- June 16, 2025
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More than two decades ago, several prominent Sarasota-area restaurateurs came to Visit Sarasota County with a request: Create a restaurant week for the destination, where eateries of varied price points offer fixed-price choices, in addition to the regular menu. Some big cities were already doing them, but the concept hadn’t become as widespread in Florida and midsize communities as it is today.
Visit Sarasota County was on board. It began creating sign-up forms for restaurants to participate. This was, after all, still in the early days of email and Internet use. “The biggest way we signed people up was by driving to locations or picking up the telephone,” says Erin Duggan, who was on staff at Visit Sarasota County at the time and is now president and CEO.
That first year, around 25 restaurants participated in what was called Spirit of Sarasota and held during the month of June. The next year, in 2005, after getting restaurant feedback, the name changed to Savor Sarasota. This year the popular annual June event is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Some 60 restaurants tend to participate each year, and more than 50 have already signed up for the 2025 event taking place June 1 to 20 — an extension to 20 days from the typical 14 days to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
“It’s never been hard to get restaurants to participate, especially those first five or so years, because June was slow historically,” says Duggan. “For restaurants back in those days, summer wasn’t what it is today.”
When Crab & Fin on St. Armands Circle, for example, first began participating in the event 10 years ago, “it turned one of the slowest months into a busy month,” says owner Scott Macdonald. “It’s taken June from being a slow, sleepy summer month where you try to do what you can to a very busy summer month.”
The multi-course menu deals — $25 per person for lunch and $45 per person for dinner — help draw in both regulars and first-timers to the participating restaurants. “We see new guests from Sarasota and travelers that aren’t local coming to the restaurant,” says Kelly Dungan, assistant general manager/marketing director of Duval’s Fresh. Local. Seafood. in downtown Sarasota. “People get to discover Duval’s, which might not be a restaurant they have tried before…It’s also great for loyal customers to return and try something new and different that chef comes up with.”
When new customers visit the restaurants during Savor Sarasota, it’s a chance to turn them into regulars. “The majority are faces we’ve never seen before,” says Macdonald. “It’s a nice opportunity to showcase our place to people who haven’t been here. We’re getting people in a lot of times for the first time in hopes of impressing them. If they have a good time, the next time they go to go out, they consider coming here.”
Savor Sarasota menu prices have increased a bit in recent years, as both food prices and other costs of doing business have increased. Macdonald recalls some challenges when the dinner menu prices were set at $35 a person. “It was a matter of how much can we give away and still be profitable and advantageous to us,” he says. “Now with the price point they have it at, I think it’s a good balance for the restaurants and what it costs them.”
Crab & Fin takes the approach of offering menu items for which the restaurant is known. “Instead of doing something less expensive and more affordable to produce, we are giving up a little bit more of our margins so we can showcase our oysters, our mussels, our calamari,” says Macdonald. “We’re doing branzino, some very nice things so when people come in, they’re not just seeing a chicken dish or pasta dish. And it has seemed to work well for us.”
At Duval’s, the chefs review what was popular on last year’s menus and look at what’s trending in the industry. Its Savor Sarasota menus are a mix of new dishes and diner favorites.
“We look at our core regular menu to see what our customers are purchasing right now and pick a couple of our staple menu items to put on our Savor Sarasota menus,” says Dungan. “So if someone has never dined at Duval’s before, they can try something new or something off of our core menu.”
Visit Sarasota County’s Duggan says determining the menu price points has been one of the biggest challenges for the event in the past decade. “We have higher-priced restaurants that would love to see us do a higher-priced prix fixe menu, and smaller, more casual restaurants that would love to see us do a lower-priced deal,” she says. “But our philosophy has always been that for Savor Sarasota, we are genuinely trying to create something that every restaurant can participate in if they want to. We like being in the middle zone.”
Casual restaurants can always offer guests more bang for their buck at the set price points. And pricier spots can offer smaller portions, less expensive entrées and opportunities for guests to add on things like wine flights or lobster tails.
“We encourage upgrades,” says Duggan. “The whole idea behind it has always been one, to try to drum up business during what used to be a historically slower time. And two, to tell the Sarasota County culinary story. That’s kind of where we’re coming from. We always say to the restaurants, you’re getting a foot in the door, whether it’s residents who have never been there before or visitors. But it’s your job to then woo them and get them to where they’re coming back throughout the year paying full price.”
Visit Sarasota promotes the event each year and does its best to stretch its marketing budget for it. And the restaurants work at it, too. Duggan recalls in the early days of the event having to ask for Savor Sarasota menus at restaurants. That’s changed in the last 10 years. “There is nothing in the world that warms my heart more now than when I hear a staff person enthusiastically telling me about Savor Sarasota,” she says.
The event has also put Sarasota County on the culinary travel radar. “It goes to show that marketing works,” says Duggan. “I remember 20 years ago we did research and Sarasota County was not known for its restaurant scene. But other neighboring communities were, simply because they were out marketing it…I have seen that transform, and I definitely think Sarasota County is on the foodie map. Folks know when they come here, they’ve got some really great unique dining options.”
“Visit Sarasota County does such a great job marketing Savor Sarasota to both locals and travelers,” says Duval’s Dungan. “There’s nothing to lose with participating in Savor Sarasota, as long as you do your food costs correctly. There’s so much media exposure, and it’s such a great opportunity to get in front of people who might not know about your restaurant or have been considering it but never tried it before. This might be the push to get them to come in and try it.”
In Macdonald’s mind, participating is a must. “You’d be nuts not to do it,” he says. “From a business standpoint it’s a no-brainer, and if you don’t do it, you’re just conceding to having an exceptionally slow month…Our sales have been 40% to 50% higher in June than 10 years ago before Savor Sarasota.”
He has also seen travelers plan trips to Sarasota County during Savor Sarasota “just because of the value,” he says. And residents look forward to it too.
“I love that the community embraces it,” says Duggan. “We know that tourism satisfaction starts with the residents. If the residents are proud of their community and know the value tourism has on their community, they’re going to be hospitable. We know that it’s a circle, and you can’t have one without the other. We love that this promotion is so well known and beloved by residents, and that trickles down into tourism.”
