Memories Lounge

Memories Lounge The best little dive bar in Florida Memories has a long and storied history in Sarasota. We’re a dive bar, through and through. It’s our character.
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From our humble beginnings back in 1980 to a crazy gin-joint in the 90s, to the last few decades growing up and becoming one of the ‘Institutions of the North Trail’, the story of Memories today is that of a bar that’s been through it all. It’s who we are, but this dive bar is more than a stereotype. This dive bar is our people. The Memories customer is the kind of person who cares about character

. They care about integrity and honest work. You’re unlikely to find a bunch of people who care about window dressings, small-batch-brewed floral-accented ingredients, and fly-by-night fads of where to be seen. Our regulars are people who are proud to call Memories home. People who are proud to say this little dive bar, looked down on by those that deem themselves “Coolier Than Thou“, is actually the best place in Sarasota to meet up with friends, share your stories, and have a drink. Ours is a collection of stories, and each one is the story of that individual sitting alone at the bar, or that couple who are so in love that they never notice the world around them, or the friends who pull together because they know this whole life thing is about “us” rather than just “me me me”… the Memories story is about the people who make us a community rather than “just a bar.”

All one needs to do is walk through the door and like magic *poof!*… it doesn’t matter what the size of your bank account might be*, where you went to school, what your address is, who your group is, who you want to love, who you vote for or what kind of car you drive: all that matters is your individual character and here, more than anywhere, you get to be you. We’re the neighborhood local. Come, have a drink with us and get to know some of these stories. Who knows, maybe you’ll add your own one day.

*If your bank account is zero please pay with cash and don’t forget to tip your bartender �

Professor Tony would like to remind the class that the jukebox is not your private diary with speakers.The moment you se...
09/06/2026

Professor Tony would like to remind the class that the jukebox is not your private diary with speakers.

The moment you select a bunch of songs, you assume temporary cultural authority over an entire room. With that authority comes social responsibility.

Read the room. Exercise restraint. Remember that a multi-song tribute to one artist is not a playlist—it is a compulsory seminar that nobody else wants to hear.

The governing principle is simple:

PERSONAL TASTE ≠ EXCLUSIVE CONTROL

Professor Tony holds off-campus office hours tonight at Memories Lounge from 7:00 p.m. until close at 2:00 a.m.

The Los Angeles Rams announced their entire roster is headed to Melbourne, Australia, for their international season ope...
09/06/2026

The Los Angeles Rams announced their entire roster is headed to Melbourne, Australia, for their international season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

Of course, the NFL isn’t the only football league opening its season overseas.

Team Memories has traveled to St. Moritz, Switzerland, for the Dive Bar Football League International Season Opener against the Chicago Staches.

Coach Teresa met the Staches’ head coach before kickoff as both teams were officially welcomed to Switzerland.

The Staches arrived with everything you’d expect of a team from Chicago: comfortable in cold weather, ready for football, and a look that lets you know they consider passing on 3rd-and-8 evidence of moral weakness.

Team Memories showed up with our regulars who brought an inflatable alligator and several inflatable martini glasses.

The Swiss have no idea what to make of all this.

Coach Teresa is bartending today.

Memories opens at 11. 🏈

Night falls upon the Realm of Memories.Anime Bill and Jermaine stand watch.One brings discipline.The other brought a ver...
09/05/2026

Night falls upon the Realm of Memories.

Anime Bill and Jermaine stand watch.

One brings discipline.
The other brought a very large club.

The Realm is safe tonight. 😃

Bill Mcelroy and Jermaine Hughes, bartending tonight from 7:00 to 2:00 am

Saturday morning with Sinéad.Some people just make the world feel a little easier.…Sinead May is bartending today.We ope...
09/05/2026

Saturday morning with Sinéad.

Some people just make the world feel a little easier.



Sinead May is bartending today.

We open at 11.

WHY A DIVE BAR TONIGHT?Because it’s Friday.Because it’s Labor Day Weekend.Because nobody needs you to be impressive toni...
09/05/2026

WHY A DIVE BAR TONIGHT?

Because it’s Friday.
Because it’s Labor Day Weekend.
Because nobody needs you to be impressive tonight.

You don’t need a reservation.
You don’t need the right clothes.
You don’t need a $17 cocktail with three adjectives.

You need a cold drink, a barstool and somewhere you can just be for a while.

That’s what dive bars are for.

Memories Lounge.
Open until 2.

April 13, 1970. Disaster aboard Apollo 13: the Cocktail Maker 2000 had suffered a catastrophic mixing-system failure. Wi...
09/04/2026

April 13, 1970. Disaster aboard Apollo 13: the Cocktail Maker 2000 had suffered a catastrophic mixing-system failure. With only the materials available aboard the spacecraft, lead engineer Lisa Pfender and her team had to devise an emergency repair.

Using hoses, plastic, duct tape, and a cocktail shaker, Lisa designed a replacement mixing unit the astronauts could build themselves. It worked. Cocktail capability was restored.

Apollo 13 crisis averted. Mission Control said: “smooth sailing” from this point on.

Lisa is also working today at Memories. We open at 11. 🧑🏼‍🚀

Apparently, once was not enough.Bill Mcelroy and Sinead May are back behind the bar together tonight.Last time these two...
09/03/2026

Apparently, once was not enough.

Bill Mcelroy and Sinead May are back behind the bar together tonight.

Last time these two shared a shift, we turned them into Art Deco. People seemed to enjoy that, so we went back to the drawing board.

Literally.

Sinéad’s mixing. Bill’s polishing. The drinks are cold. The glassware has never been cleaner. And for one more rare evening, you can find both of them behind the bar at Memories.

Bill & Sinéad tonight.

Come see the originals. 🍸

09/03/2026

Why yes, we are the best place in Sarasota to stock
up for Labor Day
b**r, w**e, & liquor 🍻

Having just lost their jobs with the State of Florida, flock cameras turn to alcohol to soothe their spirits.
09/02/2026

Having just lost their jobs with the State of Florida, flock cameras turn to alcohol to soothe their spirits.

NASA Archival Photo: April 13, 1970. Two days into the Apollo 13 mission, CM2K lead engineer Lisa Pfender received alarm...
09/02/2026

NASA Archival Photo: April 13, 1970. Two days into the Apollo 13 mission, CM2K lead engineer Lisa Pfender received alarming telemetry at Mission Control: the Cocktail Maker 2000 had suffered a catastrophic mixing-system failure.

The other life-support systems were still functioning, but they couldn’t make cocktails.

Lisa is also working today at Memories. We open at 11.

Address

3428 N Tamiami Trl
Sarasota, FL
34234

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 2am
Tuesday 11am - 2am
Wednesday 11am - 2am
Thursday 11am - 2am
Friday 11am - 2am
Saturday 11am - 2am
Sunday 11am - 2am

Telephone

(941) 355-9849

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