Restaurants in Jacksonville Beach
Recommended Restaurants by Groupon Customers
Like the Phoenician traders who set out from Lebanese ports in ancient times, the Barakat family has voyaged far and wide, spreading culinary excellence across three continents since the 1930s. Founded in 2008 by Pierre Barakat, Mandaloun Mediterranean Cuisine is the latest outpost of a dynasty that includes UK restaurants run by Pierre's nephews and his father John's original eatery back in Lebanon. Family tradition finds expression in recipes honed over decades, guiding chefs as they transform fresh ingredients into Mediterranean classics from veg-friendly falafel to meaty shawarma and kebabs. Sunlight glints off outdoor tables in front during the day, and belly dancers maze between white-linen-topped tables inside on some weekend nights.
New Mexico-grown chilies, Alaskan king crab, and Iowan beef sizzle and pop in the skillets at Campeche Bay Cantina, whose home-style kitchen turns out both traditional dishes and unexpected takes on familiar flavors. Chorizo quesadillas and carne asada tacos compete for diners' affections with chicken or steak fajita sandwiches and the pretzel crust and raspberry sauce of the margarita pie.
Nestled within the brick-lined streets of the Tapestry Park shopping center, Lime Leaf Thai Restaurant lures diners in with tangerine walls, piquant framed artwork, and mocha-colored banquettes. Its menu sports classic Thai plates and house specialties helpfully arrayed alongside a barometer of spiciness, with portion sizes that prompted the Florida Times-Union to proclaim, “When they say ‘seafood,’ they mean it … you won't leave hungry.” The rich scents of curry and deep-fried duck waft off tabletops set with neatly folded linen napkins that can be used to demurely wave at passing sailors.
Directly below Beachside Seafood's dining room, you will find the restaurant's in-house market. Here, chefs browse through the stock of locally caught seafood, picking out premium fillets of fish and shellfish and kindly directing lost scuba divers back to their hotels. After carrying their fresh purchases back up to the kitchen, chefs fire up stoves to fry baskets of their renowned mayport shrimp, steam lobster tails, and stack sandwiches with grilled mahi.
Once assembled, the staff carries dishes to the alfresco dining area, where playful nautical decor hangs out on the walls. On the covered upstairs deck, sunlight streams onto wooden floors that support rows of picnic tables. This scene backdrops guests sipping from frosty mugs of beer with the aroma of fried seafood wafting through the air, reminding diners of childhood vacations spent in Atlantis.
Inside Giuliano's Italian Restaurant, George Gjergj and Leonard Gjergji's family recipes guide them as they stuff shells with ricotta cheese, sauté shrimp in homemade marinara sauce, and drizzle merlot reduction onto char-grilled filet mignon. Specialty pizzas marry ingredients such as grilled chicken and pesto or sliced steak and sautéed onions. A bottomless lunch buffet brims with slices of pizza like the description of a third grader’s dream job, and calzones slice open to reveal ricotta and ham.
The Pointe Vedra Beach cantina serves up a fresh menu of tasty Tex-Mex treats served daily for lunch and dinner. Start your dining adventure by splitting an order of green-chili sliders ($7.95) with your brawny bodybuilding companion. Haberdashers and handmaidens savor the bespiced flavor of the mini sirloin burgers smothered in cheese and green-chili sauce, while history profs opt for a 10-inch Mexican pizza ($9.95), loaded with steak or chicken, black beans, fresh chopped veggies, Chihuahua cheese, and red mole sauce. Soups and salads offer light options for foolish diners who spoiled dinner with mid-afternoon Pop-Tart binges, while the more heartily appetited will enjoy feasting on any of the eatery's tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, or house specialties, such as the ancho-seared scallops ($17.95) doused in red-chili pecan sauce and served with yucca fries and poblano grits, or the slow-roasted pork ranchera ($14.95) with black beans, rice, fresh veggies, and poblano peppers.
