- December 13, 2025
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Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios
If you’re like me, you grew up watching "Home Alone" and wondering how on Earth a whole family could manage to misplace a child not once but twice.
I wasn't home alone for any holiday. I was always with a small group, so the notion of losing someone in the group was far-fetched. With the basketball schedule of me and my sister ruling December like a slightly aggressive elf, it was just my parents, my Mimi and us spending Christmas day together. (Wouldn't trade it for the world!)
But at night, we were adopted into The Brown Family Christmas, thanks to my parents' best friends. They opened their doors to anyone who didn’t have a place to go. What if Kevin McCallister from "Home Alone" had been invited? Let’s just say I think he could have left the blowtorch at home.
I carried the tradition of welcoming any Kevin McCallister to Thanksgiving, if not Christmas, when I moved to Florida. While I can deeply respect the notion of doing whatever you want, whenever you want, I just think the holidays are better spent with people you love, eating good food and having even better drinks ... I mean, conversations.
Still, I'd love to go on an unexpected trip, use my parents' credit card and explore a new city. So, I pretended to do just that in Sarasota as we close 2025; I found local versions of "Home Alone" classics.
And to all "ya filthy animals" (a "Home Alone" catchphrase, ICYMI) who’ve become part of my extended foodie family, thank you for not letting me sit at the table alone this holiday season, or any season for that matter.
149 Main St., Sarasota; 941-957-6433; Patellinis.com
"A lovely cheese pizza, just for me." If I had a Buzz in my life, you'd best believe I would push him off and not let him hog a cheese pizza at any family function. He could go to Patellini's and order an ooey-gooey New York-style cheese slice ($4) for himself while I devour the pie ($17.50 and up) by myself, just like Kevin. And if anyone out there has a limo willing to whisk me around town to admire Christmas lights while I drip pizza grease down my sweater, dab marinara from my lips and stretch each perfectly cheesy slice toward cinematic glory, I certainly wouldn’t say no to the full "Home Alone" experience.
501 Quay Commons, Sarasota; 941-404-1024; Ocean-Prime.com/Locations-Menus/Sarasota
"Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen." Consider this the adult version of "Home Alone" where we leave the microwave behind and step into an elevated level of mac and cheese we all deserve. Your choice of indulgence: the decadent black truffle mac and cheese ($18) or the show-stopping baked lobster mac and cheese ($45), packed with whole Maine lobster and creamy Tillamook cheddar.
4921 Ringwood Meadow, Sarasota; 941-365-9766; CrepetopiaOfficial.com
"Two scoops, sir?", said the butler. "Two? Make it three or four, or sixteen. I'm not driving!" I’m ready to take the entire menu home, throw on my pajamas, snag a giant red napkin (aka bib) and sink into the couch for hours, Kevin-style, with his Crunch Gators, Pepsi and a massive bowl of ice cream. Start with a classic banana split ($7.25 and up) or opt for a delicious no-mess option like a milkshake ($7.95), available in chocolate, cookies and cream, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate brownie, dirt 'n’ worms or s’mores. Honestly, I’d happily pretend I’m defending my dessert fortress from would-be thieves, one spoonful (or sip) at a time.
2773 Bee Ridge Road Sarasota; 941-922-9078; 4862 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 941-921-0578; 5214 Ocean Blvd., Siesta Key; 941-365-9911; CasaMasa-SRQ.com
"I made my family disappear!" And then jumps on his parents' bed with popcorn. Popcorn has always been a little nostalgia passed down from my dad to me, and from my husband's father to him. So, it’s always in stock at our home. But unlike Kevin, we haven’t taken the leap and jumped on the bed with a giant tub of popcorn. Honestly? That’s a lot to clean up. Unlike the McCallisters, I don’t have a vacation budget big enough to cover the chaos or a housemaid to bail me out. Instead, I head to Casa Masa for my grown-up version of a popcorn treat: the Corn Star cocktail ($15) made with Nixta licor de elote, Jarritos Mineragua, fresh lemon juice and a truffle popcorn sidecar.
6564 Superior Ave., Sarasota; 941-923-1742; Clarabellcookies.com
"I'd like a hotel room please, with an extra large bed, a TV and one of those little refrigerators you have to open with a key." It might not be the most iconic meal in "Home Alone," but every time the mini-fridge popped up on my screen, I couldn’t help but drool over the chocolate chip cookies wrapped in cellophane. I’d watch and wonder what I had to do in my next life to score room service on someone else’s tab. Now, I make the pilgrimage to Gulf Gate, where after one bite at Clarabell Cookies, I get that same delicious sense of exclusivity I dreamed about as a kid. Unless Santa drops a hotel room and room service down my chimney, this is the closest I’ll get to my "Home Alone" fantasy. And if Kevin McCallister could have walked into Clarabell and snagged a cookie, I think the movie might have been a little shorter and a lot sweeter.
