Top St. Augustine Restaurants: 4 Reviews of Must-Try Local Eats
St. Augustine, Florida is known for many things. As the oldest continually inhabited city in North America, you expect plenty of ghost tours, tourist traps, even the famed fountain of youth. Spend some time at those attractions or perhaps some time on the beach working up an appetite, because St. Augustine restaurants are worth your attention.
St. Augustine Restaurants
We spent a few days exploring the sights and the St. Augustine food scene, trying out four restaurants recommended by both previous visitors and locals. Although we skipped the water at the Fountain of Youth, we discovered some delicious food and a burger that has us eager to return.
River & Fort St. Augustine
Without ever leaving the area surrounding the historic district in downtown St. Augustine, you could find more than enough excellent places for all your meals. One of those establishments we checked out was River & Fort. Located at 12 Avenida Menedez, River & Fort is a nice break from the touristy historic district.
The day we were stopped in for lunch was cloudy and cold. If you’re lucky enough to be there with plenty of Florida sunshine, then plan your visit to River & Fort on their second and third floor rooftop lounges. Their patios have amazing views of Castillo de San Marcos and the bayfront.
River & Fort’s food was also pretty good. Our River & Fort review starts with their lobster roll and their chicken salad. The lobster roll is served with fries and it was good, but nothing especially stood out. The star of lunch for us was the chicken salad, served with a delicious honey grilled chicken and a sweet tarragon-basil aioli.
River & Fort has a wide variety of options on their lunch and dinner menus. Reservations are available on their website, and are recommended especially during peak season. This restaurant is a part of a local group, which also operates a few other highly recommended restaurants including River & Post and Saint.
If River & Fort is too fancy for you, then you might want to check out O’Steen’s Restaurant in St. Augustine. O’Steen’s has been around for over 50 years, and is a throwback to old family restaurants from small towns all across America.
Traditional Food From O’Steen’s
O’Steen’s prides itself on serving up many of the same dishes as when Mrs. O’Steen opened up the diner at 205 Anastasia Blvd. They are known for their southern cooking and hospitality, as well as for not accepting credit cards. So plan ahead if you’re going to check them out for lunch or dinner.
The standout on their menu is their fried shrimp. O’Steen’s uses a cracker meal for their breading which gives it a unique look, taste and texture. We had the shrimp as a part of the fried seafood platter, which also included fried fish, oysters, scallops and a deviled crab patty.
We started off with a cup of the Minorcan clam chowder. This chowder is Manhattan style, served with onions, bacon, green bell peppers, clams with their juice, crushed tomatoes, celery, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, and datil chili pepper. This is a very St. Augustine type dish, with the fresh seafood influences along with early settlers to the area from Minorca. Minorca is a tiny island off the coast of Spain, which was the homeland for many early settlers to this part of Florida.
An O’Steen’s Restaurant review would not be complete without mentioning about how large the portions are. If you’re stopping by, come with a big appetite. This is a place for southern, fried comfort food. It is quite popular with the tourists,with long lines in the parking lot waiting to get a table in season. We stopped in during the week in the midst of the off season, and had no trouble getting in.
St. Augustine’s Beachcomber Restaurant
A trip to Florida wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a beach bar for a fresh fish sandwich and a cold brew. We satisfied that craving at the Beachcomber St. Augustine Restaurant. Located as close to the sand as they possibly can be at 2 A Street in St. Augustine, Beachcomber is a good spot to grab a quick bite before or after time at the beach.
The location is great, but they offer more than just a convenience. As you would expect, they specialize in fresh seafood and offer up daily specials. On our visit, the catch of the day was a trigger sandwich served with fries or mixed vegetables. The Caribbean shrimp skewers over rice were very tasty and highly recommended. Blackened shrimp on a skewer topped with pineapple pico was very filling.
Even if you get filled up, save room for dessert. The Beachcomber has fresh, in-house made desserts. Among the offerings to finish off your meal is a delicious peanut butter pie, Key Lime pie or an enticing chocolate bourbon cake.
GAS – Full Service Restaurant
We certainly did not get a chance to try all the recommendations that we were given for St. Augustine’s. There were many to choose from, but this next one was without a doubt our favorite meal while we were hanging out in St. Augustine.
GAS is not necessarily the most appealing name for a restaurant. The name pays homage to the former gas station where this restaurant is located. Though only open a few years, they have developed quite a reputation, and we agree. Our GAS – Full Service Restaurant review is full of praise, with simply some of the best burgers we’ve come across anywhere.
We later found out that GAS had been featured on the Food Network’s show “Guilty Pleasures,” but our introduction to it was from one of our tour guides.
On “Guilty Pleasures,” they showed off the deep fried burger. We did not go that route, but still tried a burger. And we’re glad we did.
The owners of GAS St. Augustine take pride in the creation of their entire menu, using only locally sourced ingredients. Starting off our journey, we tried the fried green tomatoes. The appetizer is served with a buttermilk ranch dip, which works very well with the tomatoes which were surprisingly not too greasy.
For their burgers, they only use local, grass feed beef that they grind themselves in the kitchen. And as if that wasn’t enough to set them apart, they make their own bread in house, providing the perfect vehicle to hold these delicious burgers.
You cannot go wrong with a burger at GAS. In our case, we chose a mushroom Swiss burger and a half tank burger. The mushroom Swiss delivers just what the name says, with ample mushrooms, cheese, grilled onions and Russian dressing to compliment the fresh ground beef. The half tank burger is not for the faint of heart. This half pound burger is topped with house made pimento cheese, slaw, applewood smoked bacon, fried pickles, lettuce, tomato and onion.
These burgers are worth diverting yourself to St. Augustine for a few days. These burgers were the best specialty burgers we’ve found. The restaurant is a casual, comfortable atmosphere where the owners have put the emphasis on quality at a high level. The food quality is that of a high end establishment, being brought to you from a former gas station. We loved it.
GAS – Full Service Restaurant is located at 9 Anastasia Blvd C in St. Augustine. They are open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. They have daily specials for dinner each night, starting at 5PM. They do not take reservations, but the wait is worth it should you experience one.
Love a good burger? Be sure to check out some of our other favorite burger restaurants and compare our favorites with yours.
