One Hundred & Twelve Years
We opened the year the Titanic sank. We poured through Prohibition, the Depression, the war years, and every downtown reinvention Sarasota has ever undertaken.
The Timeline
- 1913The doors open
A saloon opens on Main Street in a brand-new brick storefront. The year the Titanic sank and Sarasota was barely a town.
- 1920Prohibition
Like most Florida saloons, the bar finds creative interpretations of the Volstead Act. The room keeps serving — quietly.
- 1933Repeal
Prohibition ends. The bar pours legally again and never closes for long stretches after.
- 1950sThe Gator era begins
The red neon Gator sign is hung outside. It has been buzzing on Main Street ever since.
- 1990sDowntown renaissance
Sarasota's Main Street comes back to life. The Gator Club becomes a fixture of the city's nightlife revival.
- 2024USA Today honors
Named one of USA Today's Best Bars in America. Two floors, five hundred bottles, 111 years on the same corner.
- TodayStill pouring
Live music five nights a week. Bartenders who know your name by your second visit. The neon still on.
"There are bars on Main Street. And then there's The Gator."