Food
Anna Maria Has a Cafe Called Happy Manatee. Obviously We Went.
The Happy Manatee on Gulf Drive pours fresh juice, coffee and açaí bowls from 6:30 a.m. — named for the county, built for sandy feet, and somehow still under the radar of the mainland brunch crowd.
I did not invent this. There is a juice-and-coffee spot on Anna Maria Island called The Happy Manatee. Manatee County. Manatee Post. Happy Manatee. I am doing my job.
Owners Shaun and Sarah Hunt found the place the way locals find parking — on a night drive, lease sign in the window, four months of renovations, doors open in April. Former retail. Now: juice, coffee, bowls, toast. Address: 9908 Gulf Drive, Suite 600, Anna Maria. Phone: 941-226-0298.
What you actually order
Their own site keeps it simple: pressed juice, coffee, avocado toast, açaí bowls. The Bradenton Herald write-up (via Yahoo) filled in the fun parts — açaí with granola, strawberries, blueberries, banana, coconut and peanut butter; a blue bowl with blue spirulina and mango; three juices made to order (green, carrot, beet); breakfast bowls built around a daily egg bake with cheese and bacon, plus potatoes, arugula and avocado. Prices when they opened ran about $6 to $14, with a 10% discount for island residents.
Inside seats roughly eight people, with more outside. Surfboard table. Plants. Bookcases Sarah's dad built from a Pinterest photo, which is the most Florida-dad sentence I have typed this week.
Hours (use these)
The shop's site now lists daily, 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. — wider than the spring hours in the first write-ups. Confirm before you drive the bridge for one specific bowl; island businesses move like tides.
I am not saying you have to get an açaí bowl named after a marine mammal before you put your feet in the sand. I am saying if you skip a place called Happy Manatee on Anna Maria, you are choosing chaos.
— Marina
