A Washington, D.C., restaurant known for whole fish, shared plates and the occasional blizzard of airborne napkins is preparing to bring a taste of the Greek islands—and some big-city energy—to downtown Sarasota.

Balos Restaurant plans to open its first Florida location in spring 2027 at The Edge, a 10-story luxury condominium nearing completion at 290 Cocoanut Ave.

The approximately 7,200-square-foot restaurant will occupy the ground floor at the corner of Cocoanut Avenue and Fruitville Road. It will be open to the public and will be The Edge’s only retail tenant.

The Edge’s first residents are expected to move in this fall, several months before Balos opens in spring 2027.

Balos was founded by longtime friends Stefanos Vouvoudakis, Tom Tsiplakos and Joe Ragonese and takes its name from the turquoise waters of the Balos lagoon on the Greek island of Crete. The original restaurant opened in Washington’s Dupont Circle in 2023 with a menu centered on seafood, seasonal Mediterranean ingredients and dishes intended to be passed around the table.

The restaurant hasn’t released a separate Sarasota menu, but Lee Smith, a partner in ORE Development, says the new location will be a sister restaurant to the Washington original.

“The existing menu is likely going to be very similar to what they’re going to use here,” Smith says.

That menu ranges from familiar Greek dishes to caviar, seafood towers and whole fish. Appetizers include spreads such as hummus, tzatziki, spicy feta and melitzanosalata, as well as grilled octopus, sesame-crusted feta with sour cherries and honey, cheese saganaki, spanakopita and zucchini-and-eggplant chips served with tzatziki and fried graviera.

Whole-fish selections include lavraki, or branzino, from Greece; Mediterranean royal dorado; pink snapper for two; and mid-Atlantic black sea bass. Other seafood dishes include shrimp saganaki, swordfish kebabs and seafood youvetsi made with orzo, shrimp, scallops and a whole Maine lobster. The meat side of the menu includes lamb chops, moussaka, braised lamb shank with orzo, Greek roasted chicken and filet mignon kebabs.

Balos' Washington prices generally run from $25 to $34 for appetizers and $44 to $74 for entrées, with larger seafood dishes reaching $180. Smith expects Sarasota prices to be similar, although they haven’t been finalized.

Drinks lean into the restaurant’s polished, party-minded atmosphere. Specialty cocktails include a cucumber-and-mastiha Balos Martini and a Santorini Spritz made with gin, elderflower, lychee, lemon and sparkling wine. Its espresso martini menu uses coffee from For Five Coffee Roasters, the founders’ other major hospitality business, with flavors such as baklava, honey lavender, s’mores and salted caramel. 

Balos has developed a reputation in Washington as an energetic, celebratory restaurant as much as a formal dining room. Eater DC characterized it as a lively Greek hot spot known for diners tossing napkins in celebration. 

Sadek Omar, a partner in ORE Development, says the developers sought an opening in Sarasota’s dining market and a concept that wasn’t already plentiful downtown. The team initially considered an Italian restaurant for the space but changed course after identifying local gaps and noting the area already had "great choices" in that category.

“We wanted something that’s a true value add to the market,” Omar says.

The developers had a longstanding relationship with the Balos group, Omar says, and approached operators they considered among the best in the market. Balos’s owners, in turn, believed in both The Edge and downtown Sarasota.

For Smith, the restaurant’s location matters nearly as much as its menu.

“What was important to us with Balos was obviously not only bringing an exceptional restaurant to the market and to the building,” Smith says.

The Edge sits between Sarasota’s traditional downtown core and the Rosemary District, and Smith says the project can help connect the two areas while giving residents, visitors and neighbors another reason to move between them.

The restaurant will treat the public and condominium residents alike, although possible resident services may firm up over time. Those could eventually include delivery to residences or advance reservation opportunities. The details haven’t been finalized.

The Edge topped out in late 2025, and its residences start at just under $3 million. The boutique condominium project has 27 two- and three-bedroom residences.

The development team also has a stake in a much larger transformation several blocks away. Jebcore Companies is working with WMG Development and Hilton on Waldorf Astoria Residences at the former Zenith office complex at Five Points. Demolition is underway at the property at 1390 Main St., where the developers plan an 18-story tower with 86 residences and more than 40,000 square feet of commercial space. The Waldorf Astoria project is expected to be completed in 2029.

Together, The Edge and the Waldorf Astoria project give Omar and the team a growing presence in downtown Sarasota’s high-end residential market. Balos, however, will offer the public a way into that expanding world without first purchasing a multimillion-dollar condominium.

Click here for updates and to learn more about The Edge.