Top 25 Restaurants in Jacksonville, 2010

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Also, we are talking about Jacksonville's restaurants and food scene here.  Of course it is dismal compared to Atlanta, DC, Miami, or New York.  We don't have rich chefs with rich investors who are going to front for some modern restaurant that seats at least 100 and has a daily changing menu of only the finest ingredients prepared by Tom Colicchio or Jean-Georges Vongerichten.  I still think we could do worse, though.

hahahahaha.  Not to bust on you simms, but really?  We have some fantastic restaurants here that do exactly what you're talking about, Orsay and Taverna come to mind first, because I've eaten at both for their Farm-to-Table dinners.  I think you'd be surprised at the freshness and the quality of ingredients that you would find at some of the independents.  
The reason that these restaurants aren't well known nationally (yet) is because their head chefs are still in the kitchen preparing food and writing menus.  When do you think the last time Colicchio left the set of Top Chef to put on his apron?  I doubt that he could tell you 4 items on the menu in any of his a dozen or more restaurants, and we're not talking the daily specials.

[fsujax]

went to Chew for lunch today it was really awesome! the place was packed. Felt like I was in the big city.

[Ocklawaha]

WTF? Where's Krystal's?

OCKLAWAHA

[ben says]

I'd like to see French Pantry on the list....
And Indochine. Not since Pom's shut down has Jacksonville had such well prepared Thai food.

[pwhitford]

Orange Park

Blu Grotto Trattoria and Pizzeria

Sorry, Blu Grotto is closed and has since been replaced with yet another sports bar, God help us...

[Captain Zissou]

I'd like to see French Pantry on the list....
And Indochine. Not since Pom's shut down has Jacksonville had such well prepared Thai food.

I'd put Ruan Thai over Indochine.  Both might be too new to make the list.  French Pantry should definitely be on there. 

[The Compound]

I'd like to see French Pantry on the list....
And Indochine. Not since Pom's shut down has Jacksonville had such well prepared Thai food.

I'd put Ruan Thai over Indochine.  Both might be too new to make the list.  French Pantry should definitely be on there. 

I like Tuptim Thai over Ruan Thai.

[simms3]

hahahahaha.  Not to bust on you simms, but really?  We have some fantastic restaurants here that do exactly what you're talking about, Orsay and Taverna come to mind first, because I've eaten at both for their Farm-to-Table dinners.  I think you'd be surprised at the freshness and the quality of ingredients that you would find at some of the independents. 
The reason that these restaurants aren't well known nationally (yet) is because their head chefs are still in the kitchen preparing food and writing menus.  When do you think the last time Colicchio left the set of Top Chef to put on his apron?  I doubt that he could tell you 4 items on the menu in any of his a dozen or more restaurants, and we're not talking the daily specials.

I ate at 'town and was not impressed, nor could I find where their ingredients came from.  Don't get me started because I have already discussed my experience there in another thread, but I would be willing to give them a second chance.

Also, believe me, we may have some good restaurants (I ate out A LOT when I grew up there and eat out A LOT every time I come home), but we won't find the same recognition or often the same quality you can find in other, larger cities.  Atlanta's food scene can't even find the same recognition as Miami's, where notherners fly for a day just to eat at some of the restaurants (and skip over Atlanta).  Also, no, we don't have many major investors sitting around like larger, much wealthier cities.  Our whole city is a reflection of that, though it does very well when compared to similarly sized metros.

Also, while we have some superb restaurants (some of which were too new to be included on their list, some of our best chefs work at the private clubs and not in the restaurants.  I'll be looking forward to the day that Jacksonville is large enough to sustain several really nice hotels that have restaurants open to the public.  That's where much of the best dining lays in all of the larger cities.

Bottom line is that we have lots of fresh, moderately priced, local restaurants here in town, and lots of cheap eats, but we don't have the demographics or size or tourist appeal to sustain a noteworthy fine dining scene here.  There are only a few restaurants that serve really fine dishes that are meant for special occasions, and these dishes can be found with much greater abundance in many other cities, which is why you see more famous chefs/Top Chefs from a select few cities.  We also don't have the same "sophisticated" big city crowd that larger, more cosmopolitan cities have.  Heck, most places in town are shut down by 9, and where I live I don't even eat dinner until 10 or 11 and many restaurants are open til 1 or 2.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

The restaurants here have to be moderately priced or they'll price themselves out of the market.  So in that aspect, you're correct, we just don't have enough people living here willing to pay those price points (>$50/entree), but you have to ask yourself this, "Why does a 10 oz filet in NYC cost $72 and when I get it here it's only $35?"  It's not that they grow magic cows, it's just about charging what your clientele is comfortable paying.

