Looking for a place for some live Latin music and dancing on a Sunday night? Then look no further than 15 South Ristorante, on the lovely St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota, Florida.
The place is actually an Italian restaurant (with excellent Italian style pizza baked in a brick over) on the lower level, and a bar / nightclub on the top level. On Sunday, Voces Libres, a local Latin band will play a lot of your favorite Latin music including Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Chacha. They mix it in nicely with live music, and pre-recorded music from other artists. And unlike other clubs, they will usually play one salsa, then one merengue, one bachata, and then on to a chacha. For me it is very annoying when a club plays 3 merengue songs in a row, and then I have to wait a whole hour before they start playing salsa (my favorite) again. Not many clubs will play chacha, which is a shame, because it is such a beautiful latin dance. But this place plays mixes in a nice selction of chacha music.
The decor is very Spanish oriented with many beautiful paintings hanging on the wall. It almost looks like a Spanish museum inside a redone warehouse. Yes, it does have a nice funky appeal. You can dance on the marble-like dance floor, but get there early because the dance floor is not that big, and does get crowded later on during the evening. There is even a patio deck that overlooks St. Armand's so you can hang outside, or have a cigarette.
Don't know how to dance? Then don't worry, from 7PM to 9PM there are dance lessons by Salsa con Pasion.
Or you can join after 9PM and pay a $5 cover....a great value for a good night of Latin entertainment.
Phone number for club is 941-388-1555
Thursday nights are also Latin Night, with dance lessons as well.
