We've been to both Poppy's locations and they are both excellent. This is now my wife's favorite…read moreItalian restaurant in the Jax metro area. Food and service are great at both, but I think the St Augustine location has slightly better service. Our latest trip my daughter and I shared a Pomodoro Caprese to start and it was excellent. I would certainly recommend it and will get it again. For dinner I got their wedge salad with blackened salmon. Their take on the wedge is one of the best I've had, and the salmon was cooked perfectly. My wife got her usual Chicken Parmigiana and she said it was perfect as previous trips. Place is nice enough for date night but also relaxed enough to come in with shorts and flip flops with the family.

Finally had the chance to try Poppys after hearing so many great things. They delivered from the…read morefriendly service to the food. The place was smaller than I imagined which I liked. They did have an outside patio but you don't really want to eat outside right now (August 2026). Since my wife ordered plain bread and I ordered garlic, we were each brought our own bread. My Caesar salad was just the right size - included with entree - and they added a couple of anchovies per my request. The linguine and clams were great and portions were huge. I'm fairly certain everyone dining that night left with a to go box since the meals could easily feed 2. Add a couple more fans to this restaurant. Just a note - they no longer serve pizza. I happened to notice after I gave my menu back that I didn't see pizza and confirmed with our waitress. Apparently they stopped a few years ago at the other location and never did at this location.

There are certain moments during a meal when you taste something and immediately have to stop and…read moreask, "What did the chef do differently here?" That happened to us at Al Dente's in St. Johns when we tasted the sauce accompanying their short ribs. We have eaten at Al Dente's many times, so we weren't discovering the restaurant for the first time. It has already earned a place among our favorite local restaurants. But on this visit, we came in for a full Culinary Duo review, and the kitchen prepared a tasting that went well beyond what we expected. And somehow, a restaurant we already knew managed to surprise us all over again. We started with the calamari, which is noticeably different from the traditional calamari plate. Al Dente's uses the prime rings without the tentacles, then sautés them with sliced peppers. The result is tender, flavorful calamari with a cleaner and more consistent bite from beginning to end. We were told that when the calamari is featured during happy hour, it can sell out. After tasting it, we understand why. The quality of the calamari and the simplicity of the preparation allow the seafood to remain the focus of the dish. It impressed us enough to earn one of our Culinary Duo Best of the Best Dish Awards. The gnocchi is another longtime favorite and Best of the Best winner. Al Dente's sautés it and finishes it with a white wine bath, creating the texture that has kept us coming back for it over the years. It is a great example of how a little extra technique can make a familiar Italian dish memorable. Then came the dish that may have surprised us the most, the short ribs. We will admit that short ribs are not normally something we get particularly excited about. Too often, the meat is served with too little sauce, leaving you wishing there was something more to bring the entire plate together. Al Dente's completely changed that for us. The beef was exceptionally tender and practically fell apart. But it was the sauce that immediately caught our attention. It had a wonderful subtle sweetness that was different enough that we had to ask what the kitchen was doing. The answer was port. Using port gives the mushroom sauce a slightly sweeter, richer character that works beautifully with the beef. Add decadent mashed potatoes loaded with butter, garlic, and herbs, and you have the kind of comfort food that makes you want to slow down and enjoy every bite. Sautéed zucchini and yellow squash added freshness and helped balance the richness of the plate. The short ribs became our third Best of the Best selection from Al Dente's. Next came the salmon with lobster ravioli, and this was another example of the kitchen going beyond what was necessary. The salmon was a substantial, thick cut, beautifully cooked, moist, and wonderfully tender. It was paired with lobster ravioli and a wine sauce, which would have made a very good dish by itself. But they didn't stop there. They added actual chunks of lobster claw meat over the salmon and ravioli. We love that. If you are going to serve lobster ravioli, there is something special about seeing and tasting real pieces of lobster on the plate as well. It reinforces the featured ingredient and turns what could have been a familiar seafood pasta combination into something much more memorable. The beef tenderloin medallions followed, accompanied by seasonal vegetables and a white truffle mushroom risotto that deserves almost as much attention as the beef. The risotto combined mushrooms, cream, Parmesan, truffles, and white truffle oil, creating a rich, earthy flavor that complemented the tenderloin beautifully. Risotto can easily become an obligatory side dish, but this one was clearly treated as an important part of the plate. Creamy, savory, and full of truffle character, it was an excellent partner for the medallions. One thing we particularly enjoy about Al Dente's is that the tenderloin is offered as a nightly special and the preparation can change. Guests may encounter different interpretations, including Gorgonzola, Marsala, or au poivre. For regular diners like us, that flexibility makes returning a little more interesting because there can always be something different coming out of the kitchen. By this point, we thought the meal was finished. Then the chef surprised us with a Dubai chocolate pistachio tart. It arrived beautifully plated with chocolate drizzle and whipped cream. This is definitely a dessert for anyone who loves rich flavors. A few bites were enough for us because it was incredibly decadent, but the combination of pistachio and dark chocolate was fantastic. It was a fitting ending to an impressive tasting. What stayed with us most about this visit was not simply one great plate. It was the consistency across the entire meal. The calamari showed how ingredient selection can change a familiar appetizer. The gnocchi demonstrated technique. The short ribs showed how one thoughtful change to a sauce can comp

