As I mentioned in my last blog post on Yoga on Sarasota Bay, I recently moved to a new town. One thing my fiancé and I miss dearly about our previous home of eight years (besides our friends and family, of course) is our favorite restaurants! We are tried-and-true foodies who had a go-to restaurant for every type of cuisine. So like any good foodies dedicated to the art of delicious flavor, we set out to try the diverse restaurants of Sarasota County.

This past weekend we tried a family-owned and operated restaurant opened in Sarasota at the beginning of 2021: Honeycomb Cafe. We both feel it can best be described as Mediterranean-American fusion. Although we feel its location could be better (it is tucked in the corner of a shopping center on a busy street), we thought the restaurant was clean, cute and inviting. It is, honestly, a perfect spot for brunch. It was not busy; however, we did go closer to the end of lunch. Our waitress was kind and attentive. Aside from the overall architectural feel of a diner right out of the 1950s, Honeycomb Cafe is painted with baby blues, light browns and shades of white; decorated with hexagonal wall fixtures and faux greenery; and even features an on-trend grass wall adorned with the café’s logo.

Now for the important part — the food! For this trip, we tried

Appetizer:

• Saganaki: Its “famous” fried vlahotiri cheese paired with figs and pita bread, the sweet figs paired perfectly with the rustic flavor of the cheese. We both feel we could have used more pita, though. The cheese-to-pita ratio was disproportionate.

Main Course:

• Grilled salmon dressed with tzatziki sauce and served over a summer succotash of cherry tomatoes, green beans and corn, seasoned with dill — so refreshing!
• Braised beef sandwich paired with sautéed onions, sliced tomatoes, arugula and a creamy horseradish sauce on ciabatta bread. My fiancé found his sandwich tender, a little minty and overall delicious.

Dessert:

• We shared the rustic apple galette, bursting with flavors of cinnamon and caramel, and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My fiancé, although a foodie, is actually pretty picky (even if he won’t admit it). Whereas I am more easily excitable and generous in my reviewing, he will often refer to something he enjoys as “not bad.” Only exceptional things will warrant a modest “it was good” out of him. His verdict here: a range of “not bad” to “it was good.” My verdict is we will definitely return. So, in my book, this was a surprising knock out of the park for both of us. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon retreat to Honeycomb Café. There were many more items on the menu that caught my eye to savor another time (and that was only the lunch menu!).

The Honeycomb Cafe is located at 4141 Tamiami Trail, Suite 10, Sarasota, Florida, 34231. They are open for breakfast and lunch.

— Amanda Jones, account executive