I had asked The Boozman about his favorite watering holes and somehow, I convinced him to do a guest review on a few in St Augustine. Here's what he had to say...
Since The Boozeman lives in Jacksonville you would expect me to gush over great places in my home city such as Intuition Ale Works, Bold City Brewery, and Green Room Brewing. These places are all awesome and Jacksonville has even more good choices than ever for great micro brewery fun. Instead today I will target tourist town St Augustine Florida, the historic district to be exact.
St. Augustine has loads of popular places in the historic district which are tagged ‘must stops’ while vacationing there. Among others The Milltop Tavern, The Bar With No Name, A1A Brewery, and the Mi Casa Café all command deserved attention from visiting tourists. They are all great places I have visited them with pleasure. Although there are also a couple of places off the beaten path that are hiding right in front of you which I have added to my must stop list.
The Rendezvous Restaurant typically starts our day with its splendid selection of bottled beer and interesting rotating limited selection of tap beer. The place is staffed by young hip kids who are beer savvy and is nestled in rear of a walk in mini mall sort of thing right on St. George St. The place is typically pretty quiet and is my choice to try a couple of new beers and maybe a sandwich. It’s always nice to see what they have on tap and check out the new choices in the bottled cooler.
With stop number one behind us it is time to go to where you will find more locals than any other place on St. George St, The St. Georges Tavern. If you remember the tavern your father fell in love with 35 years ago, this is it. There is plenty of history and personality here from the wooden booths carved up with initials from visitors to the old style standard bar. Beer lover’s paradise? Not so much, standard fair with a full bar for the most part. This is my stop to drink my fill of Guinness on tap (they pour it right) and enjoy the broad mix of locals and some tourists. It is a great place to get out of the sun and work on your bar room pallor.
Once ready to put St, George’s Tavern behind us, by now it would be about time for a late lunch and I am on a roll with Guinness, it’s on to Barley Republic Irish Pub. Hidden away back on Spanish Street this place is worth the stroll off of St. George St. for lunch and another Guinness or two. It’s a small Irish tavern with a decent enough tap and bottle beer selection that a hop head wouldn’t be insulted. Added to the solid beer selection it is a great place to have lunch. The food is great and the service is good. Along with the usual burger and sandwich offerings there are fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and bangers and mash which all rock.
After lunch I typically want a nice walk and start thinking about enjoying tap micro brews and various kinds of beer. It’s time for JP Henley’s on Marine St. With 60 or 70 taps, this place offers both the walk and selection of beer to suit my mood. It has a comfortable wood sports bar feel to it and has good people tending the bar. JP Henley’s does offer food but with 70 taps of beer, I have never had a bite to eat there. This is a must stop for all you hop heads when in St. Augustine. One word of warning, when the place is crowded it tends to be a loud environment due to the hard surface décor.
After JP’s if I have any energy left it’s on to some of the more famous tourist spots to enjoy music and enjoy the evening. St. Augustine is a great place to visit and run the circuit. There is much to see and shopping is everywhere. Throw in all the great places to eat and drink and it is easy to kill a day and overnight stay there. As with many places, in St. Augustine the main street is not always the best street.
You can check out other posts by The Boozeman on his website or follow him on Twitter at @Booze_Life.