Best Food in Town

[thunnus]

Best Italian in town used to be Tonino's Trattoria off of Merrill Road. Haven't been there in 5 years, but he used to fill some ravioli's, boy.  Also, the guy from La Cena will fill you up with pretty decent fare. 

[simms3]

Loved reading through this thread.  I'll add a few of my own:

Overall best restaurants:

Orsay, bb's, 13 Gypsies, The Wine Cellar, perhaps Matthews, Ocean 60, Beech St Grill in Fernandina

- I have heard that Azurea at One Ocean in AB is really good, as well.
- I think Bistro Aix is highly overrated, and the restaurant that was on the corner across the street was much better.  Too bad it closed.


Best pizza:

I have always preferred Renna's and then Al's.


Best Italian:

Mezza Luna in NB or La Cena downtown (be prepared for a potentially "interesting" experience)


Best Middle Eastern:

I'm very partial to the Casbah in Avondale, which is expanding finally


Best local seafood:

Definitely Safe Harbor (I go there every time I am in town).  Singleton's has gotten a little too dirty for my taste.  Boating trips to Outback Crabshack, Lulu's, Whitey's, Cap's or Clark's are all the same general experience, but definitely good-fun eats.   Bluefish is ok, I have yet to be impressed.  I admit I don't prefer fried seafood, so it's nice to go somewhere that offers sauteed or seared fish rather than grilled or fried.  I have actually enjoyed the food at Mitchell's, though the atmosphere and location are so generic.



Restaurants I MISS!!!

1) Dolphin Depot - hands down was the best seafood I have ever had in my life and I just loved the experience of the waiters telling the menu (my parents hated that)

2) Pom's - hands down the best Thai I have ever eaten.  I hear he has opened a new restaurant called Pom's Signature in Tapestry Park.  I really loved the old location above Square One (I hear San Marco has been in decline a little bit recently).

3) Village Cafe in Ortega - I wouldn't expect many if any to know this one, but consistently excellent food.  Very impressive, but a shame the ladies got tired of running the restaurant.  One of the ladies is a tennis pro at Timuquana and serves up sandwiches, which are good, at Carter's.

4) Pastiche pre-Bono's - was very good.  I hear the chef finally got tired of working with Bono's and left.  I believe that is still a rumor.

5) Sterlings - I know there was a lot of drama there and people found one half of the ownership to be quite rude, but I really loved brunch there.  Was the best brunch in town (that probably goes to the Players Club now).


Lunch:

Cafe Nola is quite good.  I had a memorable experience there a couple years ago.
Chew left me underwhelmed on the contrary, but of course Orsay may be the best in town overall.


Private clubs:

Ponte Vedra really has an excellent culinary program there and blows every other club in NE FL out of the water.  Anyone who has the opportunity to eat in the main dining room for brunch or dinner should take that offer up (if you are a member, you already know).


Restaurants that have gotten bad press or left others unimpressed that still please me:

River City Brewing Company
Biscotti's


Restaurants that need to adapt/change/improve or die:

Bistro Aix
The Brick

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Simms, I can't tell you what happened to the last chef at Pastiche, because after Eric opened up Heirlooms (now closed) in San Jose, I kind of lost track.  Currently, the chef, Jenny Selden, is from Biscottis (albeit a while ago, maybe 5-6 years)  She trained under another chef in SC, opened a restaurant in L.A. using nuevo, southern comfort food, bounced around a bit in Savannah and now is the Chef at Patio at Pastiche.  Their menu is southern comfort food with a twist and next time you're in town, you should check out their Family Supper concept.  Thursdays - Saturday is a 4-5 course menu, served family style and it's pretty awesome.  I haven't been for lunch, but, again, it's the same concept. 

From what I can tell, the only influence that Bono's has is a strong catering base and deep pockets.  The food coming out of the kitchen is genuine.

[ChriswUfGator]

The brick is generic food, but in a good setting with a well stocked bar and live music, I don't know that they're trying to be anything other than what they are. And it seems to work for them. I go all the time, I am not expecting superb food, I'd go to Orsay for that. Just a place to relax and people watch.

AIX, on the other hand is snot-central, their attitude is writing checks their kitchen can't cash. The food at AIX is worse than if you just made the same thing at home, and I can't even cook. When I first moved to Jacksonville, AIX was the cat's meow, they used to run an hour wait whenever you went. I don't remember it being this bad back then, but then the quality of the food in town has improved dramatically over the past decade, so I'm not sure whether AIX has gone downhill or is just stuck in a 2000-era time warp and hasn't adjusted to the new (higher) expectations people have. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the food is abysmal and the service is deplorable.

