1511 Pine Grove Avenue

Jacksonville, FL 32205-8919

 If you look up the Pinegrove Market online, you will find rave reviews for this little cafe/meat market. Some people claim that Pinegrove offers the best salad and sandwiches that they (the online reviewers) have ever had. The market is tucked away in the older, charming Jacksonville neighborhood of Riverside. As a matter of fact if you are not looking for the Pinegrove Market it is very easy to pass.

 My first visit to the PGM was with a friend of mine to pick up some fresh steaks for a cookout. This is a true neighborhood market that features the finest steaks, grocery items, limited beverage options, and you can also get either a breakfast or lunch at the walk up counter. PGM is located on Pinegrove near the college campus. If PGM is busy (which it often is) you may need to plan on sitting outdoors on one of the benches they have provided. This is where I had to sit due to the 3 indoor tables all being full.

 When I first walked in I was not exactly sure what I was going to order. From my history of eating here I do remember that they have a great Cuban sandwich available. In the past I have also had a really thick ham sandwich. For lunch the items consist of either a salad, a sandwich or a wrap. Since I tend to shy away from salads and enjoy bread (more than I should) I decided to get a sandwich. Upon looking at the menu I saw the chicken salad and thought to myself that I could enjoy a good chicken salad sandwich on white bread. My question to the guy behind the counter was if I could sample the chicken salad. If I get a taste for chicken salad in a restaurant I will always ask for a sample first. Even if I have had the chicken salad at that place before I will still ask for a sample. The reason for this is that depending on how many chefs or cooks that they have, the chicken salad may vary from person to person. My tastes for a chicken salad are very particular. Not too much on the celery, very light on the onion (if any at all), not a fan of the mustard (unless it is done just right)…As you can see I am picky, but since I am buying it and eating it then I can be. There are some places that will not give you a sample of the chicken or the tuna salad. They use the excuse of pre-measured meals. This I think is bunk. Your restaurant should be able to offer a sample of such items, in my personal opinion.

 After my sample of the salad I was impressed with the smooth and wonderful flavor. So I placed my order at the little counter in the back, grabbed a can of Diet Coke, and a small bag of Sea Salt & Vinegar potato chips. Since the inside literally had no seats available I told the staff I would be outside the front door on the bench. In Florida you have maybe a couple of dozen days of the year you can sit outside. It is either too hot, too wet or for a couple of days of the year too cold. This day was just fine. I sat there nibbling on my chips and watching the cars pass by on nearby Park St. After almost 5 minutes or so they brought me my lunch. It was just what I was looking for. The taste, the atmosphere and day was wonderful.

 After I was finished with my meal I sat to enjoy the day for just a little while. Then I decided to ‘bus’ my bench (if you will). Taking my garbage inside to the nearest trash can, as I looked around, there were still no tables available. Standing at the cash register waiting for the cashier to come and take my money, I could see that they offer local bread for sale. The cashier came and asked me of my meal, was it good and was I happy. To both my answer was yes. Then he rang me up, and now I had a bit of ’sticker shock’. Although the meal was really good, I did not expect to be charged almost $10 for a chicken salad sandwich, a small bag of potato chips, and a regular can on Diet Coke. Doing the quick math on this I figure the Coke is a buck and the chips (I hope) were not more than a dollar and so that would mean this sandwich was over seven dollars. Yes it was good, but few (basic) sandwiches are worth that much.

 Overall I was happy with my visit. I will go back. But on my next stop I will be more aware of the cost of what I order. In the past having had breakfast at The Pinegrove Market, I may have to stop back in just for that.

Review by Pie, email:  pie@piesplate.com

824 Lomax Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

904.301.1188

Mon. – Thurs. 11am – 10pm
Fri. & Sat. 11am – 11pm
Sun. 12:00 noon – 9pm

www.sakehousejax.com

Sake House

I was in the mood for Sushi and being in Riverside and not wanting to cross the bridge onto the South Bank, the evening found us at the Sake House in the Five Points section of Jacksonville.  I have never been to this location; I always go to the location on the South Bank by my work.  They are owned by the same people and refreshingly, the menus were the same too.  We arrived at the restaurant about 5:15 pm and there was only 1 other customer in the dining room at the time.  

