Anthony is highly skilled and is an absolute pleasure to work with.
My husband and I had an exceptional visit at Bayfront Piano. Anthony was a true professional and didn’t use the usual “pressure” that most salesmen do. We were permitted to tinker on every piano to hear the different sounds from each make. I finally “fell in love” with a piano and we purchased it on Monday and it was delivered on Thursday the very same week. I would HIGHLY recommend Anthony and Bayfront Piano for all your piano needs. There is no need to shop elsewhere as you will not beat his prices, his professionalism nor his knowledge. I am thrilled to write such a positive review. Thank you Anthony!
Had a great experience with Anthony and his company. He was diligent in all aspects of the transaction and we ended up with a nice piano for a reasonable price. Would definitely recommend talking to him if you’re looking for a piano.
Very nice store with great pianos and friendly staff. That being said when the store has a piano competition and the one and only single judge chooses the 2 winners who messed up on multiple occasions, played before the competition (not allowed per store) and actually started their pieces over 2 students who played flawlessly, something really stinks. It’s a shame, it could have been a great event.
4. In Finite Entertainment Studios
Address: 2250 Gulf Gate Dr, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Joel is an incredibly talented guitar instructor. He taught my son so much in such little time. We have been very pleased and are excited to continue lessons. I would highly recommend him. Thanks Joel, you’re awesome!
Joel puts his heart and soul into his guitar lessons. He is easy to follow, comes well prepared, makes it fun, challenges me, and is intuitive and skilled enough to help me with little things I struggle with in guitar that if I apply, definitely take me to the next level. I wholeheartedly recommend his guitar lessons for whatever your guitar goals are! He has a great ear for music and knows the tricks of the trade that make it easier and achievable. Take it from me, you should MOST DEFINITELY take guitar lessons from Sarasota Guitar Lessons with Joel
I only spent 2 hours with Joel as I live in Oklahoma and he is in Sarasota. I’m somewhat advanced at guitar but mostly self taught. He is very knowledgeable and I would recommend his lessons for anyone wanting to learn or improve guitar skills
Que buen Mariachi. 100% recomendado. Repertorio actualizado. No dejen de pedirles el show de Juan Gabriel, es espectacular!
Very good
I hired Erick Ortega y su Mariachi Guadalupe to play for a 95th birthday party – and I am so glad that I chose this band. Every one thought they were absolutely terrific. Definitely by far the best Mariachi band we have ever heard. They were on-time and played and sang so professionally. Incredible musicians.
I called twice and never got a response.
Los llame dos veces y jamás me devolvieron la llamada.
8. Wavy Studios
Address: 6623 Superior Ave suite b, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Excellent studio! Best quality for the best price! Industry level quality music comes out of this studio. And every time I have been it’s always so comfortable. Excellent hospitality!
they gotta mini fridge and multiple tvs for when you aren’t recording this place is the vibes
This the spot right here
9. Green Tune CD Distributors
Address: 6029 Deacon Rd, Sarasota, FL 34238 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
We recently had the pleasure of recording our music video at H&M Productions. We were very pleased with both the facilities and Marcus. An all-around excellent experience!
We contacted Marcus and H&M Productions to record professional voice overs for a new product launch. The studio was comfortable and inviting and full of state-of-the-art recording equipment. Marcus was friendly and knowledgeable and helped guide us through the experience with seasoned professionalism. We were most impressed with his genuine desire to produce the best results – regardless of the project size. My team and I highly recommend Marcus and H&M Productions!
11. L’Opera Bakery Bistro
Address: 2336 Gulf Gate Dr, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
We visited this place in June, 2020. Our friends recommended to us. Amazing bistro, great and welcoming staff! Delicious pastries and tasteful coffee! Looking forward to visit this place again.
Best baguettes and pastries in town
Super cute. Super tasty. Super French. Try the quiches or the croissants or the tartes. Everything is délicieux! Service is amazing <3 Merci!
Very good french bakery…
Yummy, yummy, yummy. Delicious coffee, pastries and savory food.
If you like Quiche this is the place. Next time we will try the Crepes
Wow, worst cappuccino I’ve ever had and incredibly expensive. The cappuccino was way too hot and looks more like a brewed coffee. Staff needs training here.
Reply to owner: I didn’t even enter your cafe myself, my husband did, so how do you have the right to say what we ordered? Clearly the photo is of a hot drink so if we had ordered an iced mocha (which we didn’t), then your properly trained staff would have put it in an ice cup with ice. It was fire hot for a good 30 minutes before we could even take a sip out of it. Take the free feedback and improve your business. Don’t lie in response to this review-fix your problems.
Owner does not respect people with service animals!
My parents visited this bakery with a service animal (not an emotional support animal, which is legally protected as well) and were refused service!
