St. Augustine Beach
ST AUGUSTINE BEACH EATS WELL
As we mentioned in our travel section, our condo sat right along St Augustine Beach. A1A Beach Blvd. runs about 3-4 miles along the beach, and has many fun restaurants, shops, and small businesses.
We were able to walk to many of the restaurants we mention below, allowing for a nice stroll to dinner (or lunch) and back. In no specific order of our visits, here are some highlights.
Sunset Grille may be the most popular place on A1A. Everytime we drove by it seemed the parking lot was crowded. It has a large dining area downstairs, some outside tables in the front, and a large circular bar, all with views looking towards the ocean. We wanted to sit in their upstairs area so we could have better views, so we waited until 4:00 when it opened. Worth the wait! Great views to enjoy a fun dinner. We wanted to try as much different seafood on this trip so the choice here was their Shrimp and Waffles which were topped with a spicy honey syrup and Datil ranch dressing. (Datil seemed to be a local favorite as it showed up on many menus), and the catch of the day, Baja Fish Sandwich. This day it was Triggerfish. (never heard of it before but it is a typical mild flaky fish not unlike grouper), which was topped with shredded cabbage and a “kicked-up” citrus jalapeno sauce. Both dishes were excellent and met our approval…
The Beachcomber is a small restaurant that sits on the beach side of A1A Beach. It is the only restaurant that sits so close to the beach, thus, always busy! We strolled down one mid-afternoon to grab an appetizer and some drinks. Beachcomber is probably known more for it’s drinks than food. So, we started with drinks… I ordered their Rox Margarita which was your typical fresh margarita but they added orange liqueur, a nice touch. Laura ordered the Comber Paloma. We can attest, they make great drinks. We added alligator bites and crab cakes to round out our visit. A very fun place to stop, as people are coming on and off the beach right beside the restaurant so great people watching. Be prepared to wait if you go.
The Beachside Diner is your typical breakfast/lunch joint, but their front open patio made for a pleasant, relaxing morning. We ordered the meat lovers omelet with hash browns and one blueberry pancake - one huge blueberry pancake!!! Not sure how anyone could order and eat more than one. No seafood here for us that morning, but a great place to start the day.
Burrito Works is a small location with a walk-up window and outdoor seating on the side. We drove by here numerous times and there always seemed to be a line to order. Obviously could not let that get past us so we walked down one day for lunch. As we waited in line, we read the menu and listened to other folks' orders. Many were ordering the UFO, so when it came our turn, we just could not help but jump in. On their menu it is described as chewy, crunchy, cheesy and full of flavor. Our Fish UFO burrito was all that and more. Easily enough for both of us to share. We can see why the line is there every day. We would have been back if we had not waited until one of our last days to try it!
Mango Mango’s just looked like a fun place to stop, so we did (even came back a second time!). We normally grab seats at the bar when we go out, so we did so here also. Once we were seated, we realized this was a “locals place”. Most folks knew each other or knew the bartender’s names. Just made it more fun. We ordered drinks and looked the menu over for something different. I decided on Jarrod’s Island Calypso Ahi Tuna Sandwich. Rare Ahi Tuna with sriracha mayo cabbage and a Teriyaki glaze. This may be the best Ahi Tuna sandwich I have ever had! Laura ordered the Famous Corn Cakes, which are stuffed with mozzarella, topped with pico de gallo, sour cream, and avocado, then drizzled with their Santa Fe sauce. We spent the dinner chatting with a few of the locals who sat at the bar with us. Best way to pick up what to see next.
Our final night in St Augustine was spent at Salt Life Food Shack. This is a large restaurant right at the northern end of A1A Beach Blvd. It has a very large upstairs open deck so up we went and parked ourselves at the large circular bar. The night was beautiful, giving us wonderful views of the beach. Since it was our last evening out in FL, we ordered a bottle of wine and enjoyed the view. We then ordered a spicy tuna sushi roll to go along with the wine, as we searched the menu on what best to share for our main course. After much back and forth we decided to try the Beach Boil. It consisted of shrimp, snow crab legs, sausage, corn, onions, and potatoes. More than enough for the two of us. A great way to end our time in St Augustine.
