Sorry to say I moved away and came back and I remember a good meal at the drunken poet. The sushi specifically, the sexy man roll was delicious; however, the chef's specials at $36.95 are better at a cheap Chinese restaurant. I ordered the crispy duck not only was it not crispy, it was overdone and served w/carrots and cabbage, 2nd entree chicken pad, just ok ,one roll and one tea with tip is $100. Told the waitress it looked nothing like the photo and she said, yes this is it. They have lost my business, won't be back, don't mind spending money on good food, this was awful. read more

Extremely good food. Big menu to choose from as well. We had service right away. We will go again for sure

A group of us dined at this Thai restaurant a week ago. We stumbled upon it without doing any research, but the packed dining room seemed like a good sign. Plus, after a few days of traveling, we were craving Asian food. Unfortunately, our experience didn't live up to the promising first impression. Once we were seated and glanced at the menu, we were shocked by the prices. Entrées averaged over $40--fine dining prices, which felt out of place for a casual Thai spot. Despite our hesitation, we decided to give it a try, thinking, "Maybe this will be the best Thai food we've ever had." Sadly, we were wrong. We ordered a curry dish, a duck dish, some rice dishes, and a few appetizers. The flavors ranged from mediocre to downright awful. Nothing stood out except how underwhelming everything tasted. After our meal, I looked up reviews on Yelp and was surprised to see some glowing ones. Based on our experience, I have to wonder--was there a great chef who left permanently after a recent hurricane? Or is it possible the locals don't know what authentic, high-quality Thai food should taste like? At these prices, the food and experience should have been exceptional. Instead, it left us deeply disappointed. Save your money and try somewhere else. read more

I ordered pad Thai take out with shrimp and was pleasantly surprised at how amazing it was. It is so flavorful! (It is not spicy-For those who are looking for that) read more

I LOVED the drunken poet! the ambiance inside is wonderful with the blackboard painted walls with quotes on them and all the books. the crab rangoons were the best i've ever had and you really cannot go wrong ordering anything from this menu! special shoutout to the coconut soup and pad thai. will definitely be returning! ‍ read more

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When you travel and find a fem! My wife wanted to come to Sarasota to go to the Tervis store and the mall. Along the way, she gets hungry after we leave At. Armand's circle. So I was scanning around and found the name of this Sushi/Thai place to be amusing The Drunken Poet. But don't let the name fool you, this place has a really dark and peaceful atmosphere inside or you can enjoy the nice weather or Sarasota outside! We had an initial 4 rolls: Alaskan, Philly roll, caterpillar and the Bank. The Bank is one of the best rolls out there. I forgot to mention the crab Rangoon which were also good. But we devoured everything and asked for 2 more rolls, the Fruitville and the Mexican. Fruitville was our favorite BY FAR, next to the Bank. This place is a must try and ask for their green tea, it's pretty tasty! read more

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Best fried rice and sushi we have ever had! Group of four ladies for a bachelorette went here for lunch and we seriously want to come back for dinner the food was so amazing! read more

Excellent food and fun, modern upbeat atmosphere! Very dark and romantic ambiance. Great for date night. Extensive menu including Thai and sushi options and many soups which I'm all about. You can choose from a variety of different sauces and meats for your entree and add noodles or rice. I loved all the appetizers. We got eggrolls, Chicken Satay, and Crab Rangoon. Dreamy deep house music plays in the background... Service is quick and there is plenty of parking out front. Enjoy! read more

The place has everything! The food is amazing, the atmosphere is fun and the service couldn't be better! If you get KC as a waitress, have her order for you! You won't regret it. If not, absolutely get the crab ragoons and the pad Thai with veggies added. read more

This is the worst restaurant in Sarasota! When we first went into the drunken poet restaurant, their floor is sticky and smelly inside, so we decided to dine outside of the restaurant. The food here is totally overpriced, each dish came with small portion, and the quality of food was just below average. We will not come back for sure, avoid this restaurant when you in the area. read more

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Very good service. Good music and vibe. Our appetizers, Crab Rangoon (wontons thick and overcooked) and Fresh Roll (rice paper was so rubbery), not so good. The curry in the Penang curry chicken entree was too sweet. Crispy pork belly dish had good spice and veggies but the pork belly was totally impossible to chew. Pricey for quality. read more

Made reservations and still waited a fairly long time to be seated. The menu is extremely hard to navigate on the iPads we're given. The font and photos are huge and given the menu is so vast, it would be much easier to condense the font and pages so that more items can be seen on the screen at one time. Waitress was nice. Food came out at an average time given that they, like all restaurants, in the US, must be short-staffed. I got two sides instead of entree and was very satisfied with the portion and taste. read more

Drunken Poet - Kai Kaiyad Sai - stuffed omelette Roti - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Just stood at the "please wait to be seated" sign for 10 minutes. The hostess ignored us and walked outside and brought people in who showed up after us and sat them. Completely ignoring us. read more

Drunken Poet - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

The food was average at best...$42 for a scallop pad thai!!! $42... Robbery. Service was mediocre at best. Never again.

