The Best of Sarasota 2025

Your favorite businesses, restaurants, bars, shops and much, much more! Plus: how to grow the perfect Florida-friendly garden, and the Sarasota Paradise level up.

In this issue:

Arts & Entertainment

Family Affair

A World Premiere Play Takes a Look at a Black Family Facing Change, Both Within and Without

“It’s about parents trying to reckon with their kids having grown into the people they are and having to really get to know each other,” says playwright Nia Akilah Robinson.

05/12/2025 By Kay Kipling

Best of Sarasota

The Best of Sarasota 2025

A record number of you cast a ballot this year. The result? A comprehensive review of everything you love about living in Sarasota.

05/01/2025

Branded Content

Best of Sarasota 2025

The results are in, meet some of Sarasota’s best!

05/01/2025 By Sarasota Magazine Content Studio

Eat & Drink

Down the Trail

Mirna’s Cuban Cuisine May Have Moved, but Its Excellent Island Fare Remains Unchanged

The new space is a celebration of all things Cuban.

05/13/2025 By Lauren Jackson

Freeze Frame

Inside Sarasota's Massive New HL Asian Market

The 23-aisle market is teeming with products ranging from cookware to snacks, live seafood and hard-to-find sauces, plus an enormous produce section.

05/12/2025 By Lauren Jackson

Fashion & Shopping

What's in Store

Chloe Canterbury’s Surge Style Stocks Beach-Friendly Looks at Wallet-Friendly Prices

Surge’s style is “beachy chic,” with women’s clothes and accessories that can be taken from dunes to dinner.

05/05/2025 By Elizabeth Djinis

Home & Real Estate

Lush Life

The Beauty and Resilience of Florida-Friendly Gardens

“Take your little piece of land and steward it. It will give you a sense of power. Your choices matter. You can make a difference.”

05/05/2025 By Ruth Lando

From Cottages to Castles

Why Do Homes Keep Getting Bigger?

Where unassuming ranch homes once stood, big builds now rise—casting shadows over neighbors and signaling changes in local real estate preferences.

05/01/2025 By Kim Doleatto

News & City Life

In Their Own Words

UnidosNow Co-Founder C.J. Czaia on Immigration, ICE and Fear in the Hispanic and Latino Community

Czaia recently spoke with us about the nation’s ongoing immigration crackdown and what local immigrant families are going through.

05/05/2025 By Kim Doleatto

Call Your Mother

How 87-Year-Old Pat Seftel Went Viral

Seftel has become an unlikely icon because her son, award-winning filmmaker and director Joshua Seftel, regularly shares their FaceTime conversations on "CBS News Sunday Morning."

05/05/2025 By Ruth Lando

Paradise City

Sarasota’s Pro Soccer Team Is Leveling Up

“My dream,” says Sarasota Paradise founder Marcus Walfridson, “is that the community all hangs out at the games, throwing scarves up in the air and chanting, ‘We are Paradise!’”

05/05/2025 By Lauren Jackson

Travel & Outdoors

Beach Renourishment

Barrier Island Hotels Reopen After Last Fall's Storms

Local resorts are bouncing back from last year’s hurricane season, and staycation season is the perfect time to book a room.

05/08/2025 By Kim Doleatto

Name Game

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Jack E. Davis Weighs in on the Gulf’s New Name, Its History and Its Future

President Trump recently changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Does it really matter?

05/05/2025 By Isaac Eger