Reef Restaurant Reviews

Great food, great view combined with great servers.

Terrible service, our waitress took our order and we never saw her again, literally. Wife's salad never came, never got a drink refill, never even got straws that we asked for when we got our drinks until my wife flagged down another waitress. Food taste OK but small portions; I got 11, yes I counted them, french fries with my $14 fish tacos( only got 2 tacos and the fish didn't even run length of taco shell). Fried shrimp entree is 6 jumbo shrimp and 15 french fries. We will not be back, worst experience in the area by far. Good view, but there are plenty better places with the same location with better food and wait staff.

One of the BEST restaurants that I have been to in Jax/St. Augustine area. The food is amazing and the best thing is that their waiters are polite, attentive and fun to interact with. Plus, nothing beats having a meal while looking at the ocean.

Decent. Nice place. Waiter slow slow. Chocolate cake was the best part.

Blackened mahi tacos were absolutely delicious, wife preferred shrimp on her tacos and liked them as well. Server was friendly. Would definitely return!

Excellent lunch menu with a variety of seafood options. My salmon was flavored well and cooked perfectly. Can't beat outdoor seating with an ocean view!

Most accomodating staff, excellent service and huge variety of food and desserts.

The Buffet is small without much variety. It is also quite expensive. However, the ocean view is spectacular.

The view is awesome and the service was great ask for Amanda!

Good food ambience and service at a very reasonable price

Location on the ocean. Almost in the ocean. Service was fantastic. Lobster, scallops and shrimp as tender as I have ever had.

Nice Easter buffet, it's been a family tradition to go every Easter but getting too overcrowded in recent years

So glad we stopped here awesome view , and the food tasted amazing.

Perfect atmosphere with dining on the ocean. Great food and service

Fantastic food and service. Wait staff was extremely friendly and eager to please. The food was amazing!!!

Excellent service . Friendly staff, great food. Great ocean view while enjoying dinner.

Some of worst seafood I have ever had. Our waiter was great. Sitting on the patio was an awesome and relaxing experience.

My dear wife made reservations for an early dinner, but when we arrived they did not have the table we requested. We were eventually seated, only there was no one assigned to our table, so we had a long wait for service. The Reef charges $1.50 for bread which is not much more than a dinner roll. The food was of average quality, but of high price. If you want a mediocre meal at high prices, go to the Reef.

We are from SC we were visiting family and decided to go. We had 4 different dinners and they were all wonderful. I loved the Shrimp and Grits... Great dinner. Highly recommended

My mother came into town and she wanted to go someplace nice.
We figured with the location and the prices it would be nice.
I ordered lobster tail, shrimp, and scallops.
Lobster tail was terrible, shrimp was okay, and scallops I spit out. The best thing on my place was the mashed potatoes out of a box.
My mother ordered fish, and it said it was citrus. It was topped with oranges from a can!
We paid over a 100$ for everything and it was worth about 30$, if that.
Our server was AMAZING! He was super funny, and I felt bad for saying anything about our food.
But this place is filled with elderly people and that should of been our indicator that the food was crappy.
It's WAY over priced.
The location is probably the only reason it's still around.
It's sad honestly..

Fantastic food and service, even for a large party!

White linen table clothes, polite waitress, food outstanding, and not far from St. Augustine! Sorry we went so late and couldn't enjoy the view.

Excellent food; great service; interesting location.

The waffles at Sunday brunch are amazing! The other Sunday brunch food was good as well, there was some wait time for things to be replenished. When we arrived we waited 20 minutes after our reservation to be seated, the service was good while we were eating and then we had to ask two different servers for our check and waited about 25 minutes before they brought it back. Overall, it was a decent brunch spot, but nothing too special.

Beachside dining with a view can be a let down, but we found that overall this was a solid dinner experience. Thursday evening was quiet and we came with our preschooler, who enjoyed looking at the ocean. Fried green tomatoes were spicy and tasty, but diners should definitely stay seafood focused here.

Nice waterside view. A little noisy, may want to sit outside in patio if weather allows.

