Libby’s Cafe & Bar

Great Korean Lettuce wraps, grilled salmon, Kale grains salad, and oneofthe best chocolate desserts in the world, Peruvian Chocolate Bande, which they must add to their regular menu.

I arrived at Libby’s just before 6pm tonight. After waiting for a couple of minutes a bartender asked me what I wanted and I asked for a Manhattan. I did not specify any brand of bourbon. After waiting several minutes and having another bartender ask if I was being helped, my Manhattan arrived and my bartender disappeared again. I was never offered a menu. After I finished my drink I waited several more minutes until a server asked me if I needed anything. At this point I asked for a check. The server said «.that was Maker’s Mark?» I said no. My bartender appeared and said yes. They charged me $ 9.10 for something I didn’t order and didn’t receive. I’m CERTAIN it was not Maker’s Mark in my drink and equally certain that I didn’t order it.
Actually this place doesn’t even deserve one star. I read about Libby’s happy hour and thought I’d give it a try. The published menu indicated $ 6 cocktails and $ 6 plates. My reason for going to Libby’s tonight was to try the food and determine if I should take my family there next week. The staff made my decision an easy one. I won’t be returning and will make sure to let my friends know this is a venue to avoid. There are so many great happy hour choices in Sarasota so I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you skip Libby’s.

Friendly and attentive staff. They bring thaws tiny cheese biscuits before your meal. Cheesy biscuit+truffle butter+ brandied cherry=heaven! Try it, it’s delightful. The cheese an pear tortollini is a tasty savory then sweet surprise! Eat outside if you can as it can be a bit noisy inside. Plan on coming back for sure.

Went there for happy hour this weekend. Did I say disappointment? Got the lettuce cups, now only 3, and with wilted lettuce, not much taste, and not a winner. No longer great choices on the happy hour menu. Bring back the great food! Drinks still good, as was the wedge salad, on the regular bar menu. Back to Table at Creekside for me…

Libby’s Café is a classy restaurant with great ambience in the dining areas. You can sit inside, inside with the walls open (kind of interesting), or actually at the outside dining area. We sat inside and could ignore the music in the bar. When we left, it was clear the bar music was blasted. The Safety Dance is not that great of a song, but at least the bar noise was mostly separate from the diners.
The meal starts with four small biscuits, served with butter, roasted garlic (spreadable), and cherries. All of the flavors work well. There’s no filling up on bread here, because that’s all you get.
The Grouper White Miso is excellent if a bit pricy. Be careful with the sauce, or you may paint your palate with it and miss the other flavors of the dish. A tasty dish, nicely presented, and perfectly cooked fish.
The Fillet Mignon was not as much of a winner with us. We did order it medium well, which is our fault, but the rest of the dish was only partially successful. The cauliflower-​cheddar in place of cheesy mashed potatoes (or any kind of mashed potatoes) had an odd flavor, like cheese mixed with some wilted plant life. The bread around the fillet mignon was also odd, but this time in terms of a mushy texture. The broccoli, mushrooms, and sauce were all very good. The dish on the whole was so-​so.
The Molten Chocolate Chip Cookie with vanilla ice cream is rich and delicious. This is a large desert clearly meant for 2 – 3 people after a full meal.
Our service was good, and we liked the style of the restaurant. The quality of the food at dinner is variable for the price you pay.

Deco and Ambiance are good. Food is mediocre and very underwhelming.

Deco and ambiance are great here. It has an old school vibe with an eclectic sense to it. The service was just okay. We sat at the bar and it was mostly us flagging down attention for things.
The happy hour had good prices. I loved the chips with Bleu cheese and balsamic. Hubs found them to be to much for his taste.
Overall: B
Good for happy hour.

All in all it was a very pleasant experience. The food was very good… short ribs with mashed cauliflower fresh spinach. Happy hour runs unril 7. The menu was. complete with many options, even a couple of vegan options. Prices are moderate for such a nice meal and a nice atmosphere. I would say that the service was a bit slower than we would have like… Bring water, the check and so forth. But it was a great time and I will definetly go back.

Great Happy Hour at the bar. Virginia was a delight and their libations are great too.

Nice bar. Not crowded at 4pm.
Food is too foo-​foo and carb-​loaded for me. For bar bites, I want finger food and protein. Wife thinks I’m nuts… Seared Yellowfin is the choice. And a good one.

We’ve always been a huge fan of the food here, and come often. Yesterday for lunch was not a pleasant experience. Yes… food was good as usual, service was not. We ordered an appetizer and sandwich to split. We asked for appetizer to come out before our
appetizer brought out. Just our sandwich. Waiter Theo proceeded to argue with us saying we hadn’t ordered anything else. Not a good idea. I think it would been better if he offered to bring it our later… but insisted we hadn’t ordered it…

We were greeted nicely and brought directly to our table. From that point on service sucked. We got there at 6:45 and did not get out of there until almost 9:00. We were never told of specials which we heard the servers mention to other tables. Our waiter disappeared constantly. When our food finally came he never came by to see how everything was. The food tasted like a chain restaurant. Very nondescript. I hate when a server needs to be hunted down. It was not even that busy. I would not recommend this restaurant.

