It’s a restaurant and a seafood market. It’s got fine dining level seafood with laid back beach vibes.
120 3rd St S, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Get that backyard grill-out feel with the second floor dining room’s picket fence porch and awesome view of the beach right from your seat.
Matching Tees for our Birthday Date
We celebrated my birthday one year (COVID era) with a trip to Beachside Seafood, one of Jacksonville’s top seafood restaurants. After an afternoon of soaking up some sun and getting sand between our toes, we packed up camp to get a messy beachy birthday dinner. My husband surprised me with matching t-shirts which said "I love Lucy" to celebrate our daughter.
It was time for some beverages to kick off our meal. We took a peek at the drink menu and checked to see if it was still happy hour.
Datil Pepper Shrimp
We got there with plenty of time to get the Happy Hour Specials (which was then 3pm - 6 pm, Monday – Thursday). Their HH includes drinks and snacks! My husband ordered a refreshing Bud Light, and I kept things simple with a glass of lemonade. To get our munching started, I ordered us the Datil Popcorn Shrimp. It came complete with datil pepper sauce that was sweet, savory and just a little spicy.
My date/hubby was sweet enough to let me have the last shrimp, all dunked and doused in yummy sauce!
The Main – Clams & Mahi
For our entrees, we both went with sandwiches. Michael got the Clam Strip Po’ Boy and I ordered a Fried Mahi Mahi Sandwich with Mango Salsa. I ate the fresh mango salsa so fast there was no time for a photo!
Underneath our plates was a beachy shadow box table with a collection of shells, jewelry, and general beach paraphernalia. (Parent tip: it's a great place to play eye-spy with the kids!)
Sauce Menagerie
Our server asked which sauces we wanted to try and my answer was yes. YES, ALL OF THE SAUCES.
The best part of the meal, besides the huge slabs of Mahi on my sammy, was the menagerie of house made sample we got to sample. Between the Cajun Ranch and Remoulade, we were in sampling sauce heaven. Our server let us know that they were all made in house and could be purchased in the market downstairs.
We tried these zesty-licious sauces:
Cajun ranch
Remoulade
Cocktail sauce
Tartar sauce
Datil pepper sauce
Don't for get the Seafood Market!
Up top they offer spacious seating with awesome windows. Though you can't quite see the beach, you can taste the salt air and breath in the ocean. The place was full of open high tops, just waiting for diners to settle in and order a Snow Crab Seafood Platter (what I plan to get on my next visit).
BONUS TIP: If you get dinner, then you get a discount coupon for purchases made downstairs at their seafood market.
On the first floor, it's perfect for grab and go seafood shopping. If you want to add the Old Bay at your own discretion, simply order some fresh fish and be on your way.
Next time I’m grabbing dinner from one of the local seafood markets, it’ll be a tough call to choose between this place and waiting in line at Safe Harbor!