After recently closing one taproom, a Sarasota brewery has sold another of its locations, which hosts both local and national music acts.
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After recently closing one taproom, a Sarasota brewery has handed over another of its locations — which also serves as a concert venue — to a popular local restaurant and bar operator.
The Parrot Patio Bar & Grill, which has two locations in Sarasota and Bradenton, has bought Big Top Live at 975 Cattlemen Road and will operate it as The Parrot Live Tiki Bar & Grill Music Venue.
Big Top Brewing Company had occupied the Cattlemen Road space since 2021, but many longtime locals remember it best as craft beer bar and music venue Cock & Bull, whose owners Howie and Dawn Hochberg still owned the property prior to The Parrot purchasing it. With that sale and the recent closure of its Lakewood Ranch location Big Top Brewers Collective, Big Top will now have one location, its expansive Fruitville Commons facility that opened last year.
What will The Parrot Live be like?
Jeff Gambino, who owns the Parrot locations with his wife Melanie, said they have already started taking over operations at the Cattlemen Road space and plan to keep the business open during the transition. And while there’ll be changes — a new name and branding, more food and drink options, and additions to the outdoor area — they want to keep the old charm of the building’s interior and the focus on live music intact.
“We don’t plan on matching the inside of it to our Parrot locations,” Gambino said. “We want to keep it exactly as it is; we really love the vibe of the interior of this building. So we plan on not doing really much of anything on the inside, it’s more on the outside.”
As the “Tiki Bar” in its name would suggest, The Parrot Live plans to add thatched roof tiki hut shaded area outside, where live music is held. Gambino said they plan to feature a mix of locally based musicians and nationally touring acts, as Big Top Live did, and honor upcoming concerts previously announced by Big Top Live.
Unlike Big Top Live, which used a food truck, The Parrot Live will use a kitchen and offer a selection of favorites from the restaurant’s other locations such as pizzas, wings, burgers and sandwiches including the Buffalo, New York staple beef on weck. It also plans to add liquor, and offer domestic beer in addition to keeping some favorite Big Top brews.
The Parrot opened its first location at the corner of Webber Street and Beneva Road in 2018, originally under the name of The Lazy Parrot Patio Bar & Grill, then the following year expanded to Bradenton on State Road 70 near I-75. Both those locations remain open, though The Parrot X-Press Grill in the former Smacks Burgers & Shakes space on Bee Ridge Road is not.
Prior to Big Top Live, Cock & Bull had operated in the Cattlemen Road space since 2002, after originally opening on downtown Sarasota’s Main Street in 1997. It developed a following with fans of craft beer, with BeerAdvocate naming it the sixth best place to have a beer in the U.S. in 2006, and live music, hosting concerts including local music festival Noise Ordinance.
In 2021, Big Top closed its Porter Way location and took over the spaces of Cock & Bull and Naughty Monk Brewery in Lakewood Ranch, renaming the latter Big Top Brewers Collective, as it prepared to open in Fruitville Commons. Big Top’s Fruitville Commons location features a restaurant, full bar and beer garden.
As previously reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Big Top is being sued by two of its lenders for more than $4.6 million in alleged unpaid loans. Berkeley Alternative Income Fund, a Mississippi-based limited liability company, claims the brewery defaulted on a $4 million construction loan, while SouthState Bank is seeking repayment of more than $600,000 from a separate 2018 loan.
In a counterclaim, Big Top argues it was overcharged interest on unused loan funds, leading to financial strain and delays in opening its Fruitville Commons location. An attorney for Berkeley Alternative Income Fund disputes this claim, saying Big Top waived its claims through deferral agreements. Legal proceedings are ongoing in the Sarasota County Circuit Court.
Gabriela Szymanowska contributed to this story.
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