Calamari appetizer is crispy, pairs with 2 sauces, both are good!…read more The mussels appetizer is full of flavors, tangy, creamy, very generous portion for an appetizer. My next favorite is clams appetizer, also big plate and the clams are so fresh & juicy, cooked in white wine!! So so good! Definitely worth a try! Overall.. great ambiance; inviting & casual atmosphere!

Oh my gosh!!! Another awesome pizza from Bronx House Pizza! The owner and staff are extremely…read morefriendly, accommodating and the food only gets better every time I go there!!! The word is, they're expanding in the coming year!! More seating and a bar area!! Looking forward to the future development . You can't go wrong and bring a healthy appetite!!!

I had been craving pizza and kept hearing good things about this spot so I picked it up a pie and…read morebrought it home. It was still piping hot when I got home, which is always good news. I just got a plain cheese pizza. The sauce was quite good but the cheese itself didn't really hit for me. It seemed super salty somehow? The crust was pretty good too tho. So overall a decent pizza. I'd try it again. One bummer tho... it did not reheat well at all! I didn't interact a ton with the employees there but they were pleasant. No complaints at all!

The food was amazing! Authentic Italian cuisine, with a cozy atmosphere and great service. Would…read morehighly recommend.

Shout out to this gem. When I want a high quality healthy meal with options here is where I crave…read more COD special, Salmon special (really special as this girl subs olive oil veggies for the pasta) and a nice prepared fish keeps me coming back. And for you traditionalist, the pasta and breaded chicken is good but that sauce is fabulous. Such a good meal!

Great pizza Almost like being in Chicago…read more I know they are from NY BUT we will over look that.

Hubby and I tried Serafina's one evening for dinner. We drove over, ordered at the counter and…read moregrabbed a table inside. We ordered a large pepperoni pizza plus 2 slices of their margarita grandma pizza. The staff were friendly and we enjoyed the atmosphere. The line was long and consistent but it moved quickly. The pepperoni pizza was very, very greasy. I'm okay with some grease but this was way more than normal to the point my plate had a huge puddle of grease. I had to soak it up with napkins just to keep my plate usable. It also didn't have a whole lot of flavor which I was surprised by. I really liked the grandma slice and wished we ordered a whole pizza instead of just a couple slices. Not sure we would give them another try despite enjoying the grandma slices.

We love their pizza HOWEVER their online ordering system is HORRIBLE. Several times we have…read moreordered, gotten the pickup time & waited and waited and waited. Today the pickup time was 6:03pm. We arrived at 6:05pm. Pizza in hand at 6:40. Seriously? Waiting 35mins past the expected time? That's not acceptable. 5mins? Ok. 10mins maybe. THIRTY FIVE! Yall need a new system because your customers deserve better when paying $60 for two pizzas. This wasn't the first time. It was fourth time and my patience is wearing thin.

The owner family came from Brooklyn, NYC, so they serve authentic Brooklyn style pizza. We tried…read morethe classic cheese pizza and the white pizza, and both were absolutely fantastic. The restaurant is quite small, but they have a spacious patio table and a few small tables outside, making it a great spot for a family dinner. I had the pleasure of chatting with the owner, who was incredibly friendly and welcoming. The pizza guy, Eddie, showed me his pizza-making process, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him work. (You can see everything from the order counter. ) We also ordered the zeppole, which was so delicious!

