Caps On The Water

Another must visit place in St Augustine. We were told about Caps by Kyle at San Sebastian winery. He was right, this place is wonderful. We sat at the oyster bar were it is first come first serve open seating. Our place at the bar made it easy for us to watch the sunset. I had the flounder, something new for me. It was scored, breaded, then fried. The scoring made it easy to pick the fish off the bone. My wife had the crab Louie salad. Lots of crab meat over a bed of lettuce, it was quite tasty too. My wife had the Pinot Grigio and I had mojitos. I really enjoyed them as they are not overly sweet. After watching the sun set and finishing our last drink we head out to our car, I forgot to mention the complimentary valet parking another nice touch at this wonderful slice of Florida.

Dinner was fantastic. Some of the best seafood we’ve ever had. And the deserts were even better. The cost was a bit high for the overall experience ($ 11 for a mediocre cocktail bring the prime example.) but we were all very pleased with the meal and the sunset.

What a wonderful meal and excellent waterfront experience!
We enjoyed their awesome Garlic Parmesan & Asiago Oysters for an appetizer and loved it! Their Blackened Grouper, served with black beans atop yellow rice and a serving of fried plantains was delicious. My wife and daughter had the pan-​seared Mahi Mahi and enjoyed it too.
My wife, daughter and I really enjoyed the meal and experience here. You will too, that I am sure of!

Caps on the Water is one of the best places to eat in St. Augustine. The view is great and the service is impeccable. They servers are knowledgeable about the menu and attentive. Food came out surprisingly quick. As a dedicated seafood place, I didn’t expect to find much for vegetarians other than side dishes, but I was wrong! Their salads are impressive and stand alone as entrees themselves. The chopped kale salad is probably the best I’ve ever had… and I eat a lot of kale salads. Very comparable to The Brick in Avondale in Jax. It had a apricot dressing with just the right amount of sweetness.

Oysters are main dish here. Sure they have chick and steak but the seafood is fresh. We sat inside and still had an amazing view of the water. We were not there for sunset but they are facing West and have many tables outside so everyone gets a great view of the water. The oysters Rockefeller was great. It’s my favorite dish so I order every time. Parking is on sand and ample until it gets busy then it’s tight. Overall I would go again just to eat oysters.

Cocktails were okay, but not amazing. The view is super nice — more deserving of a 4. Food (we had grouper) was okay — nothing special. Our server was around, but walked away before we could ask her questions or for more food. Parking was crowded and a bit difficult to manage.

Very delicious, awesome view. Can’t wait to be back. But very popular may be a wait of an hour

Well I tried to crab cakes and while not as good as Baltimore style crab cakes definitely the best crab cakes I’ve had in Florida. We had a late lunch overlooking the water on. beautifully shaded deck. Unfortunately they no longer do seared Ahi tacos.

Beautiful view of the intercostal waterway of St. Augustine. My party of 3 came in on a Sunday for a late lunch. The wait was about 15 minutes, and we had a table on the water. Our waiter was very attentive, and she was helpful in describing the menu items. We ordered calamari for the table but it turned out very hard, rubbery, and definitely not worth $ 14. Our waiter noticed we barely touched the calamari and offered to take it back and off our bill, which was very nice of her. I ordered a seared mahi with sweet cucumbers and side salad. It was delicious– perfectly cooked, fresh, and the sides were tasty too. Overall, we would go back if we are in town again!

5 stars for ambience and view but 3 stars for food. The drive here was pleasant, complimentary valet parking was nice (it was super packed!). Even with the crowd, we only waited for about 45 minutes where we went to a bar that was fairly empty and had a drink and appetizer and bread. The soup was… meh. We were seated and ordered one of the fresh catches (we were told the locally caught fish runs out before 7pm). We had oysters that were pretty decent. The main meal itself was just so-​so, we got the broiled fish with spinach and rice. The sauce that came with it… well, I’m glad it could stay on the side where it stayed for the rest of the meal. While our waitress was attentive, she seemed annoyed anytime she talked to us. I just remembered I ordered a salad that she never brought.
That said, the sunset here is really beautiful. I’d definitely come back but keep it to a drink on the dock (you can take your drink out there) and maybe an appetizer (not the soup).

Cap’s is a southern waterfront charm. With lights and chandeliers hanging from the moss covered trees, you can’t help but relax in the romantic laid-​back environment.
While we did have to wait for our table to be ready, almost 45 minutes, we were served graciously at the outdoor bar. They were busy, but attentive — providing drinks & appetizers to hold us over. The wait was pleasant and once seated our server attended to us quickly. My husband had the flounder which was fabulous and I had the crab cakes (filled with crab meat — no fillers!).
I would suggest taking a night to sit by the water and enjoy Cap’s when you are in the area.

