‘A difficult decision.’ After 45 years, popular Manatee restaurants sell to new owner

Several Manatee County restaurants are getting a new owner.

After 45 years, Ed Chiles and Chiles Hospitality are selling his Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key restaurants to Beachside Hospitality, a group in Pinellas County.

Chiles is selling the Sandbar Seafood & Spirits, Beach House Waterfront Restaurant, Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub, Anna Maria Bake House and its events department to Beachside Hospitality.

The sale date is July 29. The 350 restaurant employees are expected to retain their jobs, with Beachside expected to keep the restaurants running as usual, according to a news release.

“This has been a difficult decision, but I know it’s time for me to move on. I am passing the torch to new owners who understand the value of our employees and who will carry on the legacy that our team has built together,” Chiles said in the news release. “I leave knowing that the work our team has done together is one of the greatest experiences of my life and we have made a measurable and positive impact in our community.”

The Sandbar was the first restaurant Chiles purchased as part of the Chiles Hospitality group in 1979. Mar Vista was added in 1989, the Beach House Waterfront was bought in 1993 and Anna Maria Bake House, which is inside the Beach House, opened in 2018.

Chiles sells 3 popular restaurants

Beachside owns 13 restaurants, under the names Crabby’s, Salty Crab and Salty’s, in eight Florida cities , but these will be its first Manatee County ones.

The sale price was not disclosed.

Gamble Creek Farms, a 26-acre organic certified farm in Parrish, was not part of the sale.

“I have had the pleasure of watching our businesses grow and getting to know the generations of families we have served,” Chile said in the news release. “I took a beat-up restaurant in a great location and built it into a world-class hospitality company, one that I believe has and will continue to truly make a difference.”

Sign Up for Local Breaking News