Walt’s Fish Market, Restaurant and Tiki Bar

For over a century, Walt’s Fish Market has been serving  fresh Gulf seafood to the Sarasota community. As a family business spanning four generations, it began as a fish market in Garden Lane on Siesta Key where fishermen would tie their boats. “Whitaker Bayou was the first fish market where my great-grandfather began the market,” says owner Brett Wallin, whose great-grandfather, Claus, opened Walt’s in 1918. Wallin’s grandfather, Walter Sr., and father, Tom, had their time as owners, and now Wallin has been running the market since 2006.

Walt’s specializes in Gulf seafood ranging from pink shrimp to local  pompano, along with whole fish, fillets and shellfish. Along with its popular stone crabs and soft shell crabs, Wallin says the market is the only establishment in town that sells live blue crabs. “Lots of stuff is seasonal when we catch it, and I do a pretty good job with all of our local fishermen to keep everyone in the game,” he says. “It’s not just paying them; I like to be out with the fishermen, too.”

The restaurant, which opened in the ’60s, serves calamari, peel-and-eat shrimp, gator bites, grouper sandwiches, gumbo, fried baskets and a plethora of sides. Guests can visit the Tiki Bar for specialty cocktails and local craft beers. Wallin says the market’s daily selection of fresh-sourced items is what makes his business distinct in Sarasota.

At Walt’s, seafood is often caught the same day you buy it. “We have the largest display case in this area of fresh seafood that is caught within 24-hours,” he says. “Our customer service is amazing, and we treat the Sarasota community like part of the community.” In Wallin’s eyes, Walt’s proves that there are local establishments and small businesses that can last for decades and can promote Sarasota’s culture and flair. He says he is always trying to bring in more products, buy more stone crab permits and purchase more fishing boats. The restaurant is growing its live music scene, as well. “I’ll always be growing—never stopping—and that’s what keeps the business thriving,” Wallin says.4144 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, 941-921-4605, dylan@waltsfish.com

Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grille 

When Devon Provost, his wife and his parents were vacationing in Isla Mujeres,  a small island off of Mexico, they noticed the abundance of fresh fish in the area and realized there were limited seafood spots in Sarasota. This led the four of them to open Fresh Catch Fish Market & Grill in 2017.

“It was originally meant to be a market, but then the restaurant took off,” Provost says. The market and grill opened simultaneously, and Provost embraced a mission of providing local fresh fish to the Sarasota community. At Fresh Catch, everything is made from scratch and is cut-to-order. “You can see us cutting your order, and then it goes straight to the kitchen,” Provost says. “You’re getting exactly what’s available.”

Customers can peruse 7-10 fish varieties at the market, with about six being Gulf-based. These include black grouper, red snapper, triple tail, mahi-mahi, swordfish, black cod and others. Fresh Catch also sells oysters, shrimp and double lump crab cakes. “We mostly source fish from St. Pete,” Provost says. “We also have our own fish catcher who travels from Venice to Bradenton during stone crab season.”

The  restaurant menu includes various soups, salads, smoked fish spread, shrimp cocktails, baked oysters, crab pots, sandwiches and key lime pie—which was named the best pie in Florida by Yelp in 2024. Provost says his family frequently updates the menu, with a recent addition of blowfish tails that are lightly blackened with a lemon panko crust and served with lemon butter. Provost says Fresh Catch tries to promote a healthier side of seafood by not frying any products. Looking ahead to the future of the market and grill, along with possible expansions, Provost keeps a steady mindset. “We want to keep things simple,”
he says. 7119 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, 941-413-7133, freshcatchfishmarketandgrill@gmail.com

Captain Brian’s Seafood Market and Restaurant

Locals who visit Captain Brian’s Seafood are regulars,says owner Chris Pineda, and they know all of the servers by name. “Our locals have been here ever since we’ve opened,” Pineda says. “We’ve seen them come in with their parents, and then they bring their kids.”

In 1984, a local fisherman named Captain Brian Bochan created the market and restaurant in its current location next to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Over 40 years later, the seafood establishment still has just as much charm and character, as visitors ask for specially made-to-order products and flock to the market on Fridays before the smoked salmon sells out.

