The Mall at University Town Center

I come to The Mall at UTC at least three times a month. The mall houses several of my favorite stores: Crate and Barrel, Z Gallerie, Banana Republic, Sephora, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The mall is fairly new so it is extremely clean. I often see employees cleaning the glass panels on the second floor of the mall. There usually aren’t large crowds of people shopping when I go which is why I like coming here.
There are lots of typical chain restaurants here (The Cheesecake Factory, Brio, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Kona). There’s something for everybody I guess.
Tip: There’s always parking spots on the second floor entrance of Macy’s.

Wish they had more of the Stores that you find at other Malls.
It IS BEAUTIFUL! Buuut…
CASH IS KING:-$ Eye Candy is SWEET.
I personally, would like to see. More diversified. Stream Line Stores. Marketing Is Great. Love Dillard’s, Macy’s, etc.
There’s plenty of options at Penney’s. That’s how I turned mine into $Dollars.
They do play good Music. The Ambiance is You/​I Say Romantic.
Still like call them the Fluff Boutique Stores. These Fad Clothing Stores, for some unexplainable reason make my $ leave my WALLET:-0 Welll… Unilocaler Friends.
Oh Happy Girly Stuff. Found a Few of These Stores. While shopping at Swarovski Crystal. These are Classics. That’s were a Smart Consumer Spends $$$
I see lots of people walking around, with NO BAGS IN HAND.
Not good Business Practice.
Just left Dillard’s and YES, I SHOPPED:-))
This Mall is very relaxing.
Very nice people. Good Customer Service. Has I have always experienced with them.
But, NO CUSTOMERS waiting for Service.
And it’s ALMOST VALENTINES DAY.
Great place to Meet people. Grab Coffee. Sight See.

This mall is pretty useless told me. It is anchored by Macys (found everywhere) and Dillards which is generally empty. The stores are so, so, with infrequent sales. In the off season the only thing moving around the mall are the old people on their morning strolls.

There is no movie theater although the region really needs one. The Regal downtown is old and decrepit, and the so-​called Lakewood ranch film society theater is very small. It doesn’t t offer any online ticket purchases, and offers only a few feature films which sell out early– not to mention the limited parking when there are street or neighborhood fairs.
The UTC mall developers keep talking about a movie theater-it’s time started building one. And decent adjoining food court.

When I was in town August of 2014, this mall was near completion. Now over a year later I’m glad to see its done! This mall reminds me a lot like Tyson’s Corner in Virginia. It’s a fancy mall for faux upscale people. There ain’t shit wrong with that. There’s some nice stores and there’s some normal stores.
The layout is great, the mall is clean. There’s some good places to eat. This is a fine mall, nothing wrong with that.

Firstly i hate shopping malls but by any of my critical conditions this place is Horrible!!!
Gorgeous architecture yes, but populated by pompous pretentious stores with very limited variety
The only saving grace is a fabulous Gelato shop & a couple of decent places to eat.

The Mall at UTC opened a little over a year ago so it is fairly new, compared to the other malls. The stores here are for both young and elder people. However, I do not know why they opened when more than half of the mall was under construction, especially the higher class stores.
I believe that this mall is in a nice location although it is right off the interstate. I would say this is the new teen hang out spot from what I have seen over the past twelve months.
Over the past twelve months, I have noticed that people are not really here to shop. They are just there to waste time or in other words, window shop. As I speak for myself, this is just a place to go when I need to get out of the house.
There is no food court but there are a number of dine-​in restaurants in this mall. Traffic tends to be crazy on weekends and parking is a whole other story. I would recommend parking on the other side of Macy’s, or the «back» of this mall town center.
Restrooms are hard to find and are packed most of the time so I wish your bladder the best!