Back Dining Room

If you have never been to the Sake House, there is outdoor seating on the front walk and a back dining room for larger parties.  There is also a sushi bar where you can pull up a stool and watch the chefs create your meal.  We were greeted with a bowl of mushroom soup.  This is such a simple soup, a light, clear broth with thinly sliced mushrooms and sliced green onions.  While eating our soup, we put in our dinner order.  I ordered a Rock n Roll sushi roll and a side of grilled vegetables.  Pie ordered sushi and some fried rice.  They brought the grilled vegetables as an appetizer even though we ordered it as a dinner side dish.  There was zucchini, summer squash, garlic and onions grilled in light oil.  We ate those with chopsticks.  I love the grilled vegetables!  I usually go to the South Bank location for lunch and get their hibachi lunch special.  The lunch special has a small salad, noodles, grilled vegetables, your choice of meat on the grill, and your choice of white or fried rice.  

Sushi Bar

Our sushi came out and we requested some shrimp sauce.  Now I don’t know about you, but I could put that shrimp sauce on just about anything; heck I could probably drink it!  I have noticed lately in restaurants that serve sushi, that the shrimp sauce is tough to get hold of.  Weird, they never bring it out right away, you have to ask for it and when they do bring it out, there isn’t much in the tiny bowl.  Forget trying to get more, it’s like pulling teeth! Don’t know what is up with that.  Any hoo, the sushi was great!  My Rock n Roll had shrimp tempura, imitation crab, cream cheese and cucumber with those little orange fish eggs in it.  Tasty.  Pie put the shrimp sauce on his rice and ate that too. 

Fried Ice Cream

The restaurant began to pick up and was actually beginning to get full.  We were looking for some attention from the waitress to bring us our check and she came out with a complimentary fried ice cream.  It was vanilla ice cream battered in tempura batter, fried and topped with whipped cream and a cherry or two.  What a nice treat!  We paid our bill, grabbed a couple complimentary mints (they have the best!) and headed home. 

The Sake House on the South Bank is one of my favorite lunch time places.  I am glad we finally went to the other one in Five Points and for dinner.  The restaurants are basically the same, good and bad.  The service has a tendency to be slow and not very attentive and they take the longest time getting the bill to the table.  That’s minor because both spots have great food though and are well worth putting up with the service.  They have a great lunch special and a diverse menu variety without getting too complicated like many sushi places do.  The average dinner or lunch is going to be around $15 per person, but you will definitely leave full.  Give Sake House, either location, a try; add a little extra time to your lunch or dinner hour and it will be worth the trip.

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

824 Lomax Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

(904) 301-1188

www.sakehousejax.com

One of the old standards for sushi in the 5 Points area of Jacksonville, Florida, has been Sake House for the last several years now. When you visit Sake House one of the things you can count on is good food and inconsistent service. There have been times I have walked out on Sake House due to the service. Mind you, it takes a lot for me to walk out on any restaurant. But the quality of the food is always very good if not great.

Back Dining Room

 There are two entrances to Sake House on either side of the 5 Points intersection. With plenty of parking in the front of either door, you should give them a try. The door on the Margaret Street will put you in to the larger and more romantic dining area. Another feature to the Margaret Street side is the out door covered area to dine. Another reason for people to sit in the patio area is this is the smoking area due to the no smoking law in restaurants in Florida. The other door is on Lomax Street. If you enter on Lomax you will be able to sit at the sushi bar and watch them make your order right in front of you. The sushi bar is nice and seems to be popular for the happy hour crowd.

