The Reef

Fantastic restaurant! Plenty of seafood options, but I had Mediterranean pasta which was fabulous. My husband had seafood trio and loved it. The key lime pie was absolutely delectable. The vinegar eye salad dressings was great too. Live music on Friday and Saturday night. The ocean view can't be beat.

I will be honest I was a little nervous coming to the reef with some of the recent reviews, but others rest assured we had an awesome dinner here!! I have been here quite a few times for happy hour (3-7PM) but it's been a couple years. I came this time for dinner with family and it was great!! They still have happy hour which is really just a couple dollars off wine, beer, and apps if you sit in the bar area. We had drinks and apps then we went to dinner in the dining room. We did have a reservation in the dining room.

Our server (Jacob) was super sweet and attentive. All of our food was delicious. The fresh catch was redfish and it was sooooo yummy. My father got the lobster risotto and my father in law got the jambalaya and they both loved what they got. Everyone else got fish dishes and enjoyed every bite. My mom even liked the fried spinach which she was nervous about but it was kind of between kale chips ish and sautéed spinach. I had bites of both the jambalaya and risotto and it's hard to pick which was better, both were super amazing.

We will absolutely come back. Food was truly great and you couldn't beat the picture perfect ocean view.

My wife and I have been going to this restaurant for years, and have always had a positive experience. But something has changed (and it's not just this restaurant's prices). How do you have a successful dish (Grouper Vilano) and change the presentation of the dish (not in a positive way), and still call the dish by the same name? Definitely not a $40 dish anymore.

Our dinner included one appetizer, one small Cesar salad (which was overloaded with dressing), one soup (which was served tepid and had to be returned to be heated up), two main courses (one served hot, the other served tepid), and water only.

After about an hour and a half, our bill came which totaled $111 (w/o tax and tip). I guess you're paying for the view (which was awesome).

Unfortunately, we will not be back anytime soon, if at all.

The food will be great but priceyservuce will be great. U never complain about seating except near noisy screaming children.


"I only have a table one step up no window tables"

She lied we eat here weekly. We passed two tops only two and got two people at the worst table in the restaurant.

Then the people ahead of us walk ins got a window table.

Come on. At these prices I want to see the beach.

The Reef is without a doubt one of the best places between St Augustine & Jax Beach for a true outdoor experience ocean view.
I had a lunch date with a friend who lives in Palm Coast so The Reef was a 1/2 way point for us to meet. When we made the reservation, we asked for outdoor seating. When I arrived on this beautiful day the hostess took about 7 minutes to appear & there was a line starting to form behind me. The reef has a very long skinny upper deck with I'd say 15 tables able to accommodate 4 persons each. Some are actually overlooking a railing with umbrella & some are tucked under the deck on the opposite side out of the sun. My friend & I chose to wait for a table on the railing rather than to sit squeezed into a corner table where you couldn't really get a view. The hostess was almost argumentative saying that an outdoor reservation doesn't necessarily procure you an outdoor table & basically if we didn't take this one who knows when another would be available. We decided to take our chances & wait at the bar while having a glass of wine. She had red. I had white. Both glasses were good. After about 15 minutes we were seated at one of their great tables overlooking the ocean. We started with the fried manchego cheese with raspberry sauce. 4 large squares of fried cheese enough to share. I know my cheeses and I can bet it wasn't manchego but it was very tasty. The sauce I could have done without as it was more like a syrup. Ask for it on the side. We then shared a spinach artichoke dip which was delicious. More wine & a tuna appetizer. The tuna was presented nicely however it didn't have much flavor itself. Our server was attentive & friendly. The views and company were great. I definitely would return for lunch again to take in the lovely view, have some appetizers & relax over a glass of wine.

We had reservations for 430 meeting friends. We are staying at the North Beach Camp Resort and got there early. We got a drink at the bar. This place is amazing it's right on the ocean.
After friends arrived we went to our table which had a wonderful view of the ocean.
We had the fried green tomatoes which were ok a little soggy but tasty.
I had lamp chops ,hubby had mahi with clams and scallops , one had jambalaya and the other had short rib. Food was excellent. Everyone enjoyed.
Our waiter was great and made sure we had all we needed.
We will definitely return.
Place gets super busy so reservations are suggested.

We've been here a couple times and it has been the nicest ocean front restaurant we have experienced in Saint Augustine thus far. Tonight was a little chilly, so we opted to dine inside, but had a magnificent view of the beach.

The service was terrific. Our server was kind and very attentive to our needs.

The food overall was good. I had the Grilled Seafood Trio with rock lobster, shrimps, and scallops. The shrimps and scallops were very good, but the lobster was a tad tough for my taste. Flavor was still good, but definitely required a little bit of work. Rest of the family had the Seafood Pasta and kid's cheese pizza, and both enjoyed their meals. We concluded our dining experience with their creme brûlée, which was very good.

All in all, we had a very good experience and will be back again.

It may be unfortunate but the best thing about the reef was the view. Service was good flavors were on par but just seemed to be missing something overall. Don't know what it is but we'll give it another shot in the future.

All went well! The view is amazing. Hostess could have been friendlier. The seating on the deck is beautiful.

A lovely spot for lunch on the patio on a beautiful day with a nice breeze - literally on the beach.

It's our first visit with friends who live nearby. They visit regularly and love it for happy our and lunch/brunch.

Our server was great and food was good, except for my burger which was overcooked. Not worth sending back and then waiting while everyone else ate. Fries were delicious and the new yo us Datil sauce, made from a local pepper provided some heat. Enough that if you don't LOVE heat, you should get on the side.

The warm muffins served as a prelude were terrific as was the little cup of fruit.

We had a great time catching up and relishing the view.

Excellent restaurant and view. The Sangria is worth the money. Went there twice in one week and both times were excellent.