Newk’s Eatery is opening its first Sarasota restaurant on September 12. Opening in the Mall at University Town Center, the new Sarasota location will be the brand’s second restaurant in the Tampa Bay area. The first debuted in Clearwater this past December, operated by the Aeolus Group—a local franchise team with more than 10 years of industry experience who plans to franchise a total of 11 Newk’s Eateries in the Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Lakeland, and Clearwater markets over the next several years. This growth plan plays a large part in Newk’s overall goal to open as many as 30 new restaurants in the Sunshine State within the next five years.
“Newk’s Eatery is a brand that will speak to Sarasota and Tampa Bay area diners with its incredibly fresh ingredients, made-from-scratch meals and a setting that feels like home,” says Newk’s franchisee Aeolus Group’s Area Director David Baker, who has lived in the Tampa Bay area for 12 years. “Everything we do can be summarized into two words: fresh and flavorful. That’s what we’re all about. Handmade, imported, house-roasted, garden fresh—those are the kinds of words you’ll hear tossed around our kitchen because we want our guests to expect the exceptional.”
At the September 12 opening, doors will open to the public at 11 a.m. However, the first 100 people in line will be granted special early access to the restaurant, along with a gift package stocked full of premium Newk’s prizes. The first 50 will also be guaranteed their fill in Newk’s flavors with a free $100 gift card.
Located at 5405 University Parkway, Sarasota’s Newk’s Eatery will offer indoor dining for 140 guests and patio dining for nearly 50 more in its 4,500 square-foot space. The new restaurant will also provide roughly 80 job opportunities for local applicants and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
Newk’s menu boasts a wide range of imaginative entrées and re-invented old favorites, including time-tested family recipes from Newk’s founding family, the Newcombs. Each of its fresh-tossed salads, artisan pizzas, hot toasted sandwiches, and kettle batch soups are handcrafted in the brand’s signature open-view kitchens, along with homemade desserts baked in Newk’s own company bakery.
The Jackson, Mississippi-based Newk’s Eatery currently has 103 locations in 13 states and plans to expand to more than 200 units by 2019.
