Reef Restaurant Reviews

Good service...Great atmosphere on the beach. Had a wonderful time there.

Horrible slow service and empty on a Friday night. Food very average. They better do something quick!

Excellent food, service and location right on the beach. My wife and I normally come here for our anniversary but hadn't been in a couple of years. We had forgotten how good this place was. They gave us a table outside on the patio with a great view of the beach and a nice ocean breeze. We had the rack of lamb and filet mignon with blue cheese. It was incredible. Just FYI, the drinks here are strong, so be prepared. LOL

Horrible horrible service, told 45 minute wait, waited about 2 hours, got to table did not see a waitress for about half hour. DId not get much attention till the restauarant was pretty empty about 9 PM. Very unhappy with this place and its non existance service

Very disappointing, long wait for dinner, food was cold. Asked to heat it up was still cold. Small portions. Won't be going back.

Had a great time and the view was awesome looking over the ocean.

The Reef is located on Hwy A1A (Historic Coastal Byway) in St. Augustine with a wonderful ocean panorama. I try to eat at The Reef once during any visit to Northern FL. Two of us tried the Jumbo Scallops with orange ginger glaze and balsamic reduction and one person decided on a Mahi Mahi sandwich. We all totally enjoyed our meals, and the service was also excellent.

It'd be 5 out of 5, but the service was very slow. The waiter was very apologetic and made up for it with a complimentary dessert. The food couldn't have been better, ended up being with the wait. The few was amazing, right on the coast.

Five stars for the view and atmosphere. The steak was cooked perfectly. The tea was fresh brewed.

The service here was IMPECCABLE. The food was amazing as well, but that was 10 star service. The brunch was delicious and the team they had working upstairs were funny and sweet and ON TOP of everything! We will be back every single time we are in town!

a table by the window, friends, good food, that's living.

A beautiful view with good food and service. Fine dining but still very casual and comfortable.

GREAT location, GREAT food and a fabulous staff. Can't wait to return.

Perfect! Awesome food! Healthy choices! Excellent service. Beautiful view. One of the best places in Florida. Seriously.

Excellent food and service. The view was amazing, too!

Great food and desert, a big compensation for a 2 hour trip. !!

A bit pricey. Waiter kept touching his mask with his gloves never changed.

The orange cake tastes like baby aspirin but everything else is good.

Amazing food with a beautiful patio to sit sea side. The red snapper special was fantastic, thanks chef!

It was a wonderful dining experience
I was there for my birthday

I was treated to a glass of wine and a fabulous dessert
The wait staff was super
It became one of my favorite and the view is spectacular

The Sunday brunch is absolutely phenomenal! Delicious mimosa's, wonderful food, and a great environment with friendly service.

The Reef Restaurant continues to be one of our favorites! Tonight we were celebrating our mom's/grandma's 92nd birthday. As soon as we arrived we were greeted with a warm and friendly smile and were seated right away. We had made reservations weeks in advanced. The staff was knowledgeable and courteous and handled our party of 16 with ease. The food was delicious! Everyone enjoyed their dish and all said they will be back! Highly recommend! The best view of the Ocean within 60 miles!

Food was wonderful.. staff were friendly.. view was amazing!!

Manager and staff was quick to correct their mistakes en we first got seated ans the food was delicious.

The Reef is an amazing restaurant!!! If I could eat anywhere in the world I would chose the reef!

If you come on a bus or in from out of town, your drawn to ocean front dining. I don t blame you. Living here , we take waterfront dining as a given. Please note , tonight I ate at the bar. Positives - fish was cooked right. Other than that, somewhat outdated. Not an exciting menu. No Wi-Fi, had to ask for water.

I have lived here for 5 years Roughly .25 miles away. Third time I have every dined here. Eat out 3 to 5 times per week while in town.

loved the atmosphere, loved the food, service excellent!!!

We have been here twice and both time, the food was great. Since I have a shellfish allergy, I get the filet mignon, medium rare. It is flavorful without any kind of sauces. Jambalaya is the other meal shown and my husband said he would order that again. Their bread pudding is really good; however, they ran out of it before we were able to order it. Our server was attentive and polite.. You can hear her smile though you couldn't see it for the mask.. she has to wear.. This restaurant is located on the beach, which you can see and watch as you eat. Good food and a great view are the reasons why we will be returning.

The Reef is as good as it gets. On the ocean, great food and great service. We love it.

I didn't care much for the menu, but I keep going back for the music. Rotageezer band aka the Geezers are worth the drive and the menu.