We love Drunken Poet! I lived in SRQ for over 30 years before trying this place, despite *somewhat* knowing about it. It is very underwhelming from the street so I just never gave it a shot (plus fighting downtown traffic). But now we go often and LOVE the pad Thai! It's light, super flavorful, and the spice levels are customizable to your preference. Service is great and you can tell they really care about the food they're putting out! Only 1 time did the ambiance lack, but I think possibly their AC was struggling. Otherwise it's been cozy, cute and a great time. you can also order for delivery! Highly recommend. read more

Service was amazing. Food was fresh. Sushi was so refreshing and the atmosphere was such a cool place to chill and sip a drink or two. read more

Drunken Poet - Fruitville - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Delicious! Very tasty & great quality. Came here on a Saturday at 5pm, it wasn't very busy, just 2 other couples. I ordered miso soup, it was one of the best I've had but a small portion, which is ok. The veggie pad Thai was filling and super satisfying! I really liked the theme inside, how dark it was and the book shelves above the entrance that had so much fun things to look at. My only issue was the building across the street was blinding white! Being so dark inside it stressed my eyes out trying to focus on the interior decor. I had the "better" view looking outside but I would probably sit facing the other side next time, at least during a bright day. I would recommend the owners to tint their windows or get light shades because seriously their cool dark theme is just overpowered by the building right across the street. It's a nice break to forget your in white sandy Florida for a sec and enjoy the unique cutlet in here, their walls are full of artwork and painted words in a different language, it's very nice. So I would go after sunset for a full effect of this place :) read more

Drunken Poet - Hidden bookshelf you can't see from outside - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Overpriced and pretty average food. To add insult to injury the service was fairly average but the establishment added a forced 25% tip to the bill. We'll never return. read more

Delish and great service. I had sushi which was very fresh and great quality. Guest had the duck which he absolutely loved. Lots of spice.

Very disappointing experience here, the food was comically small portion and too expensive for the size , it also didn't taste good. I tried the red curry with vegetables and it only had one piece of eggplant and the rest of the vegetables were shredded lettuce and carrots, sooo bad . I don't plan to come back here again. Most of our group had similar experience and underwhelming food read more

Absolutely LOVE this spot! I wanted a local sushi spot & that is exactly what I got. The inside is unique - we went around 6:00 PM and everything was dimmed inside, cool art / book feel. We ended up sitting outside, they have a small outdoor seating section and it was perfect. Got a view of the inside while enjoying the out! We started with miso soup, and their house salad (which the salad is a really good portion!) - very tasty. Then, we did the Sexy Woman, The Fruitville, and the Gniche rolls. I couldn't choose a favorite because they were all so dang good. The sexy woman had a perfect light crunch at the top btw, if you're looking for something with just a hint of texture :) Service was really fast too! & the staff was very kind. This is probably now my top go to for sushi (but they have a ton of other stuff on the menu beyond just sushi, which is my goal to try!!) read more

Drunken Poet - From "left to right" Sexy Woman Roll , Fruitville Roll , & Chef Ginch Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Razor thin fish on rice, soggy edamame and yet very expensive. I was glad they were open but I will not be back for the sushi. I hope the Thai selections are better. read more

Food was delicious, atmosphere was very inviting. Service was excellent. Restrooms could use a little love.

Yume closed on Main St and the hostess for Drunken Poet was outside and told us to come in. I had been there many years ago and we agreed to go in. It was mostly empty on. Friday night at 7:45. That should have been our warning. My entree was awful! It was a seafood curry that had zero flavor other than a not so good fishy taste. It was watery, not like that dish at all. I have had this so many times before in other restaurants. This time it was unrecognizable. I was starving, we didn't have much time and I ate some of it. I told the waiter who did nothing, not even an apology. My stomach started to hurt. It ruined my entire night. I will never go back. Be warned read more

Great name, great location on Main Street, great service....but the place was so dark. Didn't they pay the electric bill? The menu was a tablet, pretty cool. The food, ugh I wanted to love it like the reviewers, but a $72 lunch for 3 was subpar and way overpriced for the salty entrees. Not as flavorful as other Thai places. Sorry read more

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We came here bc we had no choice since PhoCali was closed. We drove 25 miles away. We already paid $4 for parking and didn't want it to go to waste. When we came inside, we told them we had a party of 9 and the waiter asked us if we have a reservation. We were like wtf. There was literally 3 other people seated in the restaurant inside. I ordered the Green Curry Beef which was a whopping $17.95. I was like holy crap!!! The portion was super small. I swear the white rice that was provided was like a small bowl full. I asked for extra rice and the waitress was like it would be $2.00 more. It tasted like your typical Green Curry Beef. To be honest with you, I was still hungry after my meal. Nothing worse than paying for an expensive dinner and still being hungry afterwards. Our party of 9's bill came out to be around $277+. Outrageous expensive!! I highly don't recommend you having deep pockets and a small appetite if you come here. Portion for the value is horrible here. I really can't believe the the prices for the portion here. I will most definitely never come back again ever! read more

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The best sushi I've had in a long time. Probably ever. The sizes of the sushi are perfect to eat in one bite. The flavors are amazing as well. Everything tasted fresh, the staff is super nice and attentive, the service was fairly quick as well. The atmosphere was chill and peaceful. Definitely worth stopping by and trying it out for yourself. read more

Drunken Poet - Crazy roll, Lady Lavender, Sexy Woman - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

One of the best Thai and sushi places around. We have been here 3 times now and are amazing. Great staff and everything is so good

Amazing sushi and service! Ambiance is dark and quaint. A must if you're in the area.

