Beach Bistro – History – “the pursuit of excellence”
 
The Beach Bistro was opened by Sean Murphy and his wife Susan Timmins in the fall of 1985.
 
The opening was dramatic and traumatic, emerging from the throes of a hurricane that pounded the windows of the Bistro’s Gulf-front location for three days. Sean, Susan, friends and family bailed and sand-bagged until exhausted. They then turned their attention to opening the restaurant on deadline on November first. Asked why he was so doggedly determined to open on schedule, Sean replies “We had spent all our money. We were overdrawn $800. Opening night we took in $848.”
 
The Bistro’s focus from inception was perfection. One of Sean’s favorite advisories is – “If you pursue perfection you will achieve a high degree of excellence a good part of the time.”
 
The Bistro endeavors to procure the very best American food product and serve it at its best. The Bistro Serves only “real fresh grouper”, “Prime” American beef, domestic lamb and “the best Smoked Salmon in the free world”.
 
The Bistro’s relentless pursuit of excellence in food and service earned immediate regional acclaim from the Sarasota Herald, the Tampa Tribune and the St Petersburg Times. In the early 90’s the Bistro was awarded its first Florida Trend Golden Spoon as one of the “Top Twenty” restaurants in Florida. Throughout the 90’s the Bistro earned increasing recognition on the regional and national level and was consistently awarded some of the highest Zagat ratings in the region.
 In September of 2005, Beach Bistro was invited to perform a James Beard Foundation dinner at the Beard House in New York, “the Temple” of American Culinary Art.

In 2006 the Bistro expanded the Bar and introduced a casual bar menu featuring the "World's best Burger", "The Real Grouper Sandwich" and the instatly acclaimed "Bistro Slider".  

The Beach Bistro enjoys the best of Gulf views. This year the Bistro renovated its Beach frontage enabling beach cocktail services, outside beach dining, and beach-front weddings.
 
The Bistro will open a Beach Bistro style restaurant at The Concession Golf Course in eastern Manatee County in early November of 2009. The Concession was selected last year as the “Best New Golf Course in America” by the Golf Digest.
 
The Beach Bistro is currently an eight time recipient of Florida’s Golden Spoon Award and has been enthroned in the Golden Spoon “Hall of Fame.” Its wine list has regularly received a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for “one of the best wine lists in the world.”
 
 
The Beach Bistro  boasts the highest Zagat rating for food and service in the state of Florida. It is included in Zagat’s “Top Restaurants in America” and is lauded by the guide for “the best food on the Gulf Coast,” “as good as any in New York or Paris.”
 
Sean and company’s ambition has been the same throughout the Bistro’s twenty-three year history - “to provide you with one of the best dining experiences that you have ever had”.
 
 
The Best Little Restaurant in Florida
 
JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION
Beard Invitation – September, 2005
 
ZAGAT GUIDE:
Best Food and Service in Florida
Top Restaurants in America
 
FLORIDA TREND:
Golden Spoon Hall of Fame
Eight Golden Spoons
 
WINE SPECTATOR:
Award of Excellence: 12 years
 
 
Los Angeles Times – “One of Florida’s best restaurants”
New York Times – “Remarkable smoked salmon…perfectly cooked grouper…beautiful      
                                wine list…fabulous sunsets over the Gulf”
Food & Wine – “Exceptional…almost like being at Sea”
Gourmet Magazine – “Most Romantic Restaurants in America”
St. Petersburg Times – “A treasure near the sea…best dining experience this year”
Tampa Tribune – “Area’s best restaurant”
Sarasota Herald – “A culinary wonderland”
Southern Living – “There’s not a more magical spot”
Bradenton Herald – “Most romantic restaurant…best restaurant; No restaurant has ever      
                                splendored me like the Beach Bistro has.”
Palm Beach Post – “Mouth-watering Bouillabaisse…worth the trip”
 
 
Special attention has also been accorded to the Beach Bistro in recent features in Cooking Light magazine and Slammed, a restaurant feature magazine.