Big Top Brewing Company (Fruitville Commons) — Restaurant in Sarasota

Im in between 3 and 4 stars honestly, but i would love to start with the positives. Amazing vibe, super nice and spacious area. Lots of fans outside to keep everyone cool and seems like an amazing place for big groups. Drinks are super good and while we only had the pretzel appetizer, it was nice! However, if you are a younger couple i would recommend sitting at the bar instead. It was a little busy outside, but it was not busy enough for me and my partner to be treated the way we were. Our server brought us waters at first, which i love! Especially since it was very hot out. My boyfriend and i both finished ours pretty fast due to the heat, by the time she came back with our bar drinks, they were empty. They were never refilled, which was strange to me because every other table was getting refills on water pretty frequently. There were multiple water pitchers outside, and our server walked by our empty drinks plenty of times. We placed our appetizer and someone else dropped it off which is completely okay, however it was strange to me that since the time we put in our appetizer, our server never came back over to check on us once. I have been a server and bartender for over five years and i understand that your timing can get thrown off when you are weeded but it felt purposeful to both me and my partner. Our waters were empty when she took our appetizer order and were never refilled, our drinks from the bar were empty for a long time on the edge of the table. I dont want to just go up to the bartender and get a drink from them when i have a server, thats incredibly rude to my server, however its not fair to us. Were paying customers and i understand okay. I know servers usually assume younger couples wont tip, but im a bartender and my boyfriend works in the service industry as well. We tip 40% most times we go out because we KNOW how hard it is to make money these days in the restaurant industry. The experience just gets worse when we watch other tables around us get amazing service and a completely different attitude from the same server we have. We would have ordered more, it was our first time going and we were so excited. Its not a great feeling to look at how other customers are being treated in comparison to us though. Their drinks were never empty, they were getting checked on consistently and the worst part is that most of them arrived there way after we did. My partner and i tried to get our servers attention multiple times to grab our check, not in a rude way but with simple eye contact and a smile. My partner and i watched multiple times as she acknowledged us and would go to other people instead. We both agreed that if our server was different, or if she even just treated us the same as her other tables, this would have been an amazing experience. So, i guess it all depends. If you are a big family, you will probably get...

1 Star — If I could give zero, I would.

We chose Big Top Brewery to celebrate my friend’s graduation as a Registered Nurse, and it turned out to be one of the most unprofessional, uncomfortable, and downright embarrassing experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

It all started over a single can of beer. While waiting to be seated, one of our guests grabbed a can from the fridge with every intention of adding it to our table’s tab — something we’ve done at other breweries without issue. Instead of handling the situation with basic courtesy, Raul (the manager) stormed over and approached the graduate as if she had stolen something. His tone was aggressive and accusatory, completely unnecessary for a simple misunderstanding.

We paid for the six-pack and even asked Raul to put it on ice, trying to move on and enjoy our time. But moments later, another woman claiming to be a manager came out and rudely scolded us again — this time saying we couldn’t drink the canned beer on the property. There were no clear signs stating this, and at that point, we’d already been “reprimanded” twice over a beer we had purchased.

We had 15 more guests planning to join us, but after being treated so poorly, we decided to take our celebration elsewhere. We left and went to Twin Peaks (right in the same plaza) where the staff was friendly, professional, and welcoming — exactly what customer service should look like.

Big Top Brewery completely ruined what should have been a joyful celebration. If you’re looking for a place that values its customers, knows how to treat people with respect, and understands hospitality, skip Big Top and head straight to Twin Peaks. They outshine Big Top in every way — food, drinks, and above all, customer service.

Bottom line: Big Top Brewery is rude, unprofessional, and clueless about how to handle guests. Save yourself the headache and go...

Not a great experience.

Pros: honey garlic sauce and dry rub on wings was good, coconut porter is always good, blue cheese/ranch mix was delicious, outdoor area seems nice when it’s not hot as blazes, gluten-free menu available by request

Cons: service wasn’t good, wings were fatty, food is very expensive for what you get, not kid friendly, both bathrooms disgusting/unclean, men’s bathroom wallpaper (see other reviews for images), staff apathy, barely anything on the menu is dairy-free

More detail : When we walked in, I asked the hostess if they had anything dairy-free on the menu and she said to mention that to the server and that they could accommodate or make substitutions for many things on the menu. Service was sub-par. The place was half empty but it took the hostess awhile to find us a table. We sat at a high top near the bar/kitchen entrance and heard many employees conversations that were extremely inappropriate for kids, and they seemed to care more about their conversations than serving their tables. Our son is dairy-free and we asked our server right away if she had recs. They don’t have a kids menu and she said that the regular guac, the wings, or a salad were his options. Three items on the menu. Asked about the chicken meatballs with cauliflower, and server said both had dairy. We asked if we could do a burger without cheese, and that worked for $18. The wings were flavorful but you order a pound for $18 and you only get 7-8 very fatty wings, 2 pieces of carrots, and 3 cucumber pieces. Kids drinks were mocktails and were $8 each. Overall, we paid over $102 for 7-8 wings, a burger with fries, chips and guac, 2 “mocktails” and 3 beers. I don’t think...