Nancy's Bar-B-Q will close in Lakewood Ranch

After four years, Nancy’s Bar-B-Q is packing up its location at 14475 State Road 70 and moving back to downtown Sarasota.

“I’m not leaving by choice,” owner Nancy Krohngold said. “Lakewood Ranch Commercial would not make an agreement with me to extend my lease.” 

Lakewood Ranch Commercial is selling the property on the northwest corner of Lorraine Road and State Road 70 to CASTO, a real estate development firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with an office in Lakewood Ranch. 

“We’re going to put some money into the shopping center (Lorraine Corners) and update the exterior,” said Michael Chadwick the managing director of Southeast Development. “It’s such a great intersection that’s obviously changed since Schroeder-Manatee Ranch built it 15 or 20 years ago, so we’re looking to update it and bring an exciting new restaurant to the area.” 

CASTO won’t close on the property until August, so no leases have been signed. There is a lot of interest in the space, and Chadwick said by mid-September, CASTO should have a lease agreement in place. 

“Any tenant that goes in there, most likely, is going to gut the interior,” he said. “To do that, they’re going to need permits and a build out. They probably won't be open until May of next year.”

For now, the last day to eat at Nancy’s in Lakewood Ranch is June 30. Krohngold said it will take a few weeks to set up the new restaurant, but she hopes to open in the Rosemary District on July 15. 

“We started in Lakewood Ranch with much less of a following than we had downtown. We were brand new to lots of people when we opened here on Lorraine Road, but we won over a wonderful customer base,” Krohngold said. “We regret that we can’t stay here and serve the Lakewood Ranch community.”

Before opening in Lorraine Corners, the restaurant had a smaller space on Lakewood Main Street in Lakewood Ranch. 

The move to downtown Sarasota is a homecoming. Krohngold lives downtown and opened her first brick-and-mortar restaurant there in 2011. But for six years prior, Nancy’s was a catering business, a service that’s still offered. 

With a $295 minimum order, Krohngold said she will deliver to Lakewood Ranch. Otherwise, it will require travel for Lakewood Ranch residents to go to her restaurant. The new restaurant is located at 1525 Fourth St.