Sarasota County Restaurant Inspections: 1,382 Kitchens Ranked from Best to Worst

Behind the Kitchen Door — a data-driven series from InspectFL

Sarasota County stretches from the barrier islands of Siesta Key and Longboat Key to the inland neighborhoods of North Port — with downtown Sarasota’s arts-district dining, Venice’s charming Italian-flavored main street, and Englewood’s laid-back beach spots in between. But behind those Gulf Coast views, what are inspectors finding?

The numbers behind 1,382 Sarasota County restaurants paint a largely positive picture — but with some serious outliers. Here’s what our grading system reveals.

Sarasota County at a Glance

About 42% of Sarasota County restaurants earn an A grade, with fewer than 1% failing. That’s a strong showing compared to other Florida counties — Sarasota’s F rate is well below the state average.

City-by-City Comparison

Englewood leads the county with an impressive 73.1% A rate, though its small sample size (26 restaurants) makes that figure less stable. Venice is the real standout — 173 restaurants with a 69.9% A rate and only a single F-graded spot. Sarasota proper, the county’s largest city with 664 restaurants, scores a solid 54.5% A rate with just 8 failing restaurants. North Port has the highest F rate at 4.7%, worth watching for a growing dining scene.

🏆 Sarasota County’s A-Grade Restaurants

With 42.3% of Sarasota County restaurants earning an A grade, there’s a strong base of clean restaurants across the Gulf Coast. Here are a few that have earned perfect scores:

As more inspection data accumulates, we’ll update this section with restaurants that have earned their reputation through repeated clean visits — not just a single passing grade.

Want to check any restaurant’s full history? Search for it on InspectFL — every inspection, every violation, all public record.

😬 Restaurants That Need Improvement

These spots have the lowest scores in Sarasota County, meaning inspectors found a high weighted violation count. Here’s what they found — in the inspectors’ own words:

A low grade doesn’t mean a restaurant is dangerous right now. Many violations get corrected quickly after inspection. But it does mean inspectors found significant issues. See the most common critical violations to understand what inspectors look for.

What Can You Do?

1. Look up any restaurant before you go — search by name or address at inspectfl.org/search
2. Check the grade — A means a low weighted score (clean!), F means a high score (needs work)
3. Read the violations — not all are equal. A dirty floor is different from improper food temperatures
4. Check recent dates — a restaurant with old violations may have cleaned up since

Browse All Sarasota County Restaurants

Want the full list? Check out the Sarasota County page for all 1,382 restaurants with grades, violation counts, and inspection histories. You can also browse the best restaurants in Florida or check our city rankings.

👉 Browse all Sarasota County restaurants →

👉 See all F-graded restaurants in Florida →

Related: Pinellas County inspections · Tampa & Hillsborough County inspections · Sarasota city page · Venice city page

Data based on Florida DBPR inspection records. Grades use a weighted time-decay system — recent violations count more than older ones. See inspectfl.org/how-to-read for details. Current as of April 2026.

Want to understand what happens when a restaurant fails? Read our complete guide to Florida restaurant inspections.