They came at 1:30 pm, half an hour before closing at 2:00 pm. The owner refused to serve them inside but said he would “serve” them outside. My parents were okay with this, but the owner already pulled in the tables and chairs from outside and refused to put out a table and chairs for them and used this as an excuse not to serve them at all. He also said he would not serve them because he is so busy and has other things to do, even though my parents were the only customers in the bakery at the time.
It is illegal to refuse service to a person with a service animal.
I don’t know why people are giving this place good reviews. First of all two eggs for me and my wife with tip $40. The croissants were cold, the coffee was very watery and the service terrible. Will never set foot on this place. Won’t recommend at all.
12. Piano Distributors
Address: 4223 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Making a very important and deeply special purchase can often come with a lot of anxiety. Bill Adams has such a gift of bringing kindness and ease to the whole experience. He makes every interaction feel personal and supported, and anyone would be lucky to do business with him at Piano Distributors. You’ll never find a kinder or more trustworthy human to help make a big decision feel fun and easy!
I am a high school student and I’ve been taking piano lessons at Piano Distributers for about two years. My teacher is Tatyana Gershfeld, who has many years of experience teaching in both Europe and the USA. Her knowledge expands from music theory to piano playing. She gathers all her students two times a year and organizes concerts in Piano Distributers. Her students are of all ages. The store possesses all sorts of pianos and the ones I practice on are of very high quality. I recently purchased one with Tatyana’s help and I’m very happy. I gained knowledge that will help me continue playing piano in college!
They made it possible to take my trade on a consignment instrument. Ordinarily, they don’t really offer a trade for a consignment, so they were quite accomodating. The delivery team was top notch.
13. Mark Terenzi’s Piano Lessons Sarasota
Address: 3975 Wilshire Cir E #193, Sarasota, FL 34238 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Ordered a keyboard cover less than 1 hour ready for pickup curbside pickup was a breeze
Great place to buy a TV. Sales Associate Wesley B. was very knowledgeable and helpful. Happy with purchase and geek squad installation services.
I needed a new memory card for my camera which takes an odd size. There weren’t any on the rack but an associate checked and saw that they had one in stock. He searched through the store and found it. I am grateful for his efforts. If I was back home in NJ they would never make that sort of effort in the Rockaway store. They were wonderful here
I mean…. it’s a best buy. Some person dragged the tv I wanted across the showroom to the counter. I couldnt believe she would drag the tv box. Smh
I feel online shopping is destroying stores, that aside bestbuy still manages to have nice staff and a clean store
Good overall
What’s the point of having brick and mortar if you don’t carry merchandise and then recommend getting it on line??? Amazon got my business instead of you Best Buy!
“1-2 hour wait” for screen replacement, 4 hours later. Red head lady at the Geek Squad counter factory reset my phone after we discussed over and over if it was going to be reset, I didn’t want any service and would take it to Apple. Traveled from St. petersburg specifically to replace the screen and not lose any photos/contacts, etc. Couldn’t even bother to apologize for her mistake.
Fatal manager ricardo muy despresiativo y arrogante
15. Sam Ash
Address: 7606 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Very helpful, courteous, fast delivery on special order.
Great people!!!
Staff are knowledgeable and very helpful. They asked questions to find out what I was looking for and then showed me instruments in various price points. Nice selection of instruments and accessories.
Our grandson takes music lessons here. I bought an electric piano from them. I have had good experiences doing business with them. The only reason I didn’t give them 5 stars is this: I have purchased and refilled a “Music Lesson” card which could be helpful if we’re out of town and His Dad takes him. Theoretically his Dad could use the card to pay for the lessons. You would think that when issues such a card, it would include the data necessary to make it a very quick and easy transaction. This is no the case. The card cannot be read by the equipment at the cashier station. Instead, they have ask you for all the information and then they actually key in the very long card number. This takes an amazing amount of time and seems almost foolish to even have the card in the first place. Otherwise, Sam Ash is a great place, and the people who work there are friendly and helpful. I recommend a trip there just the see all the really cool stuff they have!
Worked there, bought there, if you’re a musician in sarasota, there’s a good bet you’ve worked at sam ash if you haven’t made a major purchase there.
This is a great store but did violate PIPA Laws. I cannot wear a face mask due to medical reasons and I wasn’t planning on being near anyone. However, I was denied access to the store. So, if you’re chlostrophobic or can’t wear a mask due to personal medical reasons, don’t waste your time going here!
Staff was not very knowledgeable at all. Also not the most courteous. I asked for a price on maintenance on a floating trem the guy said he didn’t know I had to ask the guy who does the maintenance. I told the guy guy what bridge I had and he told me he didn’t know what it was so I explained it in layman terms and he somewhat understood. I then asked if they had a stand for my guitar. I told him I have a xiphos which has a distinct body. He was flabbergasted then proceeded to ask me if it was a v or an explorer shape. He had to look it up. Trash place. Only go there if you need strings or picks on the fly. Overpriced stuff being sold by under qualified people
Everytime i go there its always a great experience with the salesperson but yesterday two salesperson just standing in their counter but no one is trying to ask what we are looking for they are not busy in the morning too. So anyway only yesterday december 24th is a bad experience but i bought what we wanted.
