Whatever else happens in 2009, one thing is almost certain: The Broadway Bar will finally reopen.
Once again, Sarasota residents and wayfaring visitors will be able to enjoy a cold beer, a stiff drink or a famous Broadway Bar pizza, served in an establishment that began operating as a bar in 1925, when the second floor of the original building was used as a brothel.
Last week, while giving a tour of the three-story brick building at the corner of 10th Street and Cocoanut Avenue that will be the bar’s new home (the fourth in its 84-year existence), owner Carolyn Heath – formerly Carolyn Hausmann – said she expects to reopen Sarasota’s oldest bar late this month or in early February.
Built in 1953 in what is now the Publix parking lot, the old Broadway Bar building was torn down in July 2004 to make room for the supermarket, condos and retail space in Broadway Promenade.
In his back-yard birdbath, Sarasota resident Devin Rutkowski has as a memento a chunk of one of the colorful glass tiles that once covered the outside of the old bar building. The tiles crossed the ocean aboard the Andrea Doria, which later sank in 1956. New tiles accent the entryway of the new building.
The new Broadway Bar is expected to open soon at the corner of 10th Street and Cocoanut Avenue in downtown Sarasota. Photos by Joe Hendricks
Like many in town, Rutkowski was happy to hear that The Broadway Bar would soon be open again. "They had the best thin crust pizza in town," he said.
Heath thought she’d be back in business in less than a year, but a battle with cancer, changes in the construction schedule and legal wrangling between her and the developers led to the four-year delay.
With the lawsuit settled and her cancer in remission, Heath is ready to make a comeback. "I’m really excited," she said. "It’s been tough, but it’s been amazing how many people have helped me out."
She plans to start slowly, with a series of soft openings taking place before a grand reopening is announced. Former Sarasota Kennel Club food and beverage manager Jeff Motchok will serve as general manager, overseeing a staff of 20 full- and part-time employees.
Tia Stockton, manager of Off Broadway Wine & Spirits and a 10-year veteran of The Broadway Bar operations, will oversee the coordination of the liquor store, bar and restaurant.
Owner Carolyn Heath and General Manager Jeff Motchok.
"I could not have made it through the past four years without her," Heath said.
Contractors and subcontractors from D.E. Murphy Constructors are hard at work finishing up the interior modifications of a building erected in 2007 by another firm. Some even worked on New Year’s Day, much to Heath’s delight.
"Just another day in paradise," joked a burly, bearded contractor named Rick, who was among those laboring on a Saturday morning. Upstairs, in the second-floor banquet room, former bar customers Raymond Morin and Marcel Gilbert were laying down a new tile floor.
The third floor will be used for offices, and storage space and as an in-house laundry room.
The latest version of The Broadway Bar will be a mix of old and new. A replica of the old horseshoe-shaped bar is already in place. The red chairs and red-and-white checkered tablecloths will be back, as will the statue of Spuds McKenzie, the driftwood Christmas tree and sections of a mural painted by Mac MacMurry in 1958. Modern touches will include flat-screen TVs and a new jukebox.
The old dough roller and dough mixer have been joined by new pizza ovens, a new char-grill, a commercial dishwasher (something the old bar never had) and a walk-in cooler that’s as big as the entire kitchen at the old bar.
Prepared "the Sicilian way" using the original recipes Heath’s family brought from Italy, the lasagna, spaghetti and other Italian dishes will continue to be prepared meatless, with meat added for those who want it. The familiar antipasto salad and hot sandwiches will also be back.
The Broadway burgers will be cooked on the char-grill – a piece of equipment that will allow for future experimentation with a "work-in-progress" menu that might also include a steak dinner.
One thing you won’t see on the menu will be fried food: "The Broadway Bar never had fried food and never will," Heath proclaimed.
The 28-seat, first floor patio will be dog-friendly, allowing patrons to eat, drink and smoke with their canine friends close by.
"What we tried to do was make it so there’s a little something for everybody," Heath said, noting that starting from scratch offers benefits not available at the old location.
Food will travel from the first floor kitchen to the second floor banquet room by way of a dumbwaiter. The banquet room has its own bar and an adjoining patio. The wooden doors that divide the banquet room into two sections came from the old Sarasota Yacht Club building – constructed the same year as the original Broadway Bar.
The Broadway Bar is one of Sarasota’s most infamous drinking spots, a local dive known for a clientele that included politicians, theater folks, musicians, construction workers, media personalities, boaters and people from just about every walk of life.
"The mayor might be celebrating a birthday, sitting next to a guy who just got out of jail … and they all got along," Heath said.
Sarasota Mayor Lou Ann Palmer began frequenting the establishment in the 1960s, when she was choreographing theatrical productions at The Players Theatre.
"It was the place to go," Palmer said. "All the performers would congregate there. That was the only place we went. They had the best hamburgers in town …other than Smack’s."
Back then, the bar was owned and operated by "Big Tony" Armento and his wife, Mimi. The Armentos bought the bar from the Capaccione family in the early 1960s; Heath inherited it when her Uncle Tony passed away in 1990.
January 8th 2009 - 10:34AM