Sushi Bar

Before we ordered I wanted to wash my hands. When I entered the rest room I noticed that it is your standard small facility. The room is a one commode room with a sink. It is obvious that they wanted to make it very accessible for the handicapped. The room is clean and the only drawback I can see is if the place gets busy you will need to wait. I can only believe that it is the same for the ladies room. When I got back to the table I was happy to see mushroom soup waiting for me. As a fan of the mushroom I looked forward to the bowl, and I was not disappointed. The soup was hot and refreshing.

Usually when I go to the Sake House, I enjoy a salad with ginger dressing. On this stop, the salad was not even offered to me. However, I am not going to complain (this time). If you have read my ‘about me’, then you know that I am not a sushi fan. On this particular visit I decided to go the sushi route even though Sake House offers Hibachi, Teriyaki, Katsu and Tempura items. In every sushi place there are different names for certain items that may be offered at other places. What I ordered was the Egg (okay, this one is basic. Just chilled scrambled egg on rice). Also a JB Roll which is smoked salmon and cream cheese. The last of the rolls I ordered was a Jimmy Smith (named after the former NFL football player no doubt). The Jimmy Smith consists of smoked salmon, crab, cream cheese and deep fried with a spicy sauce on top. As a side I ordered fried rice and some shrimp sauce to pour over it. The staff never even offered a fork to us. For me this was not an issue, but to others, I can see how it would be. In my opinion chopsticks are not that difficult, but that is just a personal belief. 

The rolls took a little longer to come out than I had expected. But they were well worth it. The amount of food was perfect and the flavor was wonderful. One of the things I have not experimented with is the wasabi. It has been enough of a challenge to get me to eat sushi mind you, but on this visit I decided to put a little wasabi on the JB roll, then dip it into the soy sauce. Oh now that was good! This will be an item that I will absolutely have again. The Jimmy Smith was hot in both temperature and spice. The rice was a great topper for my meal. If you noticed I did not mention the egg item. The egg is always the same at almost every place you visit. The one thing about the egg and rice is that if there is a distinct flavor then you can be sure that there is a cleanliness issue there. You see, the egg will absorb any odor (good or bad) that may be in the cooler.

Tempura Fried Ice Cream

The server came to take our plates and leave the check. Before she left she offered us ice cream tempura. We could not refuse, well I could not refuse. Rhonette has the gluten allergy thing going on so I ate the outer shell and left the ice cream and whipped cream for her. Well, the shell was good and the little bit of ice cream I had was too. They did a great job on the presentation of the dish as well.

 This whole meal was under $40 which for sushi is not that bad. There have been times when I have gone for sushi with friends and it has cost almost double what it was for us per person. Now I will point out to you that we did not have any alcohol with our meal. I had a Diet Coke and Rhonette had a Hot Tea (which she said was very good). Just an FYI for you that the Sake House offers beer, wine and a very extensive sake selection.

 There are two locations of Sake House. This review is in the 5 Points area, the other location is on the South Bank near downtown Jacksonville. The location that we visited offers both dine in and carry out. They also accept reservations. Now I have never thought of doing reservations here, but on certain nights when 5 Points is busy you may want to give them a call. Otherwise, the hours for Sake House are as follows. Mon-Wed 11am till 10pm, Thur-Sat 11am until 11pm and finally on Sun 12pm until 9pm. These are the hours that are posted on the door. However, the hours on the take out menu indicate a two hour break from 3 until 5 on Mon thru Sat. I look forward to seeing you at Sake House.

Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com

1620 Margaret St

Jacksonville, FL  32204

(904) 425-3380

www.fiveguys.com 

Two or three times a month, an office bound friend of mine requests a meal from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Being the good friend that I am, I always oblige. Jacksonville, Florida has several locations of this chain restaurant available. The location that is closest to the downtown district is in the historic neighborhood of Riverside.  Every single time that I visit this location, there is always a great attitude in the staff and a manager is working in the exposed kitchen. On this stop the manager, Jason Beard, even introduced himself to me. 

