J. Ryan's Bar & Grill, Sarasota, Florida

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I had viewed the menu for this restaurant online and saw lots of yummy things I really wanted to try.  The restaurant is new, on Clark Road near Sawyer, in the plaza where The Big Kitchen used to be.  It is really a lovely, more upscale restaurant.  The owners have obviously spent quite a bit on redecorating.  Nice, but nothing really fantastic.  I ordered the Walnut Chicken Salad on a bed of field greens.  The chicken salad was very dry and tasteless.  It did have a lot of whole walnuts sprinkled all over the plate, which was nice, but I would have preferred to have them in the salad; maybe that would have livened it up a bit.  It desperately needed some mayonnaise.  The greens were pretty, but kind of limp.  My companion had a French Dip sandwich, which was on what looked and tasted like a hot dog bun.  He got about 5 french fries with it.  For over $10, not a good deal at all.  My salad was also over $10.  Someone has to pay for all those fancy wavy clouds on the ceiling!  I would like to go back and try something else next time.  It is a nice place to eat, just not a good value.