Why is a famous Sarasota, Bradenton waterfront restaurant closing? Here's what we know
One of the best waterfront restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton is closing. That's what spread across social media, and now, on a hot August Saturday night — with the white, round thermometer above the bar reading 90-plus — it's party time on north Sarasota Bay, in the heart of one of the last active commercial fishing villages in Florida.
Folks occupy every wood bar stool and green plastic table chair found under the old, open-air, single-story structure. By 6 p.m., the joyful assembly has spilled out into the asphalt parking lot among the cars, golf carts, and battered commercial fishing boats awaiting repairs.
We are drinking booze over ice out of plastic cups and whatever cold bottles of beer are left. We are savoring grouper sandwiches with fried okra, cheeseburgers with French fries, and whatever other menu items haven't sold out yet. The band is playing their popular brand of high-energy jump blues music on stage, and the open-air room, with no air-conditioning, brims with people dancing, sweating, sharing stories, laughing and smiling.
Yes, it's a bittersweet evening at Cortez Kitchen because everyone thinks the place is closing following normal business hours Sunday (Aug. 6), from noon to 8 p.m.
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Cortez Kitchen restaurant, bar and live music venue closing — but owner reveals plans to reopen
Cortez Kitchen is nestled along the north Sarasota Bay, next to another one of my favorite restaurants, Swordfish Grill, in the historic Cortez commercial fishing village, which is found off Cortez Road near Anna Maria Island. I've been regularly visiting Cortez Kitchen since not too long after it opened in 2002. It's one of my favorite restaurants, bars, and live music venues around — a place where you happily dine on fresh seafood while listening to live music and enjoying one of the last vestiges of the fabled Old Florida.
During many of my visits to Cortez Kitchen, I would be greeted by the restaurant's jovial proprietor, Joe Oelker, often seated in a corner spot at the bar. The Ohio license plate that reads "Oelker" still hangs from a rafter by a shark's head; however, the man himself is nowhere to be found during my visit on Saturday (Aug. 5), and rumors fly like no-see-ums.
While listening to the locally based, nationally acclaimed blues band Doug Deming & The Jewel Tones fill the air with their upbeat blues tunes, I can't help but overhear a server explain to the couple next to us that the staff has not been paid "in weeks" and that they just learned a few days ago that the restaurant would be closing after business on Sunday (Aug. 6). Deming would later announce from the stage that all the band's tips would be going to the wait staff.
Sunday morning, I reach out to Oelker via social media. He declines to comment and just responds that he is "retiring," while also noting that he's not feeling well and is watching over his mother. I wish Oelker all the best. I also extend my best wishes to his staff at Cortez Kitchen, who now must try to find work during the worst time of the year: the slow summer season.
Owner John Banyas on future of Cortez Kitchen
While Oelker was the proprietor of the Cortez Kitchen business, the waterfront land on which it sits has long been owned by John Banyas. Born and raised in Cortez and on Anna Maria Island, Banyas is a fourth-generation commercial fisherman whose many endeavors include owning and operating the Swordfish Grill restaurant and bar, Cortez Bait & Seafood fish market, and N.E. Taylor Boatworks full-service boat yard. Along with third-generation Cortezian Karen Bell, owner of Star Fish Company and A.P. Bell Fish Co. as well as co-owner of Tide Tables, Banyas has a strong reputation in the area for not allowing profits to supersede preserving the Cortez way of life.
"All the employees will be paid, Joe will pay them, that’s just how it is," Banyas tells me when reached by phone Sunday morning. "He’s gotten a little behind, but I have no problem with Joe. He’s getting up there in years and ready to retire. His mom is sick and he’s spending time with her. He’s had a lot on his plate, and I've been looking to take over the Kitchen for a while."
Following normal business hours Sunday and a 3 p.m. performance by local band Night Watch, Cortez Kitchen will likely be closed "probably a month or more" but "open before season," Banyas said. The name and concept of the restaurant, full-liquor and live music venue will remain "the same as it was" with its "Old Florida style and Cortez character."
Banyas will use his Swordfish Grill staff, led by general managers Lily Banyas (his daughter) and Adam Sears, to oversee Cortez Kitchen. Recently, Banyas did a makeover to Swordfish Grill, featuring a sprawling new tiki bar and covered back patio offering spectacular views of north Sarasota Bay. His plans for Cortez Kitchen, though, don't include any additions. While closed this summer, Banyas said he will do upgrades to things like the kitchen, deck boards and perhaps bathrooms.
"We're keeping it the same charming place with fresh local seafood and live music in a historic fishing atmosphere," he said. "It's kind of like a boat, you gotta overhaul it every now and then.”
Cortez Kitchen is at 4528 119th St. W., Cortez. For more information, call 941-798-9404 or visit thecortezkitchen.com.
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Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cortez Kitchen restaurant in Sarasota Bradenton closed but will reopen
