What a nice outing... my son and I went to Manifest Distillery last night. This awesome place in…read moreDowntown Jacksonville makes the most outstanding potato vodka, bourbon, and gin. Several types of each. Truly excellent. They have a great drink menu featuring their products. Last night, Brine was there with a pop up of their fare. We had two different cold water raw oysters which were both outstanding and different in nature. Totally cleaned shells with delicious fresh taste. I had Crudo which was an incredible dish of yellow tail snapper. My son had Roasted Clams. The food was beautiful and wonderful flavors. The chefs were so fun to watch as they were meticulously careful on how they executed each dish. And their attention to detail paid off in outstanding food. Also, the bartender and the crew from Brine couldn't have been any more pleasant. I highly recommend both entities but especially when they operate as one.

I've stopped at Lewey's Seafood & Wings food truck multiple times and they're still one of my…read morereliable go-tos when I want something quick, hot, and satisfying. Their wings and fries combo used to be $6 and is now $8 -- which, honestly, I totally get with how prices have gone up everywhere. Even at $8, it's still a great deal for the portion you get. The wings are crispy, flavorful, and always fresh, and the fries are seasoned just right. Plus, their lemonade is super sweet in the best way -- perfect for a hot Florida day. If you see them out and about, definitely pull up. You won't regret it!

How has this business been around for 5 years and I am just now discovering it? The chicken wings…read morewith the Lewey's Sauce (Sweet & Tangy) are excellent! So good, I had to go back to get more for dinner. This food truck is located at the corner of Lane & Normandy in the parking lot of Emmanuel Food Store on the westside. You can call in your order or just walk up and place your order at the food truck window. The service is really fast and friendly. Everything is made to order. I recommend the wings in any of their combo plates. The wings, shrimp and French fries are seasoned and cooked perfectly. There's a little kick in their Sweet & Tangy sauce that raises the bar for the mustard-based bbq sauce in town. I really enjoyed the flavors. The portions are generous for the price. I have added Lewey's Seafood & Wings to my rotation of best little chicken wing spots in the area. And the Garlic Shrimp Plate with a boiled egg, sausage, potatoes, corn on the cob and peel-n-eat shrimp smothered in garlic butter is pretty filling, too. There are covered picnic tables conveniently provided at this location where you can eat your entree on-site. They don't sell any beverages, but you can buy one at the convenience store next door. Definitely no fuss and nothing fancy. Just delicious wings and seafood.

Attended a wedding they were catering this evening. They arrived 4 hours late, totally…read moreunprepared, short staffed (half the staff were kids) never had the salmon prepared and served RAW chicken. Totally unprofessional and would definitely not recommend!

I have been getting food from this place before they had a store and was just a food truck. The…read morefood is always amazing, service is super quick (I usually order pick up and never have to wait to pick up). This is absolutely one of the best all vegan places in Jacksonville. The portion size is huge for the price and the food is consistently good through out the years.

Wow. Delicious made from scratch vegan food that's…read moreincredibly filling! I don't like coleslaw but theirs was delicious!! We also had the buffalo chik'n sandwich which was a win! And their bbq burger. The patty was homemade and hit the spot for our comfort food cravings. Service was very friendly and helpful. The decor inside is very simple but there's plenty of seats available. I highly recommend visiting vegan or not. It's very good.

Came here due to some late night munchies. The place smells like fried food and the seats are…read moregreasy but the fried pickles are a salty treat. The chicken is flavored with a pretty salty and peppery batter that is spicy even if mild. The horseradish and house sauce is pretty darn delish and the slaw is pretty good as well. This was def my cheat night.

Carried out recently from Bold Birds and I get what all of the fuss is about. I do think we're…read moregoing to eat in soon as well. Inside was charming, good beer selection and seems like a great place to hang out and watch a game. The staff was pleasant and our food was ready very quickly. We ordered the medium fingers and they definitely hit with just a bit of spice. Crispy, large, juicy, delicious. The honey mustard was amazing as well. The Mac and cheese...a home run. Cheesy, thick, sticky. Really done well. I highly recommend Bold Birds. Great execution on all of their chicken and you will find something you like.