The recognition probably won't come anytime soon, either.  13G had a bit of lime-light, but it was aimed at the soccer moms watching Food Network, not for the real 'food critics.'  I haven't been since the airing of the show, because I'm too sketchy to make a reservation, but when I ate there regularly (2-3 a month) I always found the food to be exceptional, and never have had a bad experience.  The other restaurants in town are starting to carve their niches, but like you said, some have only been around for just around 2 years (I'm looking at you Orsay.) 

The other problem that hinders Jacksonville in the recognition is lack of a 'food identity' so-to-speak.  Miami has Modern Chic, the Pacific Northwest has Earthy, Las Vegas has Over-Indulgence, Chicago has Old School Gangster,  New York has Inherent Pretentiousness.  Jacksonville has....... Lubi's?  I know it's unfair to compare our town with the others mentioned, but you get my point.

[letters and numbers]

If there's better middl eastern food in JaX than Wafaa and Mikes cafe on Main st then I'd like to see it!

[simms3]

I wasn't referring to steak dinners, necessarily (little variation here).  I agree with you, but I think the "identities" you give for the other areas are more cultural identities and not food identities.  At the top, chefs have identities over places.  I don't really think Miami has a "food identity" like Maryland, Maine, MA, MO, and Texas do, but I think Miami has a lot of good chefs specializing in various aspects of cuisine, and they in turn attract good sous chefs and investors.  There is a demand for that there, though, with wealthy retirees, wealthy gays and Latin Americans, celebrities, and lots of wealthy tourists/travelers and second homeowners.

A couple from Ponte Vedra came up to Atlanta to escape for a couple days, and they took me out to eat one night while here.  They took me to Restaurant Eugene, run by Linton Hopkins, nominated by James Beard Foundation as the best chef in the Southeast.  Every item on the menu was made from scratch from ingredients from within 100 miles of Atlanta, and the sources were named at each item.  From various TarTar dishes to rabbit to various Foei Gras dishes to Sweetbreads, etc.  His next door restaurant is called Holman & Finch, and features America's best burger (voted #1).  He serves only 5 or so a night and only after 10 o'clock, because if he served to order, everyone would order the burger and his good sous chefs would leave (who wants to grill burgers all night long?).

By the way, little Birmingham, AL has considerable food/chef/beverage recognition in the Southeast.  Tom Gray of Bistro Aix is really one of the only nationally known chefs in Jax aside from Erika Davis (Top Chef: Just Desserts season 1, Ponte Vedra), Matthew Medure (James Beard Rising Star in 1996, 1997, and Matthews in San Marco, a AAA 5 Diamond restaurant), Guy Leroy (Wolfgang Puck's college roommate, Brasserie in Jax Beach), and Kenny Gilbert (Top Chef season 7, The Grill/Salt at Ritz Carlton, a AAA 5 Diamond restaurant, Nipper's in Jax Beach).

Personally, I'd like to see Jonathan Insetta become our own little version of a celebrity chef.  Atlanta has Panos Karatassos, who is arguably one of the biggest and best restauranteurs in the country.  He has a new French restaurant, an Italian restaurant next door to me (all heart healthy dishes because the exec chef had a heart attack, LoL), a glitzy restaurant, a diner, a Greek restaurant, a SW style restaurant (one of my favorites in Atl...Nava), and the list goes on.

Insetta is a different style for sure, but it looks like he is attempting bigger projects now, and he has proven he has the food/menu down.

[JeffreyS]

I'd like to see French Pantry on the list....
And Indochine. Not since Pom's shut down has Jacksonville had such well prepared Thai food.

Have you tried Thai Garden in Orange Park? It is wonderful.

I see lemongrass on the list. Has it improved a lot or is this just a bad list?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

If there's better middl eastern food in JaX than Wafaa and Mikes cafe on Main st then I'd like to see it!

I drive past it 4-5 times a week and have never stopped by, but I'm guessing from your post that I should make an exception.

[brainstormer]

I wish we had better restaurants on the river.  I think downtown Jacksonville is beautiful at night.  Whenever guests come to visit, I struggle to think of a nice, high quality, non chain restaurant on the river.  Ruth's C is good but I'm not always interested in dropping a few hundred dollars on Mom.  I wish we had more retail development along the river so that a place like Chew, Indochine, or Blue Bamboo could potentially open.  The riverfront is mostly residential and business.  I hope that as we look to how land is developed along the river this is taken into consideration.  For example, if a new convention center is built on the old courthouse site, there must be options for river-fronting restaurants.