Restaurants in Atlantic Coast
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Dancing Avocado Kitchen
Fresh and healthful, a meal here makes you feel better…or is it just the fresh air flowing through the custom-made air filters? Yummy Mexican dishes like extreme burritos and quesadillas dominate the menu at this vegetarian-oriented café, but the signature dancing avocado melt is tops. There’s a juice and smoothie bar on-site, the salsa is made from scratch, and once a month all tips go to charity.
reviewed
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Clark's Fish Camp
It doesn't any get more Floridian than this. Absolutely worth driving 27 miles for, this restaurant, on a gator-filled lake, was originally a bait-and-tackle shop and now combines the art of taxidermy (hundreds of stuffed lions, tigers, leopards, you name it, proliferate indoors and out), with mind-boggling meals of fried or charred turtle, kangaroo, antelope and rattlesnake.
Work up your courage with a Swamp Fest platter of gator tail, soft-shell crab, frog's legs, conch, catfish and squid, plus two sides and hushpuppies. There's a rustic elongated timber bar with barrel tables, but the best tables are on the lakeside outdoor deck. From Jacksonville, take the I-95 south …
reviewed
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European Street Cafe
If you just don't know what you want, this place has a lengthy menu, enormous bakery case and over 150 kinds of beer.
reviewed
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Cap’s on the Water
Overlooking the Matanzas River, the setting sun streaks through an unobscured sky offering the region’s best sunset. Featuring new coastal cuisine (Southern dishes with Asian-European influences) in an Old Florida setting (this former fish camp was built in 1947), this restaurant has three seating areas (inside, waterfront, oyster bar). You’d think that’d be enough, but the wait often exceeds two hours. Arrive early or be prepared to linger.
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Manatee Café
Despite its move out of town to Westgate Plaza and the fact that you're dining surrounded by shelves of vitamins, Manatee's scrambled tofu, hummus pitas, soy-cheese pizza and other veggie creations (Cajun-style chicken's also on the menu for the non-converted) remain as hugely in demand as ever - reserve ahead or phone in your to-go order well before hunger strikes or you'll be in for a wait, albeit well worth it.
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Collage
Inside the terracotta walls of this alluring place you’re transported far from St Augustine’s tourist commotion. The head chef, 24-year-old Melody, is a wizard in the kitchen, working her magic over (mainly) seafood and steaks. There’s a carefully assembled wine list and each course is separated by a homemade tropical sorbet as a palate cleanser. The wait staff can be a bit hovery, but service is impeccable.
reviewed
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Santa Maria Restaurant
Right out over the water at the end of a wooden pier, where hungry catfish wait for diners to open the trapdoor in the window sill and drop breadcrumbs (bowls are brought to your table with your meal). All sorts of blackened, broiled and fried seafood is on the menu, as well as steaks and pasta. In October and November and during the spring you'll often spot dolphins, which come right into the bay.
reviewed
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Matthew's
The stunning bronze-inlaid terrazzo floor of this 1920s bank cues the glam decor of this very fine restaurant, which would be comfortably at home in London, Paris or New York. The showy open kitchen is a fine stage for Matthew Medure and his team to meld exquisite Southern, Mediterranean, Asian and Middle Eastern flavors. Game is a specialty.
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Pizzalley's on St George
The aroma of homemade dough and melting imported Italian cheese wafting from Pizzalley's baking ovens accounts for the long lines for a table. Vine-draped arched mirrors deceptively enhance the size of the elongated dining room; there's also a hidden covered courtyard out back, but the best seat in the house is the tiled rooftop terrace.
reviewed
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bb’s
With its molded concrete bar, clean, modern lines and daily cheese selection, this Euro-staurant may initially feel hipper-than-thou. But pull up a seat, chat with the staff and discover they’re just like you – only dressed entirely in black. The chocolate ganache cake is worth the trip.
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Sangria’s
On the 2nd floor overlooking the intersection of St George and Hypolita, the outside corner table is supreme for people-watching. Three kinds of sangria (the white Sangri-La is exquisite), a great tapas menu, and live music (mostly jazz) nightly. The kitchen closes around 9pm.
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Casbah
Upon spying the swords, camels and Moorish lanterns lining the walls, you’ll wonder if a passport is required for entry. Featuring authentic Middle Eastern dishes, beer, music and belly dancing, the café doubles as a hookah lounge with dozens of flavorful tobacco concoctions.
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Present Moment Café
Dishing up ‘Kind Cuisine, ’ this folksy restaurant only serves vegetarian and vegan options. Its organic dishes burst with flavor, live enzymes and nutrients and won’t leave you feeling bloated – unless you order a second chocolate marble torte with drunken banana.
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Casa Maya
Snappy jazz wafts through the jasmine-shaded patio of this vegetarian-friendly Mayan (or Northern Central American) restaurant. The Mayan wrap features (oddly, but tastily) hummus and feta, and comes with organic chips. Most dishes incorporate local ingredients.
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Down the Hatch
Overlooking the gently lapping Halifax River and acres of pristine mangroves, this former fish camp appeals largely to Daytona’s condo crowd, but it still nails the casual seafood-dive vibe thanks to live Floribbean music and unmatched sunset views.
reviewed
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Pasha
Virtually unchanged since it opened in the ’70s, this place combines an Aladdin’s cave deli of imported Middle Eastern goods and a café with authentic dishes like Armenian breaded cheese pie and platters served with the owner’s grandma’s pita bread.
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Café Carmon
Light and airy inside, the tables outside are best if you like people watching. Located across from the lions in the heart of fashionable San Marco, this cheery restaurant features creative pasta dishes and scrumptious salads.
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Starlite Diner
Straight outta Happy Days, this gleaming chrome diner serves giant good ’n’ greasy portions under assorted ’50s memorabilia. Hope that red vinyl booth is comfortable; service can be agonizingly slow.
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Spanish Bakery
Behind Whetstone Chocolates in a picnic-table-strewn courtyard, this historic stone kitchen bakes up empanadas and smoked-sausage rolls. Five dollars gets you one of the above plus a drink, roll and cookie.
reviewed
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Dixie Crossroads
Smiling shrimp statues welcome you to a riot of murals, sculptures, fishponds and fountains - all paying homage to the fresh, local seafood. Want a lot? All-you-can-eat rock shrimp is $45 a person.
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Local Heroes
This blue 1820s bungalow has hot sandwiches, frosty brews, a cool back porch shaded by a massive oak and an awesome Curtis Mayfield collection. A fun way to jump from the 1570s to the 1970s.
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Neelam Indian Cuisine
A great way to ‘escape’ Daytona, the spicy smells of Neelam’s tandoori oven immediately transport you away from the beaches of Florida – all the way to the mountains of northern India.
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Gypsy Bar & Grill
Adjacent to Gypsy Cab Co; there's stand-up comedy every Thursday to Saturday night, with two acts while you dine on fine grill fare like oat-smoked salmon or blackened shrimp nachos.
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Beachcomber Restaurant
After surfing at A St, refuel with a plateful of blueberry pancakes for breakfast on the wraparound timber deck over the sand, or an afternoon beer at the tiled island bar.
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