Among the best eating places in Sarasota and Bradenton for burgers, grouper sandwiches, and classic Old Florida waterfront charm has permanently closed.
For 20 years, I visited Annie’s Bait & Deal with, a humble gem hugging the Intracoastal Waterway within the historic business fishing village of Cortez, which additionally borders north Sarasota Bay.
Opened in 1955, Annie’s was the place boaters and fishermen stopped for gasoline and bait — but it surely was the meals served at its cozy tables, laid-back beer and wine bar, and breezy patio that saved me coming again.
Alas, now it is gone — one other sufferer of hurricanes Milton and Helene, and the relentless march of progress, as they are saying.
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Why did Annie’s Bait & Deal with in Cortez completely shut?
Annie’s Bait & Deal with, at 4334 127th St. W. in Cortez, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, photographed Sept. 30, 2023.
The group’s hopes of saving Annie’s Bait & Deal with after hurricane flood harm left it battered had been dashed when Manatee County officers opted to maneuver ahead with plans for a brand new marina on the property, my Herald-Tribune colleague Jesse Mendoza reported earlier this month.
Annie’s Bait & Deal with proprietor Bruce Shearer and his household pushed to rebuild, however he dismissed Manatee County’s proposals as “shedding efforts.” County officers introduced choices at a public assembly, together with a two-year rebuild to fulfill flood requirements or a short lived setup costing as much as $250,000 with meals trailers and restricted providers. Shearer rejected the short-term choice, arguing he might restore his store for round $100,000 and that the county’s plan wouldn’t help a viable enterprise.
“That enterprise is like ‘Cheers’ on TV — it is the place folks bought collectively and had birthday events and all that stuff — that will not occur in your proposal,” Shearer stated. “As you’ve got proposed issues proper now, I am finished. It simply will not work. Financially, it will not work. You will lose $250,000, and I will lose $100,000. It could be failed inside two months, I assure ya.”
What was the historical past behind Annie’s Bait & Deal with in Cortez?
A cheeseburger at Annie’s Bait & Deal with, 4334 127th St. W. in Cortez, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, photographed June 23, 2024.
Longtime native resident Shearer purchased Annie’s Bait & Deal with, situated at 4334 127th St. W., Cortez, in 1995, however its historical past dates again a lot earlier, with Shearer explaining to me in 2021 that the Cipriani household, who would later promote their close by C&C Marine, bought the property in 1945.
“They crammed all of it in, with building of this constructing going down within the early to mid-’50s, I’m guessing,” Shearer stated from behind the counter at Annie’s on a Friday afternoon in February 4 years in the past. “There have been snacks after which these sq. sandwiches from a merchandising machine within the Seventies.”
Shearer’s reminiscence aligns with that of Capt. Zach Zacharias, the Herald-Tribune’s former open air correspondent. “My first recollection of the proprietors was a salty outdated character by the identify of Taylor,” Zacharias wrote of Annie’s Bait & Deal with in 2014. “He purveyed stay shrimp primarily and likewise stocked rudimentary sort out gadgets, drinks and snacks up till the late ’70s, when Annie took over. Annie was an actual breath of recent air and the identify has caught regardless of a string of operators since.”
Shearer stated he made a million-dollar supply to buy the Annie’s property in 2014
A fried grouper sandwich — the one approach they served it — at Annie’s Bait & Deal with, 4334 127th St. W. in Cortez, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, photographed June 23, 2024.
As for the waterfront property on which Annie’s sat, the Cipriani household offered it to the Berry household, which, based on Herald-Tribune archives, was identified for working “the Miss Cortez Occasion boats.” They finally offered the property to Hamlin Jones, who additionally owned the Seafood Shack subsequent door.
Shearer stated he made a million-dollar supply to Jones for the Annie’s property. Jones declined and offered your entire waterfront lot to the Canadian developer Vandyk Group in 2014. Other than the dock being washed out in 2012 by Tropical Storm Debby, Annie’s Bait & Deal with required solely minor repairs for many years, with the outside and inside wanting a lot the identical because it did within the Fifties — or no less than the ’70s, when Shearer recalled first setting foot within the place.
“We’ve been so rattling fortunate,” Shearer instructed me in 2021. “I hope to carry onto it for no less than a number of extra years. We’ll see.”
Manatee County purchased the property that features the Seafood Shack restaurant and marina, in addition to Annie’s Bait & Deal with, for $13 million on the finish of 2024.
County commissioners now plan to construct a public boat ramp there known as Cortez Marina, designed to increase entry to native waterways with boat ramps and different potential facilities on the property situated on the base of the Cortez Bridge, proper throughout the Intracoastal Waterway from Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Seashore.
Whereas many native residents help the challenge, they’ve additionally voiced a transparent want for it to incorporate Annie’s Bait & Deal with.
Annie’s ‘has been a staple of this group for the reason that physician at Manatee Memorial Hospital patted me on my little rear finish’
Pelicans glide by way of the Intracoastal Waterway as a boater fuels up at Annie’s Bait & Deal with, 4334 127th St. W. in Cortez, on June 23, 2024. The Seafood Shack is seen within the background.
Annie’s “has been a staple of this group for the reason that physician at Manatee Memorial Hospital patted me on my little rear finish,” Manatee County group activist Andrea Griffin stated throughout the early March assembly. “It’s the sort out store that I bought my first shrimp from to go fishing, and I do know that these issues are necessary to folks on this group.”
“I hope that every one in every of you guys take your time earlier than you say ‘no’ and take a look at all the nice that this sort out store has finished,” she stated. “I am 45 years outdated — 45 — and there is nothing however good reminiscences from that place.”
Annie’s Bait & Deal with is a chunk of Previous Florida that will probably be deeply missed
Sundown, photographed Sept. 30, 2023, from the again patio of Annie’s Bait & Deal with, 4334 127th St. W. in Cortez, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.
Yeah, I additionally don’t have anything however fond reminiscences of Annie’s. Bottles of beer with fried grouper sandwiches or burgers — all the time with an order of thin-cut, salty fries — sitting with the water proper at your toes, within the shadow of the bridge, watching people gasoline up their boats, purchase extra bait, or simply seize a chunk to eat and a chilly one.
I dined and drank there alone, with my spouse, Kristin, and several other of our canines on the again patio over time. We dined alongside strangers, too, who quickly grew to become pals, if just for one attractive afternoon.
Like Shearer stated, it was much like “Cheers” — if the sitcom befell in a small Southern fishing village slightly than a giant metropolis within the Northeast. I will positive miss Annie’s and want one of the best for the Shearer household transferring ahead.
Thanks for a lot of cherished reminiscences!
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Eating and Leisure Editor for the USA TODAY Community. Comply with him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He might be reached by electronic mail at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
This text initially appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota area waterfront restaurant closes after nearly 70 years
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