I personally love this mall! Yes, everything is expensive and there is no food court but I enjoy it because it keeps a lot the unwanted crowd out so we can shop in peace. Also as a working professional on the go I enjoy doing work here sometimes. This is an upscale mall and I hope it remains that way and I am not trying to be snobby but it makes me want to come back frequently and I do shop every month or so

Upscale, classy & high-​end! This is a beautiful mall with some great stores. The exotic cars that are held at the valet give an idea of the wonderfulness you’ll encounter when you enter the mall.
I’m pleased that there is no food court because from experience a food court is to teenagers as a trail of crumbs is to palmetto bugs. And personally I don’t like going to malls where mobs of teenagers hangout misbehaving (it’s not family friendly with all of the swearing and horseplay that occurs). However, there are several restaurants throughout the mall that are great.
Now if I could rate the lack of lanes and horrible traffic leading to the mall it would be negative stars. Traffic is atrocious!!! Drivers beware!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
I love this mall so much. It is really upscale and modern and everything is brand new. While it may not be as big as International Plaza, it has many of the same stores and has one amazing thing – natural light. To me, much of International Plaza feels like a dungeon, with just small skylights throughout. Here, the whole ceiling is a skylight. I also love how the second floor of the mall is more of a mezzanine versus a complete floor – it makes the area feel much more airy.
The main attractions here are Macy’s, Saks, and Dillards. A Nordstrom would be nice, but there is a Nordstrom Rack across the street anyways.
There are a few designer stores, if you want to empty your wallet. I enjoy the Crate and Barrel and Williams and Sonoma.
My favorite smaller stores here are Banana Republic, and H&M (as per usual). The Banana Republic here has exceptionally professional and welcoming sales reps.
Dining here is okay. There is no food court which is okay I guess. There’s a Chinese place, a pizza place (but don’t eat here, go to Blaze across the street), and a sushi bar with a conveyor belt of plates. For fine dining, there is a Capital Grille and a Brio Tuscan Grill. For all of your weight gain needs, there is a Cheesecake Factory.
The obligatory Starbucks is one of those puny counters where the employees take forever. Do yourself a favor and get a Godiva milkshake literally 100 feet away from Starbucks.
There are sitting areas everywhere and even little balconies with couches on the mezzanine. No fighting for a chair here!
If you’re looking for upscale shopping and a pleasant place to hang out, this is the place to be.

UTC mall … Not sure who came up with such a name but it doesn’t scream shopping centers.
The mall at university center is a much better name which is what pulls up on Unilocal.
Anyways … Needed some time to kill so the girls and I headed to the mall, we got a chance to stop at Dillard’s first, very clean and organized even the sale shoe racks. Next was the Tesla store, yes, a car dealer inside a mall, super cool display of the coolest all electric car out on the market, you can custom design your own car and pretty much hit the order button, very tempting and the only downside to it is … I don’t have 75K to blow.
Second favorite thing inside the mall is: smoothie king. We need more around the state Florida and a LOT less planet smoothies.

Upscale and modern are the buzz words that describe this mall. The design is absolutely gorgeous. First impressions are impressive with a huge futuristic ceiling. Love the planters that adorn the walls.
Lots of comfy seating areas that you don’t normally see at malls.
Yes, as many disgruntled posters wrote there is no noisy food court, of which I am glad. Fast food doesn’t float my boat, but there are other options like the Japanese place, Yoshis, they had food bowls going around the inside window on a conveyor belt. Cool gimmick that draws you in. Also a pizza place, cupcake shop called sweet doctor and several others.
They have a Capital grille, Seasons 52, Brios, Kona grill and Cheesecake Factory at the mall but you can only enter these from outside. Strange design flaw imo. The ceiling lets in a lot of light, so you may need to wear your shades indoors.
There is an Apple Store, Saks, Macy’s, Dillard’s, crate and barrel, pottery barn to name a few.
Plenty of parking and a nice place to get out of the hot sun for awhile.

The best thing that has happened to Bradenton/​Sarasota in a long time. I am sad to see south gate dwindling away. But UTC is a wonderful upgrade. No more drives up to Tampa to Cheese Cake factory. Also the stores although some are very small and boutique like others in the mall strip area make up for it. Dillard’s is wonderful, great selection.