“Any way customers want their seafood prepared—blackened, sautéed, grilled—we can make it,” Pineda says. The restaurant’s most popular dishes are the grouper baskets and grilled red snapper. At the market, customers can purchase haddock, halibut, Norwegian salmon, mussels, oysters on the half shell and fresh shrimp from Apalaches Seafood Company of Florida.

“It’s like a family here; we’ve been doing this for almost 45 years,” he says. “Everything we serve, we prepare ourselves, down to the coleslaw and potatoes.” Pineda says his team takes pride in their work and always tries to listen to customer comments about the food they serve. “I think that’s why we’ve been so successful for so long,” he says. “We appreciate the customers for returning and keeping us afloat.”8421 N Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, 941-351-4492, captainbriansseafood@outlook.com

Gulf Coast Crab and Seafood

What began as a mobile business selling fish from captains in Cortez is now a thriving brick-and-mortar establishment in Sarasota. Husband-and-wife owners Rich and Kim Demarse opened Gulf Coast Crab and Seafood in October 2024, and this permanent location has allowed the Demarses to expand into selling more fish, shellfish, crabs and prepared meals.

“We have a couple of independent captains that work specifically for us, and we’re getting everything as fresh as we can,” Rich says. Gulf Coast Crab and Seafood sells fish filets by the pound, Sarasota blue crabs, shellfish, shrimp and lobster tails. While still sourcing seafood from Cortez, the market also brings in tuna from Hawaii, northern seafood from Portland, Maine and even wild salmon from the West Coast.

A trained chef and graduate from the Culinary Institute of America, Rich says he offers prepared foods to showcase the shop’s wide variety of seafood. “ At the market, we have crabcakes, shrimp salad, smoked fish dip, smoked mullet, smoked salmon, key lime pie and also some lunch for takeout,” Rich says. Kim says customers can order off-property catering for steam pots and crab boils.

The Demarses source grass-fed beef from Tampa and are working on bringing in more protein sources, as well. “We strive for the freshest fish—locally sourced by someone we know,” Rich says. “We know exactly where the fish came from, and even the name of the boat.” From coordinating with captains in Cortez to sourcing seafood from the shrimp docks in Fort Myers Beach, the Demarses say their relationships with producers is what makes their market stand out in the Sarasota community. “I’ve heard from a lot of people that they’ve changed their diets because they now have access to fresh seafood,” Kim says. “In the long run, we’re helping people eat healthier.” 6986 S Beneva Rd., Sarasota, 941-685-2657, chefrichardd@hotmail.com

Star Fish Company

Since 1923, Star Fish Company has prided itself on making seafood-to-order. Everything is wild-caught, not farm-raised. Nothing is pre-made. While it was originally a wholesale and retail store, it was also a spot where fishermen could bring their catches of the day.

“Eventually, the industry started growing to the point where the building wasn’t large enough to handle all the fish products, so they ended up building A.P. Bell and turning it into total retail,” says manager Jim Gowett. Karen Bell, the head of A.P. Bell Fish Co., purchased Star Fish Company’s building in Cortez in 1999, and the restaurant developed a full menu. Even without any advertising, the business quickly grew by word of mouth. “I would dare say that for our size, we’re doing more business per capita than anybody in town,” Gowett says.

Its restaurant was originally a walk-up window with three employees, but increasing popularity prompted Star Fish Company to add a bar and additional cooks, bartenders and food runners. “Summers are much busier than they used to be. We go from insane busy to busy, and we still have to have both kitchens open as much as we can,” Gowett says.

Star Fish Company sells three different types of shrimp in the market—Argentina Royal Reds, Gulf Whites and Gulf Pinks—as well as grouper, sea scallops, sushi, mahi-mahi and sword fish. Customers can also try the seafood salad, smoked salmon and mullet dip. “Mullet is what put Cortez on the map,” Gowett says. “It’s still a stable food and a stable income for a lot of fishermen. We try to keep everything local, or we pull from Mexico.”

