My husband and I came here for our 6 year anniversary tonight and it was fabulous! We had the wild mushroom bisque which was divine and worth coming back for alone. The black pearl oyster mushrooms were complex and incredible! We also had the backed sun shrimp and they were delicious and the Mahi had Indian flavors that I adore and fish was just perfection in the sauce with the little carrots. Oh My.. then there was one of my favorite endings to any meal I've ever had. The pecan brown butter tart with the raisins.. One of my favorite meals I've had in Sarasota! Also I rarely drink and am not a huge beer fan honestly but I decided to try the sea quench dogfish beer and it was delicious! Easily could have drank 2. Again it was delicious and we look forward to coming back.
After reading stellar reviews and hearing mixed reviews about this hot spot, I made a Tuesday night dinner reservation to find out for myself. The hostess was definitely the highlight of our evening as she was full of personality and very personable. Sadly, that stopped with her. Our server (I don’t want to say his name but I know it) was curt and just this side of rude, actually a tad disrespectful. He didn’t appear to be as passionate about his job as the chef is about his ingredients. I thought the wine list was limited especially since they don’t serve liquor. Perhaps that’s a space/storage issue as the size is quaint. I started with a “Green” house salad and it was super fresh and the dressing offered was superb. I couldn’t find a fish prepared to my tastebud preferences so I opted in for a starter, pickled shrimp. Great choice, it was delicious. My date had the mushroom soup and gave it extremely high remarks. His entrée was a mahi dish and he said it was good. We shared a chocolate dessert topped with crunchy marshmallows and we both liked it. Honestly, we might have liked our food better if our server hadn’t been such a jerk. Perhaps if I decide to give it a 2nd chance, I might find out what the menu offerings are first. But based on the service and limited wine offerings I’m not highly motivated to return. My hat’s off to the chef though for what he is doing sustainability-wise.
We went there last night for a Birthday dinner. Staff was very pleasant. Menu as always is rather limited which is perfectly fine if the items are fabulous. We ordered the pickled Shrimp which was quite good. Next up we ordered the vegetarian Falafel which was good. My wife ordered the Burger (waitress said it’s a great choice). Two thin patties. Completely overcooked. The flavor was terrible. It tasted old and had such a strong off beefy flavor. Any of the fast food joint burgers would have been far superior. The fingerling potatoes were good. The pickled veggies way to vinegary. A rather disgusting burger for 24.00. There are far better restaurants in Sarasota, Meliora, Kojo, Baker and Wife(their burger is actually quite fabulous),Rosemary and Thyme etc. Indigenous is not worth a future visit
We enjoyed this very eclectic dining restaurant but it could have been much more. First of all, you sit there waiting for your appetizer ( if you ordered one). No bread is brought to the table. Nothing special to start you out that would make you remember this place. Every other fine dining restaurant we went to during our week’s stay had either exceptional bread, dipping oils, spreads, olive plate etc ( you get the picture). Also, be forewarned…there were literally only six entrees to pick from ( that included a hamburger). C’mon, really? Fortunately, everything we did get was delicious. Their Parmesan beignets were exceptional, fluffy and light as air. The greens salad was outstanding. Our main dinners went from an extraordinary Cobia dish to an ordinary baked sun shrimp dish. Their dessert menu could step it up a bit. What sounded like a fabulous baked banana cake was actually just OK. With so many outstanding restaurants in Sarasota, not sure we would come back but we are certainly glad we checked it out.
We have been to indigenous 3 or 4 times before tonight and always excellent. Tonight we sat in the wine room and the service was poor and food mediocre. My husband had to send his meal back as it was cold and the only response from the server was that by returning the trout it would be overcooked. Maybe a better response would have been that he was sorry it was cold. When it came back it was at least warm. Needless to say tonight was a disappointment. Not sure we will return.
The food was good, but one member of our party thought the description of the seafood preparation was misleading (it was described as having a coconut-based sauce but had no discernable coconut flavor). But the biggest reason for my two-star rating was that, after the credit card receipt was brought back to our table, my credit card had disappeared. The wait staff were unable to find it, so I paid with another card in the hope that they would find it the next day, which they did. This was obviously an accident, but in the meantime I had to put a hold on the card and deal with anxiety about it. My biggest complaint is that I received no apology from the manager, Adam, with whom I had spoken about it, and who let the young women at the hostess stand deal with returning the card to me. I expect managers to take responsibility for their businesses' mistakes rather than offloading problems like this onto their lowest-level waitstaff.
One of my all time favorite restaurants. Wonderful, creative food and the most perfect, adorable ambiance. The service is great and you’re never rushed out the door. The Parmesan beignets and mushroom bisque are to die. My husband and I visit SRQ several times per year and have never missed a trip to Indigenous!
Dined here last night for the first time and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The service was great, the atmosphere was perfect and the food was delicious. We were a party of eight that was seated promptly. The waiter never skipped a beat, he was very attentive and professional. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals, wine and spirits, and desserts. Our corner table on the porch provided a comfortable setting and perfect surroundings to enjoy our gathering.
I love the mission of this place! The staff is friendly and warm. The house is super cute! Three items we tried were delicious but the other two fell a little flat for us. A little pricey, too. Overall, though, it is a good place and we had a lovely evening.
Worst hospitality imaginable. Not to brag, but our family owned the number one restaurant in the world; Eleven Madison Park in New York. Indigenous is supposedly one of Sarasota‘s most exciting restaurants. I made a reservation several weeks ago, asking for an outside table. We got there at 5:25. My husband, Frank Guidara, who has been president and CEO of multiple restaurant companies in the United States, needed to use the bathroom. We were told in no uncertain terms that we could not enter the building until they got word from inside that it was OK to do so. At 5:33 pm, we asked once again to use a facilities, and were told in no uncertain terms: no, we need to wait until we get the OK from inside. Even though we requested a table outside, we were seated at the most uninviting little table inside. The waitress came over, and asked how we were doing. I told her not very well. She responded: great, can I get you something to drink. We asked to speak to the GM who are as clearly too busy to take care of his patients to bother finding out what was going on. We ended up leaving the restaurant without ever having ordered a thing; we were absolutely disgusted by the lack of hospitality. We somehow ended up at the bar at Kojo; if you want to experience genuine hospitality and service, I strongly suggest you go there. We will never ever set foot in that hostile, arrogant, dismissive place again. That’s the only time we have ever walked out of a restaurant before getting served. No matter how good the food might have been, the fact that we were treated like dirt spoke volumes. Juliette and Frank Guidara