A popular Sarasota restaurant has closed after less than 18 months at its new, larger location downtown.
After a successful three-year run on North Tamiami Trail, Fork & Hen brought its Southern soul food, often featuring innovative twists, along with a new liquor license to 1990 Main St. The downtown space, inside the Courthouse Centre building across from the Regal Hollywood movie theater, had previously housed MADE Restaurant for about 12 years.
Fork & Hen, owned by Alfonso Duron and Mark Traugutt, declined to speak with the Herald-Tribune about the recent closure, which I confirmed after finding the restaurant vacant during regular business hours on multiple recent visits, including in the evenings.
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Fork & Hen in downtown Sarasota to be replaced by Sarasocial
Fork & Hen was recently listed for sale for $39,000 on BizBuySell, with $60,000 in furniture, fixtures and equipment included in the asking price. The listing, posted by Daniel Jittu of G2 International Realty, said the 3,522-square-foot restaurant had seven employees, monthly rent of $13,701 and a lease running through January 2030.
"Our loss is your gain," the listing reads. "We lost our funding and we need to sell."
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation records show a new restaurant called Sarasocial is slated for the former Fork & Hen space at 1990 Main St., Suite 112.
Kosmos 5 LLC, doing business as Sarasocial, received a temporary retail beverage license for the downtown Sarasota address on Aug. 7. The license is a 4COP license allowing the sale of beer, wine and liquor and includes a special food service qualification.
Kosmos 5 LLC was formed in Florida on May 28 and lists a St. Petersburg address, according to Florida Division of Corporations records. No opening date or other details about Sarasocial have been announced.
On Aug. 7, Fork & Hen's Facebook page was updated with a new logo featuring what appears to be two interlocking gold S's against a black background.
New restaurants join longtime favorites on downtown Sarasota's upper Main Street
The closure comes amid a wave of new restaurant openings on upper Main Street in downtown Sarasota, including a second location of beloved Sarasota pizzeria Il Panificio, which replaced Bravo Italian Eatery, along with Bakero and OfKors Cafe, both of which have appeared to be bustling during recent visits.
They join a pair of downtown Sarasota dining institutions on upper Main Street: Mediterraneo, which has been serving pizza and other Italian dishes since 1996, and Main Bar Sandwich Shop, home to some of the region's best handhelds since 1958.
Wade Tatangelo is the executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida 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. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Downtown Sarasota restaurant closes after less than 18 months
