Buccaneer restaurant concept on Longboat Key paused

By S.T. Cardinal
| 2:00 p.m. October 20, 2025

The Gonzmart family announced it would build a restaurant paying homage to the Buccaneer Inn to Longboat Key, though the project has not broken ground since the restaurant group purchased the parcel in 2016.

Longboat Key
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The restaurant group behind the Columbia Restaurant, with high-end dining options from St. Augustine to St. Armands has not moved forward with its plans to build a new concept on Longboat Key.

The former home of Pattigeorge’s Restaurant, the parcel was purchased for $1.96 million in 2016, according to property records. Pattigeorge’s was demolished in 2018.

Town Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons shared at an informal community meeting that the Buccaneer Restaurant planned at the location has not moved forward with town approval.

“We’re talking about Mr. Gonzmart who owns the Columbia Restaurant and recently retired,” Town Manager Howard Tipton said. “The Buccaneer Restaurant was going to be his last project before retirement, and it never got off the ground. So one of the questions that we have for the family is what are their plans for the property.”

According to a September statement from Columbia Restaurant, Casey Gonzmart, Sr. retired as chairman of the board effective July 25.

A spokesperson for the 1905 Family of Restaurants said the Gonzmart family had no comment on their plans for the space at 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

author

S.T. Cardinal

S.T. "Tommy" Cardinal is the Longboat Key news reporter. The Sarasota native earned a degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a minor in environmental studies. In Central Florida, Cardinal worked for a monthly newspaper covering downtown Orlando and College Park. He then worked for a weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina where he earned South Carolina Press Association awards for his local government news coverage and photography.