New restaurant in downtown Sarasota on Main Street replacing Pizza N' Brew

A once-popular pizzeria and bar in downtown Sarasota has permanently closed, but its prime location will soon be home to a new restaurant. This upcoming establishment, operated by Watershed Hospitality Concepts, will feature a menu that includes pizza along with various other comfort foods, craft beer, and cocktails.

Watershed Hospitality Concepts, a locally-owned restaurant group known for its popular dining and drinking establishments in downtown Sarasota, the Rosemary District, and Siesta Key Village, is set to open this new restaurant on Main Street in downtown Sarasota.

The new restaurant is taking over the old Pizza N' Brew location at 1507 Main St., located just a two-minute walk away from another Watershed restaurant and bar, Cask & Ale, situated across the road at 1548 Main St. The concept for the new establishment, however, will be more similar to the Watershed restaurant and bar on Siesta Key.

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New restaurant tentatively called Pi on Main to open in downtown Sarasota

Mike Quillen, co-owner of Watershed Hospitality Concepts along with Chip White, David Sessions, and John LaCivita, has announced plans to open a restaurant and bar tentatively named "Pi on Main" at 1507 Main St. by Christmas. This establishment will share similarities with their 3.14 Pi Pizza brand, currently operating in collaboration with its sister business, Blase Cafe, at 5263 Ocean Blvd. in Siesta Key Village. While the Siesta Key restaurants are housed in a 75-year-old single-story hotel, Quillen said, Pi on Main will occupy a much larger, more modern space in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

“It's going to be a nice gathering place that's sports-forward, with some live music thrown in as well,” Quillen explained by phone. "The opportunity came up to take over the old Pizza N' Brew and we loved the location. We don't want to think of it as just a pizza place, though, but as a bar with great pizza and good pub, comfort food with basically the (3.14 Pi Pizza) menu."

Pi on Main to feature hand-tossed pizzas, baked wings, craft beer and cocktails

Eoin Farrell, former general manager at Cask & Ale, will assume the same role at Pi on Main. The restaurant and bar will be open for lunch and dinner. The food menu will showcase hand-tossed, thin-crust pizzas baked in a deck oven, served both by the pie and the slice. Other items will include baked wings in various flavors, as well as garlic knots, truffle fries, and Brussels sprouts. Additionally, handheld options such as subs, cheesesteaks, calzones, and stromboli will be available. The bar will offer a selection of beers, wine, and cocktails.

"We're working on the atmosphere," Quillen said. "We're big (Tampa Bay) Lightning fans, so it will be a big Lightning bar. We want to do live music and have some games. It's a premier location — across from Gator Club, Cask & Ale, and Pastry Art — and we're extremely excited to get in there and get it open."

Pi on Main latest opening by Sarasota-based Watershed Hospitality Concepts

In addition to Pi on Main, Cask & Ale, 3.14 Pi Pizza, and Blase Cafe, Watershed Hospitality Concepts owns Mandeville Beer Garden in the Rosemary District. Quillen said they still plan to transform Mandeville into an oyster bar, but he doesn't have a timeframe for that transition. In addition to Watershed Hospitality Concepts, Quillen is the co-founder of Gecko's Hospitality Group, which owns the local Gecko's Grill & Pubs, as well as Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key, Dockside Waterfront Grill in Venice, and Tripletail Seafood & Spirits in Sarasota.

Frank Segreti rebranded his Tavern on Main restaurant and bar in downtown Sarasota as Pizza N' Brew in 2021 after rebranding his family's long-running City Pizza on Siesta Key in 2021. The Pizza N' Brew at 6645 Midnight Pass Road, Siesta Key has also permanently closed.

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Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.??????

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New restaurant Pi on Main in downtown Sarasota replacing Pizza N' Brew