So….I’m one of those people that thought BlackFinn Grille was just fine dinning. While it does have a nicer area for fine dinning, it’s not just that. This seems to be a common misconception. While talking to other first timers, they also had mentioned the same thing. At least I’m not alone in my stupidity. Now that I’ve seen the place, I will definitely be coming back.
4840 Big Island Drive, Suite 5
Jacksonville, FL 32246
(904)345-3466
Location: It’s at the St. Johns Town Center where Whiskey River, Ulta and the other stores like that are. Pretty much at the end of the strip that has Best Buy and Toy’s R Us in it.
Food: First off, let me throw a disclaimer out there. This was a bloggers event, where they invite some “influential” social media people (boy, do I have them fooled!) to come try some stuff out and then blog about it. Like I have said before, free food and drinks WILL get me to come, but it won’t get you a positive review. In all fairness, I can’t imagine someone inviting people to come try the food if it stunk. Luckily I haven’t had that happen yet. But once again, even though the food is free, that doesn’t mean I won’t be honest about what I thought.
Now, on to the food and experience. I went on a Wednesday for what they call “Dine and Wine Wednesdays”. This is where you can experience live acoustic music, half priced bottles of wine (all night), half priced glasses of wine (in the Saloon and Patio) and 15% off your dinner bill.
This goes from 4-7pm. When I went inside, I was expecting something along the lines of III Forks or like that. Kind of fine dinning. The cool thing is, that is true and it’s not true at the same time. They have the place divided into many different areas. The Saloon, the outdoor Patio (where I spent the whole time), another bar and then a nicer eating area. All these areas share the same menu, so don’t think you can only get one type of food and not some others. Each menu is the same.
The first thing I did was order a drink. I went with the Coconut Lime Mojito. It was awesome. I’m not usually a mojito kind of guy but something about this combination caught my eye. I’m glad I got it, it was perfect. Oh, wait, let me back up. So we sat outside right? And this next little blurb is for you, ladies. Ever walk past Abercrombie and you see the giant posters of the male models? Well, I think those guys work at BlackFinn, it looked like a casting call for one of their commercials in there. The wait staff and the guy playing the live music.
So, you can order a drink and a side order of “eye candy” ladies. Ok, back to the food. I’m not going to mention everything I ate there because the list would be too long but I will point out a couple highlights. If you are tired of boring old cheese sticks, try ordering theirs. It is completely different. When they brought them out, I actually thought they were spring rolls lol. They are wrapped in the same stuff.
So I was surprised when I bit into them and it was actually cheese. I liked it. They were nice and crisp and the wrap didn’t compete with the cheese. Also, if you want a different take on calamari, try theirs…it has some green peppers and other stuff with it. Me likey <— I know that’s not a word. Hush. Another highlight, the nachos. The plate is HUGE. Even I don’t think I could eat them all. They were very good. I didn’t have anything I didn’t like actually. The flatbreads were good, I especially liked the Buffalo Chicken one. The veggie one was good too, it had asparagus on it. I love asparagus.
Extras: You should definitely stop by and try this place out. If you are intimidated, try going on Wednesday and take advantage of the deals they have, sit out on the patio, and listen to live music. It is a really good atmosphere. The wait staff was very good as well.
The Good:
– Updated takes on common food (cheese sticks and calamari)
– $$ price point. Not too expensive, not cheap either. Good balance
– There is an environment for everyone or every function
The Bad:
– It’s not walking distance from the rest of the shopping part of the Town Center (not necessarily a bad thing, just wish it was a little closer)