A Burger A Week – Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar
It’s a Sarasota burger with that “I’m on vacation” feel to it!
People travel to Sarasota for a lot of different reasons. Without even thinking about it, one knows that our weather has a lot to do with it.
A lot of the year, the weather here is pretty hard to beat. Yes, there are some summer months when it feels like you and the heat are in a battle royale. But largely, our beautiful weather rules. 🌞
When you think of Florida (and other tropical destinations), you probably have an image etched into your brain that’s been fed by past experiences or expensive vacation advertising. Maybe a waving palm or a white sand beach just waiting to be walked on (or laid on). 🌴
One brand has bottled that vacay feeling better than others. And that’s where we are making our burger stop today. It’s time to play tourist for the afternoon!
St. Armands Circle is a shopping and dining destination in its own right. They’ve got a lot going on there to attract locals and visitors. 📝 If you’re looking for an Eater’s Guide to St. Armands, we wrote one a little bit ago. (HERE’S A LINK)
Tommy’s perfectly captures that upscale vacation vibe.
The staff seems super happy to be taking the best care of you. It’s a clean and bright inside and outside dining experience that keeps most diners smiling and sipping tropical drinks.
We’re not here today for the Mango-Habanero Margarita or the Mezcal Pink Flamingo (HERE’S HOW TO MAKE ONE OF THOSE!). We’re not even here for their “World Famous” Coconut Shrimp. Of course, for lucky stop #13, we are here for something on a bun. The Tommy Bahama All-American Burger!
Let’s talk about our Tommy Bahama burger experience…
RESTAURANT: TOMMY BAHAMA RESTAURANT & BAR (300 John Ringling Blvd. (941) 388-2888)
DATE OF VISIT: OCTOBER 19, 2022
STOP #: 13 OF 52
BURGER TASTED: THE ALL-AMERICAN BURGER
📒 OUR TASTING NOTES
🍔 This burger is served as listed on the menu: American cheese, House-Made dill pickles, garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, onion, and fries ($17)
This was a good sized burger. You can see that from the image below. This is especially true when you have it piled with all the toppings that come with it!
I just loved the house-made dill pickles. In my semi-biased view, good dill pickles make just about everything better (at least burger-wise 🍔)
Toppings are placed half on top of the burger and half on the bottom. It’s a good way to split them up. The tomatoes were super fresh and full of “tomatoey” flavor. 🍅
This ended up being an accidental ride-along. There was a nice couple visiting from Denver seated next to me. They also had the All-American Burger. Anyone who knows me will know that I, of course, asked them to compare notes with me.
We all thought the burger had a distinct and flavorful char-cooked taste. I loved this, and so did the Denver folks. This had a real “outdoor” cooked kind of flavor.
The Fries! They were delicious. I know that I have a preference for this style of French fry, crispy and salted to perfection! OH, that in no way means I don’t love the other variations. I Do! 🍟
OK, this burger is a little messy to eat. So, you know from reading these that I like to cut the burger in half to give you a shot of what it looks like inside. This might not be the best way to tackle this. Eating this in one piece would definitely make it easier to deal with. You might not win a table manners contest while eating this, but you should enjoy the challenge! (OH, my new Colorado connection made similar comments).
All right, enough talk. Let’s check out how all of this looked when I ordered it…
BURGER TAKEAWAYS: All-American defines this burger pretty well • It’s a great place to take out-of-town visitors for a “vacation” style meal • At $17 it’s not the cheapest burger we’ve tasted, but you’re paying a little for the whole TB experience • Try a tropical drink. It will instantly put you in vacation mode! • Very attentive and quick service and a super clean restaurant
👀 SNEAK PEEK: Stop #14 takes us to south Sarasota County to a place that oddly enough is on the Tesla Super-Charging map (A BIG surprise there). They also serve some crazy over-loaded burgers… 🍔🍔
⭐ BURGER GIVEAWAY!! – How would you like to win a burger meal for 2?! The folks at Tommy Bahamas are generously giving away two $50 gift cards so you can have your very own burger tasting for two! HERE’S THE ENTRY FORM. Good Luck!!
We want to hear about your Sarasota burger experience. So much so, in fact, that we’ve started up a special Facebook Group just for this A Burger A Week series. So, feel free to share your Sarasota burger experiences, photos, and anything else burger related you’d like others to know about.
JOIN SARASOTA’S BEST BURGERS FACEBOOK GROUP HERE!
✅ Did you miss a week? No worries. Here’s a link to our A BURGER A WEEK SERIES ARCHIVE!🍔
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