New to town but this is one of my fav s already. Location and view are spectacular. I ve had the house cured salmon twice now YUM! I ll be back time and time again. Friendly staff. Same owner as Aunt Kate s.

Love the Reefs brunch! Crablegs, prime rib, amazing view!!

Great view, excellent service. Gourmet food options from local sources

Served me a spoiled pan seared pompano about a year ago. It spelled so bad that the people around us noticed. I found it hard to believe anyone could serve something so obvious spoiled.

Literally worst service ever. Came in with a family group and was asked to leave because they had no room for us and then 2 minutes later (as we were walking to car) sits a party of 9 that didn t have a reservation (we asked them). On top of it, he was rude to us! Raised his voice! Save yourself the trouble and go somewhere else. Better service for the same price. St. Augustine is beautiful and has many other friendly and welcoming restaurants.

Great ocean front dining.Excellent food,attentive service,highly recommended.

Just had drinks but what an amazing view beautiful location

I had dinner in this place . After ordering the food there was no food comming for exactly two hours . I could not believe that it took two hours for just a simple meal ,I did not complain during the dinner so i won't have any suprises in my food,or asking for discount .That is not why i eat out. I complain on the way out about our waitres and the answer was (We know about her) I was shock that no manager got on her case to fix te problem.Great view- The only credit goes to the Chef . Got to improve the music it is not going with the view. Island music YES .The Beach The View HELLO . Try it on your own maybe you run on the same experience .

Great food, beautiful views, amazing ambiance, professional and courtesy staff, and very pricey. Good for special occasions. Enjoy the Sunday Brunch and mimosas.

Worst restaurant in the world. Qualdrouple over cooked lobster and shrimp. Scallops were cooked perfectly. $95.00 waste of money. Some locals like it. Maybe they get special treatment. Never ever, ever, ever going this place again.

It is our 42nd wedding anniversary. We re new residents of St. Augustine and The Reef came highly recommended. We decided to go for lunch versus dinner. All said our initial experience was GOOD. We had the mussels for an appetizer, my bride had the fish and chips and I had the shrimp dinner. Worthy of a 4 maybe even 4.5 stars. It was so good I ordered another shrimp dinner to go (my bride loved mine and I knew she would enjoy it for a late dinner). We get home and we both end up with a bit of an upset stomach. We attribute it to our age. Then at 7:30 my bride decides she wants dinner. We open the dish and it is 1/3, maybe even 1/4 of the food served at lunch. All said (again) the food is a little pricey but we left a 30% tip (COVID hit the food industry pretty hard). Then we get the takeout and there wasn t enough food there to even make a plate. VERY DISAPPOINTED!

This place is unbeatable! The view is tops. The food is amazing. Sunday brunch is a highlight. Service is perfection! My wife and I loved it.

Delicious!

We made reservations for the Friday after Valentine's. We reserved a spot on the deck through Google.

It is important to note, we were told deck reservations don't show up out there.

Two stars for the friendly staff. "Grouper caprese" was a thing on the menu. Just let that sink in for a minute... What a travesty. Ordered the fried shrimp with fries dinner. . Will not go back.

God forbid you forget any belongings! They won't even bother to check and will hang up on you! Very rude and an unprofessional manager!
Won't go there again and I suggest you don't either.

Food was dry and really tastelsss. service was slow. I expected decent service and decent food for the price, and got niether. Try osteens,creekside or saltwater cowboy for better food ,with a similar, or little lower ,price point. At the reef you're paying for the view, which is perfect from the deck, but the food and service are terrible.

Wonderful setting, fantastic food, great service. Will definitely go back.

My husband & I have dined at The Reef many times and always enjoy it so much. The food is always fresh & delicious. Their service staff is friendly & so gracious. Of course, the ocean view is stunning! We will continue to patronize this fine restaurant.

Nice view. Outside patio. Great food. Excellent wait staff. Unique menu. Great wine selection. Fine dining without the uptight stuffyness.

Good experience. Super friendly staff and great food!

