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Florida's Top 20 Restaurants. Recipient of fourth Golden Spoon Award and " best food in central florida and the gulf coast" kudos from zagat guide. The Bistro is an eight time recipient of the Golden Spoon Award bestowed on the Top Twenty restaurants in the State of Florida and is now enshrined in the Golden Spoon Hall of Fame. The Bistro's wine list has received a Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence" for one of the best wine lists "in the world."

The Bistro focuses on performing to the highest standard - your satisfaction. Our objective is to provide you with one of the best dinners that you have ever had. We welcome you as we would welcome you to our home.

The exploration of a world as creative and joyous as the world of wine may defy "listing". What follows may more accurately reflect a serendipitous charting of the wines we at the Bistro have enjoyed most, have been able to obtain and can realistically store. The "realistic" in storage is a major consideration. The Bistro is tiny and Mother Nature conspires regularly with the Gulf of Mexico to invade the premises.

The name attached itself to cafes serving great food, meticulously prepared in a style that offered lighter, "quicker", smaller plates as well as full entrees. Island's End is an American bistro following that tradition.

Our object is to provide great food as a lighter, more eclectic dining experience to complement the world-class atmosphere offered at our older sister restaurant, the Beach Bistro.

The Beach Bistro's exceptional food, gulf view and extensive wine list have been rewarded with repeated selection by Florida Trend as a "Golden Spoon" restaurant, one of the top twenty restaurants in the state of Florida.

Zagat guide has selected the Beach Bistro as one of the Top Restaurants in America and awarded it the highest marks in the state for Best Food.

We are optimistic that by diligent pursuit of your approval that such acclaim can find its way to our new bistro, Bistro at Island's End, "the other place" for great food on the gulf coast. Island's End and Beach Bistro can accommodate private parties for luncheons or dinner.

Sean Murphy has another hit with Bistro at Island’s End

Restaurateur Sean Murphy, famed for his award-winning Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island, takes a slight change of course with Bistro at Island’s End. If you LOVE Beach Bistro (a small, beach-front place that is a bit pricey, but never disappointing), you’ll probably enjoy the new Bistro across from Island Players Theatre. In fact, its proximity to Anna Maria’s community theater is a plus for Island Players’ patrons. A rule of thumb is that you can get in and out of a restaurant in 90 minutes, so make reservations before 6:30 P.M., and just to be sure, tell your server if you have to catch an 8 P.M. performance.

My guess is, couples at Island’s End will be less inclined to linger over romantic dinners. There’s a more relaxed family atmosphere at the new digs, once home to Cage Robar and then Eddie B’s. Talk about the difference between night and day - wait until you see the contrast between the new bistro and former restaurants on this site at Gulf Drive and Pine Avenue. A newly created entrance facing Pine Avenue replaces the old one off a side parking lot. The old entry now contains one large table that can be reserved for family groups. Walk in the front door and you look head-on at the bar and accompanying tables. Upholstery fabric in a bright tropical pattern featuring bird of paradise blossoms start in the bar and continue through all the smallish dining rooms.

I was startled, then amused and pleased to find that the chairs rock. Rooms are somewhat divided by metal sculptures that suggest gates. Palm trees are carved into blond wood moldings, and a variety of trees in giant pots serve as greenery. Walls and menu are decorated with carefree and colorful paintings by island artists. The food is just as creative, done in a style Murphy dubs “Gulf Coast Cookery.” An example is a small plate” offering called Battered But Can’t Be Beaten Gulf Coast Tempera Shrimp. Dipped in Tempura batter and deep-fried, shrimp are accompanied by a “finger-sucking mango dipping sauce.” I can’t really imagine someone sucking their fingers at the new bistro, but the description conveys the ideas of relaxed fun and the use of ingredients such as mango, that are typical of “Floribbean” cooking.

Following a recent trend, the restaurant offers “small plates” that allow you to dine on smaller portions of your favorite appetizers, if you prefer that to one main entree. We shared a Mediterranean Sampler, filled with grilled duck sausages (to which my guest promptly laid claim), roasted peppers (ther’re OK), a really garlicky and good hummus, wonderful marinated olives, a wedge of feta cheese, slices of home-cured salmon and an excellent tapenade of chopped plives.

We couldn’t begin to eat all, what with dipping our herbed peasant bread in pools of olive oil served in unusual square plates. Skipping the soup, we went for one of the salads, done with greens and other things including fresh berries. This was our least favorite part of the meal, perhaps because everything else proved exceptional. We wanted something more inventive than lackluster dressing described by our very professional and friendly waiter as “some kind of creamy Italian”. I was delighted with my Tempura Dinner, of jumbo shrimp, but suprised at the amount of ketchup in the sauce. Still, I liked the sauce and accompanying garlic mashed potato and lightly steamed green beans. My guest heaped praise on her dainty filet mignon in a bearnaise sauce.

A special, the meat was tender and flavorful beyond description. We started out with glasses of Murphy Goode Chardonnay, per glass, and ended with steamy cups of coffee and dessert. Imagine glass sundae dishes filled with two scoops of vanilla ice cream covered with flambeed Banana Foster. “pot on the Fire, a parade of chicken, salmon, shrimp and sausage poached in a broth of duck and seafood with a twist of angel hair pasta and sun-dried tomatoes. Aside from the annoying rustle of the paper tablecloth, the evening was memorable, and one a person could look forward to repeating. Restaurant reviewer Nancy Konesko dines anonymously at Herald expense.