"Although the name may be new, the classic menu remains the same." Siesta Sand used that line in June to describe Costello's Neighborhood Pizza on Superior Avenue. It also works as a summary of Gulf Gate's year. Four restaurant spaces in the village changed their names, owners or concepts in 2026. In nearly every case, the new operator kept something the old one left behind: a menu, a name, a bar top, a floor plan.
None of these four cleared a building and started over. Each new business moved into a room people already knew, and the room mostly stayed.
| Address | Before | Now | What carried over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6574 Superior Ave. | Solorzano's Pizzeria | Costello's Neighborhood Pizza | Owner, staff experience, classic menu |
| 6644 Gateway Ave. | Kolucan Mexican Bar & Grill | Kolucan under new owners, with a planned rename to Garibaldi Bar & Grill | The name, at least for now |
| 6607 Gateway Ave. | Sarasota Brewing Company | Shebeen Irish Pub & Kitchen | Original bar, layout, footprint |
| 2238 Gulf Gate Dr. | A Thai restaurant | Brooklyn Blues Restaurant | The space, remodeled for parties and music |
A pizza counter that changed only its sign
Costello's makes the cleanest case. Owner Kenny Palin worked seven years at Solorzano's. He then bought the Gulf Gate and Longboat Key locations under a five-year franchise agreement. When that agreement ended earlier in 2026, he rebranded instead of starting fresh. The new name honors his Irish grandmother, Margaret "Peggy" Costello. Regulars will still find the pizzas, subs, salads, wings, pasta and desserts they ordered before.
The new parts are small. Palin refreshed the exterior, planned cosmetic interior upgrades for the summer and added a Southie pizza and a Hot Honey pizza. The restaurant has a full bar. Costello's is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
So the sign is new, but the person running the place has been there for years.
Two weeks between closed and open on Gateway Avenue
Kolucan took the same idea further, with new owners and very little time between them. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that the upscale Mexican restaurant at 6644 Gateway Ave. closed effective immediately on Sept. 4. That was two days before its third anniversary. Its announcement cited "circumstances beyond our control."
Two weeks later it was serving again. The Herald-Tribune reported that the restaurant reopened Sept. 18 under new ownership, with a fresh look and notable menu changes. The new owners are Guillermo Larios and Margarito Rosas. They planned to keep the Kolucan name temporarily and then rebrand as Garibaldi Bar & Grill.
Keeping a known name through a change of ownership has a practical upside. People who search for the restaurant still find it, and the door they already know still opens. At Costello's, the operator stayed and the name changed. At Kolucan, the operators changed and the name stayed.
The bar that came with the building
Shebeen Irish Pub & Kitchen goes one step further, because what carried over is physical. Eileen Carrigan began moving her pub from Siesta Key's Crescent Plaza last December. The new home is 6607 Gateway Ave., the former Sarasota Brewing Company building.
Siesta Sand reported that Carrigan kept the original bar, with its heavy wooden base, copper top and dark wood back bar. The overall footprint is the same, so anyone who used to drink at Sarasota Brewing Company will recognize the layout. "I picked a vintage building that needed a lot of TLC," she told the paper. "This building was definitely worth saving."
What she added fits around that structure:
- A coat of blue exterior paint, a traditional pub color in Ireland
- A back dining room that seats 120, decorated with the whiskey signs, flags and barrel tops from the Siesta Key location
- Wooden family-crest plaques for 30 to 35 customer families, the first décor she planned to hang
- The room's second bar, converted into a stage for live music, including traditional Irish acts
- A larger kitchen that adds shepherd's pie, Guinness stew and Dublin coddle to the house-made fish and chips
- Twelve beer taps pouring Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's, ciders and domestic choices
On Siesta Key, Shebeen's musicians squeezed into a small corner so the pub wouldn't lose seats. In Gulf Gate, the extra room came from a feature the old tenant built. Carrigan told Siesta Sand the neighborhood "is very, very interested in having a successful destination for people," including local people as well as visitors.
A remodel that made room for a party
Brooklyn Blues Restaurant shows the last version of the pattern. The space at 2238 Gulf Gate Dr. used to be a Thai restaurant. The new owners remodeled it extensively and created a party and live-entertainment area for up to 90 guests. Saxophones, guitars, trumpets and dozens of vinyl records hang on the walls and ceiling.
Siblings Leo Golfeld and Marina Polischuk-Rasin opened it in May. Their family works in the kitchen and on the floor, and the menu covers Russian-speaking, Polish and other Eastern European cuisines. Marina already runs a similar restaurant called Little Brooklyn in North Port. The Gulf Gate name plays off that one.
The weekday lunch is easy to like. A long row of steam trays holds stuffed cabbage and peppers, pierogies, kebabs, plov, kasha, sausage and roast chicken. Two meats and two sides cost $12.99. Adding soup brings it to $15.99, and borscht is on every day. At dinner, the menu adds beef and lamb shashlik, rack of lamb, chicken Kyiv, halibut and branzino. A piano and vocal duet is expected most nights.
Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. Between this room and the stage at 6607 Gateway Ave., Gulf Gate has two more places for live music than it had a year ago. Both were built inside existing walls.
Where the one true newcomer fits
Insomnia Cookies is the exception in the village, a national brand opening its own store. It opened Feb. 21 at 2264 Gulf Gate Dr. What it added was hours. The shop stays open until 1 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, and until 1 a.m. Sunday. Local delivery runs until midnight every day. A classic cookie starts at $2.89.
The address puts it on the same short block of Gulf Gate Drive as Brooklyn Blues at 2238 and Brine Seafood & Raw Bar at 2250. In practice, a late dinner with piano music, a raw bar and a cookie after midnight are now a few doors apart.
Thanksgiving in the village, Nov. 26
The places hosting Thanksgiving dinner are two names that have been around a long while. Siesta Sand's Thanksgiving dining guide lists these two Gulf Gate options for Thursday, Nov. 26:
- Brine Seafood & Raw Bar, 2250 Gulf Gate Drive, 941-952-3039. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a traditional turkey dinner, prime rib and an abbreviated regular menu. Reservations are by phone.
- Ruth's Chris Steak House, 6700 S. Tamiami Trail, 941-924-9442. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and regular menu selections. Reservations are through OpenTable.
Holiday tables fill up, so it's smart to call ahead. For the rest of the holiday season, the newer rooms on Gateway Avenue and Gulf Gate Drive offer more choices than the village had last fall. That includes a 90-seat banquet room on Gulf Gate Drive that already hosts holiday parties.
I've watched Gulf Gate change for a long time, and I love seeing familiar rooms like these get new tenants. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of Gateway Avenue, or you just want to compare notes on your favorite booth in the village, Susan Phelps would be glad to hear from you.
