Brine Seafood & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Siesta Key

Great service, good food, nice atmosphere. We stopped here for lunch on a recommendation by a local real estate agent. She raved about the food, so we decided to give it a go.

Our server was very friendly and attentive. She was very on point, coming by to check, but not hovering, or neglecting us. She was a very good server and as always, we tipped accordingly.

We ordered drinks first, the Brine’s Bloody Mary with Tito’s, and a Grilled Pineapple Spicy Margarita. Truth be told, I can’t ever turn down something with pineapple and I was delighted that it was as good as I was hoping it would be. I tried my boyfriend’s Bloody Mary and it too was very good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Our order consisted of Focaccia Bread, Drunken Clams, Fish Tacos, and Lobster Carbonara. The homemade focaccia appetizer was a large serving and plenty of oil to dip it in. I was really looking forward to the drunken clams but was very disappointed. They were extremely salty, so much so that the over-salting really detracted from the dish.

When our main entrees arrived, we were both delighted to see that the portions were good for the prices. The lobster carbonara came as a full lobster tail with a side of very thick pasta (bucatini) with cream sauce, pancetta, and peas. The lobster was cooked perfectly and paired nicely with the pasta.

The 2 fish tacos were in soft tortillas, made with blackened Mahi Mahi, shaved cabbage, pineapple salsa, and lime cream. They were very good, fully stuffed with a good portion of fish. I was very glad they were not over-salted and they were very fresh. Although a little messy to eat and not anything out of the ordinary, they were very good and I would order them again. The dish came with a side of homemade chips that were very good.

I felt the pricing was as to be expected, the service was exceptional, and the food was very good, but nothing really stood out as over the top, except the service and the Grilled Pineapple Spiced Margarita. I will be coming back for another one and to try a few different things...

I’m not even mad, I’m just disappointed.

A foodies delight it is not.

Service: AMAZING. Polite, cheery waitstaff and bartenders. Everyone was engaging, positive and efficient. I can’t stress that enough. It’s not easy to assemble a team and create an environment for them to shine so kudos to management and the waitstaff galore. Full marks.

Food: Good, not great. I ordered the charred octopus appetizer and the octopus was tender and flavorful(no small feat). But there were 3 small pieces($18) and the base was arugula and canned white beans. The sauce seemed canned/off the shelf too. It’s not easy to prepare octopus correctly, and they did; but the corners cut elsewhere and stingy portion(~2-3oz) let it down.

Similar story with the stripped bass entree. If you’re going to charge $40 for a piece of fish in Florida it ought to be fairly exceptional, imho. The fish itself was fine; slightly over cooked but that’s splitting hairs and the skin was crisp, so overall a proper execution. It was an ample portion in this case. Here again the balance of the dish is where it failed. Described as “root vegetable hash, Brussels sprouts, lobster sauce”. Two tablespoons of carrots, parsnips and onion with(no joke) four or five leaves from less than half of a single Brussels sprout. Why??

There appears to be some talent in this kitchen but for some reason they’re cutting corners and it left me feeling a substantial disparity between the spend and the spectacle. It’s not cost-cutting. The same ingredients with a little more creativity and/or effort could’ve made it all work.

I noticed many of the positive reviews referenced lunch. Maybe I’ll give it a try again for lunch down the road without the high expectations that accompany high prices and hope for a different experience.

I was hoping for a bit of Paul Rudolph and left feeling like I got DR Horton, unfortunately.

Best of luck and I’ll be back to see how things...

I wanted to follow up on my review which is below. I followed up with the manager after my negative experience. He graciously recovered from this mistake. I took my family and had a wonderful dinner. Our food was very good and our server was fabulous. Thank you Brine for following up.

My husband and I have been waiting for 11 months to go out to dinner due to COVID 19. This week we both got our second shot to we decided to venture out to celebrate. Brine is in our neighborhood and we wanted to try this new restaurant. I stopped there this week to talk to the manager about an outdoor table. He assured me we could save this table which was somewhat isolated from the others and close to the rail. We invited our neighbors (not yet vaccinated) and assured them it would be safe. I planned this event all week long. Told everyone how we were finally going out for the first time and so looked forward to shedding the sweats and dressing up. We pulled up to the restaurant and saw someone was sitting at our table. I explained to the hostess our journey and that I had reserved a specific table. She said she had another table outside, Iclose to others) or inside. REALLY! Well, that was not working for us and she get the manager.. Yes, the one that saved me the table. He said there was a mistake and all he had was yada yada yada. So you young managers out there, do you have any idea of what waiting for 11 months to just sit down and have a drink and a nice dinner out is like! Apparently, this guy didn't. We told him we could not stay and I'm sorry is all he could provide. You ruined our night, a night we have ben waiting for. Could you have least said, "come back and let me buy you a drink'". No he let four us walk away! As a neighbor, I want you to succeed, but now, oh ya, I'm sorry - there are a lot of restaurants in Sarasota and I...