Food, Service, and Atmosphere was great! I had a Magari-Thai , Roti Canai, and Pad Thai. One of my…read morefavorite restaurants.

My husband and I went for date night tonight and had the best time. We had Vic as our server and…read moreshe was AMAZING. Highly recommend starting with the roti and then yaki udon to share. We will definitely be going again.

Fl.State College of Jax (FSCJ) has a culinary program for restaurant as well as hospitality…read moremanagement. With very limited, available reservations one can have lunch or dinner in their simulated restaurant lab for very reasonable cost! Today our book club lunched with a Chinese theme and it was wonderful! We had a "pork belly bao" pre-appetizer, then either shrimp siu Mai or scallion pancakes then a pick from four entree with fried rice and sichuan dry fried green bean and lastly a delicious dessert with French-press coffee-sweet! It is hard to get reservations and they are open only Tuesday/Thursday, the menu changes but the experience will be the same! Wonderful!

Cafe Frisch is located inside FSCJ. The place is clean and you can see the busy students with their…read morechef mentors in the kitchen. It is a culinary school that offers 3 course meal for an affordable price of $7 for lunch and $11 for dinner. The "restaurant " is an active class lab. The cooks and servers are participating in classes that satisfy part of their Culinary Arts & Hospitality and Tourism Management program's' requirements. Our dinner theme was German and Scandinavian, and it was absolutely delicious and portions were very filling! From appetizers to desserts, we were amazed by the flavors and presentation! Reservation is required 2 weeks in advanced via email. We can't wait to go back!

Stumbled upon Brine on a rare kid-free night with my husband and couldn't have picked a better…read morespot. We arrived just in time for happy hour and were warmly greeted right away. We initially asked for indoor seating, but after seeing how cozy the space was, we happily switched to outdoor seating since the weather was perfect. We ordered two of each oyster, and they were fresh, salty, and incredibly smooth. We also decided to try the baked oysters--something my husband doesn't usually go for--but they ended up being his favorite. So much so that we ordered another round. Overall, it was a fantastic night and a great experience. We'll definitely be back.

