a classic dish or engineering all-new flavor profiles within her seasonal menus, her recipes seek to elevate the artistry of food and drink. And MeLange celebrates the visual arts as well. Between bites, allow your eyes to wander over the walls and savor the colorful complements to your meal that hang there. Finally, if you haven’t had your nightcap, slip next door through a secret entrance to Pangea Alchemy Lab, Melange’s sister lounge and the epicenter of Sarasota’s craft cocktail explosion.
CLASICO
Clasico aims to be a hangout for anyone and everyone sailing through downtown, and that especially goes for those who aren’t quite ready for the night to end. Clasico has become a go-to host of after-parties and festival wraps; with an ideal vantage point on the corner of Main and Palm, it’s certainly a spot to see and be seen. Thursdays through Saturdays Clasico bumps with bodies grooving to live DJs, and it’s not unusual to see couples twirling through their best salsa moves on nights when the air sizzles with Latin music.
Clasico ensures those movers and shakers stay well fed throughout the whole night: The kitchen offers its full dinner menu until closing time (2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 1 a.m. on Thursdays, and midnight all other nights). An array of flatbreads makes for easy sharing with your posse, but if a midnight surf-and-turf is calling your name, don’t feel shy about answering.
