Loading
Restaurant: MacAllisters Grill & Tavern
Address: 8110 Lakewood Main St., Lakewood Ranch, 34202
Phone: 941-359-2424
Website: www.macallisters.com
Lunch guest: Tom Dyer, vice president, UGL Services Equis Operations. Dyer, a commercial real estate broker for UGL, covers the Tampa region and the Sarasota-Bradenton market.
Reservations: Not required.
Parking: Usually plentiful. On the first Friday of each month, however, parking on Lakewood Ranch is curtailed in the early afternoon to prepare for a nighttime event. Parking on those days for lunch is easy to get in, but it could be a challenge to get out.
One-hour lunch test: Passed. Food was served in less than 15 minutes.
Scottish Signs: Employees wear nametags with Scottish names. No current employees are from Scotland, except for the owners, although there have been Scottish employees in the past. The staff also wears Black Watch tartan plaid aprons.
See and be seen: Lunchtime crowd is a mix of local business people and people in golf attire, likely from one of three nearby courses. Restaurant fits 250 people, including up to 70 on an outside patio that overlooks the Main Street fountain. Tables can be assembled to accommodate large parties.
Privacy: Tables in the main dining room are spread far apart. The walls are lined with booths good for dealmaking conversations. Booths are spacious.
Ambiance: Theme is one part golf, one part Scotland. The front entrance is stone-clad. Murals and antique paintings of scenic castles and golf vistas hang on the walls. Each booth details a piece of Scottish history.
Food: Menu is a mix of traditional bar and grill food with Scottish-themed items. “We try not to be too in your face,” with the Scottish selections, says MacAllisters co-owner Karen Ronney. “We try to do a nice balance.” The balance includes haggis, a Scottish staple. MacAllisters Haggis & Tatties are encased in mashed potatoes, breaded and fried. Another lunch item is the Scotch Egg, a hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage and breadcrumbs, then deep fried. On the non-Scottish side, the menu includes seven kinds of salads and several choices of soups, burgers and sandwiches.
Ownership: Spouses Malcolm and Karen Ronney opened MacAllisters in 2006. It was one of the first businesses on Lakewood Ranch Main Street, a mix of retail, offices and condos. The Ronneys owned a hotel, bar and restaurant in Troon, Scotland, a golf town, for seven years before they moved to Florida.
Karen Ronney works mostly in the front, while Malcolm Ronney works primarily in the bar and kitchen. Karen Ronney says their success, both in Scotland and stateside, is based significantly on trial-and-error. “I'm not one of those types who went to hospitality school,” Ronney says. “I think you learn more from experience.”
Review date: September 2011
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
