#4 The Mill Top Tavern

See you at the top. The Mill Top Tavern has, by far, one of the neatest locations in all of St. Augustine. It is nestled in a 19th Century mill and is listed in the historical record (aged from 1888). The Mill Top appears to look very similar to a treehouse from Castillo Drive. There are two entrances into Mill Top, the front entrance is located on the main shopping street, St. George street and the back entrance is off of Castillo Drive across from the Castillo.

The bar is nestled upstairs, and has outside seating on the upper and lower decks towards the back entrance. At the back entrance is on the lower deck is where their live music performs. You are also able to sit inside with open air seating towards the front of the building. The back is where you want to sit though, it has one of the very best views in St. Augustine. I have a favorite seat at the bar and it is a view of the of Castillo de San Marcos, harbor and the inlet. I love looking at the ancient monument as well as watch the sail boats go by.

As a tour guide for the ancient city I enjoy knowing the history and admiring all the work that has been down around this town. It is truly beautiful.

According to their website, the Mill Top has been one of the best known taverns in St. Augustine for the past 25 years. The Mill Top offers live music daily and its not only a bar but a restaurant as well. Here is a sample of their menu, although I reccomend that you do not eat here. As much as a favorite bar of mine this is, the food here is awful and the time it takes is ridiculously slow! Stick to the liquid diet it is far more beneficial especially the way they make their drinks.

The Mill Top offers beer, liquor and wine. If you order a beer you can order up to a half a yard of beer for a fairly decent price. Now Mill Top doesn't really have a happy hour but they do have a list of specilaty drinks. They will also charge you a regular price for a drink and only charge you a dollar extra for a double and let me tell you, they are strong. Little tougher for me to drink personally. I didn't try any of the specialty drinks here because there was too large of a selection. There specialty drinks are actually specialty shooters but for an extra .25 cents they will turn them into a drink and some of the shooters are all liquor. So see below for a sample of some of the shooters:

• Rotten apple- Southern Comfort, amaretto, spiced rum, melon liquor, pineapple and cranberry-4.75
  
• Mind Eraser- vodka, coffee liqueur, soda on ice with straw.

Bartenders Favorite Shooters

• Sheree's Perfect Paradise- Light rum, coconut rum, pineapple, grapefruit and grenadine- 4.75


• Morgan's Blueberry Squirt- blueberry vodka, grapefruit and cranberry splash 4.75

Mill Top has one of the greatest atmospheres in St. Augustine, inside and outside seating with one of the most spectacular views. On my bar list i would give the Mill Top four stars out five, they have a great view, good service, strong drinks and live music. The only disadvantage is that they serve food but I don't find it to be very good, my impression was that it was overpriced bar food, however you tend find that in a tourist town. But don't let the food keep you away, come in for the music and drinks and work your way down to the new Irish bar, Meehans (on the bayfront) and eat their food. I believe that whether your there day or night you will have a good time. Just a side note, they do charge cover after a certain hour, it is only about two dollars just a note in case you aren't one for carrying cash.

The Mill Top Tavern (& Listening Room)

19 1/2 St. George Street, St. Augustine

Phone number: 904-829-2329

Just as side note, i took a majority of the pictures myself but a few were taken of the Mill Top website because the photos had more clairty

#2 Caps on the Water

Another of my favorite bars in town is Caps on the Water in North Vilano Beach. It is a little bit of a drive but it is well worth. Cap’s is a unique restaurant and raw bar. Cap’s gives you an idea of how the real Florida used to look. It is probably one of the most hidden dining treasures especially with the old Florida feel.

Cap’s on the Water actually began as fish camp and developed in a restaurant in 1981, the location sits on the site of an old, covered bait well with the goal being to create an authentic oyster bar. And it is an authentic oyster bar it is my favorite place in town to enjoy cocktail and oyesters all while sitting outside.

The oyster bar resembles a small, beach shack and serves a variety of simple food including: gumbo, Dungeness crab, local Mayport shrimp, raw, steamed, and baked oysters. Many people enjoy coming to this place for a simple cocktail and people of all sorts show up. These are two factors that makes it one of my favorite bars in St. Augustine. The oyster menu you have to select from is simply outstanding.

Caps is hidden beneath large oak trees and sits facing west out on intercoastal, right across from St. Augustine airport. There is plenty of deck room if you choose to sit outside. There is close access to the water and the docks so whether you enjoy watching the sunset or if you simply like to watch the planes fly in and out of the airport Caps is an absolutely stunning place.

At the Sunset Raw bar they serve a variety of drinks ranging from beer, liquor, shooters and wine. The wine list is actually a very extensive list that is made up of over 400 selections from many different wineries from around the world. In Wine Spectator Magazine, Caps received the “Award of Excellence” for the first time in 2006, then received again in 2007, and 2008, the awarded included the variety and pricing of the wine.

