At last, my favorite stuff - FOOD and DRINKS!!
This is our experience with restaurants and bars during our short weekend in St Augustine - 8 of us total.
Had lunch at A1A Aleworks twice - the grouper sandwich was terrific and my seafood salad very large and good, went back the next day with the group and I had a cuban sandwich but I have had better - everyone enjoyed the grouper and crab sandwiches and I thought the ';Octoberfest'; beer was the best - good servers both times. A little loud outside due to the bridge construction but there is a water view - we also ate inside and it was nice and cool for those not used to the heat.
Dinner at Columbia Restaurant our 1st night - I have never eaten at Columbia even though I have tried in Longboat Key and Tampa so I decided to try it this time despite the reviews from a few here. It was a big hit with everybody - I loved the black bean soup, 1905 salad, plus we tried the champagne sangria which was very different and light. Don%26#39;t remember what everyone ordered (mostly scallops, shrimp and fish) but all agreed it was terrific and we had a very nice wait person - the ambience is nice and it was good for a group. It wasn%26#39;t really busy and the noise level was just right.
Breakfast the next morning at Old City House - has a limited menu since it is a B%26amp;B so my BIL couldn%26#39;t get his usual oatmeal and peanut butter breakfast but most of us had the standard English breakfast and it was very good - had the BEST bloody mary%26#39;s of the trip without a doubt. We were a little bit loud for the small interior since most everyone else was just tables of 2. Again, we had very good service.
That evening we had dinner at The Tasting Room, and sat in the courtyard area. Had an incredible wine selection (with flight choices that a couple of the group tried) but I%26#39;m a beer person so I tried the spanish beer (can%26#39;t remember the name now) and loved it. Mostly we had tapas and shared them - chorizo mushrooms, manchego cheese, shrimp, scallops, and more I can%26#39;t remember - all very good. Two couples had paella and I had a taste - also good. The only disappointment was my clams that were way too salty and tough. Great ambience in the courtyard, we didn%26#39;t see the entertainment but I enjoyed the outside better.
Sunday brunch was wonderful at LaPentola Restaurant - thanks for the suggestion - it was a huge hit with everyone. Sat in the courtyard and had the best french press coffee (and as much as we wanted), we had omelets, eggs benedict - really good but the outstanding plate was a shrimp and scallop pasta that my spouse ordered, yummy! The mimosas were very good as was the service.
Our last night we went to Caps on the Water for the sunset and dinner - a great place but be prepared for the bugs (no see%26#39;ums?) - they have bug spray but you might bring your own that is stronger. Best drink was Tim%26#39;s Rum Runner - my spouse ordered one and gave everybody a taste - even the non-drinkers ordered one - I don%26#39;t ordinarily like frozen drinks but it was the best I have had (the float on top of Myers rum was the secret). Mostly everyone orderd seafood, particularly shrimp, I had sea bass and everything was good, including appetizers of calamari, gator (hey, we%26#39;re tourists) and shrimp. It was a perfect place for our last night watching the sunset and no problem with our casual dress and being a large group. Our server was really good and helped with choosing the menu.
Breakfast at Athena Restaurant the next morning was just what we were looking for - great service, good omelets and pancakes - close to Casa Monica and not busy on Monday morning.
We would go back to all of these restaurants and highly recommend them, we had great service at each one - I was very impressed.
Now, on to the BARS and DRINKS
We hit several of them and enjoyed them all. There was a younger crowd at A1A Aleworks and J. P. Henleys but a little older at O. C. Whites (we enjoyed the guitarist inside), Scarlett O%26#39;Hara%26#39;s (and proved once again it is a small world - the bartender turned out to be an Okie and knew and worked with many of my SIL friends) and St George Tavern (ran in here when it started raining and stayed for awhile at the bar). Also liked the view from the Milltop Tavern of the fort on a Sunday afternoon, listening to the singer/guitarist flirt with the waitress.
The bar at Casa Monica was nice and had a jazz quartet on Sat night that were very good - the only suggestion would be to stock a couple of good aged rums - we love rum and was surprised to find mostly bacardi everywhere - Casa Monica did have Barbancourt from Haiti but only enough for one drink - they did go find a bottle of gold Cruzan in the stock room but that was it. I did notice that they made their mimosas with Roget%26#39;s champagne - pretty cheap stuff and the bloody mary we had our last morning was just straight out of a bottle of mix, not very good. The tables are small but I did like the bar and we had a great people watching spot for all the wedding guests (there were a least 4 weddings while we were there).
