Cafe Lido & Tiki Bar

Ahh, Lido Key Tiki Bar, take me away! This is our home away from home when we’re on vaca in Lido. It opens sometime in the afternoon and closes after sunset, depending on the traffic. It truly gets packed during the weekends in season and even though the bar is a good size, it can be tough to get a seat. There are also a couple of benches in front and picnic-​like tables for larger parties. What a view, the beach is beautiful and it’s a prime spot for watching the sun go down. I would love to be able to host a large gathering here someday… pipe dream. Drinks are the best, delicious, generous pours that will have you singing and dancing in no time. Dig deep though, they’re not cheap, especially if you add a floater for +$ 2.00. What happens at the Tiki Bar stays at the Tiki Bar.

Cute little beach bar at the Ritz Beach Club. Drinks and food are obviously expensive, but it’s associated with the Ritz, so you’re paying for the brand. The views are beautiful from the bar, and it was always packed when we were there, so it appears to be a popular spot. Tiki bar is definitely worth trying out once at least for the experience, but probably too expensive for the masses for it to be the every day spot.

Brian went out of his way to help us feel comfortable on the beach, even going to get ice for us. Great customer service!

As a platinum elite member I have never been treated so rudely. Phillip the beach attendant was very unhelpful. Needless to say we took our business elsewhere. I will never do business here again. Stay and dine at your own risk but do not expect ritz service at this location!

Bartenders rude, could care less about hotel guest. Only talked with locals. Staff hanging around outside. Food blows

Ate lunch here a couple of days. Food is decent but scenery and talking with George is a lot of fun. Recommend it if you are near the Ritz on Lido Beach

This is The only tiki bar to check out. A local favorite with a cracker, laid back attitude and a true Floridian feel. If you aren’t in a hurry and want to relax on Lido beach… stop by and check it out.

You want to know where Sam & Woody from Cheers went??? They’re serving the best boat drinks on Lido Key (and possibly in any warm sandy place ever) on the doorstep of one of the richest hotels in the world. The hotel does the food, so it’s a 10. Be patient. They’re busy. Don’t spend your time waiting posting a dick review cause George didn’t get your piña colada to you as fast as your Ritz-​Carlton room service. I saw this guy serve one entire side of a packed bar without writing anything down. Clint Eastwood should be directing a movie about these guys, like yesterday.
FYI: I made the mistake of spending the extra $ 1 on a Meyers Dark float and l woke up 3-​days later on the back of a manatee. Awkward.

Bartenders Pete and George are still the reason this place is a must stop when in the area. While the view and setting make the location, it’s the bartenders that create the atmosphere here.
Sadly, the key lime colada is now $ 13. Although it’s a great drink, at that price I won’t be spending the afternoon here. Keep in mind that this is a Ritz Carlton property.

I hated to even give them even 1 star. This place has really gone downhill. I’ve been coming to this bar for over 25 years when it was Azure Tides, and now it’s terrible. Cannot get waited on to save your life. Came here in July and no one would would wait on us and it was not busy. Came back here this month and again could not get served and we actually moved around the bar twice and still no service. $ 6.00 for a beer? Wow. The patio was full of water though it hadn’t rained in days. The laziness of staff for not using a squeegee to push the water off the patio. Will NEVER be back again.

Great small Tiki Bar right on the beach. Great location and atmosphere. Hamburger was great and service was quick. Derek was a great bartender. Some people said the bathrooms were horrible. I have no idea what they were talking about. The bathrooms were clean. Your on the beach what do you expect?
Maybe when the snow birds come down service will be a little slower, but they will have 2 bartenders then. When I was there there was only one and a few customers.
Can’t wait to go back. Beers were ½ price $ 3.

Nice, friendly, and relaxing atmosphere. A must if you’re in the area. Chicken tenders were exceptionally good and so were the mango smoothies.

We walk down to the Tiki bar every time we are visiting Sarasota. We usually get mudslides for ourselves and Shirley temples for the kids (with extra cherries). We have eaten there a couple times and the food is killer! How fun to relax at the beach at a nice covered picnic table with your feet in the sand, tropical drink or cold beer in your hand, and enjoy an excellent meal or snack? The menu has changed a bit over the years but everything we’ve tried has been great. Fish tacos, pulled pork quesadillas, chicken fingers, all great. They’ve improved the seating over the years too, from some random patio furniture to nice wood picnic tables with thatched roofs. Service has always been friendly and helpful too.
One caveat: the bathrooms aren’t so great. But what beachfront bathrooms are?

Stopped by with my boyfriend for drinks. I had a piña colada which was good, but I don’t know about $ 11 good. Boyfriend had a Mai Tai and it was strong. That one drink got him drunk and for that the price was worth it. Our bartender was not friendly. He had a surly demeanor and based on how long he kept staring at our IDs, it was clear to me that he thought we were underage. We are both in our late twenties, with baby faces, and we get that time to time. I tried joking with him a few times, and hardly got a response. Not sure if we’d return. If the bartender was a little more friendlier, I’m sure I would have had a better experience.

Joke!!!
Make it from scratch and get rid of the junk!!!

Best location for bar in the county IMHO. Hidden Gem. I’m always surprised not a lot of people seem to know about it.
Bartenders — They are great.
Atmosphere — 5 stars. You can’t beat it. They even have gas fires out on the sand when the weather cools.
Food — The food is really from the Ritz. It’s good. Even the grilled cheese is awesome. They will bring it right down to you.
Music — They have live music weekly.
Boat — you can get here by boat, but obviously the conditions have to be right. It;s been done though!
Service — 5 stars. Again, The bartenders are great!
Parking — note, you need to park at the little spaces near the entrance to the park with water drop in where the paddleboards go out to the mangroves, (before the ritz, on the left) and then walk down (South), past the ritz and there is a public beach access point.

Total tourist trap. Pre-​made piña colada mix, weak drinks, total ripoff.

Now who doesn’t love a great Tiki bar??? And this is a great place to wile away the time, drink some frothy concoctions or a cold beer and listen to some great live music!
Located at the Ritz Beach Club, it is outside of the locked gates so even if you are not a guest of the Ritz, you can walk up and sit a spell.
Not only are there seats around the actual bar– but there are tables out on the sand where you can sit in the sun and watch the people go by. And on those colder days– they light a few fires that you can sit around to keep your toes warmed while you let the alcohol warm your tummy!
Friendly bartenders, funny musicians (we sat one day and sang Neil Diamond’s «Sweet Caroline» at the top of our lungs…yeah. .alcohol does funny things!) and the ocean pounding out it’s own beat.
Now what can be better than that?

Summary– Pure awesome location and nice bartenders = Win
Drinks– 5 Stars
Awesome rum punches of a million varieties and awesome Mai Tai’s as well.
Atmosphere– 5 Stars
Excellent location esp if you know where to find super secret free parking.
Disgusting bathrooms, but I think they were public not related to the Tiki bar.
Service– 5 Stars
Awesome bartenders.

We stayed at the the hotel next to the Ritz, so my friend and I wandered over here to get some frozen alcoholic drinks while we took a break from swimming in the ocean. I got a regular piña colada while my friend got a mixed fruity rum drink, which was pretty strong. She didn’t like it because it was way too strong for her liking, so we switched.
Then this woman came by asking if she can sit next to us at the bar and we said sure. She was nice and all and asked what we did for living. I told her what I did and when my friend told her that she was in engineering, she told her «F**CK YOU!». We were like «What?!» But we were laughing too. I knew there was a few screws loose with this woman, but it surprised us. Still makes me laugh.