That's happened everywhere by the way, if I look back at what passed for fine dining when I was younger, those standards are laughable now, everything is much more complex. The best of the best restaurants in Florida back in the 80s and 90s, the Forge, Kapoc Tree, then in the 90s Tantra and its copycats, all had some gimmick like a palatial building, live grass inside the building, whatever, but at the of the day it was basic seafood or meat and potatoes. I ate at Graycliff back when it was top 10 in the world according to zagat, and it was still basically meat and potatoes, plus a snazzy souffle. I know I'm dating myself with all this, but hey, I'm getting old why hide it.

The west coast finally influenced everything else, and and AIX is still stuck in that limbo period circa 2000, where everybody was trying to be all cutting edge with their presentation of pizzas, fries, and grilled cheese sandwiches. They need to get with the program, that doesn't cut it anymore. Some less surly staff wouldn't kill them either.

[ben says]

The brick is generic food, but in a good setting with a well stocked bar and live music, I don't know that they're trying to be anything other than what they are. And it seems to work for them. I go all the time, I am not expecting superb food, I'd go to Orsay for that. Just a place to relax and people watch.

AIX, on the other hand is snot-central, their attitude is writing checks their kitchen can't cash. The food at AIX is worse than if you just made the same thing at home, and I can't even cook. When I first moved to Jacksonville, AIX was the cat's meow, they used to run an hour wait whenever you went. I don't remember it being this bad back then, but then the quality of the food in town has improved dramatically over the past decade, so I'm not sure whether AIX has gone downhill or is just stuck in a 2000-era time warp and hasn't adjusted to the new (higher) expectations people have. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the food is abysmal and the service is deplorable.

That's happened everywhere by the way, if I look back at what passed for fine dining when I was younger, those standards are laughable now, everything is much more complex. The best of the best restaurants in Florida back in the 80s and 90s, the Forge, Kapoc Tree, then in the 90s Tantra and its copycats, all had some gimmick like a palatial building, live grass inside the building, whatever, but at the of the day it was basic seafood or meat and potatoes. I ate at Graycliff back when it was top 10 in the world according to zagat, and it was still basically meat and potatoes, plus a snazzy souffle. I know I'm dating myself with all this, but hey, I'm getting old why hide it.

The west coast finally influenced everything else, and and AIX is still stuck in that limbo period circa 2000, where everybody was trying to be all cutting edge with their presentation of pizzas, fries, and grilled cheese sandwiches. They need to get with the program, that doesn't cut it anymore. Some less surly staff wouldn't kill them either.

Couldn't agree more re: AIX.

And while I agree that Brick really has no incentive to be anything else (nor is it trying to be)...how much cooler would that place be if you could chill/people watch/hang out AND get a damn good meal. I go there about once a week for a drink...but by the time I get hungry, I hate having to get up and move into "whats for dinner" mode.

[Tacachale]

Ah, first world problems.

[ben says]

Ah, first world problems.

Agree. Feel kinda stupid talking about this stuff when billions can't get flour and water.

[ChriswUfGator]

Ah, first world problems.

It's not like we don't contribute to the rest of the world, Tachachale. Tomahawks cost $1.5mm apiece, bunker-busters are $1.25mm to $3mm depending on the yield, F-18s are $57mm apiece, come on, we're dropping tons of money around the globe on combatting world hunger, Bush-style. You have to remember, there are two sides to every supply/demand curve. Those wussy French just send food over, the U.S. goes right to the root of the problem and reduces the number of mouths to feed.

Now back to restaurants...

[fieldafm]

4) Pastiche pre-Bono's - was very good.  I hear the chef finally got tired of working with Bono's and left.  I believe that is still a rumor.

Pastiche's new supper club Thursday and Friday nights is SERIOUSLY awesome (and cheap).  Southern-inspired cooking served family style for $20.  Jenny is a super good cook and is honestly one of the more friendly/accessible chefs in the neighborhood.

Honestly, Pastiche is WAY better now!  I've eaten there more since they re-opened than I ever ate there before the new look/partnership.

Their catering(of which I have used a half dozen times since November) is STILL top notch I can assure you.

[ChriswUfGator]

I've been meaning to try that out at Pastiche.

I've been getting the emailed flyers, thanks for the recommendation you just moved that up to the top of my list.

[fieldafm]

Go next Friday night(27th) and the lady friend and I will be glad to join you. 

[I-10east]

I stumbled upon 'Joey Brooklyn Famous Pizza' on 7860 Gate Parkway near I-295, and wow! It's the real deal NY style pizza. I think that I found my new favorite pizza place. 

[I-10east]

^^^That place is closed, but I found a great replacement; Brewer's Pizza in Orange Park not far from Red Lobster is really good.

[jaxcpa]

I second Brewer's Pizza. We discovered them doing the Jax Ale Trail. Gotta try the "florida smacker" pizza if you haven't yet. Soooo good.

[I-10east]

The Fresh Market's fried chicken in a bucket, trust me!!! Publix's is pretty good, but TFM's put them to shame! Not greasy, very flavorful, moist, perfect!