"A menu filled with comfort food"

J. Ryan's On the Grill was opened on U.S. 41 near Sarasota Square Mall in December 1996 by four men, some with a lot of restaurant experience and some with very little. Its owners describe the place as an upscale American bistro, serving the same type of food as casual eateries like Applebee's and T.G.I. Friday's with a more trendy feel and higher prices.

The idea was, we could fill in a niche," said James Chandler, a lawyer and one of the principals. "You had a big gap between the middle of the road - the Chili's, and so forth - and the Café L'Europes."


In the beginning…..

The "J. Ryan's Boys" - Jim Chandler, Marc Forlenza, Nick Bonfrere and Rafael Gonzalez - are the principals of American Hospitality and Restaurants Association, the company that runs the J. Ryan's.

Chandler is a lawyer, Forlenza a retired trader, Bonfrere a chef and restaurant manager and Gonzalez a restaurateur.

The idea for Ryan's originally came from Bonfrere, not so much because he is in love with the upscale American concept, but because he saw a void in the Sarasota marketplace."There wasn't anything here like that," he said.

 With a full bar, extremely casual service (hey, they get the job done), and a menu filled with comfort food, J Ryan's has the heart and soul of a classic French bistro, without the French food. Hearty soups, bar appetizers, and specials like corned beef and cabbage and traditional turkey dinner are the kind of food you could cook yourself if you had the time and the skills. But why? They do it better at J. Ryan's.

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