Restaurant Review: Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery in Jacksonville, FL

Every now and then, my girl friends and I take a girls' night out: without kids! This particular night we picked Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery located on Gate Parkway in the Tinseltown area of Jacksonville, Florida. Having never been there, I checked their web site in advance for directions, which had apparently not been updated in quite some time. After a forty five minute drive for what should have been a twenty minute trip, we eventually found our location.

The atmosphere was nice, reminiscent of steakhouses such as Outback or Longhorn, with the rustic appeal of wood floors, and deep coral colored walls. Our party of ten was seated fairly quickly on a Thursday evening. We were greeted by friendly wait staff and enjoyed his service throughout the evening. Though the restaurant is known to be a microbrewery, they also have a nice selection of cocktails and I ordered a raspberry martini that was quite good.

The menu is a blend of pizza, pastas, steak and potatoes, and salads, all priced from $10.50 to $25.50. We started our meal with several appetizers, including bruschetta and calamari which we thoroughly enjoyed. A friend of mine asked a question about the cheese grits, and she was served a ramekin of them to try before ordering. I ordered the New York strip, and asked for it to be cooked medium rare, which it was. It was delicious and I had enough left over to take home. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and the staff was friendly.

The menu boasts a dessert sampler tray, which we were unable to order because they had run out of bread pudding, so I ordered the key lime cheesecake ($4.75) which was phenomenal. It was the perfect blend of tart and creamy.

When asked the location of restrooms at the end of our evening, I was personally escorted to the area and shown the way. The most disappointing part of our evening was the lack of cleanliness of the restrooms. However, I would most certainly try this restaurant again, and hope this was a seldom occurrence.