The food was excellent with 2.00 off appetizers for happy hour. The fish was fresh I had the grouper my wife had the seafood pasta. Brian, our server couldn't have been nicer. All this plus a fantastic ocean veiw.

Scott was our server and he killed it! I'm a fishing guide as well as a seafood conosuer and the salmon was awesome! Highly recommend!!!

Our host and server...both named Chris were fantastic. My wife had the strip steak and I, the jambalaya. Both were best in area. Be sure to taste the datil lime sauce on shrimp appetizer.

Molly was our waitress and was awesome. Had fish and chips and a few drinks. Sat on the outside porch next to the ocean.

Great food,great service and a great location. Fine dining but you can stop in for a casual lunch.

Wasn't why I thought it was needs more menu options the buffet is only on Sundayneither open the variety more than just seafood

Great ocean view, knowledgeable, friendly servers, and yummy food. A little pricey, but worth it.

Good food, price made appropriate by the wonderful location. Service was a bit slow.

Awesome piece of history!
Do the tour !

Went to the Reef for Sunday brunch as my mother was in town. I live in St. Augustine and have been looking for a good brunch spot for the last year. The view is great - direct ocean front. The buffet has a limited selection of mediocre all you can eat buffet style food. They offer to prepare eggs benedict so I was hopeful as I love eggs benedict. The eggs were okay but they served it with ham rather than the traditional Canadian bacon, and the hollandaise was just plain lousy. Devoid of taste. I guess if you re into all you can eat of so-so food and want to do it looking at the ocean then it might work for you but I ll keep looking for someplace good.

Upscale, yet casual, we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at this oceanfront gem. Our server James, was knowledgeable, friendly and very professional. Seafood pasta, fish and chips and seafood salad with lobster, shrimp and crab all delicious. We will be back!

Omg the place is absolutely wonderful. the food was so flavorful. The plates were so beautifully prepared. They definitely have a wonderful chef or chefs. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves food. The waiter was so polite and very attentive. We will definitely be coming back.

Worst meal I have ever had. Got the shrimp/lobster resoto Resotio was a paste and the lobster was like eating a flat tire. Never again

Great beach dining views and unique wedding venue. Continent for a beach wedding and reception.

Perfect crab cakes!!!

Most of the food was excellent. Jambalaya was too salty unfortunately.

horrible service, poorly prepared food, I was even afraid to complain

A new find while visiting St Augustine. After a week of seafood I was ready for a change. I ordered the fillet mignon. I seldom eat beef out anymore because it's difficult to find good quality beef or a chef who has pride in their craft. I found both at The Reef. All topped off with a spectacular view from their outdoor beachside balcony. My wife, of course got seafood and it was equal in it's perfection. A must on our next trip to St Augustine.

Totally ruined our night. We were in town for just one night, I called in advanced and reserved a table for two specifically asking for a table outside or by the window and was told it was reserved. When arrived I was told they "don't reserve tables outside". Reception girl was rude.

We had to wait 45 mins to get a table, which is understandable. But then an hour and a half to get food, because our waiter was simply the worst

We had a delightful meal at The Reef. Decided to start restaurant week off with this place. It was absolutely delightful. We have recently relocated here and have been having a difficult time finding really good food. Luckily we found it here. The portions were huge, the service excellent, and there was a nice view as an added bonus. Kudos to Chef Bob for an excellent menu. We can't wait to go back and try out their regular menu!

Great food, friendly staff, great off season no crowds

Wonderful gourmet seafood, there's a wonderful little nook that is almost private, which is the only place that allows dogs. My wife and I had a wonderful time with a restaurant that knows how to serve fabulous dishes. Great views of the ocean with a deck that is great if you appreciate great food with atmosphere. . Not cheap, but exactly what you would expect for all you get, including a staff that connects. Go and enjoy.

The view! Service is friendly and professional. When it's dark and the view is gone, The Reef is still a good restaurant. Worth the drive.

There were 4 couples for dinner on Mother's Day no less and had excellent service from Heather. Everything was perfect. No orders were mistaken all food was hot. Heather was very attentive to drink orders. This was by far our most pleasant dining experience in quite a while. Heather split up our checks and no mistakes on who had what and all beverages were right on spot. Thanks for the great evening!

Good food, good service. Really good fries. GREAT view. If I could I would sit outside every time I went here, just smelling the ocean, feeling the breeze, and watching the waves. GREAT oceanfront place.

Nice place right on the beach. And I mean on the beach. Food was very good. 4 stars because I felt their plates were well over priced for what we got. We ate outside, on the deck which was awesome. We got there late, so it got dark as we were finishing our meals. And, like a light switch, the biting critters came out. If we were there a bit earlier, I am confident we wouldn't have experienced the no seeums. So, if you go and eat outside, get there BEFORE DARK! Service was good.

