- January 29, 2026
-
-
Loading
Loading
A live music venue in Sarasota — previously home to Cock & Bull and most recently known as Big Top Live — is getting new owners and rebranding.
Sarasota area restaurateurs Jeff and Melanie Gambino, who own The Parrot Patio Bar & Grill, are in the process of buying the restaurant and live music venue off Cattlemen Road from the property owners. The couple renamed it The Parrot Live Tiki Bar & Grill. “We're closing on it in the beginning of December,” Jeff Gambino tells the Business Observer in a Nov. 19 interview at the establishment.
The Gambinos have two locations of The Parrot Patio Bar & Grill: One on Webber Street in Sarasota that opened in 2018 and one on State Road 70 in east Manatee County that opened n 2019.
New signage for The Parrot Live Tiki Bar & Grill is expected to go up Nov. 20, according to the Gambinos. Tickets for all previously booked shows will all be honored, and the Gambinos say they plan to continue hosting local acts every week, with a couple of national acts each month.
Currently, Howard and Dawn Hochberg own the 2.04-acre property at 975 Cattlemen Road that's home to the live music venue, Sarasota County property records show. The Hochbergs purchased the site for nearly $1.07 million in 2001 and operated the Cock & Bull pub there for nearly 20 years.
Big Top Brewing leased the property from the Hochbergs and ran Big Top Live there for the past several years. But in November Big Top turned the property over and back to the owners, the brewery co-owner Mike Bisaha tells the Business Observer.
(Big Top has been busy in the business transaction side in recent months: In late October it shuttered its Lakewood Ranch Boulevard location, Big Top Brewers Collective, saying it was too small to handle the company’s beer production needs. Big Top's lone remaining location is at Fruitville Commons, a mile or so from the live music venue. That spot opened in spring 2024, and Bisaha says the company closed the Lakewood Ranch location as part of a planned move to consolidate operations at Fruitville Commons.)
The 975 Cattlemen site the Gambinos are buying from the Hochbergs, meanwhile, was valued at $1.74 million this year, property records show. While the Gambinos decline to disclose how much they are paying for the property, they say they plan to invest $5.5 million to $6 million in it, including the purchase price and updates to the business.
“We're just going to step it up,” Jeff Gambino says. “We know that the people that have been coming here for a long time really love the character of the building,” so the Gambinos' plans mainly call for addressing safety and cosmetic concerns like fixing the decking and adding a fresh coat of paint, with a few new additions.
Says Jeff Gambino: “We want to keep the old Sarasota charm.”
The Cattlemen Road site includes a nearly 5,200-square-foot restaurant plus outdoor space behind it that can accommodate 800 to 1,000 people for live shows.
In the back outdoor area, the Gambinos will add a thatched-roof, tiki hut structure to provide shade and absorb sound, Jeff Gambino says. In addition, they want to upgrade the VIP space, change the stage from wooden to aluminum so it’s easier to move and install a paver dance floor. They also intend to add landscaping for aesthetics and sound buffering.
“We eventually want to go in and add some permanent outdoor bathrooms,” he says, after getting the proper permits.
The Gambinos are currently collaborating with an architect on designs and have not yet started construction.
The business “will continue to be open during the renovations,” Jeff Gambino says. “And the current staff is remaining as well.”
There are about 10 staff members who carried over from Big Top Live, with more added for events, according to Melanie Gambino.
Inside, on Wednesday afternoon, the business had approximately seven tables, as well as bar seating.
“The inside of the building is pretty much staying the same,” Jeff Gambino says, with some menu changes.
One wall features taps that used to only include Big Top Brewing brands. Since taking over earlier in November, the Gambinos have updated their beverage menu.
“We'll keep the Big Top favorites on draft,” Melanie Gambino says, “but we have already added domestic beer" on tap as well as in bottles and cans.
The Gambinos also hope in the future to secure a beer, wine and liquor license, rather than just being able to serve beer and wine.
Another addition coming to the venue: food. There is a kitchen inside the business, but it was not in use under Big Top Live, which employed food trucks to serve patrons. While the infrastructure is in place, the Gambinos say they will be cleaning and updating the kitchen before putting it to use.
“We plan to … at some point, add food back into the venue,” Jeff Gambino says, serving up fare at The Parrot Live Tiki Bar & Grill similar to its two other restaurants.
“We’ve been in the bar and restaurant business for 32 years,” Jeff Gambino says. “We used to own a live music venue in Fort Myers called the Buddha Bar,” he adds, before selling it about 20 years ago to relocate and raise their children.
The Gambinos say they both loved listening to live music and have always wanted to get back into the business. So when they heard of the opportunity to buy the Cattlemen Road site through an attorney, they took it.
The changeover has gone "seamlessly," Jeff Gambino says, noting Big Top has "been great" in "transitioning the property back to the landlord so that we could take over."