Waited 30 min for ouir food and then it arrived cold. Manager had the nerve to want to charge us for soups when we walked out. Never coming back.

Location! Food is usually very good yesterday just ok! Crabcake was too bready!! But still liked going there!!

Party of four. All of us were very happy with our orders. Great food quantity! Our server was also great. We had Prime rib sandwich and Carolina chicken. Yummm!!

Food was good and view was great! A little pricey for lunch but paying for location I'm sure.

Ok, I dont post to many times. But when I find a restaurant worth sharing I will. The service was great, the labster, shrimp Risotto was amazing. The view was ocean front breathtaking. The price was very reasonable. If it's open, eat there you won't be disappointed

Enjoyed the ambience. I wasn't a fan of the king salmon I ordered and didn't realize there were other types of salmon. Our waitress and chef worked with me to find what worked for me!

Good food. Outside deck was not open as they are replacing it and a breakwall.

great atmosphere, beautiful view, and good food. worth splurging a little on some of the more expensive seafood options. avoid anything fried, they make it too greasy! the service has been a little slow but nothing unbearable. overall, a great seaside place to eat.

Great brunch selection. Great ambience and service. If you are a seafood fan you have to try it.

Food wasn't bad, and the service was good, but for the price I just can't imagine going here ever again.

By far the best clam chowder I've ever had!! If I could leave 10 stars I would !! I dare you to try it.

I've had better food at a Captain D's. We went on Christmas Eve, which is also my wife's birthday. My wife had the Shrimp and Lobster Risotto. The lobster was flavorless and tough. Way overcooked. The Risotto was so salty she couldn't eat it. The shrimp were ok, but how hard it shrimp? I had the Caprese Grouper. I didn't know grouper could be fileted that thin? It was so overcooked it was almost crunchy. When was the last time you had to cut grouper with a knife? This dish came with steamed veggies and cheese grits. (if that is what the round lump on my plate was).

Our waiter tried to explain that they had been slammed all day and were backed up. That does not wash with me. Every table had to be reserved since it was Christmas Eve, so the restaurant manager knew how busy they would be and should have staffed for it. Speaking of management, if your going to chew out your employees, take it out back. Having to stand in the lobby while someone was "counseling" the seating staff was embarrassing for them and your guest. Completely unprofessional.

The Reef has a great view and ambience. It's too bad the food and some of the staff make it a no go in my book.

You need a new chef.

Food took a bit and it is just ok, nice views though!

Ocean view was good. Our waiter, Jeffrey, was competent. Kitchen fell short. Salads were slightly above standard. My wife has issues with peppers & hot and/or spicy foods which she explained. Her scallop dish had large chunks of ground black pepper which caused her to start choking. Jeffrey brought a replacement dish of fried scallops. She thought that the scallops were off-tasting but did not pursue the matter. My dish Zarzuela was a tasty blend of mussels,clams,shrimp in a flavorful Catalonian broth. While there were a lot of small clams (about the size of a nickel ), I would have preferred slightly larger clams with more flavor. Also the fish and ham in the dish's description were missing from my dish. For the cost of a glass of wine, you can buy a whole bottle. We should have known better. Rarely do you get a good view along with good food.

We are a huge fan of Cap's. However, we tried the Reef after avoiding for a year or so. Pleasantly surprised by a new menu, excellent service and food. Also the interior has vastly improved. And apparently, in the next two weeks, the dingy carpet will be replaced. Definitely worth a try and a great view overlooking the Ocean.

Great food and great view. It is on the pricey side but it is worth it.

Great place to eat and good service,food was delicious, sights of ocean was amazing. All who are there should go and see.

Very nice ambiance with beautiful ocean dining views I came here for their sunday brunch which was very tasty the menu featured prime rib ,custom omelettes,smoked salmon and a plethora of breakfast items along with a assortment of fruit,cheeses and deserts .The service was good I would come back .ty for reading

My Jambalaya was good Fries were cold but they brought new ones. Seafood salad was a disagreement. They brought something else. Seafood cowdwer was the best. View of ocean and service great! In all a mixed experience for lunch.