Cap’s is a must experience for a tourist like me. Recommended by a friend, I assumed it to be the kind of restaurant with a beautiful setting and ordinary food. The food measures up to the setting here.
I would add that people coming here at sunset should expect a wait and just enjoy the view and the bar, order an appetizer at the bar and generally be patient. The service here is quite good as well. Arriving 15 minutes before sunset, our waiting time was estimated to be 45 minutes and it was accurate.
We spent our wait time tasting the Oysters Rockefeller and give that order a five star for flavour and presentation. There were Mojitos and Manhattans along side those oysters. As a first sign of quality, the Manhattan is garnished with REAL Maraschino cherries (Luxardo brand which are dark purple and not the red dye #77 saturated bright red faux cherries that are more commonly seen).
We took some sunset photos and then were paged by the hostess for our table. The restaurant is quite large and operates very efficiently considering the size. Back to the table, we sat right on the water edge and surveyed the menu. Order up a blackened tuna, jambalaya and fried green tomatoes caprese (served with buratta). Everything was truly delicious.
The blackened fish was genuine blackened rather than highly seasoned and pan-​fried (I have cooked blackened fish and it requires high heat and butter). Outside of Louisiana we note that jambalaya is served as a stew along with rice rather than cooked together. We passed on dessert claiming that the oysters were our dessert…
Our server was really nice and cheerful and genuinely seemed to enjoy her job. Another tourist note is that St. Augustine is an absolutely fantastic place to visit.
The restaurant shuts down after the sunset dinners are complete so by 10 or 10:30 it is nearly empty.
Large parking area and it is located well outside of the main part of town in a residential area.

One of the best outdoor dining venues in Florida. Where else can you sit right at the shore, yet be shaded by a spreading canopy of tree branches?
Of course there’s a lot of fresh seafood on the menu. Highlights were the smoked fish dip appetizer and the appetizer sampler. The «sampler» isn’t actually a sample of other appetizers, but rather an assortment of things not available elsewhere on the menu, the best of which was the smoked salmon.
For entrees we had peel and eat shrimp and fish and chips, both very good.
The wine list is terrific, with many domestic and imported bottles, all at reasonable prices.
Service is friendly, and the kitchen does a great job of keeping up with this very popular spot. No reservations.

This place was amazing. We had a very nice waiter and the service was quick as can be. The food was also fantastic.
We had the gator tails and ribeye. The gator tails were crispy on the outside and tender on the in. My steak was cooked to perfection, and the garlic herb butter they give you, was awesome. I couldn’t stop eating it.
Mix the beautiful views and atmosphere, with great service and food, and voilà! Cap’s on the water.

Went here the other day for a date. Drinks were fantastic– kudos to the bartenders! The food was also great. We had the alligator tail and tuna tartar which both were wonderful! The view is also a big plus and service was fast despite there being TONS of people. Loved the atmosphere and will definitely be coming back!

My husband and I had a wonderful evening here on our last night in town! Fabulous waitstaff! Really made our night! Food was excellent and of course the view was stellar! Grouper dish excellent!

My husband David and I enjoyed the ambiance of dining outdoors and watching the sunset over a delicious meal. Our waitress Chloe was wonderful and made delicious suggestions. We were honored to have Bernard join us as we completed our meal.
For dessert, we loved having the key lime pie.

So, my husband & I are Florida natives. We aren’t tourists by any means, but had not been to Caps before. We were in St. Augustine already & had heard about it so decided it would make a nice date night…
Pros: the food was fresh. Atmosphere was ok (it was a rainy day so super humid… It would be nicer on a nice day.) food came out fast & hot. Views were great.
Cons: THE FOOD! It was incredibly bland… so, so under seasoned. I got the vanilla grouper w/​sauce on the side. The sauce was good (not great) but not something you want to drench your entire meal in. Hubby got the seafood trio… he said the shrimp was good, crab cake was ok (it was sweet, he likes savory) and the 2 fish nuggets (fish sticks) were also incredibly bland. The 5 hush puppies were good though.
I also ordered the Shecrab soup. Not great. Not terrible… not worth $ 10.
They brought the wrong tray to our table. It happened to have a seafood trio without my husbands substitutions, so they gave us that plate (on accident??) and rushed my order.
Between the 2 of us, with no alcohol & a tip… we spent $ 90. For food that was subpar.
From the hour long wait, to meh food… we won’t be returning.

My favorite restaurant of all time, ever.
Food, service, scenery cannot be topped. I’ve had really memorable times here and when I think about my annual visits to St Augustine, Caps is always what I’m most excited about.
Do yourself a favorite and order the hoisin hangar steak, despite the side effect of wanting to eat it over and over again for the rest of your life. Their wasabi mashed potatoes are perfection as well.
Also be sure to sit outside. Even on cooler nights the space is kept warm and the lighting is breath taking.
Take advantage of valet — parking is insane here.

Atmosphere:
It was our first night in town and we decided to head over to Cap’s because it was recommended. We arrived just before sunset so we had an amazing view for dinner. I would imagine parking can be an issue on busy nights so try and get there early if you plan on going.
Food:
My plan this entire trip was to OD on seafood. So… we ordered a dozen oysters as an appetizer and I followed it up with the Seafood Combo. There was no room for dessert.
Oysters were good. Granted it’s better than anything in Nashville but I’ve had better in New Orleans and in Destin.
The Seafood Combo was everything I wanted it to be. The crab cakes were delicious, The fish nuggets tasted fresh, and the shrimp was great. The thing that absolutely blew me away? The hush puppies. Those were probably the best hush puppies I have ever tasted.
Service:
Our waiter was great. He was able to answer all of our questions about the drinks. The food came out quickly.
Overall:
This was my best meal on this trip. So yeah… try it out! I know I’ll definitely stop by when I’m in town.