Wasn’t impressed. My burger was very bland and my fries were overcooked. If you’re charging $ 15 for a Burger and Fries, it better be a really good burger. Checking this place off on the list of mediocre Sarasota restaurants.

A good brunch
We stopped in today for a bite to eat, an unexpected visit when the place we intended to go to was already closing for the day. We liked our new choice. My wife got a Modernist Kale salad she very much liked, it was a perfect size for her. I got their Libbypalooza, one of their least expensive brunch dishes with typical breakfast items of scrambled egg, sausage, bacon, potatoes and a blueberry pancake. Each item was very good, and I always like an excuse to get a little maple syrup mixed in with my breakfast food. The serving size was a little small for me but I made do.
Libby’s has a classic feel with dark wood, white tablecloths and a professional waitstaff. They have seating both inside and out. It was pretty busy and noisy inside when we first arrived but as people left the noise level went down. Our service was very good.

This place was recommended to me by a friend whose opinions I trust. We grabbed that friend and took Beardyman to birthday brunch. The bloody mary bar is really impressive. Beardyman and Friend came back with some really lovely drinks. The menu looked great. I was a little disappointed that the vegetarian section on the regular menu was not a part of the brunch menu. I was confined to the salad section. However, I was certainly not disappointed. My roasted vegetable salad was perfection. Everything about it was perfect – perfect textures, perfect combinations of flavors, and that balsamic reduction – divine. mmm. Beardyman and Friend got a burger and a fancy, brunchy breakfast combination. All fantastic. We left very happy.
Thank you.

Review coming. Terrible food. Good service. Great location. Did I mention terrible food?
Tomato soup = Katchup.
Steak = terrible cut of meat. Dry.

Libby’s has a great Happy Hour. Many fun $ 6 drink concoctions.
I tried a couple. My favorite was the matcha green tea pisco sour.
The happy hour foods, like the cheeseburger and the turkey meatball flatbread pizza were really tasty. Especially the pizza.
It was packed, but loads of fun. Go early to get a seat. Happy Hour prices are good in the bar only.
Everyone we encountered working there was wonderfully nice.
A mishap at the end, is the reason for the 4 stars, instead of 5.
We’ll try again though.

We’re bummed to be rating Libby’s at just 3-​stars, but anything higher would be a lie.
We’d been looking forward to trying this place since moving to Sarasota, but with so many tasty options around town it took us nearly six months. And unfortunately, it may be another six before we bother to waste our time here again.
The food was actually quite delectable — hence the three stars — but I never received my side and salt & pepper was never delivered to the table, so let’s just say that our enjoyment was limited.
Let’s also point out that we experienced bad service. Frankly, our server was lazy. We had to ask him how the bloody mary bar worked (it was our first time there), he rarely came to check on us, never once came to ask how our meal was (this is service industry 101 by the way), he tried to drop our check without even asking if we’d like anything else, and then when we were ready to pay we had to hunt him down to retrieve our check. We’ve had better service at Chic-​fil-​A.
As someone who served tables once upon a time and a brunch regular, I was beyond disappointed by this experience. Especially since every other server appeared to be hustling, smiling, and tending to their customers’ every needs.
If and when we return, we’ll only be seated if we get a different server.
Suggestion to management: Consider using table clothes on the patio tables during brunch as well because the patio tables are looking a little beat up.

The appetizer of tuna tartar with bacon and whipped avocado was amazing. Couple that with a terrific dish of scallops with risotto and a cup of vegan chili white bean and you are in for a treat.
Our server was the best that I have experienced in a long time. He always inquired and served my wife before myself, proper etiquette for an upscale restaurant — really any restaurant, but I only expect it in higher end establishments. He was friendly, knowledgable and popped over just the right amount so as not to be intrusive on our experience but still readily available.
The atmosphere was very relaxing and relatively quiet. Libby’s was one of our best dining experiences we had during our stay in Florida. Luckily my parents live only 30 minutes away, so we will return again!

This is the type of place where you go in and you’re pissed you haven’t been here sooner. At least that’s how we felt. Quiet place on a cute street. We always thought the previous tenant «Fred’s» was for old people. Well Libby’s has been here for 8+ years and now we are old people! But Libby’s has a great menu for all ages. So many unique things to pick from that we had a hard time choosing. Already knowing we would be back, we chose the Cheesesteak eggrolls (amazing!), the Kobe Meatloaf special (holy WOW!) and the fish tacos (super yum). Our server Joe was hilarious we had a great time chatting him up. Can’t wait to go back next time we’re in SRQ.

Everything we ordered was perfectly cooked with fresh ingredients. At first you might feel like it’s pricey, by when you see the size and quality of the plates you understand it all. Plus they got amazingly friendly service for that kind of place.