Cute small Thai place downtown Sarasota. Tasty food and reasonable prices. Indoor and outdoor seating. read more

Drunken Poet - Sushi roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Great local sushi place. Fresh tasting sushi. Great service during ordering and service of food. Definitely recommend the restaurant

The interior design was a cozy atmosphere. We were seated immediately and were given our drinks. The food was absolutely delicious and I was given a very generous amount of spicy tuna. Our server was very nice and helpful by bringing the manager/owner to our table because of communication issues. My only complaint is how our server was having trouble getting me my yellowtail rolls and seamed to not understand what I meant when I wanted a roll instead of regular sashimi, but it did get corrected and was made exactly the way I wanted. In the end I had a really great time and had very delicious food. I would come again. read more

I dont usually leave reviews for something not so great, in fact, this is my first ever YELP review...but PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY! We ordered takeout and got Panang curry and pad thai. The portion was so measly (didnt even fill the containers) and we paid around $50 overall for only two items. The food was supposed to be spicy, it wasn't at all. The overall flavor was barely there. We are from downtown Chicago IL and we have gotten larger portions, for less money and way better taste - for $12 per dish instead of $25 ! I am so sad about this, as I was so excited to try it. Maybe Drunken Poet is having a bad day, or has a learning chef- which is possible- but this experience was truly not good! Please, save your money! read more

Drunken Poet - Vegan Panang Curry - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Warm welcoming decor inside. Relaxing ethnic charm! This is a fantastic Thai restaurant by far. Fresh ingredients. Very nice attentive gentleman server really takes care Of his guests. Very nice ambiance. I would love to be a regular at this place. Bookshelves by the door , art to the left and right. Family photos as well as photos of King Bhumibol the Great. Lovely art all around. My food was so amazing and fresh and flavorful. It was the chicken salad but it was divine. Amazing decoration of cucumber and tomato and ginger dressing. So colorful & so artfully displayed. Made with care & made heart! My Thai tea was so delicious. So fragrant and so tasty. I want to be bffs with it I definitely want to come back here. Love it. read more

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Came in on a Thursday after passing this restaurant too many times! We ordered two rolls one app and one entree. It was a good amount of food but the bill felt a little too pricey. I will return for how great the sushi was 10/10. Highly recommend the Lucas ! read more

Drunken Poet - Incredible Hulk Lucas - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Disappointing. The fish inside was minimal. For the spicy tuna and spicy crawfish, I was asked to select my level of spice- mild, medium or hot. I selected hot for both, and neither were even a little spicy. The Queen Kong and Lucas rolls both contain cream cheese which I didn't realize as they abbreviated to "CC" on the description, and both lacked much fish inside. The Queen Kong supposedly has tuna, white tuna, BBQ eel, and salmon inside but I don't know how that could be as there was such a small amount of fish. Lacked flavor, lacked spice, lacked a decent amount of fish. I've heard good things, but we won't be back. read more

Drunken Poet - 20. Spicy Craw Fish Makimono on left, 4. Spicy Tuna Makimono on right. Both not spicy, though I selected the hottest spice level. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Came here for a late night snack and ordered one sushi roll. Took 40 minutes to arrive at our table. Our server even told the kitchen to expedite it because that's all we ordered. A couple was seated next to us for 20 minutes, and no one ever came to take their order. However, a large table of regulars was given preferential treatment... read more

Very good Pho. Staff is friendly and helpful. If you want to order out make sure you call the restaurant directly to order- do not order online. Even you think you are on their site, you aren't and will be charged DoorDash (or whatever) fees. It's very annoying but if you call you avoid that. Parking can be tough but it's worth it! read more

Very disappointing, sushi was average and over priced. Sent back raw dough on shrimp tempura. Very tourist trappy.

Love the food at this place. It is outstanding- definitely one of the best in the area and we have tried them all. However, we love to get Thai take out and their take out meals are a HUGE ripoff. You should not be left hungry when you spend that much for a meal. The containers they give you equal about half the size of the meal you get had you dined in. It's totally not worth the money sadly so we have decided our go to will be elsewhere. We used to order a couple of times a week. Sad because the food is excellent but it is not always feasible to get close by parking to the restaurant and when you are handicapped, that is a big deal. Definitely recommend for eat in but to go simply isn't worth the money. Until that changes we will not be ordering out so it serves us zero purpose as most of our Thai is for home consumption. Service is average and the ambiance is nice for date nights or random get togethers with family or friends or even solo. Not a fan of the tablet used for a menu. Super annoying to read and half the time they don't work right. Downtown Sarasota has lots of shops and things to see and do so its a great place to relax after the fun has been had. read more