Early this year, Cirque St. Armands Beachside opened in the former Holiday Inn on Lido Key, which was  built in 1970. The original hotel was a nostalgic favorite among locals who traipsed across Benjamin Franklin Drive from Lido Beach to sneak a cocktail by the pool, hoping no one would notice they weren’t guests.

Today, nostalgia lives on at Cirque—this time with its nod to Sarasota’s rich circus history via flamboyant décor, circus memorabilia and its lobby floor restaurant, Ringside.

Shrouded by a red velvet curtain with a host standing out front, Ringside’s entrance opens to a corridor lined with intimate, semi-circular dining booths with red-drenched walls and even more red velvet curtains. Diners feel like they are being escorted to the investor box at the circus—or John Ringling’s private train car, which Ringside was designed to evoke. (You can visit the real car, The Wisconsin, at The Ringling Circus Museum.) Past the private booths, the restaurant opens into a spacious dining room with a black-and-white harlequin floor and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the beach.

Lean into the beachy view with a “Levitate” cocktail ($15) made with white and coconut rum, banana syrup, pineapple and tart lime juice, which pulls a drink that might otherwise be cloying back from the brink. It’s both tropical and light, a difficult balance to achieve. For a savory twist, try a “Hot and Dirty” martini ($17) with a blue cheese olive and mini gherkin. Whatever your idea of a dirty martini is, it’s not this, thanks to a splash of pepperoncini brine. It’s spicy, tangy and an unexpected win.

Ringside offers an approachable menu with New American-style dishes and a light coastal flair. For example, a full page of seafood starters includes oysters Rockefeller  ($19), smoked fish spread ($17), and a reasonably priced (for Sarasota) seafood tower for two or four diners ($60 or $110). Smoked Gulf Coast shrimp ($19) are presented under a glass cloche filled with smoke that billows out as the server presents the four chilled shrimp, paired with bloody mary cocktail sauce and marinated cucumbers.

Other starters include honey-whipped feta with roasted pistachios and orange blossom honey ($15) and crab and portobello stuffed mushrooms ($16), among others. Bread service is not complimentary at Ringside, an unfortunate industry trend; however, the restaurant’s onion skillet bread is worthy of its $10 price tag. Tender housemade yeast rolls are topped with caramelized onions and served in the cast iron skillet in which they were baked, which keeps them warm throughout the meal. When dipped in a bit of lobster bisque ($14), it could be its own meal.

Main course offerings play it safe with oven-roasted chicken ($32), Scottish salmon ($32) and oven-roasted rack of lamb ($48), but the lamb is a solid execution, cooked to medium and served with potatoes gratin, pickled red cabbage and a deep port wine sauce. Meanwhile, enormous pan-seared scallops ($44) rest atop toasted farro tossed with caramelized fennel and blistered tomatoes. It’s spectacular.

Tarte tatin (caramelized apples in puff pastry), creme brûlée and chocolate pot de crème (each $13), are adequate dessert offerings, but I’d love to see something more adventurous. Other options include vanilla gelato ($12) or a wild berry tart ($13) with peach liquor custard, but I’m too full to try them.

As one of those locals who loved sneaking into the old Holiday Inn, I’m pleased to see the building enter a new era of sophistication. The indoor swimming pool may be gone from the lobby, but the fun remains in the reminders of our circus history.

RINGSIDE AT CIRQUE ST. ARMANDS BEACHSIDE | 233 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Sarasota, (941) 388-5555, opalcollection.com