The wood paneling is still there at 6600 Gulf Drive. The double lamb chop is still on the menu, and so is the bouillabaisse with poached-to-order lobster tails. Beach Bistro reopened on Friday, Sept. 25, almost two years to the day after Hurricane Helene closed it in September 2024. Anyone who ate there before the storm will recognize the meal.
At the island's north tip, the City Pier is moving the other way. Its restaurant used to be a snack-shack-style operation. It's coming back as PIERadise, a restaurant in the pier's larger building with indoor cover.
So the island's most formal table came back almost unchanged, and its most casual one is being rebuilt into something larger. The new spots opening between those two ends are small rooms.
What Beach Bistro kept, and what it added
Beach Bistro dates to the mid-1980s, when Sean Murphy and Susan Timmins founded it. It has spent decades on statewide and national best-of lists, including Florida Trend's Golden Spoon Hall of Fame. After the 2024 storms, the rebuild had to start from the inside out.
"The entire interior of the restaurant was affected."
That's how manager Steven Sipos described it to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which reported that the interior and kitchen had to be rebuilt entirely. Sipos told the paper that the ownership partners made a "significant personal investment" in the repair, though he declined to give a figure.
With the whole interior rebuilt, the owners could have reinvented it. They mostly chose to restore it. Here's how the Herald-Tribune's account breaks down:
| Carried over from before the storm | New since the reopening |
|---|---|
| Signature wood-paneled interior | White marble, brass and antique glass mirrors |
| Four-course tasting menu | "Highest-rated" impact windows and doors |
| Lobstercargots, coconut-and-cashew grouper, bouillabaisse | Dishes built "more intently on whole food ingredients," with almost everything made from scratch in-house |
| Prime filet mignon, double lamb chop, duck confit | A crab cake appetizer |
| Six to eight long-term employees | More than 10 new hires, plus a consulting chef from San Diego |
The Herald-Tribune describes the consultant as an award-winning, classically trained chef brought in "to help bring the original back to life and add more fresh options." In other words, the restaurant spent money on outside talent so it would taste the way it used to, with a few additions. Sipos also told the paper the restaurant is still hiring for both the kitchen and the front of house.
The restaurant's own site spells out where the seafood comes from. Shrimp come straight from the Gulf, and line-caught fish come from suppliers the kitchen has known for years. Dinner runs 4 to 10 p.m. every day, and the phone number is (941) 778-1619.
The pier's kitchen is moving into the bigger building
The City Pier's lease went to GSM Partners LLC, whose partners are Brian Seymour, Ben Sato and Jason Sato. The Anna Maria Island Sun reported in September that PIERadise will occupy the larger building that Mote used to have on the pier. The smaller building, once the City Pier Grill, becomes the kitchen and bait shop.
So the dining room moves into the bigger building, and the old grill's building becomes back-of-house. WWSB reported in August that the new venue will offer indoor cover, which the old snack-shack setup lacked. The Sun also reported roll-up-door seating that could serve ferry passengers if ferry service returns. According to the Sun's June lease reporting, that depends on a separate county landing project forecast for 2027 or 2028.
The menu is pier food on a bigger footprint. Seymour told The Anna Maria Islander to expect a "pier-focused" menu with burgers, fish tacos, sandwiches, ceviche and bowls. The June lease reporting described plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner with beer and wine, and the lease allows hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Both are plans and lease limits, not a posted schedule.
The opening target has moved several times this year:
- June 16: The Sun's lease report expected November.
- Aug. 24: WWSB reported the pier was set to reopen "this fall."
- Sept. 16: The Sun reported the pier was expected to be operational before year-end, while Seymour still hoped for November.
- Oct. 20: The Islander reported an early December target, "but maybe November if luck and weather hold out."
The City of Anna Maria's commission minutes show where the work stands. On Oct. 8, the minutes recorded ongoing tenant-space work, coordination with FPL on electrical service, plumbing, and fire-protection inspections with Southern Cross. On Sept. 23, staff described coordinating with Southern Cross, Solid Rock Electric and GSM on seating, doors, electrical work, ceilings and the interior layout. According to the Sept. 23 minutes, the schedule depended partly on weather and on access for work beneath the pier.
The island's other well-known pier restaurant took a different route. Rod N' Reel reopened in November 2025 at 3246 East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach. That address is on land, away from its damaged pier.
The new arrivals are small rooms
Between the restored fine-dining room and the enlarged pier venue, this year's new openings are compact. The Bradenton Herald included two island spots in its roundup of Manatee County's summer 2026 openings.
Pink Coney Club, 5306 Holmes Blvd., Suite 810, Holmes Beach. Owners Desiree and Steven McCullough named the place as a play on Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club." They built the menu around memories of eating coneys on the New Jersey boardwalks, and you can order a crafted coney or build your own. The whole space is 390 square feet, and on select nights it doubles as a mixology studio.
Happy Manatee, 9908 Gulf Drive, Suite 600, Anna Maria. Shaun and Sarah Hunt spotted a for-lease sign on a night drive and turned a former retail shop into a cafe. It serves juices, acai bowls, coffee, breakfast bowls, toasts and energy bites. The Herald lists hours of 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Saturday, which makes it a breakfast stop that closes about when Beach Bistro's kitchen is getting ready for dinner.
Neither is a big swing. A 390-square-foot hot dog counter and a cafe in a converted storefront fit spaces that already existed on the island. Like Beach Bistro, both opened inside existing buildings.
The calendar until the pier opens
With PIERadise aiming for early December, the island's season starts without it. Here's what's on the calendar between now and then, with a few dates after:
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Roser Holiday Market | 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Venue not listed on the Chamber calendar |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Beach cleanup with The Center | 9 to 11 a.m. | Meets at The Center, cleans Magnolia to White Avenue |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Sundown Get Down Christmas Tree Lighting, free | 2 to 8 p.m. | Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Chamber Christmas tree lighting | 5 to 8 p.m. | Anna Maria Island Chamber office |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | 25th Annual Lester Family Fun Day | 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. | The Center |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Beach cleanup with The Center | 9 to 11 a.m. | Meets at The Center |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Bingo | 6 to 8 p.m. | The Center |
The Bridge Street lighting, listed by the Bridge Street Area Merchants, runs six hours and is free. The Center's Lester Family Fun Day turns 25 this year, with Santa, activities, entertainment and food listed on its event page. The two beach cleanups, on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12, fall on either side of the pier's early December target.
The Anna Maria Island Chamber holds its own tree lighting on Dec. 4, the week the Islander's reporting puts PIERadise's target. If the pier opens on that schedule, the first weekend of December would bring the Chamber's lighting on Friday, Lester Family Fun Day on Saturday and burgers and fish tacos back on the City Pier.
Until then, the island's dinner reservation of the season is at 6600 Gulf Drive, 4 to 10 p.m. nightly, at the same table by the Gulf it has always been.
If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of the City Pier or Beach Bistro and want to talk it through, Jesse Griffin is glad to help. Contact Jesse for a personalized market plan.