6 months old and the UTC is still in its infancy. A beautiful mall, you can tell that it was made for an area that has money.
More beauty/​makeup stores, high end clothiers, and esteries, that it is only rivaled, in my experience by the International mall.
There isn’t a food court to speak of, but there is a children’s play area, a few stop and eat spots and of course you have a great sit and chat section near the Starbucks. The main detractors is the noise level. With such high, concave ceilings, it makes for a sound funnel that makes it VERY noisy.

This beautiful new mall was a wonderful place to spend part of an afternoon.
On a sunny day the light shining through the windows in the barrel vaulted roof warmed up the sleek white lines. I like that everything is in one long line, so you’re not having to backtrack all the time.
Many of the nicer chain stores I can think of have an outpost here: Williams-​Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Z Gallerie, Teavana, Papyrus (and those are just the ones that penetrated my consciousness as we walked through). Department stores are Macy’s, Dillards and Saks.
I was delighted that there was a Smoothie King! We don’t have them in my neck of the woods so this was a convenient place to find one.
New stores are still due to open, so keep an eye out! Any serious shopper will find something good at UTC.

THIS MALL IS SERIOUSLY LACKING.
I’ve been to this mall many times since I live down the road from it. I never find myself buying anything here except occasionally from Gap or Express. No one I have talked to actually enjoys this mall. It’s small and the flagship stores are pretty lame; nothing to get excited about. This mall is made up of stores that I would normally see and just walk past. Not to mention, there are hardly any grab and go food options, a huge disappointment.
Most everything in this mall will only appeal to yuppies or old people, even the Anthropology carries clothing targeted to the older generation. I have been wanting to go to the Free People but it still isn’t open and is expensive for the quality you recieve. Most everything in this mall is also priced too high for anyone to actually afford. The affordable options are H&M, Aldo and Forever 21, but the clothes are designed for teenagers, don’t fit well and fall apart.
People just come here to window shop and walk around. I was so excited to have a mall here in Sarasota so I wouldn’t have to keep driving to Tampa… but nope.

The University Town Center (UTC) mall is just open no long ago. This is the largest mall in Sarasota County. The UTC area is in the new section of the county planning. The mall added as the main attraction to this area. The traffic is good to enter and exit from the mall. A new interchange construction on the University Parkway and I-​75 will begin to further release the traffic to the mall.
The mall is constructed with loop road allows the patron to access the back side of the mall with additional parking. The newly constructed UTC is clean and beautiful. Lighting in the mall is pleasant when turn dark at night with nighttime color light. The skylight glass dome allows the nature light to be entering into the mall. The UTC has three anchor department stores — Macy’s, Dillard’s and the Sak Fifth Avenue. The Sak Fifth Avenue feature Sophie Restaurant with fine dining. The price is expensive $$$ for each entrée but they are the high class dining restaurant. The Sophie in Chicago is famous gem for experience and now this mall offer the same thing. The mall has a lot of interesting stores such as Tesla has a display of their model S electric car at one of the store. They also offer sign up information and get a test drive experience. They pay for the electrical charge parking at the front of the mall for free electric charging whiles you are visiting the mall. There is one interesting store that catches my attention — The Oil and Vinegar. The store allows you to dip and taste all different kind of oil and vinegar. They sell the oil and vinegar by the ounce.
The mall food court is limited but they have a few chain restaurants such as Cheese Cake Factory, Capital Grille, Season 52, Brio and Kona Grill. They also have the new concept pizza store Rise Pies Handcrafted Pizza. I may want to try their pizza one day. They allow you to chose your own ingredient and different sauce.
This mall will not be a bargain since the stores are new and not have much inventory to clear and sale.

The mall is beautiful but very cramped. We found that a lot of the good stores are located on the 2^nd level and it’s not as busy up there. I love the Apple Store and Tesla showroom on level 1.
We took the Fruitville Rd exit and arrived on Cattleman Rd and didn’t have any problems. I thought this mall would be a lot bigger and some of the stores aren’t even open yet.
My main concern is with the food. Where is the food court? What is a mall without a food court? Even the most high end malls have a high end food court with amazing choices. All I saw here was a restaurant or two on each corner which were packed like sardines. This was a huge mistake by the mall planners in my opinion and it’s almost shocking. We wanted to try fast casual pizza restaurant Rise Pies but there was a huge line out the door and almost no seating. Where do you sit after your order your pizza if all of the tables are full? The Cheesecake Factory had a herd of people waiting outside the door so that was out. Instead, we chose Mandarin Express because there was less of a line. However, we barely got a table and it wasn’t even clean. There was no room in the restaurant so people were constantly running into each other.
Don’t come to this mall hungry!
We love the fact that they have a lot of great high end stores but I feel like they are totally blocking out the middle and lower class.
I want to like this mall but my first impression was a bad one. Sorry!

