By Irene Merenda

The Press, 525 FL-16 #101, St. Augustine, FL  32084. 904-217-8254

If you like excellent food and huge portions, you should try The Press!  This is a tiny restaurant (10 tables) with a small bar in a very unassuming strip mall not far from the St. Augustine outlets. The restaurant has a large menu of craft beers and wines.  Everything they serve is made in-house, including all salads and breads, according to their website.

Four of us decided to try this restaurant on a recent Friday night.  We had tickets for a concert at 7:30 that evening so arrived at the restaurant about 5:30, as they don’t take reservations.  We were asked to wait “about 15 minutes.”  We had to wait outside, as there were no seats at the bar and there is no space to wait inside.  At least there were benches outside, as the wait turned out to be closer to 30 minutes.  It was worth the wait!

Our waitress was busy but efficient and patiently explained several of the menu options and specials.  One member of our party was thrilled because this is the only restaurant that he has found, outside of Delaware, that serves one of his favorite beers: Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA.

We began our meal by sharing a gingered calamari appetizer- ($14)-described as “generously portioned, flash fried calamari tossed in a house-made ginger sauce served over fresh pinapple.”  That sounded so strange that we all agreed we had to try it.  The ginger and pinapple flavors blended with the tender, not overly-battered calamari to make a surprisingly delicious, albeit somewhat unusual, appetizer.  It’s definitely not the calamari your Grandma used to make!

The broccoli cheese soup, which was the soup of the day, was light and tasty.  It had a chicken broth, and was not thick and heavy as many cheese soups are.

Two of our party ordered the same entree-a terrible thing to do to someone reviewing a restaurant!  However, both gentleman were clearly drooling when they saw another diner served “The Conquistador Burger” so I didn’t have the heart to request that one of them change his order.  It is a 1/2 pound datil burger with bacon, chorizo sausage, manchego cheese, chimichurri sauce, onion straws, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles. ($18)  The restaurant brags that it has been voted “The Best Burger in St. Augustine” for 2 years in a row.  Both gentlemen agreed that this burger, which came with a choice of sides, earned that accolade!

My friend ordered the Asian Pork Skewers with seasonal vegetables and potato. ($19)  She described the dish as “excellent” but couldn’t finish the very large portion.

I ordered the Portobella Burger with a side of fried pickles. ($14)  The huge portobella mushroom was covered with marinated mushrooms, goat cheese, provolone, balsamic onions, roasted peppers and basil dressing.  Everything about it, including the roll which was a little bit sweet, was scrumptious.  The pickles were crisp, not overly salty, and served with a horseradish-mustard sauce. There was a $2 up-charge for the pickles as a side.

The dessert menu included many inviting selections, but alas, time and lack of stomach space kept us from trying any of them.

The Press which  is open Tuesday through Saturday 11:00am-9:00pm is awarded 5 spoonbills.  Go hungry!

Editor’s Note: A warm welcome back to Irene after her painful, bruising encounter with a large SUV!