POMONA, The Restaurant

The Beach Boys will be performing at the LA County Fair in POMONA California. The place was mentioned in the song Little GTI about drag racing at the Pomona Race Track.

Last night we went to the Pomona Restaurant here in Sarasota. It is located just south of the Rosemary District and Just north of downtown, in other words it is nowhere. There is no VIBE or downtown activity. It is in a new building with plenty of parking in front. Other tenants in the building include Salons, and a cafe'. Like most new construction it has no patina but it is a clean and not-too-noisy square dining room and bar about the size of a waiting room at a medical clinic.

When we arrived at the restaurant we waited at the host station for about 10 minutes before anyone came to see who we were and honor our reservation for 7:30. They have been open for about 2 months and the logistics bugs have not been worked out yet. We were eventually ushered to a no-tablecloth 4-top table where my wife and I had an excellent view of the bar and nothing else. Our dining companions got to see the rest of the patrons. The waiter came and offered us drinks. We ordered 4 glasses of wine which averaged out to about $10 per glass. He brought some delicious fresh baked bread and a small container of olive oil. Good bread usually means a good meal. We each ordered something different. The portions were small but everything was delicious. I had gnocchi for my appetizer, and scallops with squash ravioli for my entre'. Both were very yummy but laden with butter. Not a place to go if you have high cholesterol or triglycerides. They should have brought a bowl of Lipitor out with the meal. Anyhow, the food was way better than average. The service, once they noticed we arrived, was very good. The ambiance was nothing to write home about but was not a dive... it just needs some time to break in. The front door opened right into one of the tables for four and our table backed up to 4 people on bar stools.

The Oracle's recommendation... If you want to try someplace new near downtown Sarasota, with good parking, and you don't mind paying $150 dollars for dinner for 4 without tip, this is a good choice. You would probably come back. Our dinner companions tried to make reservations for 10 days from now on a Saturday night and the only choices for 6 people were 5:30 or 9:00 seatings. They are busy but then again, that's the way it is here in our town, a new place opens up and you can't get in for 6 months. Then, it either makes it and the crowds get smaller as people move on to the next new restaurant and Pomona becomes a standard, or it goes out of business and another place opens up in the same space.