Great place to shop if you’re in Sarasota.
I love this area. There is a ton of shops and restaurants even outside of the mall.
Overall if I lived in Sarasota this would be my new go to place. However, I think International Plaza in Tampa is very similar and closer for where I live.
I honestly thought this mall was going to be bigger. I guess if you include the adjacent shopping there are a lot more shops, but the mall itself is about the size of a normal mall. They have a great selection of middle to upper class shops. There is even an anthropologie! Sadly, there is no Zara, but all the other stores I love are there (or will be there soon, since there are still many coming soon shops).

This mall just opened last week. From my understanding, this is the only mall built in the entire country this year, due to the economy.
I went during the UTC true opening, there were live performers everywhere and ridiculous droves of locals that believed the radion hype. Fashion models were hired just to greet customers and open the doors at some of the department stores, mass giveaways, and contests. However, if you look at the mall patrons, everyone was just there for the party. No one was really shopping.
This could be due to the lack of presentation of goods, pushy sales associates, and some of the best stores and restaurants not open.
UTC should have a Nordstrom instead of a Dillard’s.
The selection of large square footage home furnishings stores are a nice change for the area.
Why would you open a mall without some of your largest stores still under construction?
Shocking to some, this mall has no food court. They are too good for that low-​classery. Instead, there are dine-​in restaurants only. Even the most casual, like Mandarin Express, that is usually a food stall in the food court has dine-​in seating.
You will see many younger shops at this mall, but a lack of younger customers. Many folks visiting are just there to get out of the house, not to actually buy anything. That is why, out of all the malls in the area, I still prefer International Mall in Tampa.
I recommend parking and entering at Saks, for a nice first impression and for the best bathrooms.

If you need a new job, don’t get a new job in a retail store, or at one of the amazing restaurants. How about being the one to count the palm trees at this new mall that just opened on Thurs., Oct. 16, 2014. There are endless palm trees here. I guarantee that will be your first reaction too.
If you want the grand ol’ oh my god feeling enter through the main entrance where you have the spectacular futuristic like foyer and the yet again million Palm tree wave. You will be happy that you did. Maybe a Lamborghini will greet you too.
This mall is a grand luxury of malls. It is set up as a long rectangular shape. You walk in and since it is grand opening weekend, prepared to dance and sing. Seriously, yes. The mall is prepared to make sure you are happy, energetic, and ready to put your credit card out to a bunch of enticing opening weekend sales. They even give you the brochure which shows the breakdown.
There are two flagship stores– Macy’s and Dilliards. There is no food court, but they have restaurants like Kona Grill in a back corner, and Seasons 52, Cheesecake Factory, brio, and capital Grill in the main entrance. By Macy’s, they have a small chinese place, a pretty amazing looking dessert shop, and a pizza place.
Amazing features of this mall include the modern entrance way, the domed ceilings that light up in blue at night, the endless Palm trees, and a good amount of chairs and benches. Of course, there is a play area for the kids.
Stores a plenty and not cheap ones either. A great place in my eyes to window shop. Affordable stores include the typical Bath and Body and Yankee Candle, Gap. Unaffordable stores like the Tesla store, and other darn cute clothes boutique stores are also there. More stores are ready to open as well.
This mall is something that you would see in Palm Beach and Boca Raton if that gives you an idea of how upscale it is.
Definitely, check it out. Opening weekend is especially lively w different bands and music situated everywhere. my favorite were the steel drummers. Mocha, my doggy loved them too. Check out the pic.
Such a pretty great place added to Sarasota area. I will be back for sure.