News Briefs

+ Work starts on downtown Taco Bus, bowling alley
Construction started Monday on several Main Street storefronts to make way for two new additions to the area: Tampa-based Mexican restaurant Taco Bus and the new location for Evie’s, which will feature a bowling alley.

“Besides having two awesome companies on Main Street, this will be two firsts for Main Street,” said entrepreneur Jesse Biter, who owns the property. It will be the first 24-hour venue on the street, as well as its first bowling alley.

Construction will close a portion of the sidewalk in front of 1560 Main St. for the next 30 days, and the project will be complete in less than seven months, Biter said.

The project is expected to cost roughly $1 million, according to city of Sarasota spokeswoman Jan Thornburg, and includes interior renovations and a right-of-way permit to build parking spaces.

Taco Bus and Evie’s are two of several business slated to open downtown in the coming months, joining World of Beer and Beer Box, the latter of which will open in the space Evie’s currently occupies on Ringling Boulevard.

+ Sam Snead’s set to reopen
Those sad to see Sam Snead’s American Grill close its doors in June will soon be getting a mulligan.

Sam Snead’s, located at 1830 S. Osprey Ave., dons a banner promising the restaurant is set to reopen imminently under new ownership. That owner, Marianne Steinmetz, is bringing a new head chef to the restaurant: Steve Callander, who has served as the executive chef of the Tampa Bay-area restaurant The Lobster Pot for more than two decades.  

Terry Hansen, the restaurant’s general manager, said not much else will have changed since Sam Snead’s closed its doors in the summer. Some of the staff will be new, but the menu will largely be the same.

“The only thing that’s going to change is we did a little remodeling,” Hansen said.

Sam Snead’s spokeswoman Ashley Steinmetz said 80% of the staff has been retained, and that the interior and exterior have remained consistent.

Although the grand opening date is still to be determined and the restaurant has kept the news mostly quiet, Hansen said the community response to the reopening has been overwhelmingly positive. A few messages of encouragement have been left on the Sam Snead’s Facebook page, and Hansen hasn’t failed to notice the support.

“This is a Sarasota institution,” Hansen said. “People are thrilled.”

+ SCAT adds evening hours for mall routes
In anticipation of the opening of the Mall at University Town Center Oct. 16, Sarasota County Area Transit is adding additional services in the evening for several routes.

Effective Saturday, Oct. 11, routes 6, 12, 17 and 30 will have extended trips Monday through Saturday.

• Route 6: southbound route to Clark will stop at 10:08 p.m. at N. Lockwood Ridge Road and 17th Street; at 10:12 p.m. at Beneva and Fruitville Roads; at 10:19 p.m. at Beneva and Bee Ridge Roads; and at 10:25 p.m. at Beneva and Clark Road.

• Route 12: southbound route to the downtown transfer station will stop at 10:12 p.m. at 17th Street and U.S. 301; at 10:13 p.m. at U.S. 301 and 12th Street; and at 10:23 p.m. at First Street and N. Lemon Avenue.

• Route 17: southbound to Proctor Road will stop at 10:25 p.m. at First Street and N. Lemon Avenue; at 10:30 p.m. at Sarasota Memorial Hospital/ Waldemere Street and U.S. 41; at 10:35 p.m. at Westfield Southgate Mall; and at 10:40 p.m. at The Landings Shopping Center at U.S. 41 and Proctor Road.

• Route 30: eastbound to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center will stop at 10:14 p.m. at the hospital.

• Route 30: westbound to Walmart will stop at 9:50 p.m. at University Town Center/Worth Drive and DeSoto Road and at 10 p.m. at N. Lockwood Ridge and University Parkway.

Meetings & agendas
Regular City Commission meeting — 2:30 and 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota.

Sarasota County Commission meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21 and Wednesday, Oct. 22, Commission Chambers, Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.

Sarasota County School Board meeting — 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, School Board Chambers, 1980 Landings Blvd., Sarasota.