Trader Vic's Sarasota RIP

Ok not the best example of a TV.....but the 1945 Mai Tais were pretty good when we have visited on our last 2 vacations. We went to have a drink last night...empty..looks like they closed on the 22nd of July

dangit!

we went there once on a drive down to northport and really enjoyed the food. (altho i was concerned that the bartender told me she usually puts lemon in the mai-tai; i had her hold the lemon for mine)

was hoping to get back down and buy some TV glassware...

The PKNY in Manhattan also closed on July 22nd! I'm not surprised in the case of the TV Sarasota franchise given the extremely poor Yelp reviews on the food they were serving.

[ Edited by: TropicDrinkBoy 2013-08-01 17:19 ]

I am bummed but not surprised. My in-laws live about a mile away so we have been going there yearly since they opened. I was last there in Oct 2012 and it seemed like they were barely hanging on. Huge, empty place on a Friday night. Their location did them no favors. They were so hidden off the road. It made me sad to see some guy with a sign board next to the highway advertising something like their gumbo or chowder. Our drinks were fine but the food was just ok. They did have some nice decor and a huge carved tiki.

I also liked having them close by as an escape hatch incase my in-laws made me nuts, I knew there was a mai tai nearby!

Bummer.

It's sad to see them close... I occasionally made the trek from the Orlando area.

Florida needs some cool tiki places. There aren't any I know of except shitty "Wai-Tiki" in downtown Orlando. No tiki drinks, just $2.50 red stripe.

On 2013-08-02 06:50, Jsalamone7 wrote:
It's sad to see them close... I occasionally made the trek from the Orlando area.

Florida needs some cool tiki places. There aren't any I know of except shitty "Wai-Tiki" in downtown Orlando. No tiki drinks, just $2.50 red stripe.

Wai-Tiki can at least make a serviceable Caipirinha. Not that it's Tiki, but it's something.

I only recently even learned that there was a Trader Vic's entity in Sarasota, and when I saw the horrible online reviews my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered. Very sad they didn't do a better job of it.

On 2013-08-02 06:50, Jsalamone7 wrote:
It's sad to see them close... I occasionally made the trek from the Orlando area.

Florida needs some cool tiki places. There aren't any I know of except shitty "Wai-Tiki" in downtown Orlando. No tiki drinks, just $2.50 red stripe.

I miss The Big Bamboo Lounge in Kissimmee. Now THERE was an experience every time I went!

Hey do they sell T-shirts there ?

If so I would be happy to trade a brand new Bahooka T-shirt (size L, yeah just 1, it was expen$ive) or a Tiki-Ti ash tray or some other West Coast Tiki item for a memento of that ironic failed Tiki concept.

Edit - I want 2, size L.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2013-08-02 09:05 ]

I'm sorry that you Floridians can't enjoy a Trader Vic's Mai Tai or Navy Grog anymore, but I'm not upset that this concept did not take off. Call me selfish, but I feel this iteration just cheapened the Trader Vic's name.

...this iteration just cheapened the Trader Vic's name.

They're getting really good at that.

On 2013-08-02 06:50, Jsalamone7 wrote:
... Florida needs some cool tiki places.

What are you talking about? Florida is the home of THE cool tiki place! The holy grail of tiki places!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=10334&forum=2
http://critiki.com/location/?loc_id=60
http://www.maikai.com/home

Would that every state in the union have a Mai-Kai.

On 2013-08-02 18:02, kenbo-jitsu wrote:

On 2013-08-02 06:50, Jsalamone7 wrote:
... Florida needs some cool tiki places.

What are you talking about? Florida is the home of THE cool tiki place! The holy grail of tiki places!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=10334&forum=2
http://critiki.com/location/?loc_id=60
http://www.maikai.com/home

Would that every state in the union have a Mai-Kai.

Hmm 3hrs 37min for 225 miles... I bet I can make it in 3hrs flat.

I will have to trek out there soon.

The Sarasota property, including the stand-alone building and surrounding 2.2 acres, is listed for $1,995,000 ...

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/Looplink/Profile/Profile.aspx?stid=apg&LID=18064604&LL=true&UOMListing&UOMMoneyCurrency&RentPer=PY&SRID=3302702787

I called the agent and he said the restaurant is "turnkey," meaning the kitchen and much of the furniture is in place. He said he thought most of the Vic's-specific decor has been removed, but he wasn't sure.

Might be worth a look if someone is in the area. I'm working on a broader story for my blog that goes into detail about this aborted concept plus the recent history of Trader Vic's franchise snafus. More to come.

Also note that one of the photos posted on that link above appears to be the interior of a different Trader Vic's .... can anyone identify it?

I bought most of the best TV tiki stuff they had (see my separate thread about that), the two signature tikis and most all the smaller tikis that were not of the gift shop variety. Some of my friends snapped some stuff up too, though I imagine there are a few Indonesian tikis and some of the chicklet tooth Florida style tikis left.

I can't imagine another restaurant going in there. There have been 4 or 5 there before, each failing miserably. The location is bad and the zoning there restricts signage so small you can't see it from the road. It was doomed before it opened. The owners mentioned it becoming a medical office. Being close to other medical complexes, that might not be a bad idea.

Robotiki
Mira Mar League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

[ Edited by: robotiki 2013-09-16 09:02 ]

On 2013-09-16 09:01, robotiki wrote:
The owners mentioned it becoming a medical office. Being close to other medical complexes, that might not be a bad idea.

That might work out very well. Tiki is, of course, always the best medicine for me! :)

Robotiki, good to see they ended up in good hands!