Joe Douglas’s decision to bring his restaurant, 131 Main, to Lakewood Ranch was a homecoming of sorts. Born and raised in Tampa, Douglas spent several of his teenage and young-adult years in Sarasota and later attended Florida State University, where he earned a degree in hospitality. Now, he’s bringing a new location of the restaurants he’s owned and run since 2004 to Lakewood Ranch. “I like to think I'm coming home to a market that is near and dear to me. I feel like a local, it’s not like I'm just going to some random city,” Douglas says about his decision to add a Lakewood Ranch restaurant to a collection of four 131 Main establishments in North Carolina. Although he runs several locations, Douglas doesn’t like to consider 131 Main a restaurant chain—each facility has a distinct atmosphere and feel, despite offering the same menu. The Lakewood Ranch location was modeled after Alys Beach, a community in northern Florida with bright white, Bermudan-style architecture. “It's a passion for us. We're not just out there to build as many restaurants as we can. We want to make sure we get it perfect,” Douglas says. The menu itself is identical across all four restaurants, and so are the high standards Douglas maintains across every dish. “We're all fresh, meaning we don't use any freezers for our food, other than for ice cream. We have very strict guidelines on shelf lives and quality standards. We do a taste plate every morning, and if it’s not perfect, we won’t serve it,” he says. To provide this level of freshness, Douglas has kept the menu to just 17 items, spanning starters, salads, sandwiches and an array of entrees. The restaurant uses a wood-burning grill to cook all of its steak, pork and fish—highlights on the menu include the popular prime-rib sandwich, served “au jus” with mayonnaise and fresh French fries. Each sandwich is served on freshly-baked bread, made in-house. Other popular entree options include the cedar plank salmon, served with whole-grain mustard butter and a chilled wild-rice salad, and the big island ribeye, a 14-ounce cut of high-quality steak marinated in sweet pineapple soy sauce. While he highlighted the most popular options, Douglas says that any item will be served with the same level of quality and intention. “We commit to being the best in our marketplace on every item. The reality is, no matter what you choose, it's going to be the best,” he says.