As much as I enjoy stopping at Caps especially when I’m in the area, they also have an excellent restaurant with a lunch and dinner menu. Dining at Caps can allow one to have the most intimate dining experiences. They have great service, great food, great music and of course a little dancing. This place has some of the best seafood in town.

Caps on the Water, Sunset raw bar is easily one of my favorite places to sit back relax and order a cocktail and eat some oysters and I suggest you do the same. I have yet to hear a bad review on the place. It’s easily accessible with ample of parking, neat clean restrooms and plenty of seating.

The hours for caps: Lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11:30-3:30 and dinner is every days from 4:30 to close. However, this place does not take reservations, so get there early for dinner because it will get packed!

Phone: 904-824 -8794
Fax: 904-829-0709
Catering & Events: 904-819-8190

Make sure you visit their website.
http://www.capsonthewater.com/home.html

Cap's On The Water
4325 Myrtle Street
Saint Augustine FL 32084

Directions:
From Jacksonville
Take I-95 to J Turner Butler to A1A south.
Go all the way to South Ponte Vedra until you see a castle
Turn right at the castle (third street) end of the street is the intercoastal waterway
turn right on myrtle street it will be on your left.

From Daytona Beach (South):
Take I-95 North to exit 95 (Route 16).
Go towards St. Augustine for several miles.
Go across US 1 until you hit San Marco.
Take a right on San Marco. Take a left at the light to go on A1A North.
Go over Vilano bridge, follow A1A. Turn left at the castle (Third Street).
End of the street is the Intercoastal Waterway.
Turn right on Myrtle Street.

Either way look for the caps on the water sign: seen to the right

Photos were taken from Caps On the Water website.

Ke'e Grill

I went to one of the best restaurants ever when I visited south Florida this past weekend. One of my best friends, who lives in Jupiter Florida, invited my boyfriend and I out to dinner with her parents. It had been a couple months since we had seen them so it was such a pleasure that they invited us. The restaurant that they took us to was called the Ke'e Grill, by far the best seafood I have ever had. The prices run on a little more of the expensive side but it is well worth it.

The Ke'e Grill is located at 14020 US Hwy 1, Juno Beach Florida, 33408 (at Donald Ross Rd).

The way you know that it is an excellent restaurant? It is always crowded. My friend's parents even made a reservation but we still had to wait another 15 minutes, which they didn't mind since they knew what kind of food laid ahead. The restaurant has a great fancy, tiki restaurant/lounge vibe but there is only inside seating, none outside. The room you sit in is surrounded by large windows. To make it feel more tropical they place tiki torches and palm trees to completely cover the windows on the outside so it feels a little more tropical.

There is a full bar with plenty of seating and a diverse martini menu which I will get to shortly.

The food is excellent it really is. By far one of my best dining experiences I have had. They have an excellent menu. Unfortunately, Ke'e Grill doesn't have a website so the menu seemed relatively accurate to what I remember and you have to use travel sites or food rating sites, such as Urban Spoon to learn more about this fantastic place.
At dinner I had:

• The House Salad with their creamy balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
• Some rolls at dinner
• A glass of white wine, Meritage, Evolution
• We split a bottle of red wine at dinner
• Entree: Chilean Seabass Piccata: sauteed, lemon, white wine caper sauce (no capers for me) and two side dishes, green beans and spinach maria.

Everything was excellent, my boyfriend got Sweet Potato Crusted fresh fish with a mango remoulade and my friend got the Palm Beach Snapper which comes sauteed, tomato provolone sauce, artichoke hearts and hearts of palm (sauce on the side) which all was good.

After our meal, my friends parents left and my boyfriend, friend, and I decided to have a couple cocktails at the bar since she knew the bartender. The martini/specialty drink menu was quite interesting. I convinced my girlfriend to have a martini made with my favorite vodka which is called 44 degrees north, its a huckleberry vodka, thus making her cocktail incredibly sweet. My boyfriend had a drink called the 19th hole which was made with Jeremiah Weed Sweet tea vodka and I had a pomegranate martini and a pear martini.

The pomegranate martini (I love pomegranates) is made with a pomegranate vodka(probably Pearl) mixed with Pom (fruit juice) and has a splash a syrup to cut down the bitterness of the Pom cocktail.

The Pear Martini was just simple Grey Goose La Poire (pear vodka) with a splash of Peach Schnapps.

Both were excellent cocktails. This restaurant is a must stop next time one is in south Florida, I believe there is multiple locations but I cannot speak for those. Check out the one in Juno for excellent food, great ambiance, excellent service and a wide variety. It will be well worth the time and money.