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., is adorned with 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, he said — they’re currently being trained for the restaurant’s soft open on Wednesday — 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 spokesperson Ashley Steinmetz said 80% of the staff has been retained, and that the interior and exterior have remained consistent.

"Customers can expect to be welcomed by familiar faces that waited on them in the past," Steinmetz said in an email.

Although the grand opening date is still to be determined and the restaurant has kept the news mostly under wraps, 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 while management has been quiet, Hansen hasn’t failed to notice the support.

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

Contact David Conway at [email protected].