Adjacent to the market, restaurant-goers can enjoy outdoor seating and try the popular Cortez special of picking any two items from the highlights menu. Gowett says some of the bestsellers include mullet, oysters, marinated mahi-mahi, calamari, burgers and the extensive craft beer selections. From catering parties to serving at weddings, Gowett says the secret to Star Fish Company’s continued growth lies in consistency. “Two of the main cooks have been there almost as long as I have; I’m going on 25 years,” he says. “The food has been consistent. We have the luxury of the same cooks cooking everyday.” 12306 46th Ave. W, Cortez, 941-794-1243, info@starfishcompany.com

Big Water Fish Market

On November 11, 2011,Big Water Fish Market opened its doors and made its first fish delivery at 11 a.m.“It was 11/11/11,” says owner Scott Dolan. “Those are our magic numbers, I guess.” Specializing in local, sustainable and fresh-never-frozen fish and shellfish, Big Water opened as a retail fish market, and less than a year later, it started serving prepared foods.

Now, the market is a booming lunch and dinner spot. “You can’t leave Florida without saying you’ve had a grouper sandwich and a slice of key lime pie,” Dolan says. Customers can buy retail fish at the fish market counter, from grouper and snappers to tripletail and mahi-mahi. Shellfish selections include oysters, mussels, clams, scallops and lobster. “It is a full-scale fish market, and you can order from the fish case and have shrimp steamed,” Dolan says.

“We also do a lot of prepared foods that we make in-house. We have a smoker out back and we make a phenomenal smoked fish dip.” Dolan says the most popular prepared foods are the smoked fish dip and ceviche, as well as Big Water’s homemade key lime pie. The pie’s recipe was created by Dolan’s mother about 15 years ago, and the market currently sells around 15 pies every day. Big Water Fish Market recently acquired the unit next door to its main building—which Dolan is the landlord of.

This new unit is now a private dining room that can sit large reservations or private parties. Now, both buildings can seat a total of 64 people. “The new location next door to us has given us the elbow room that we need to take care of all the folks so no one gets turned away anymore,” Dolan says. Dolan’s business also expanded to Happy Clams and Hams on Bee Ridge Road, another seafood market with a raw bar and NYC-style deli that opened on June 8. “You can get things like grouper sandwiches and lobster rolls all the way to corned beef reubens and hot pastrami sandwiches,” Dolan says.

With a priority of providing fresh local seafood, Dolan says that Big Water Fish Market and Happy Clams and Hams now offer seafood and sandwiches to residents and visitors within a 10-mile radius. “We’re giving the people of Sarasota an opportunity to buy fresh, sustainable fish without having to go to a grocery store to buy a previously frozen, farm-raised fish,” he says. 6639 Midnight Pass Rd., Sarasota, 941-554-8101, bigwaterseafood@gmail.com

Cortez Bait & Seafood

As a fourth generation commercial fisherman,  John Banyas understands the commitment to providing fresh local seafood to his community. In Cortez—one of the last working fishing villages in Florida—Banyas is the owner and president of Cortez Bait & Seafood, which he founded in 1996.

“We’ve grown a lot, but we’ve tried to keep it what it always has been: a working fish-house and a historic fishing village,” he says. Cortez Bait & Seafood specializes in handling and selling seafood and bait directly to the public. Fresh seafood is displayed in the store’s case whenever available, and customers can buy grouper, snapper, shrimp, smoked mullet, clams and seasonal items inside the retail market.

Banyas’s business also operates wholesale seafood and bait—along with a fish-house service for distributors, restaurants, bait shops and working fishermen. “Our customers benefit from the same supply chain that serves our commercial customers,” he says. What makes Cortez Bait & Seafood different from other companies, Banyas says, is that his team buys directly from local Gulf Coast fishermen, including boats operating in Cortez.

His ultimate goal is to keep Cortez a working fishing village by continuing to grow and improve the fish-house and market. Banyas also wants to create more opportunities for locally harvested seafood to stay local. “We don’t want Cortez to become a place where people only talk about how commercial fishing used to be,” he says. “We want people to still be doing it. Cortez isn’t historic just because of its buildings; it’s historic because people keep doing the work.” 12110 Cortez Rd. W, Bradenton, 941-794-1547, erin@cortezbaitandseafood.com SRQ