Sand Dollar Restaurant

Very nice place, beautiful view, food was very good, large portions, great place to take your significant other for a night out.

The view is five stars, and the hotel is four stars, which gives a good indication of how the the dining experience went.
The restaurant is on the 7^th floor of the Holiday Inn, and given the location, had a great opportunity to elevate an already very positive hotel experience. Unfortunately, the great location is wasted. Upon upon entering, it was almost deathly quiet. My wife asked if they could turn up the music a bit, so it could be heard. The staff acknowledged her request but never turned it up. The restaurant was close to empty, and it was pouring out so I imagine those who were eating there were similarly trapped hotel-​stayers like ourselves. With such a great view and location, one could only assume the lack of patrons was driven by some Holiday Inn stigma or poor marketing efforts. Turns out the food and service was a more likely source of the relatively low volume of diners.
A little overpriced for food that had a very «bulk produced» feel and taste. Portions were good for the price fix (which two of our party ordered) but flavor was bland and generic. The two who ordered the price fixe both had the chicken Parmesan. It was a bit on the thick side, but not a bad piece of chicken. The sauce had a hint of Mexican seasoning to it. A little strange for Italian. I got a burger, which was good, my wife got a mahi-​mahi sandwich, which was skimpy on the fish. She stacked both halves on top of one another to make a serviceable half sandwich. We all ordered the lobster bisque, which was very good, the best part of the meal. The pice fixe comes with dessert and coffee, only dessert was delivered, the server never asked about the coffee, or mentioned it at all.
Service was very slow, empty plates were left at the tables too long, water glasses left empty till the end of the meal, when they were refilled. Generally an inattentive staff, especially given the small crowd.
All in all, beautiful view, one that really shouldn’t be missed. Go for the bisque at sunset, then head out for dinner elsewhere.
Great hotel though.

Its a hidden gem!
Yes, this is an overused term– but it really applies to this restaurant. It is on the top floor of the Holiday Inn in Lido Beach Sarasota. It was a week night and not many people there. I guess people don’t know what they are missing.
The view is gorgeous, made even better by the sunset. But the food is the real attraction here. We all had the items from the Twilight Menu– soup or salad, entrée and dessert for under $ 25.
The steaks were perfectly prepared. The shrimps were large and tender. The salmon (catch of the day) had a mango sauce that was just the right blend of flavors.
It was a wonderful, wonderful dinner. My compliments to the chef.