Sarasota area waterfront restaurant closes after nearly 70 years, will be deeply missed
For two decades, I visited Annie's Bait & Tackle, a humble gem hugging the Intracoastal Waterway in the historic commercial fishing village of Cortez, which also borders north Sarasota Bay.
Opened in 1955, Annie's was where boaters and fishermen stopped for fuel and bait — but it was the food served at its cozy tables, laid-back beer and wine bar, and breezy patio that kept me coming back.
Alas, now it's gone — another victim of hurricanes Milton and Helene, and the relentless march of progress, as they say.
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The community's hopes of saving Annie's Bait & Tackle after hurricane flood damage left it battered were dashed when Manatee County officials opted to move forward with plans for a new marina on the property, my Herald-Tribune colleague Jesse Mendoza reported earlier this month.
Annie's Bait & Tackle owner Bruce Shearer and his family pushed to rebuild, but he dismissed Manatee County's proposals as 'losing efforts.' County officials presented options at a public meeting, including a two-year rebuild to meet flood standards or a temporary setup costing up to $250,000 with food trailers and limited services. Shearer rejected the temporary option, arguing he could repair his shop for around $100,000 and that the county's plan wouldn't support a viable business.
"That business is like 'Cheers' on TV — it's where people got together and had birthday parties and all that stuff — that won't happen in your proposal," Shearer said. "As you've proposed things right now, I'm done. It just won't work. Financially, it won't work. You'll lose $250,000, and I'll lose $100,000. It would be failed within two months, I guarantee ya."
Longtime local resident Shearer bought Annie's Bait & Tackle, located at 4334 127th St. W., Cortez, in 1995, but its history dates back much earlier, with Shearer explaining to me in 2021 that the Cipriani family, who would later sell their nearby C&C Marine, purchased the property in 1945.
'They filled it all in, with construction of this building taking place in the early to mid-'50s, I'm guessing,' Shearer said from behind the counter at Annie's on a Friday afternoon in February four years ago. 'There were snacks and then those square sandwiches from a vending machine in the 1970s.'
Shearer's memory aligns with that of Capt. Zach Zacharias, the Herald-Tribune's former outdoors correspondent. 'My first recollection of the proprietors was a salty old character by the name of Taylor,' Zacharias wrote of Annie's Bait & Tackle in 2014. 'He purveyed live shrimp primarily and also stocked rudimentary tackle items, drinks and snacks up until the late '70s, when Annie took over. Annie was a real breath of fresh air and the name has stuck despite a string of operators since.'
As for the waterfront property on which Annie's sat, the Cipriani family sold it to the Berry family, which, according to Herald-Tribune archives, was known for operating 'the Miss Cortez Party boats.' They eventually sold the property to Hamlin Jones, who also owned the Seafood Shack next door.
Shearer said he made a million-dollar offer to Jones for the Annie's property. Jones declined and sold the entire waterfront lot to the Canadian developer Vandyk Group in 2014. Aside from the dock being washed out in 2012 by Tropical Storm Debby, Annie's Bait & Tackle required only minor repairs for decades, with the exterior and interior looking much the same as it did in the 1950s — or at least the '70s, when Shearer recalled first setting foot in the place.
'We've been so damn lucky,' Shearer told me in 2021. 'I hope to hold onto it for at least a few more years. We'll see.'
Manatee County purchased the property that includes the Seafood Shack restaurant and marina, as well as Annie's Bait & Tackle, for $13 million at the end of 2024.
County commissioners now plan to build a public boat ramp there called Cortez Marina, designed to expand access to local waterways with boat ramps and other potential amenities on the property located at the base of the Cortez Bridge, right across the Intracoastal Waterway from Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach.
While many local residents support the project, they have also voiced a clear desire for it to include Annie's Bait & Tackle.
Annie's "has been a staple of this community since the doctor at Manatee Memorial Hospital patted me on my little rear end," Manatee County community activist Andrea Griffin said during the early March meeting. "It is the tackle shop that I got my first shrimp from to go fishing, and I know that those things are important to people in this community."
"I hope that each and every one of you guys take your time before you say 'no' and look at all the good that this tackle shop has done," she said. "I'm 45 years old — 45 — and there's nothing but good memories from that place."
Yeah, I also have nothing but fond memories of Annie's. Bottles of beer with fried grouper sandwiches or burgers — always with an order of thin-cut, salty fries — sitting with the water right at your feet, in the shadow of the bridge, watching folks fuel up their boats, buy more bait, or just grab a bite to eat and a cold one.
I dined and drank there alone, with my wife, Kristin, and several of our dogs on the back patio over the years. We dined alongside strangers, too, who soon became friends, if only for one gorgeous afternoon.
Like Shearer said, it was similar to "Cheers" — if the sitcom took place in a small Southern fishing village rather than a big city in the Northeast. I'll sure miss Annie's and wish the best for the Shearer family moving forward.
Thank you for many cherished memories!
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 Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota area waterfront restaurant closes after nearly 70 years
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