"It's like a Mastroianni movie from 1968." That's how Paul Caragiulo described the new dining room at 1833 Ringling Blvd. to Sarasota Magazine ahead of the public opening of Caragiulos Italian American Restaurant, which was set for Tuesday, Oct. 27. That date came nearly a year after the restaurant served its last meal on Palm Avenue.
The family took more than the name to Ringling. They brought the bar, the walls, the staff, and in a way the landlord too. The block they left on Palm Avenue is a construction site, and the developer expects to finish by the end of 2028. Until then, the Ringling Boulevard room is where downtown's 36-year Caragiulos history continues.
The Old Bar, Cut Into Strips
The family saved the marble from the Palm Avenue bar, cut it into strips and set it into the new bar. The artwork and original Italian film posters from the old restaurant came back as well. Luciano Botta, a longtime family friend who founded the Milan interior design firm Compagnia Pacifico, says the posters are "authentic prints from their time."
Botta designed the space as the next stage of the restaurant, with no attempt to copy Palm Avenue. "We tried to imagine the evolution of Caragiulos, from its beginnings in the 1980s through today," he told Sarasota Magazine. Here is how the old pieces and the new ones fit together:
| Element | Where it came from |
|---|---|
| Bar marble | Saved from the Palm Avenue bar, cut into strips, built into the new bar |
| Film posters and art | The former Palm Avenue restaurant |
| 14.5-foot gold curtains | Made by Anna Caragiulo, the family matriarch |
| Murano glass fixtures | Commissioned from Venetian artisans |
| Vintage furniture | Restored and reupholstered in Italy, then shipped to Sarasota |
| Building | Designed by Javi Suárez of Suarez Architecture |
Anna Caragiulo, 87, made the gold curtains. Paul says they soften the room and improve its acoustics, which matters in a restaurant built around his vinyl collection. "When you put the vinyl on in the space, it's pretty remarkable," he said. "And now that my mother finally put the curtains up, it sounds even better." The records include Italian singers Gianni Morandi and Domenico Modugno, and Paul will sometimes be the one playing them.
The building itself is about 4,300 square feet, with 150 seats, a full bar and a covered patio. From the street it's understated, with a tall brick arch marking the entrance. Inside are mismatched frames, wood paneling, glass globes hung at different heights and shelves of old-world plate sets and amaretto cookie tins. The goal was a room that looks assembled over decades. "It doesn't look like it was just built," Paul said.
The Landlord Made the Move Too
The continuity goes past the furniture. Tony Caragiulo and his sons John, Mark, Rob, Anthony and Paul opened the restaurant at 69 S. Palm Ave. in 1989. According to Sarasota Magazine, when demolition of the Mira Mar was proposed in 2022, Paul said the restaurant's lease ran through 2040. Dr. Mark Kauffmann sold the property to Seaward Development for $17.3 million in 2023 with that lease still in effect. Caragiulos closed on Palm Avenue in October 2025 with about 15 years left on the original lease.
Kauffmann also owns the Ringling Boulevard property beneath the new restaurant. So the family and the same property owner have now worked together on two downtown buildings. Even so, Paul said leaving the Mira Mar after all those years "wasn't easy."
The crew is mostly familiar too. Sarasota Magazine reported that many longtime employees were expected to return after spending the closure at the family's other restaurants, and that family members will rotate through the new location. Those other restaurants kept the staff working while the restaurant was between locations:
- Owen's Fish Camp, 516 Burns Ct., downtown Sarasota, plus a second location at 6516 University Pkwy. in Lakewood Ranch
- Burns Mercantile, 530 Burns Lane, Burns Court
- Veronica Fish & Oyster, 1830 S. Osprey Ave.
The Menu Shows How Far It Has Come
"We were a meatball hero and Styrofoam cup kind of place when we first started," Paul told Sarasota Magazine in 2025. Over 36 years on Palm Avenue, it became known for pizza, pasta, its house salad and a busy lunch hour full of regulars.
The menu posted ahead of opening keeps the dishes those regulars came for. Pasolini, pasta with Gorgonzola cream and sun-dried tomatoes, is $23. Meatballs are $21, the 37-layer lasagna is $25 and chicken parmigiana is $32. Pizzette run $14 to $15.95.
The new dishes cost a good deal more. A 40-ounce bone-in bistecca Fiorentina, sliced and served with two sides, is $115. A 20-ounce bone-in veal chop Milanese is $59, and halibut cacciucco with mussels and prawns is $43. Handmade cappellacci with king crab, corn, polenta and pecorino butter is $37. Spaghettini with Cedar Key clams is $26, and My Mother's Pasta, rigatoni with fava bean purée, chicory, English peas and ricotta salata, is $23.
So a regular can still order the lasagna at Palm Avenue-style pricing. The top of the menu now sits at steakhouse levels, about five times the price of the pasolini. Paul calls the family's business a venue business that is only "incidentally" a food business, as long as the food is done well. As Sarasota Magazine reports, he orders the priorities the way British chef Marco Pierre White did: "atmosphere, service, food—in that order." The commissioned glass, restored furniture and sound system built around a record collection are what that philosophy looks like when it's built.
Palm Avenue, Between Now and the End of 2028
Seaward Development is building Mira Mar Residences on the block Caragiulos left. Its schedule explains why the Ringling Boulevard room will carry the restaurant's history for a while:
- 1922. The Mira Mar was built in six months on a beach-sand foundation and became the city's first hotel and first luxury residences.
- 1989. Caragiulos opened at 69 S. Palm Ave.
- 2023. Kauffmann sold the property to Seaward for $17.3 million.
- October 2025. Caragiulos closed on Palm Avenue.
- April 2026. The City of Sarasota issued the construction permit for two 18-story towers with 70 condominiums, according to Your Observer.
- Oct. 27, 2026. Scheduled public opening of Caragiulos at 1833 Ringling Blvd.
- End of 2028. Expected completion of the Mira Mar project.
The towers pay for the preservation. Revenue from the condominiums is planned to fund a $25 million to $30 million restoration of the historic building along 400 feet of South Palm Avenue frontage. Rick Gonzalez, president of REG Architects, is overseeing the rehabilitation, and Suffolk Construction is the general contractor. The work is phased. It starts with stabilizing the historic structure and reinforcing its foundation, then moves to early tower construction, then returns to finish the rehabilitation. A USA TODAY Network photo caption describes demolition as underway at the site and says part of the original building will be restored as an entryway for the new residences.
As of April 2026, Your Observer reported that Seaward was in discussions with several "first-to-market dining groups" and shopping retailers for the commercial space along Palm Avenue. Meanwhile, the restaurant most associated with that frontage operates behind a brick arch on Ringling Boulevard.
Planning a First Dinner on Ringling
Caragiulos is at 1833 Ringling Blvd., the address on the restaurant's website. The Herald-Tribune reported a packed, invitation-only preview on Oct. 14, with the public opening scheduled for Oct. 27. For hours, reservations and parking, check the restaurant's site and its Facebook page before you go.
Former Palm Avenue regulars can look for the marble at the bar, the posters on the walls and the pasolini on the menu. All three made the move. The covered patio and the records playing inside are new.
As the Mira Mar frontage is restored and its two towers go up, Adnan Dedic is following what changes along Palm Avenue and Ringling Boulevard, block by block. If downtown's next chapter figures into your plans, Let's Connect.
