Main Bar - circa 1958!

Main Bar

http://www.themainbar.com/
1944 Main St. Sarasota, FL

First – downtown SRQ has the Main Bar. This is more dinner than deli food – but the locals would swear up and down this is the staple deli sandwich shop in SRQ. No doubt it has been here a long time and it is somewhat (and I mean loosely) reminiscent of a deli shop you might find in NY.

The menu is a two-pager loaded with a variety of sandwiches. There are always about 5, if not 10 soups on the menu (or so it seems). The sandwiches are OK – but it’s not like they are slicing fresh ham for each sandwich or making their own bread. The soups are a hit-or-miss item as well. I have had good and bad. No doubt the local’s jam this place up tight during the work-week lunch hour – but I am not sure if it is the food or the price that packs them in (I think the later). The atmosphere is what brings the NY old style deli into play. It’s a very narrow and long place with dinky booths and a counter on one side. Instead the "B" celebrity autograph photos dotting the wall as you would find in the NY deli, it is 1940’s and 50’s "D" list circus stars (remember SRQ was once the home of the Ringling Bros Circus).

The color is muck brown on brown - and looks stale as if the last serious update was done in the 70s (if that late) – but that’s what brings in that NY Deli atmosphere. The only thing missing is the rotating class cabinet with day old pieces of cake and the non-stop honking of horns as NY cabs push their way through traffic.

All that being said – if you want a cheap sando and bowl of soup – it’s a decent place to stop. It’s packed at lunch time – mostly pseudo-business types.

It’s not my top pick down-town for lunch – but when a sandwich and soup for on the cheap will do – why not?