Restaurant Review: Santa Maria Restaurant of St. Augustine, Florida

Santa Maria Restaurant started out in 1763 as a landing for ships to dock at and unload cargo, back when St. Augustine was still a fledgling city. Almost 200 years later, Louis and Marguerite Connell opened a restaurant on the crumbling landing, fixing up the structure so that it still survives today. Similarly, the restaurant ownership is still in the hands of the Connell family, through their son Carl and daughter-in-law Sylvia.

Overlooking the Matanzas Bay and the Bridge of Lions, Santa Maria offers spectacular views. The place also has "pet" fish that one can view and feed from the landing, thanks to Louis Connell first thinking of attracting them. Alternately, some of the window seats of the restaurant are outfitted with small doors, through which one may feed the fish lingering below. The fish hang around the Santa Maria landing from March until August.

While visiting St. Augustine, a friend and I stopped in at the Santa Maria Restaurant to check out its beautiful views. With the sun setting in the back of the city, the place offered up a wonderful view. Since we were also looking for a bite to eat, we decided to stop by the place's full-service bar and grab some menus.

Santa Maria has an extensive menu filled with intriguing appetizers, main entrées, and desserts. Some of the appetizers are New England Clam Chowder, Minorcan Clam Chowder (a fiery Manhattan-style chowder made with datil pepper, a special type of pepper grown only in the St. Augustine area), conch fritters, cheese sticks, and shrimp cocktail.

Sandwiches include the fried shrimp sub, the crab patty, tuna salad, and salmon sandwich. Regular burgers and chicken sandwiches are also offered. There is also broiled stuffed flounder, broiled or fried scallops, and clam strips.

Main entrée choices include such items as the Captain's Fried Combination Platter, complete with shrimp, scallops, clam strips, fish, deviled crab, and a Florida lobster tail. One may also select from pasta dishes such as the Shrimp Alfredo, which consists of shrimp sautéed in white wine garlic sauce. There is also the "Fresh Catch of The Day" fish platter. Prime Rib and New York Strip Steak are offered, for those who prefer non-seafood fare.

Desserts consist of items such as Key Lime pie, carrot cake, and peanut butter pie.

Because we just wanted a small meal (also, the food there was a bit pricey- a small fish dinner cost $22), we both ordered Santa Maria's New England Clam Chowder bowls. We also ordered a rather potent drink consisting of rum, vodka, tequila, and various juices. I believe it was called the Captain's Blade. The drink cost $8, which I thought was a bit steep, but at least it was loaded.

Our food came quickly, at which point we had decided to sit down at the outside dining area. I tried my drink and had to admit that it was pretty good. My soup was decent- nothing spectacular for clam chowder, of course, but filling nonetheless. Our bill for the one drink and two soups totaled at a little over $20.

I would certainly come back to Santa Monica, at least to try the place's seafood. However, the prices are a bit high here.

Here is some additional information about the Santa Maria Restaurant:

Address: 135 Avenida Menendez
St Augustine, FL 32084
Phone: (904) 829-6578