ABBQ Meat & Drink
Texas-style barbecue with a real kids menu and a large fenced backyard for cornhole and running around. The green space is the difference between eating with children here and carrying barbecue home.
Aardwolf Brewing Company
A taproom inside a former ice plant on Hendricks. The building does a lot of the work here, and a beer list has no way of saying so.
Ajua Mexican Kitchen and Bar
A Mexican kitchen and bar at Jacksonville Beach with its own vegan menu. Enchiladas, quesadillas, jackfruit birria, cauliflower tacos, and a full vegan entree give a mixed table more than one safe fallback.
Amazing Thai
Folio Weekly described a small strip-mall spot at the Gate Parkway exit, with an Ikea across the street, when it reviewed the place in 2023 under the earlier owners. Its own site says it has been under new ownership since August 2024, and it offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free starters.
BellyUp! Jax / Over 50
Over 50 Jacksonville
Nobody publishes the noise level, and it is the thing that decides the night.
Good places to eat and drink in Jacksonville, minus the nightclubs. When a spot gets loud later or draws a lot of kids, the card tells you.
3 spots
Bono's Pit Bar-B-Q
Jacksonville has been pulling trays from Bono's since Lou Bono fired up the first pit in 1949. The original moved to Beach Boulevard as the expressway came through, and today's 4907 Beach Boulevard room is the direct link to that story.
Jack Rabbits
A 300-capacity club on Hendricks, across from the Balis Community Center, that has been booking original bands for more than twenty-five years. Beer and wine only, and all ages, which is part of why it has lasted.
This is a music venue. It is loud when a show is on.
Pete's Bar
Duval County liquor license number one, issued in 1933 the year Prohibition ended, in a building that was Jensen's Market before that. Cash, pool tables, and no interest whatsoever in being discovered.
Go early. It turns into a late-night spot later in the evening.
What these spots are known for
The same over 50 spots, sorted by the reasons people actually pick them.
Origin Stories
Who built this and why?
Rooftops and Patios
Can we sit outside?
The Whole Family Table
Will they be fine with a four-year-old?
Big Groups
Will they seat twelve of us?
Neighborhood Institutions
What has been here forever?
Sports on TV
Where can I watch the game with food and drinks?
Brunch
Where is brunch worth the wait?
Vegan and Plant-Based
Where can I eat with no asterisks?
Community Quotes
Recommendations from real Jacksonville locals, always attributed to whoever wrote them.
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Run one of these rooms?
Every Jacksonville spot here already has a free profile going, put together from what you publish publicly. If we have you filed wrong, or we are missing what you most want to be known for, tell us.