Gourmet At Your Service – presented by The Sandy Butler

Drew Sterwald’s article in the Saturday Sept. 5 issue of The News-Press, “Restaurants, close, open and try to get by,” points out many of the challenges that restaurants are facing, particularly for locally-owned establishments.

The Sandy Butler Gourmet Market & Restaurant

Locally-owned restaurants are vital to Florida’s economy. Restaurants are key drivers of employment in Florida and their sales are a significant source of tax revenues for the state. In fact, half of all Americans work in a restaurant at some point in their career. In addition to building careers and revenue, locally-owned restaurants are leaders in nutrition, healthy living and entrepreneurship. For example, at The Sandy Butler, we support local farmers and other local businesses by selling local and seasonal products, whenever possible. We encourage others to do the same and show support for local shops, restaurants and other businesses by adopting a “shop and dine local” lifestyle. 

In order for restaurants to survive in today’s economy, they must stand out in the crowd. At The Sandy Butler, we have taken a healthy, “greener” approach by providing fresh, local fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood in our gourmet market. The Sandy Butler’s exclusive line of imported olive oils, salts, seasonings, vinegars also are sold in our market and available for wholesale purchase as well. In addition, we now offer vitamins and supplements in response to customer requests for products that support good nutrition and healthy living. Our summer specials, Sunday brunches, happy hour specials and wine dinners offer a more cost effective approach to fine dining. We are serving up a new menu starting in October offering fine, fresh, gourmet cuisine, along with a seasonal menu and an affordably priced boutique wine list. These changes are not only in response to more challenging economic times, but we have recently surveyed our customers and are responding to their requests for the healthiest, freshest food and products available. These are just a few examples of how The Sandy Butler is positioning itself for continued growth and service excellence.

As Sterwald’s article mentions, this is the most challenging economic environment for restaurants in decades. In the spirit of supporting our local restaurant industry and driving revenue and jobs for our community, I encourage residents and visitors to dine and shop at locally owned restaurants and business. The future of local business is in your hands.

 Jason Nelson

General Manager of The Sandy Butler