Bobby, our waiter was wonderful and the food fabulous as always, love all the new outdoor decking going up

My wife loved her lobster tail however my fish was not fresh bartender seem overworked and underpaid

Five star view, food pretty good.kind of expensive. Key lime teeny tiny. I'll be back anyhow.

I have to say this was my first time and it was a fantastic experience. Our waiter Ryan was very personable and attentive. The food was perfect (we had the prime rib)and the price was reasonable. Also the ambiance was very nice.

This is the only restaurant in the St Augustine area that is actually right out on the beach (actually above it). This gives it some props but the prices are really out there, too. The food is usually very good and the service is what one would expect for the prices. The real perk is to eat here on a rising full moon and watch it come up over the ocean. Their website even gives a chart with times so you can plan for it for an extra special meal event.

I love this restaurant & am going again next week for our Gals' Kentucky Derby Day with mint juleps this time. Was Bloody Mary day for us last time with big double olives. Such a beautiful deck oceanside despite hurricanes removing beach sand. Love their seafood but took a long time to get our check even after we asked for it again. Finally went inside to pay. Food orders were confused as well. Was very busy.

Our server was polite and attentive. The view of the beach was excellent. Ample parking and we did not wait to be seated. However if you have a bigger party you might want to and make a reservation.

We ate dinner at this restaurant on Saturday night 8-21-16. The food was good but the additional side dish choices to the main dinners were a bit odd and you had to pay extra for the bread and the dinners did not include a salad??! I had the 8-ounce prime rib dinner with mashed potatoes. I really wanted a baked potato with my prime rib but they didn t offer baked potatoes with their prime rib so I got mashed potatoes. The prime rib arrived with a horseradish cream type sauce. I prefer real horseradish that is not in a cream form, lol. I thought the dinners were rather expensive for not getting a salad & bread included with your dinner. My husband got the fish of the day dinner and liked it. This restaurant reminded me of a banquet type of place. Very good but very different.

This was our second time there and no disappointments. This restaurant is new and clean, and I would recommend it - especially the view. The food and apps were good. More fish dinner choices w/be even better.

Great selection of delicious food. Great service. Some construction on the beach to improve the Breakwater.

Pros - Outstanding, and I mean, outstanding food! Friendly and helpful staff.
Cons - Very, very noisy. The way out table was set up, my back was to the view. That was just awful. Everyone what at our table was enjoying the view. And while the server was very nice and friendly, they reached over and across everyone too much. They were polite, but it was too much. And had to ask our guest of honor to move in too many times. If the table had been moved up to the rail, she wouldn't have had to move in so many times AND I could have had a view like everyone else. I would still go back because the food was THAT GOOD, but, I would try sitting somewhere else, maybe it would be less noisy, maybe not...

Came to dinner here with 7 family members including myself. Let me put it bluntly: Service was not prompt, servings were small, specialty drinks were basic, and server inattentive. My dish, in particular, was a fish that was either overcooked or old because it was chewy/rough. The whole piece of fish was not eaten as a result. The server responded by saying there will be no charge for the plate and not once asked if I wanted another plate to replace it. Just a mere I ll take it off your bill comment. No common sense whatsoever.

Few other notes: No soft music or music of any kind played to create any ambience and crusted seagull feces on the window. Nice view to the of ocean.

A pathetic joint - highly not recommended.

I was not impressed with the brunch. If you dont stuff yourself with shrimp and crab it is very over priced at $85 for two people, over $100 with gratuity. service was average. The room where brunch is served is much too small, the lines could flow much better with some guidance from the staff. Most of the staff was not friendly or engaged, just going through the motions. The food was restocked at a snail's pace. For the price point, selection was limited for salads, desserts, pastries, and fruit. It would be helpful if the cheese selections were labeled. The hot food was unappealing at best. The service area for waffles, breads was sticky and greasy. No attention to cleanliness by staff, including the restrooms. The lounge singer was terrible! I was thankful to not have to sit where I could hear her. I can't recommend The Reef because the food and service were inadequate for the price point.

Great service and excellent food. Highly recommended.

Great great service but my mashed potatoes were Luke warm and as I didn t want a whole dinner I got the beef tenderloins and they also weren t very hot. My sons food was awesome. We had a crab cake for an appetizer and it was absolutely delicious. The service was outstanding. When we go again I would concentrate more on the seafood!

North Beach mahi was great, and everyone else in our party really liked their food as well. Nice view and the service was also good. All in all a great place to eat of you are looking for an upscale casual restaurant.