Restaurant Review: Cobblestones at the Creek in Jacksonville, Florida

My husband and I just celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary. We hired a babysitter for the evening and went out for dinner. We wanted something quiet and romantic, with an upscale atmosphere and good food. We decided to try a relatively new restaurant in the area: Cobblestones At The Creek. The restaurant is located in the Julington Creek area of Jacksonville on Julington Plaza Drive. It is tucked away and not visible from the main road, but the owners have done a fabulous job of marketing the place so that most people know where it is. The building itself is beautiful, with a large stone facade on the exterior.

When you enter the front doors, you see warm rich colors and furnishings. Deeply stained woodwork is everywhere. We were greeted quickly by the host, who seated us at a nice quiet table in the back of the restaurant. Within moments we were greeted by our server, who asked if we had been there before. When we said that we had not, he was able to give us a brief spiel about the restaurant along with a guide to the menu and several suggestions. In his spiel we learned that the owner had previously been a manager at Ruth's Chris in Jacksonville, and that they were known for their high quality Angus beef.

I ordered a white wine and my husband ordered a Captain Morgan and coke. We received our drinks in only a minute or two, but to my husband's dismay he received a Jack Daniels and Coke. Our server attempted to correct the problem, but brought him the same thing a second time. We ordered the Calamari appetizer, and my husband went to the bar to have them fix his drink. They happily exchanged it with a Captain Morgan and Coke.

Our appetizer arrived: beautiful thick pieces of calamari, lightly breaded, with a wonderful accompaniment of Chipotle Remoulade and marinara. The remoulade was the perfect blend of creamy and spicy. It was a superb dish. One we had finished our appetizer, our house salads arrived. The house dressing was a very nice vinaigrette. We had almost finished our salads when the main courses arrived.

My husband ordered a New York Strip and asked them to add shrimp with it. His steak was perfectly cooked. He ordered it medium and it was pink throughout. Normally he asks for A-1 with his steak, but the flavor was so good, no A-1 was needed with this steak! The shrimp were served on a skewer and were a nice compliment to the steak. His side dish was sauteed mushrooms which proved to be a wonderful choice.

I ordered the Jamaican Shrimp and Scallops. They were served jerk seared with coconut brown butter. The presentation was beautiful and the food was excellent. My side dish was cream cheese mashed potatoes, which were very creamy and delicious, and very good with my husband's mushrooms. We each shared our dinners and were very pleased with our orders. The food was superb.

When we had finished eating, our server came to our table with a round tray with shot glasses in it. Each shot glass held a different sweet mini indulgence, such as chocolate mousse layered with chocolate ganache and a raspberry chocolate cream layered concoction. These were the two that we chose. Both desserts were rich and creamy and sweet, and we were very impressed with the shot glass idea. Each glass held about four or five bites of sweetness, which is all you need after a full course meal, and the cost was only $2.15 each.

The total bill came to $74.55, which we thought was quite reasonable considering that this included drinks, appetizer, salads, entrees, and desserts for both of us. We were very happy with our choice in restaurants for our special evening, and plan to return again.