New brewery, restaurant opens in Sarasota-Bradenton

A Charlotte County-founded brewery has made its way to Sarasota-Manatee with a new taproom and restaurant, joining the growing list of dining and drinking destinations in a bustling shopping district.

Fat Point Brewing is now open in University Town Center at 257 N. Cattlemen Road #90, in the former space of BurgerFi. The brewery was founded in Punta Gorda, which is Spanish for "Fat Point," but is no longer open at its original location.

Fat Point president LJ Govoni, who is also president of the Clearwater-based Big Storm Brewing Co. whose parent company bought Fat Point in 2017, said they're still looking for a new location in Punta Gorda. Yet they were also interested in growing beyond their original location, and University Town Center's reputation as a restaurant, bar and retail destination made it an appealing area to expand to.

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"Given that and the built-in traffic, it was just super attractive to us," Govoni said. "We obviously would like to expand the brand farther north, and so that was the first step. I think getting north of Punta Gorda really will help the brand grow, not only just as a taproom, but also in distribution.”

Fat Point has 12 taps, a third of which will be dedicated to four core beers: The Big Boca and Keewaydin Island ales and the Latitude Attitude and Summadayze IPAs. The remaining eight taps will feature other beers from Fat Point and guest breweries such as Big Storm or Sarasota's Big Top Brewing Company, with the taproom also offering a full-liquor bar.

In addition, the taproom will feature a "coastal" and "fish house-inspired" menu with seafood offerings such as smoked fish dip, a variety of shrimp dishes including a po'boy, mahi mahi or shrimp tacos, salads with salmon or mahi mahi, and a blackened salmon entree. Other menu items will include bar bites such as fried pickles, wings in a variety of flavors and other chicken dishes, and burgers including an Umami Burger with savory mushrooms, melted Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and tangy umami sauce.

It joins multiple other breweries that have expanded to Sarasota-Manatee recently, such as the Indiana-based Sun King Brewing near Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota and the Tampa-founded Magnanimous Brewing near LECOM Park in Bradenton. It's also one of multiple high-profile restaurant and bar openings in University Town Center so far this year, along with the first Sarasota-Manatee locations for Rocco's Tacos & Tequila Bar and national sports bar chain Yard House.

Fat Point will be open daily, offering indoor and outdoor seating. For more information, call 941-491-2827 or visit fatpoint.com.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New brewery, restaurant Fat Point opens in UTC in Sarasota-Bradenton