Stottlemyer’s Smokehouse

At Stottlemyer’s, we honor and celebrate our “Old Florida” roots. From the classic, pecan-smoked southern BBQ to the traditional Chickee Hut structure, we welcome you to a local Southwest Florida experience. The Chickee Hut above the dining room is a style of construction that originated with the Calusa Peoples, who inhabited the Southwest coast of Florida from Cedar Key to the Everglades.

The huts reflect the deep local knowledge of the Calusa and the Seminole, who adapted the Chickee style: typically constructed of logs cut from cypress trees and covered with native palm leaves, they are built to withstand hurricane-force winds. “Chickee” is the word the Seminole use for “house.”

Our Chickee was built in 2009, and owners Steve and Terry Stottlemyer expanded the hut to house Stottlemyer’s Smokehouse in 2015: a one-of-a-kind, family-friendly restaurant with incredible food and free live music from Southwest Florida’s most talented musicians.

Steve Stottlemyer’s family moved to Sarasota in 1950, settling on Siesta Key, and his father developed the property where the Smokehouse stands in 1955, when much of Fruitville Road was dirt, frequently underwater. Steve and his wife Terry built the adjoining Fruitville Texaco in 1995, where hundreds of working people come daily to eat a home-cooked breakfast and lunch. Barbecue, smoked using only pecan wood, is the Smokehouse specialty. And we invite you to try our award-winning fried chicken, our oven-fired pizza, our fresh fish, or our perfectly stacked sandwiches. It’s our mission to make your visit to Stottlemyer’s one you will remember. Tell your friends and neighbors, “Come on down to Stottlemyer’s Smokehouse!”