Included a speaker cord that was bad, so I had to rush out and buy a cord for the gig that night
16. Pritchards Pianos
Address: 2108 Bee Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL 34239 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Clerk held door open for me on her own. And it was appreciated as I had walker and I was really tired .
Dave Pritchard of Pritchards Pianos gave me the deal of a lifetime on a new Steinway “B”. They say if you’re gonna get a piano, get a Grand. But if you get a grand, get a Steinway. But if you get a Steinway, get a B. And I say if you get a B, get one from Pritchards Pianos, and if you get one from Pritchards, make sure Ken Snow tunes and voices it. Ken will make your B sing like a virtuoso and it will give you goosebumps and it will wake you up in the middle of the night and call out to you to play it. Only Pritchards has Ken Snow who is probably the best Steinway technician in the continental USA.
Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota loves Pritchard Pianos! During the pandemic, we purchased a portable, electronic Roland piano from Pritchards. Yesterday, I called Clark Dawson at the store to let him know that the plug for the pedal became unplugged and we were not able to plug it in again. Clark sent out a technician who arrived within an hour of my phone call and installed a new plug, free of charge. Thank you to Clark and Pritchard Pianos!
Very knowledgable people here…..
Encontramos lo que queriamos._
Katherine Alexander talented
This is the words experience I ever had, we when for a piano and will like to finance it but because of a prior credit issue that I had was denied the owner Dave ask if I can have someone else apply and I had my dad apply and they did not even wanted to run his application because the Piano will be deliver to my address, then Dave ask if there was another way that we could play for the Piano I again ran out of my way and got my mother to put it on her credit card I call Dave and gave him the CC number and he call me later that afternoon and told me that he could not use the CC because it could be charge back he ask me if I can just do a wire transfer so I got the cash advance from the CC and call him to get his wire transfer information to transfer the money and he did not even wanted to take my call he had his store manager call me and tell me that they have sold the piano and that they will not have another one in stock. Will never do business with someone like this again.
17. Original Word of Mouth
Address: 6604 Gateway Ave, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Had I known how good the veggie sandwich plus potatoes & eggs I had would be, I would have eaten here every morning of my trip! Even though this place was crowded our service at the bar was very good. Out of all of the places we’ve eaten at in Sarasota, this place gave us the most food for our buck. …GOOD JOB!!!
The best breakfast
Great neighborhood eatery!
Yummy breakfast at moderate price. Located in a cute neighborhood dining and shopping area.
Great food and service.
Very good place.. Will go back sooner than later..
CAN MAKE BETTER AT HOME
Basic, decent, clean, nothing distinctive, okay for meal with a friend, fairly priced, nothing special
Called in to place an order for pick up, was told to hold on. The woman set the phone down walked away, leaving me to wait for over 10 min while I just get to listen to the sounds of the restaurant. Never came back to help. Hung up tried calling back, phones now busy cause it’s just been left of the hook!!!!
HORRIBLE SERVICE
Oh how the mighty have fallen; very dissatisfied with the whole experience.
18. Rocketstar records
Address: 2243 Bee Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL 34239 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
This is how a record store should be. You may have to search through stacks of records through the whole store, but there’s gold hidden all over. Great atmosphere, it’s how a record should be. Owner is very nice and knowledgeable about all kinds of music, much respect to him. I also love his cat. Even if I’m just in there to browse, I end up leaving with 2 or 3 things. I will keep coming back, this is the only record store I like going to now.
The owner Anthony is great, very knowledgeable about music, bands, records, turntables, audio gear, life and is a genuine awesome human. Stop by and chat with him about not only records but whatever is on your mind..trust me he will have an opinion. But you will leave with a smile and a new record in your crate. Speaking of which. The selection.
The selection of records at Rocketstar Records is the ABSOLUTE BEST in Sarasota and I would question anybody who says otherwise because I’ve been to every other record store, thrift shop, antique store and flee market in the SRQ and NOBODY has a selection like Anthony.
Rare Kiss Collections, Iron Maiden, Funkadelic, The Doors, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Donna Summer and whoever, the ever where ever the music you want is. Rocketstar Records ether has or will find it and I invite other customers to chime in here because Anthony gloats at his abilities to find rare stuff to people who want to hear it.
Not to mention next door, there is a laundromat (shop records while cleaning clothes? Duh?) but I’m pretty sure a nail salon and Jamaican Pie shop…common guys…
Anyways..think I’m good here pumping up Rocketstar like I’m pumping up a hot stock on the market. Please do yourself a favor while in town and pay a visit to your local record store in SRQ because you know you have room for that one album in your suitcase!
