Attn Jacksonville Foodies! (University, Orange Park: live, restaurant, beach)

[mawipafl]

I'll venture a guess that for the $25 prix fixe, it does not include any beverages at all participating restaurants. The Twisted Martini, however, does include a drink, but the others offer either a starter or salad and entree and maybe dessert. Detailed menus (as well as hours, location, parking) are found on EatUpDowntown.com.

[cathal]

did any one try this "king dragon " a vietnamese restaurant , one of my vietnamese frend told tht its a gud one ..Also my all time favorite is "Thai Room" on jax beaches....

[mroth]

Originally Posted by PinoyDoc

Hello Riveree

Caribbean Sunrise is run by Jamaicans, and they are gooooood. I've tried their jerk chicken, curried goat, oxtails (on separate occasions, of course). The surrounding area is not a good part of town, though, so I won't recommend going there late in the day. I go there maybe 2-3 times a month (I like them that much!). The lunch period is very busy, and most people get food to go. I usually get to go (Oxtails--yumm! ) but have eaten there as well. The eatery is clean. I believe they have a website, you can google them up.

Do you have the website, I am having troubles finding it. I see a CitySearch reference but that is it. We used to have a place up in Maryland that we loved to go to. Unfortunately, some of their best food had "Fake" names, so I have never figured out what the meals really were (like Bob Marley Chicken, Ziggy Marley wings). Is funny though... the place we used to visit was a 'Bakery' also. It was the Muffin Man, they had all kinds of muffins that you could get too...

Nevermind on the Wesbite, I think I found it after a different search...

[RelocateTo JAX]

Hello,

We are considering a relocation from Cleveland. Believe it or not, Cleveland is a GREAT foodie city (check out Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel this Monday night for a sneak peek of Cleveland). Anyways, I have not heard many good things about the food scene in JAX. I'd love to hear what you all think.

What are the best restaurants?
Are there many local restaurants (as opposed to chains)?
What places use locally sourced ingredients?
What are the best restaurant areas?


I'd love any links or info you can share with me. We will be making our decision soon and this could make it easier.

Thanks!

Dave

[riveree]

There have been quite a few recent threads about restaurants with locals posting their favorites - one was started by Lawstudent - you might want to search for that one and check out the others too.

We have a good mix of local and chain - no lack of either.

The restaurants are spread all over, but some of the best are clustered in San Marco. You can also check out the beach, Avondale, and downtown for some other clusters of good restaurants.

When you next visit, pick up an issue of Folio (free) and maybe also an issue of Jacksonville Magazine (buy at B&N or Publix), they have restaurant listings/reviews in every issue. Folio just did their big Restaurant Guide issue this past week.

Are you going to find 5 star restaurants in Jax? No, not really (we have a few that come close - Matthew's is one), but we still have a nice scale of casual and more serious restaurants and everything in between .

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by RelocateTo JAX

Hello,

We are considering a relocation from Cleveland. Believe it or not, Cleveland is a GREAT foodie city (check out Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel this Monday night for a sneak peek of Cleveland). Anyways, I have not heard many good things about the food scene in JAX. I'd love to hear what you all think.

What are the best restaurants?
Are there many local restaurants (as opposed to chains)?
What places use locally sourced ingredients?
What are the best restaurant areas?


I'd love any links or info you can share with me. We will be making our decision soon and this could make it easier.

Thanks!

Dave

You may also want to checkout chowhound.com as well. There's a Jax thread there along with some good recs.

[riley]

too bad i missed out on that! is there anything like this anytime soon? how would i find out?

Originally Posted by mawipafl

There's a promotional thing going on right now called EatUp Downtown - 15 restaurants are participating through Sunday, Aug 26th. Three-course, prix fixe dinners for $25. No coupons or anything, just call for reservations. The list of restaurants and more info can be found at Eat Up Downtown!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by riley

too bad i missed out on that! is there anything like this anytime soon? how would i find out?

Hi Riley ,

I think they do the event at least once a year - check the link inside your quote above .

[vdecapio]

I am moving down to Jacksonville from New Jersey in September so I can't vouch for any of these restaurants I am about to mention, but I have done an extensive search for ethnic food options in Jacksonville....so hopefully these will add to your list.

Batavia (Indonesian) 1324 Beach Blvd.
Ed's Spanish American Cookery (Puerto Rican) 117 E. Bay St.
El Rinconcito (Columbian) 1621 University Blvd.
Itziban (Korean) 675 E. 3rd St.
Saigon Time (Vietnamese) 622 Casset Ave.
Caribbean Sunrise Bakery (Jamaican) 4106 N. Main St.
Cafe Spain (Spanish) in St. Augustine google for address
Havana Jax (Cuban) google for address
Little Harbor Restaurant (Portuguese) 1574 US 1 South in St. Augustine

Also, I did visit a nice, little hispanic grocery store in a plaza on Old Bay Meadows Rd. called Las Paisas. They even have frozen arepas to buy there, so I was pleasantly surprised!

And one more ethnic food note, I actually called a couple of Italian markets to see if they sell fresh mozzarella and although neither said they make it on the premises, it is available at:
Italian Market 645 Atlantic Blvd. Atlantic Beach
Via's Italian Food Market 2292 Mayport Rd. Atlantic Beach

Again, I cannot vouche to say if these are all truly authentic, but from the appearance only it looks like they have potential. Please add to this list if you can! I would especially like to see more ethnic food options from the Middle East and central and south america if anybody knows of them.

[mawipafl]

They're already making plans for next year's EatUpDowntown event -- most of the participating restaurants saw such a huge increase in business that it was determined to be well-worth it.

We ate at the Twisted Martini. We had tried for The Wine Cellar, but it was booked solid for the entire week. However, although the Twisted Martini isn't totally used to serving so-called meals (most patrons just get an appetizer to accompany their beverages), we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and without doubt will return.

We started off with fancy martinis -- mine was the signature Twisted Martini with colorful layers of apple, pineapple, raspberry (or strawberry) - too pretty to drink! (but I did of course :-) Then we had sweet potato nachos covered with crumbled blue cheese with three different dipping sauces. Then came smoked baked mozzarella - large blocks, not sticks - with a very tasty red sauce. Our "main" dish was three skewers of thai chicken, a teriyaki-type steak, and, I think, a Creole steak. Again, this was served with 3 dipping sauces. All of it was fantastic.

We sat in the pub/lounge side as opposed to the DJ side. It was a little bit quieter - not by much - but we could have a conversation without yelling across the table. Through the window we enjoyed people-watching the folks meandering around Jacksonville Landing. There were very few patrons other than us between 6:30 and 7:30, and then the crowds began to show up. Whether this is usual for a Saturday night, I'm not sure. The service wasn't super fast, but we never felt forgotten. The staff was quite friendly.

Anyway, mark your calendars for next August for the Second Annual EatUpDowntown. In the meantime, if you're hankerin' for a great martini and wonderful food, try the Twisted Martini.