I spent 24 hours in St. Augustine a couple weeks ago, in April 2025, after attend a family wedding in the area. I wrote a post about St. Augustine as a whole here. While touristy, St. Augustine offers some decent places to eat, and I really enjoyed my lunch at The Floridian – a true Florida restaurant owned by Floridians and using local ingredients. This post details my lunch at the Floridian, which I very much recommend visiting if in St. Augustine.

The Floridian! – The Restaurant

The Floridian is a locally owned restaurant right in historic St. Augustine serving what it describes as “innovative Southern fare” with “down-home Souther comfort foods”, “as well as lighter, healthier options, with many vegetarian dishes”. And indeed, that description is correct. The Floridian’s menu, which changes by season, features local Florida growers and producers and is definitely Florida-friendly. The Floridian is owned by Florida locals and opened in St. Augustine way back in 2010!

In terms of the restaurant, there is a small courtyard and covered porch with outdoor seating, as well as inside space with two rooms of seating. The interior of the restaurant features Florida-ish decor, such as rattan furniture, and alligators in every shape and form. I’m talking paintings, pictures and even alligator heads adorn the restaurant. This was one of my favorite things about the Floridian.

The Location of the Floridian

The Floridian is located on Spanish Street, just a few minutes off popular St. Georges Street. Despite being so close to touristy St. George Street, the Floridian neither felt super touristy nor super crowded. However, for those visiting in the future, the Floridian is moving to St. Augustine Island in August 2025 to a larger location, so this information will be outdated soon.

The Drinks at the Floridian

The Floridian offers a full bar, including cocktails, mocktails, beer and wine. I tried the Garden Gimlet, pictured below. It was pretty tasty and very pretty. Dan also ordered a cocktail and enjoyed it.

The Food at the Floridian

True to its description on its website, the menu at the Floridian is full of both local dishes and healthy options, which is a nice find in touristy St. Augustine. Most of my party ordered the Spicy Melt, which was a blackened local catch sandwich, or the hamburger, which they enjoyed. I, however, could not resist the F.G.T. B.L.T. – or a fried green tomato BLT, adding Pimento cheese. I really loved my sandwich. The Pimento cheese was incredible and the friend green tomatoes were also well prepared. All of our sandwiches were served with house made corn tortilla chips, which were very, very good. They paired especially well with the local spicy sauce that our waitress brought to the table.

Pie at the Floridian

The Floridian, in true Southern fashion, has entire case filled with various pies for dessert. They all looked amazing. We opted for one of the daily specials – a Strawberry and Sour Cream pie. I was not certain what to expect, but this pie was fantastic. It may have been my favorite thing that I ate the entire weekend.

STEAL OUR LUNCH

The Floridian: 72 Spanish St #3638, St. Augustine, FL. Open 11:00 – 9:00 PM (10:00 Friday – Saturday). Closed Tuesday. Outdoor and indoor seating. You probably don’t need a reservation except on weekend evenings.

ON A BUDGET OR IN A RUSH

If you are on a budget or in a rush, we also had breakfast at Maple Street Biscuit Company, which is a small Florida chain serving breakfast biscuits, chicken and fried green tomatoes until the afternoon. I had the fried chicken biscuit with Pimento cheese and hot honey, and that sandwich was incredible. There is a location right in historic St. Augustine.

Maple Street Biscuit Company: 39 Cordova St, St. Augustine, FL. Open daily 7:00 – 3:00.