This week: Pam's Patron Margarita at Anna Maria Oyster Bar.

The drink: Patron, lime and orange juice. It's...y'know...it's a margarita. AMOB, I should note, doesn't have a specialty cocktail menu, and I'm just calling this "Pam's Patron Margarita" because bartender Pam volunteered it as a cocktail she mixes particularly well (which is true--it's strong and tasty). I remember Pam, it turns out, from her years at the Broadway Bar. Her fellow AMOB bartender, Mark, I knew from the old Flying Dog on Tallevast by the airport. (Remember the Flying Dog? I loved that place.) The moral of the story is that I've been of legal drinking age in Sarasota-Bradenton for more than 15 years, so these things happen. And also, hooray tequila.

The bar: Consistently popular, especially with snowbirds and nearby neighborhood retirees, AMOB's island of a bar is a well lit, casual hangout. Plus, the bar itself is topped with local maritime maps, which make for great conversation starters.

Food: A massive menu of seafood standards. Snag some coconut shrimp along with your margarita.

Other notable potables: Full liquor and capable bartenders, so the world is your oyster...bar.