– Local SRQ Dude
I hesitate to let the cat out of the bag, but these guys really are good. The inventory is phenomenal and the prices are great for both collectors and enthusiasts. They have a very high bar for the quality of records that they sell, so you can feel good about what you’ll walk home with. Most of all, it’s great to see the passion and knowledge that the owner/operators bring to the table. I definitely plan on becoming a regular.
First time at the store. Definitely a huge selection of records, CD, and tapes. I have been to a few stores where the prices are marked and I do like that better. I could probably get a better deal on ebay for most of the records priced there. Probably won’t go back. Words I bought are cheaper on ebay.
Owner was friendly and knowledgeable but disorganized. Special records were among “regular” ones, which can only be discovered when you go to check out. Many items are not for sale, but only in a conversation or attempt to purchase will you discover such. A gem in the rough, needs some polish.
Cool guy nice selection good price too
Let me start by saying the assortment of LPs, DVDs, CDs and memorabilia is amazing. Now the downside: I spent over an hour gathering CDS to purchase. Nothing was priced. When I went to check out, the owner started to look each CD up on the computer to decide how much he was going to charge me. So be aware that you will spend a lot of time at the check out. You will not know what you are going to be charged until checkout time. I won’t be back because when I shop, I want to know what I’m going to pay before I check out.
As other reviews noted my experience was uncomfortable and the prices were overpriced. I knew the deal of the pricing and luckily a employee grabbed up my choices to price check as I shopped. This was the older guy who works there not the owner. He submitted my two picks to the owner to price out online. He came back way overpriced and then left the store for an errand leaving the helper to deal with pricing. When I got back up to the counter with my son the vinyl had a post it note with the price. My son found a container of pins and inquired the price on them. The helper had to call the owner on the phone to price out. He drove back to the store as he was around the corner. Since he was back I told him I felt the price was a little high on the otherwise dollar bin moog record(he wanted $10) he said it was mint and I couldn’t find it elsewhere despite the scratches on it. He did come down a few bucks and discounted the other older RSD single I had fifteen percent.After all this he yelled at the helper for using his calculator trying to give me the correct price. He said the price was obvious and was very arrogant about his mental math. His volume and condescending speech made me and my son uncomfortable and I honestly should have walked out knowing I could have found my records cheaper shipped on E bay. All in all they lived up to their reputation and $24 for a old moog record, a 45, and a pin.
Owners constantly yapping at each other, makes the shopping experience uncomfortable. Prices on records are WAY too high, even the 45’s. Guy wanted to charge me five bucks each for common 80’s records. I lowered it to four bucks and left. There are other record stores further north in St. Pete and Clearwater that have huge selections. I found a VG+ copy of the Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love” in Clearwater for 5 bucks. Rocket Star would have easily charged me a ton more.
19. Fogt’s Gulf Coast Music Center
Address: 4209 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
Started by sending a message via messenger to them about my guitar. I was happily surprised quite quickly. They answered my question gave me as well as some helpful information. The next day I received great service. 5 star!
Truly the best in town!
The owner is exceptional and goes out of his way to help!
Friendly workers…as for top brands…Fender, Gibson, etc… pretty non existent.
Nice people, knowledgeable, limited on all instruments
Prices ok
Supposed to order a book for my childs band class. Never ordered it, never called me back. Wasted my time only to have to go somewhere different for it.
For a place that’s fighting off the swarm of big-box corporate music stores that stock way more relevant inventory to provide hands-on experience with, Fogt’s sure is doing its best to repel the locals with snotty condescension, smug arrogance, and stale apathy. It makes the extra 20 minute drive to Guitar Center or Sam Ash that much more enjoyable.
Just called them and the guy was very nasty. They told me a few months ago they replace tubes and the guy just told me “we don’t deal with that”
20. A Pirate’s Place Studio and Gallery
Address: 2049 Reynolds St, Sarasota, FL 34231 , Gulf Gate Estates , Florida , United States
I found this unique store off of a listing on FB market place and had to go in to see what else they had. I was not disappointed! There’s art, music and books in so many genres and styles – something for everyone. Jeff was a pleasure to talk to and hear about all the stories behind the different pieces of art. He also shared his own art work with me. I left with 2 framed pieces that I love. Highly recommend visiting this fun shop!
Wonderful collection. Good communication. Jeff made very good deal for me. Will advise strongly.
Found this Old Florida gem after getting tacos Jalisco and as we were pulling out, it caught our eye and curiosity. Jeff is a super cool musician and a great painter with a sweet puppers Boris. Awesome stuff from ceiling to floor and we left with some sweet records, books and artworks. Def a 10/10 recommend if you’re looking random stuff and buried treasures.
