Restaurants in Jacksonville

Chef Pedro Ramirez can often be seen hovering over a crackling spit, tending to the pig that roasts over its flame in the open air. When the bounty is finished cooking, Ramirez whips it up into pork sandwiches and platters—a Ramirez Restaurant specialty for nearly two decades. A retired US Navy Chief, Ramirez now leads his kitchen staff as they craft fresh ingredients into authentic Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican dishes infused with homemade spices akin to the ones used by Ramirez's ancestors from Santo Domingo. In the dining room, designed in the style of a beach bungalow, Latin paintings hang over tables topped with homemade sangria and margaritas, and an outdoor patio supports the tropical atmosphere with flags and strands of lights as powerful as a billionth of a sun.

Horizons Continental Cafe owner and head chef Courtney Thompson unleashes Asian and Italian influences on a menu of continental fare. Like passengers on the world's slowest merry-go-round, dishes step in and out of rotation weekly, keeping the menu stocked with surprises. Lunchtime yields café fare such as grilled paninis and seafood salads, and during dinner, chefs typically simmer fish fillets and steak in savory wine sauces. Horizons' catering services can craft a customized menu for an off-property event or allow access to the second-floor dining area for an intimate hang-glider-launch event.

While admiring Fuji Sushi Baymeadows' sloped wooden tiki roof, hardwood floors, and bamboo-hued walls, one might think the entire restaurant was carved from the trunk of an enormous tree. Yet the timbered eatery isn't afraid to play with fire—chefs regularly toss morsels of fresh salmon, chicken, and steak into flames on kitchen hibachi grills, where crunchy vegetables also sizzle to form well-rounded Japanese entrees. Hot and cold sake, wine, and beer take the edge off hunger as guests watch sushi artisans slice sashimi and insulate rolls with shrimp, fish eggs, and sea urchin. After dining on curls of steaming fried noodles, patrons can sate sugar hankerings with a sweet Japanese dessert or donate their gently used chopsticks to the Toddler Fencing Association of Jacksonville.

The sharp, citric aroma of Lemongrass’s namesake herb drifts around decor that Folio Weekly described as “wasabi-hued” in an article that also named the eatery the city’s Best Thai Cuisine. “The ginger-infused salad,” the writer continues, “is possibly the best bowl of leafy greens in Northeast Florida.” Another customer favorite, The Amazing, stews a choice of meat in peanut curry and coconut milk, ladled over a bed of steamed broccoli and spinach. Chefs forge coconut curries, working all the while to add modern accents to dishes to intrigue palates and keep crabby time travelers from becoming bored. The menu separates mild dishes from their hot and Thai hot counterparts.

The chefs at Sushi House treat each plate as a canvas, surrounding artfully assembled orders of sushi with intricately carved garnishes and vivid streaks of sauce. Despite the aesthetic appeal of a perfectly composed dish, guests still devour any of the 90 maki from the menu. Familiar cylinders of rice-swaddled cucumber and avocado appear along with a few more adventurous rolls that incorporate premium ingredients, such as tempura lobster, spicy honey sauce, or julienned college diplomas. The cooks also make use of their kitchen's stovetops to whip up teriyaki chicken, tempura vegetables, and hibachi-style steak.