I am travelling to St. Augustine the following month.

Do you have any suggestions regarding good Restaurants in that area?

Might seafood be an option, or caribean food?

Thank you in advance

You're unlikely to find any decent Caribbean that far north in the state. If you are open to somewhere that reflects local flavor, I would suggest a visit to the Saltwater Cowboy in St. Augustine beach:

http://www.saltwatercowboys.com/

Located in a rustic building overlooking a intercoastal river, this has always been a favorite of mine and serves fresh, quality seafood, as well as other regional "delicacies" (if you're open to trying gator tail, this would be your place--not my sort of thing!). This place doesn't take reservations, however, and patrons start to queue at 5. Worth the wait, however.

There is also a very modest place in the historic district, the Spanish Bakery, that serves fresh bread and surprisingly good and inexpensive Spanish-style lunch in a casual setting. Also worth trying if you don't mind eating outside on a picnic table.

Others might suggest the Gypsy Cab Company; I haven't found the food or service there to be anything more than mediocre.

Enjoy your visit!

Thank you for the reply.

You haven't said what kind of restaurant you're looking for.

We live about 30 minutes from St. Augustine - and the best restaurant in St. Augustine now in my opinion is Opus 39. I get around Florida a lot - and think it's one of the best restaurants in the whole state of Florida. It is a small restaurant run by a chef with CIA credentials. The only menu is a 5 course tasting menu (usually choice of 2 on all courses except the main - which is choice of 3 courses). It is fancy (in terms of food and price - but you don't have to wear a suit or even a jacket). Not cheap - but less than what you'd pay for the same quality of food in bigger cities. There are other high end restaurants in St. Augustine these days - but if you're only going to do one - this is the one I'd do.

You can get decent Floribbean food at A1A Aleworks. Not great - but decent. It is also a microbrewery with very good beers. Totally different class of restaurant than Opus 39 but you'll have a good time unless the place is slammed because of Bike Week or something like that. When my husband and I go there - we like to order some drinks and appetizer type things to share.

I don't much like Saltwater Cowboys because - having lived in Florida for almost 35 years - I won't wait on line for a fried fish place (even a good fried fish place) - or for any other place for that matter. I like places that take reservations.

One place you might take a look at that might not be on your radar screen is the Alligator Farm. I know - it sounds silly (although it's one of the oldest tourist attractions in Florida - about 100 years old). The alligators aren't that interesting - but - starting about April - the place becomes a world class bird rookery. Seems the birds figured out a while back that a place with a lot of alligators is a very safe place to build nests (the alligators keep away bird predators). So you get thousands of bird's nests - some so close to the boardwalk running through the place you can touch them - during breeding season. April is a bit early (high season is May-June) - but it's worth a look in April (you may not see many chicks - but you should see nest building and eggs). There's a discount coupon you can print off the web site.

If you let us know what you're interested in - I might have other suggestions. The local history museum (Government House) is worthwhile as is the fort. Also - the carriage rides can be fun (every driver will give you a different history of St. Augustine!). I am a golfer - and can give you some recommendations along those lines too (this is TPC week here - one of the best golf tournament spectator weeks in the US). St. Augustine really is the oldest city in the United States - and - as a resident of the county in which it's located - I'm pleased that it is still a pleasant small town to visit (hasn't been "gunked up" too much). Hope you have a good time - and give a holler if you have any questions. Robyn

Hi Robyn,

thank you for the reply.

And I looked into the links you provided. Those restaurants look excellent, but, as you mentioned they differ quite a lot. But I will be there for four weeks (April 13 to May 13), so I may try both of them.

You mentioned that you are a golf player. I am not, but my parents are, and as they are visiting me for two weeks, my question is: Where could they play in a nice, relaxing environment, do you have any recommendations where they could play as a guest?

Yours,

Matthias

If you'll be here for a month - you can probably try every decent restaurant in St. Augustine as well as a few of the better ones in Jacksonville (if you'll have time to get to Jacksonville - let me know - and I'll give you a few suggestions).

Since your parents will be bringing their golf clubs - and they won't be here for a while - I think the best thing to do is I can send you a copy of the little golf booklet which details all the golf courses in the area (there are lots). Course descriptions - yardages - public/private/semi-private etc. Many of the courses have "specials" which are listed on their web sites. Just pm or email me with your address and I'll pick up a copy and put it in the mail. When will your parents be here? We'd enjoy having them play at our course (TPC at Sawgrass) - but we will be out of the country from April 10 to April 27 (and will have a massive case of jet lag when we get home - we're going to Japan - so it will probably be about a week before we're back to normal). Robyn

I just returned from a four-day stay in St. Aug to Fort Laud. We are fairly jaded by the quality in Ft. Laud. If you will be spending time in the old town area of St. Aug I would recommend the Chianti Cafe. This is a brand new restaurant that is part of the PizzaAlley restaurant that is located on the main pedestrian-only road in Old Town (called St. George street). The ambience is OK, but the prices and flavorful entrees are the big plus. To give a sense of perspective, we had just eaten the previous night at the famous Columbian. Our entree without salad was $25 plus. Tasty but pricey. The Chianti cafe Chicken Marsala was $13.99 and included salad and veg and a starch. The Chianti Cafe is found by walking completely to the back of PizzaAlley. It is owned by the same people but has separate seating and maitre'd. We think the prices are so low for the area is because they have only now been open one week. After word gets out, we bet the prices will get in line with all the other nearby eateries. The quality was surprising; I was very dubious but won over. Another endorsement might be the fact that the local Pariish Priest was dining at the table next to ours. We recognized him from Mass the previous evening... Good sign...

If you go to St. Augustine on the trip. You will see lot of good place to go in St. Augustine. But, I am been there in St. Augustine for 12 years in my old school years ago. I can help you out there that I know the place is. There is good place to go on the tour on the train near St. Johns Public Library on San Marco Ave. There is another one for Old Jail right next Dunkin Dounts. I remember when I was there in St. Augustine.

If you want good restaurant near the mall on Ponce De Leon Blvd on US 1. You would able see more town of St. Augustine is growth than before. Probably you will go around at the beach on A1A.