The other thing we noticed was that the sidewalks closed up on Sunday night - since we were there over a holiday weekend, we stayed until Monday - 4 of us were ready to go out and party on Sunday night but there was no where to go - no music, we wound up at Scarlett O%26#39;Hara%26#39;s and watched football, still a good time.
All in all, we had a great time and I would go back again to do and try the things we didn%26#39;t have time for. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and opinions - I really appreciate the assistance - I am generally in charge of making the plans and it can be nervewracking sometimes. All of you made this a successful relaxing weekend vacation for us!!
Thanks again, Babyjames
St Augustine Oct Trip Report Part 2
What a nice trip report babyjames. Thanks for sharing looks like you enjoyed your visit :)
Mehmet
St Augustine Oct Trip Report Part 2
Baby J,
Lots of good stuff here ... I always thought that Caps would come back ( from its bad past in my opinion) It has great views as was said . Some how the though of alcohol / bug spray and food seem to be a terrible mix. The last time I went ( and it was a while) the bugs where so bad I think they ate more of me than I ate of the food.
Maybe location not sure but, I have been to other places on the water that do not have that problem.( As bad)
Glad you had a great time as I always do !!!!
I orginally planned to go to Creekside Dinery or Saltwater Cowboys on Sunday night but I didn%26#39;t see much enthusiasm from the group so we asked a couple of locals where to go for water view and good seafood - they all said ';Caps'; so we went for it.
One person did have a recommendation from a friend in Chicago for The Conch? at the marina? - I asked around about it but didn%26#39;t get good feedback so we tried the Columbia instead. I probably should have mentioned that we are all ';50%26#39;s somethings';, we sure got funny looks at J P Henley%26#39;s - of course, the baseball game was on and it was fun to watch the locals go crazy for the Rays.
Thanks again, Babyjames
What a great report! I go into J.P. Henley%26#39;s all the time - I love the food there, very fresh and We are older than you. Never noticed any ';looks';! Cap%26#39;s was a better choice than Conch House for food; ambience about the same. I very much enjoyed your posts! Thanks for sharing with us! We love feedback here.
I also like Saltwater Cowboys and Creekside - maybe next time!
Yeah, bug spray and food together aren%26#39;t the greatest but we have been traveling in the Caribbean for many years and I%26#39;m a bug magnet - I have gotten used to it - I usually carry a small purse size Deep Woods OFF and wind up sharing it with others.
The waiter called the bugs ';no see%26#39;ums'; but they were different than ones we have run into before - 1st thing is you could see them - large bugs but the bite was very sharp - however, the bites were gone the next day.
Caps was very good and we really wanted to see a sunset, BTW, our waiter was a local who had worked there several years - he was great!
Thanks again for all the help!
Babyjames - I loved your report, sounds like you found the best spots to try! Next visit I would stop in at Denoels and have a chocolate eclair, the best. Also, I love the Conch House, you might want to give it a try, I know it is a hit or miss, Mahoney even knows the owners and doesnt recommend it but I have always had a good meal and I love the whole conch house thing and sitting in them on top of the water.
As far as the no-see-ums, I dont think that it what you experienced. They may have been big mosquitos, you really cant see the no-see-ums but they bite and once they are on you, you are in trouble, they will get in your scalp, even your eyebrows.....I hate them!
Sounds like you experienced biting gnats of some type - which are pravalent near the marsh land you were eating near, especially if it is a windy day. They are big, and yes, they give you a good bite, but the bites don%26#39;t itch and get all infected like no see up bites. No see-um bites itch me for weeks as I am a bug magnet also.
What I call no see-ums are about 2-3 mm long, less than 1 mm wide. I%26#39;m lucky they mostly get tangled in my leg hairs and I particulary enjoy smacking them. I%26#39;m pretty thick skinned and it feels like a needle prick, but then it%26#39;s gone.
BabyJames - WOW! What a fabulous review! I%26#39;m going to save it for myself since I have company coming for Christmas and I always like to have details details details.
I%26#39;ve eaten at Caps twice and never realized bugs could be a problem there. Yikes! Usually I%26#39;m a magnet for them, too, must have been ';off season'; for them. Good idea about carrying the small-size bottle of repellent; thanks!
I think the next time you visit you should let us locals know and WE%26#39;LL hang out with YOU - sounds like you know how to have a good time!
Max
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