- December 17, 2025
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A deal to purchase the former Big Top Live bar and music venue has fallen through, after the would-be buyers discovered what they describe as a “mess” involving unpaid taxes and permitting issues.
Melanie and Jeff Gambino, who own The Parrot Patio Bar & Grill in Sarasota and Manatee counties, told the Business Observer in November they intended to close on the sale of the property at 975 Cattlemen Road in early December. At the time, they were planning to make a multimillion-dollar investment into the venue, including the purchase, updating the kitchen so they could offer food, adding a tiki hut outside to provide shade, switching the stage to aluminum and installing a dance floor, among other modifications.
Jeff Gambino, in a Dec. 16 voicemail left with the Business Observer in response to social media chatter about the sudden closing, says "we changed our mind because during the due diligence period our attorney called us and said that there were liens on the property” from Sarasota County.
In addition to the title issues connected to the liens, Jeff Gambino says the location did not have a business use permit “for several years” to operate as a live music venue.
The owners of the property — Dawn and Howard Hochberg, who ran Cock & Bull pub there for years — did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Big Top Brewing Co. began leasing the location in 2020 and operated it as Big Top Live. That came to a close in November when the Gambinos entered the picture.
“We were only in there on a management agreement while we did our due diligence and title searches…Then we were to close on the purchase of the property, and switch all the licenses into our name that we thought they already had….They did not,” the Gambinos say in a Dec. 17 email.
The Gambinos say they were misinformed.
“We were told the place was operating with all the proper permits and licenses… it was not,” the Gambinos say. “After speaking to the county and finding out what it might take to operate it legally as a 1,000-person live music venue (which is what we were told it was already licensed for), and learning of all the liens etc. during our title search and due diligence, we decided to cancel the purchase of the property, and let them figure out their mess.”
The Gambinos shuttered the venue, which had been operating as The Parrot Live, on Dec. 14. A concert with Gainesville band Sister Hazel was held there Dec. 12.
“We want nothing to do with operating a venue without proper licensing, not even on a temporary basis as we did our due diligence,” the Gambinos say in the email. “Once we verified what we think we uncovered, we closed immediately, and notified the owners of the property, and the past operators (Big Top) of our actions, and why… it was not a pleasant conversation!”
Jeff Gambino says the “final straw was last Friday” when the county “slapped a sticker on the window saying they’re seizing all the assets” over unpaid taxes.
An orange sign posted on the door to the venue as of Dec. 17 says there is a “Notice of Pending Levy and Seizure” due to unpaid tangible personal property taxes. The amount due to date is $9,685.60, the sign says, noting that all equipment, furniture and fixtures inside the location are subject to taxation and are now under a pending levy and seizure.
Sarasota County officials say there are two special magistrate liens, an open sound violation case and an environmental protection violation case linked to the property.