Excellent pizza and garlic knots Friendly service…read more We are on the patio as the inside was packed and very crowded

This was a pretty neat Italian restaurant but there wasn't noting over the top about it. Its…read moreservice was friendly and polite but noting that would make you remember it. I ordered Chicken Marcela and my wife order lasagna. Both were pretty good but definitely not the best we have ever had . The atmosphere was a bit crowded and loud. It definitely wasn't very romantic. I will say that the Wood Stone Pizza really looked like the star of the show and we should have gotten it. We talked to multiple customers and they all said pizza was fantastic. So honestly we probably just ordered the wrong thing. It's like going to a steak house and ordering chicken! Just don't do it. I would give this a solid 3 1/2 to 4 star rating. Nothing was bad just wasn't nothing over the top either!

Great Food Good Service…read moreExpansive menu to choose from and Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dogs while you wait Highly recommend

Looking for a true Italian deli near our daughter's home off IGP to get some heroes etc…read more We were referred to this new location minutes from their house. They close at 3. It was packed and we waited over 1+ hour for 3 subs(all cooked to order) ... next time we'll order ahead. True NY style deli and food!!! Highly recommend!!

I decided to give this place a shot while free for lunch one day and was pleasantly surprised. This…read morehas been my favorite restaurant of 2026 so far from the quality ingredients making up the food to the superb service offered by the staff. I got here as they opened on Sunday, and it got packed relatively quickly. I'd recommend having a reservation if you're planning to visit during busier timeframes like this. I was seated promptly by attentive staff, and quickly had both food and drink menus to begin ordering. I was looking for something tasty without being too heavy, and settled on the Little Hans Vienna Lager along with the 8 oz steak burger and fries. The beer had amazing flavor similar to Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager with a good, crisp finish. The burger meal, described with "Tillamook cheddar cheese, caramelized onion & bacon jam, beef fat aioli, grilled potato roll, truffle fries", was arguablely the best burger and fries I've ever had in my life. Everything tasted fresh, and the flavor of the wood-fired grill certainly complemented the meat. The house-made pickles were a great touch to add another layer of complexity to the burger. I could tell the fries were fresh cut and never frozen. The truffle oil made these even more amazing. The manager offered and brought a special sauce to try that they normally serve with their chicken chicken sandwich that was superbly tasty and tangy. More than impressed with my entree, I elected to try a desert and was recommended the S'mores pie by my waitress. The deliciously buttery crust was my favorite part of the ensemble and blended well with the savory chocolate filling topped with a toasted marshmallow. While a bit pricey for lunch compared to most places, I was more than satisfied with the offerings provided here and would love to visit Ember and Iron again. Give my number one choice of 2026 thus far some love!

Great ambiance and service. The cocktails were very good as well. My partner ordered the Filet…read morewhich was a very good piece of meat. She ordered medium rare but it came out medium well. I ordered the rib eye medium. The rib eye was mostly fat. I expect some with this cut but it was too much. The side for both dishes were very good. We ordered the corn bread in cast iron and it was excellent. I hate giving bad reviews but I have to this time. We won't complain during the meal either. I apologize for this review but going out a meal is special and we expected more.

After seeing several posts of @ch3fjames, we finally took the plunge and visited Derita Italian…read moreDeli on a Friday afternoon as they only serve the Cheesesteak on certain days and thankfully, Friday is one of them. It definitely lived up to our expectations! The beef was juicy, the portions were huge, and the bread was soft! It was delicious! We also tried the DDD aka Derita Deli Deluxe which is one of their Chicken Cutlet Sandwiches. It includes eggplant, prosciutto de Parma, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, broccoli rabe, long hot peppers, and balsamic glaze. Phew! Tons of ingredients, I liked it but it lacks seasoning, mainly salt, lol. Overall, we enjoyed both sandwiches and we can't wait to go back and try the other items on their menu.

I had the DDD sandwich, and it was absolutely the best sandwich I've had since moving here from New…read moreJersey eight years ago. I just happened to be in the area, decided to stop in, and I'm so glad I did. My order was ready exactly when promised, and from the first bite, it exceeded every expectation. The combination of the crispy chicken cutlet, perfectly cooked eggplant, fresh mozzarella, and broccoli rabe came together in the ultimate flavor combination. Every bite was packed with incredible taste, and all the ingredients worked together perfectly. If you're looking for an authentic, unforgettable sandwich, this is it. I'll definitely be making the drive back for another one.