My spouse and I visited O’Leary’s Tiki Bar and Grill on a
Sunday afternoon (Christmas Day,) in late December 2016. (We visited the bar
previously because we have family who live in the area.) The bar and restaurant
are open daily from early until late, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks,
and snacks. The restaurant does not accept reservations, although they do
accept credit cards. You can park in the Bayfront Park parking lot.
O’Leary’s is located on Bayfront Park off Bayfront Drive (near
Island Park) in downtown Sarasota. The bar is popular with boaters who dock
their boats in the nearby marina, dog owners because it is pet-friendly, and
the general public because it is a fun, outdoor beach bar that reminds you that
you are on vacation. In addition to O’Leary’s, Bayfront Park features a yoga
and tai chi area, children’s playground, walking trail, and watersports
operator (Bayfront Excursions,
which offers daily rentals of wave runners, sailboats, kayaks, canoes, paddle
boards, and peddle boats).
The O’Leary’s outdoor tiki bar is positioned on a piece of
land that juts out into Sarasota Bay, providing excellent views of the
shoreline and sea, particularly at sunset. The establishment consists of two
parts: one outdoor and one indoor. The outdoor area consists of the covered but
open-air square-shaped bar itself (with seating on barstools), at a high bar
rail (not under cover), at high-top tables (with bar stools), and at
regular-height picnic tables under cover of a roof but open to the sides.
O’Leary’s also offers an indoor restaurant option, although food is primarily
self-service; you can dine in a small dining room (at regular tables and chairs),
or outdoors anywhere previously described. Servers provide some table service,
but it is sometimes faster to get up and serve yourself. Live music is
available all day and night.
O’Leary’s serves casual American cuisine, including
appetizers (such as fried cod or alligator bites, nachos, peel-and-eat shrimp,
wings, and quesadillas), soups and salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, and
entrees (such as the fried seafood platter, fried shrimp, and grilled or
blackened mahi mahi). We enjoyed a few rounds of draft beers and frozen pina
coladas (available with an additional rum “floater” on the top for a small
upcharge), and we also shared an order of the fried cod bites (served with
tartar sauce and lemon).
Be sure to visit the entertaining and atmospheric O’Leary’s
Tiki Bar next time you visit Sarasota!