In the early 80s, when video games were all the rage, I remember hearing about a song about a video…read moregame. Like any good kid back then wanting to hear a particular song, I listened to my FM radio nonstop, waiting patiently to hear this crazy song called "Pac-Man Fever!" Sadly I don't ever recall actually hearing it on my favorite station. Hearing about new things is much easier now. Social media and the internet overwhelm me with what the algorithms think I want to see and learn about. And most of the time those crazy programs and their internet overlords are spot on! Take, for instance, a rather new restaurant in San Marco focusing on seafood. Shellfish and caviar to be specific. A few months ago all of my feeds were filled with information about a new place in town - Brine. Obviously, my wife and I, loving all things related with food, knew that we needed to try it. Well, today was that day. First, know that the parking lot is down a dead end street that looks spooky. Keep going. I didn't and ended up parking in the larger lot where La Napolera is located. The restaurant is tiny. Our server told us that the space was used to sell smoothies. Or perhaps it was a phone booth. Regardless it's intimate. And the food is fantastic! Colette our server was fantastic. Bubbly, helpful and definitely gave off the vibe that she was happy to be there, helping us enjoy our meal. She was great and I can't say enough good things about her. We opted to try the tasting menu. It's an option when you book online. We also chose to sit at the counter. An island of 4 seats that look at the other diners sitting at the tables inside. It's odd and Colette told us that the owners were planning on building an expanded space in the near future. The tasting menu is a seven course meal. If desired, you can choose to add a wine pairing. We got one wine pairing that we split - it was more than enough and the Brine folks were kind enough to put the wine into two glasses. As for the courses we had for our meal? Course 1 Champagne PEI oysters Each oyster included a different topping. There was butter. And chorizo. And caviar. Each was delicious and very different. A perfect way to start the meal. The champagne was also a great. Course 2 Riesling Yellow tail (hamachi) crudo with pineapple. The pineapple was prepared three ways. And while the wine was very dry and minerally (is that a word?) it worked PERFECTLY with the sweetness of the pineapple. To me this pairing worked the best. Course 3 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand Tuna tartar with aioli on a fried panko crusted seaweed cracker. The tuna flavor was delicate and worked well on top of the seaweed cracker. Again, the wine worked very well with the flavors of the fish. Course 4 Chanin blanc Salad with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, vinaigrette and butter and mashed potato and potato crisps. Lettuce and mashed potatoes? I don't know how. I don't know why. But it works. Really, really well. They're like mad scientists at Brine and they may be building a monster out of body parts. But darn it the potato/salad combo was fantastic! Course 5 Oaked Chardonnay Lobster cannelloni This was probably my favorite dish. The lobster filling was awesome and I literally wanted to fill a cup with the sauce and drink it through a straw. If you're not going to try the tasting menu I would highly recommend this for an entree. Course 6 Waygu shortrib and scallops and parsnips Ochetti langhe nebbiolo The scallops are sliced thin, which I liked a lot. The shortrib was good. I like parsnip, but I felt that its flavor overshadowed the flavors of the beef and the scallop. It's a tasty dish, but wasn't my favorite. Course 7 Cheesecake bread pudding with bourbon ice cream Chocolate pearls chocolate marscapone orange chocolate cake Solera 1847 Creme dulce Sherry Colette brought us two different desserts to try instead of each of us having the same. Both were fantastic. I think I liked the chocolate cake one more while my wife really enjoyed the cheesecake. The sherry was fine but didn't really add anything to the desserts. Course 8 (extra) Sugar cookie with vanilla ice cream and caviar. This was an extra treat that they brought. A cookie ice cream sandwich with caviar on it. Again, why does it work? I don't get it! But it was super tasty. We were both really full by this point but ate it all! Each course isn't a huge, but by the end we were stuffed. And splitting the wine was a good way let us drive home! The tasting menu is a great way to try Brine and the many of the flavor combinations they're putting together. It's not an inexpensive meal. But we knew that going in. The cost may turn some people off, but this was a fantastic meal with some wonderful staff. I don't play video games too much anymore. And I don't remember the Pac Man song. But I love food, and I know that if you do as well you'll love Brine!

Short review of Gemma since we just stopped in for an app and drinks. Pleasantly surprised, enough…read morethat I'll be back for more apps and drinks. We ordered the hummus plate, which came with plenty of colorful vegetables. Definitely enough for 4 people. To drink, I ordered the Nice Coconuts, which reminded me of a pina colada. This would be an amazing summer drink, so the second Jacksonville goes back up to 80 degrees I'd highly recommend ordering this to celebrate. The names of the other drinks -- the ex wife, pool boy, etc -- are so fun that we just couldn't decide which to get! We sat on the rooftop, which we were told us first come first serve. I'm a sucker for a rooftop, and we enjoyed this one (shoutout to the heat lamps). Will be back to Gemma once it warms up. Gemma San Marco, Jax, FL Hummus, Nice Coconuts

If you're in San Marco and in the mood for oysters and a good vibe, Gemma Oyster Bar is an easy…read moreyes. This is one of those spots I keep coming back to when I want something fresh and a little elevated without anything feeling too formal or over the top. The oysters are always super fresh with a great selection, and it's the perfect place to grab a seat at the bar, order a dozen, and settle in with a glass of wine or a cocktail. Everything we've tried has been light, flavorful, and exactly what you want when you're craving seafood. Also, don't skip dessert. Seriously, you can't go wrong. And if you like espresso martinis, they make a really good one. The staff is super fun and friendly, and the whole place has that lively, neighborhood energy that makes you want to stay awhile. Great for date night, meeting friends, or one of those "let's just go somewhere good" nights in San Marco.