Ticket Editor: Sarasota restaurant makes ‘20 Best Pizza Joints in the United States’
Apparently, there's someone out there willing and able to eat more pizza than me.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure how a lone individual goes about visiting restaurants from coast to coast to pick the nation's 20 best pizzerias — it took me months of visiting and revisiting local restaurants just to make my recent list of best restaurants for pizza in Sarasota and Bradenton — but somehow a writer at a travel website managed to do it.
Published just ahead of National Pizza Day (Feb. 9), Trips to Discover named the "20 Best Pizza Joints in the United States." Only a single restaurant from Florida made the list and it happens to be located right here in Sarasota.
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Rico's Pizzeria in Gulf Gate, Sarasota, makes ‘20 Best Pizza Joints in the United States’ list by Trips to Discover
Not associated with the other Rico's Pizzeria with locations in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, the Rico's Pizzeria in Gulf Gate appears on Trips to Discover's new list of best pizza places in the country. It's praised for its red sauce and hand-tossed crust.
"At Rico’s Pizzeria, they say the secret is in the sauce, using an old-school Italian recipe combined with the freshest possible tomatoes and a perfect blend of spices to make what many say is the best New York-style pizza in Florida," writes Karyn Wofford for Trips to Discover. "The crust is hand-tossed, and you can order it by the slice or a whole pizza. With options for vegans and those who are gluten-free, few will be disappointed here with the love that goes into these pies obvious with every bite."
The article actually doesn't mention which Rico's is being praised but a publicist at Trips to Discover confirmed it's the one in Gulf Gate at 6547 Gateway Ave., Sarasota. Owner Mark Riley opened the place May 29, 1999, according to its website. I enjoyed a slice at Rico's in 2015 for a Gulf Gate guide — but evidently I need to return. My 2023 list of best restaurants for pizza in Sarasota and Bradenton does include a very good Gulf Gate pizzeria, but not Rico's.
Sarasota makes multiple best restaurants lists by Trips to Discover
In August, Trips to Discover published the article "11 Most Iconic Restaurants in Florida," which includes Yoder's Restaurant & Amish Village in Sarasota. The travel website also spotlights the Tampa restaurants Bern's Steak House and Columbia, with the latter operating other Florida locations such as the one in Sarasota. In fact, the Columbia on St. Armands Circle opened in 1959 and ranks among the oldest restaurants in Sarasota or Manatee counties.
In July, I wrote about Trips to Discover including four Sarasota and Bradenton businesses on their list of "15 Best Seafood Restaurants in Florida." Turned out, three of them were featured in my 2021 story on the best places to eat Florida stone crab, which I updated in October 2022.
Sarasota restaurant Dry Dock named among '100 Most Romantic' in U.S. by OpenTable
One of those seafood restaurants chosen by Trips to Discover also landed on OpenTable's annual list of the "100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America for 2023." Yeah, I'm a big fan of Dry Dock on Longboat Key and in addition to giving it a glowing review in 2021 (and praise in this publication as far back as 2015), it has appeared on many of my own lists including my recent one of best romantic restaurants in Sarasota-Manatee.
OpenTable noted that their "list was culled by analyzing over 13 million U.S. diner reviews." While Trips to Discover states at the top of their pizza joint story that their "research is editorially independent but we may earn a commission for purchases made through our links." For the record, my restaurant lists are based solely on lots and lots of unannounced dining, which I've had the pleasure of doing in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties for the better part of the past two decades.
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Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida-Georgia Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota restaurant Rico's makes Best Pizza Joints in United States