My friend that I order for is a big fan of the bacon double cheeseburger, all the way, add hot sauce. That is not how you order the double at the restaurant. When you order a burger at Five Guys you should know that all of the ‘burger’ orders are already doubles…unless of course you get one of the little burger choices. These are the single patty sandwiches and this is what I ordered. For him a bacon cheeseburger all the way with hot sauce; for me a ‘little’ cheeseburger with only mayo, ketchup and mustard. Along with the burger order I included an order of the fries. You should know that my ‘little’ burger was less than $4.00. 

If you have not been to a Five Guys, let me give you a little idea of the atmosphere. It is your basic walk up to the counter kind of quick burger place. They offer peanuts to snack on while you are in line and are cooking your food. Every one of their places that I have been to has stacks of 50 lb. bags of potatoes piled on top of each other in the restaurant area. A neat little novelty that F.G.B.F. (that’s what I am going to call them from now on) has is that they take great pride in their potatoes and what city or farm they are from. Somewhere in each F.G.B.F. they post the location of where today’s fries came from. You will place your order at the counter, pay, get a cup for your drink (Coke products) and watch n wait. When your meal is ready they will yell the number that appears on your ticket. Be aware that if you order fries, they will be very hot. They also will over fill your cup of fries to the point where you will end up with a bag that is half full of extra fries. So, I grabbed my Diet Coke and sat near the counter/kitchen. When my food was up, sure enough… they yelled my number. Then I got the bag, grabbed some napkins, and then sat back down. Even though I was going to take my friend his lunch, I was ready to eat right then and now. Sitting there I opened my ‘little’ cheeseburger and grabbed the excess fries that filled the bag. It was then (and purely by accident) that I discovered I like mustard on my fries. Even though they have vinegar available to put on the fries, I stuck with the mustard and ketchup. The vinegar on the fries is especially popular for the people from the Mid-Atlantic and up North. F.G.B.F.’s are based in the Washington D.C. area. This should explain the vinegar. 

The burger from F.G.B.F.’s is a great sandwich. If you are looking for consistency and a friendly atmosphere you should definitely swing by a F.G.B.F.’s. Now if you have been to one in the past, I am sure that you have been back. Or if you are one of my good friends then I am certain you will either meet me up there or send me to get your lunch for you. Find the nearest location and look at the menu online at www.fiveguys.com

Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com

1068 Park St

Jacksonville, FL 32204-3908

(904) 356-0227 

There are certain restaurants that exist which have legends attached to their name; the Derby House in the 5 Points area of Jacksonville, Florida is one of those. Some of the legends include the original location having a full service bar; even being known as a speakeasy or a ‘blind tiger’, if you will. There are stories of college football players being served liquor underage and even a night that Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe stopped in for late night visit. There was an article in Jacksonville Magazine that gave details to some of these rumors. If you decide to research this you should know the original name was The Green Derby.

Now located on the corner of Margaret and Park Streets in the heart of 5 Points The Derby House is still a local favorite. One of the busiest times to visit The Derby House is on a Saturday or Sunday morning. On the day of our visit we chose a Thursday. They were not real busy but they did have a few tables that were being used. When you walk into the Derby House you find your own table and a server will get to you when they can. This is rarely a long wait, and usually someone acknowledges that you have been seen. If you have much of a wait you are able to sit back and relax and watch the t.v. that is in the corner (and always on). 

We sat there and I was really craving some breakfast. One great thing about The Derby House is that they serve breakfast all day. After looking at the menu and the specials I decided to go with the waffle breakfast special. This is a waffle, 2 eggs, bacon and a drink. I am not certain if this is a regular special, so I am not going to quote a price on here. But be aware that it was very reasonable. Another item that makes breakfast desirable here is the Macedonia Omelette. This includes ham, bell peppers, feta cheese, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. They also make a great plate of corned beef hash and eggs. For the cost effective breakfast diner: you can get 2 large eggs, grits, toast and jelly for under 4 bucks. 

One of the favorite pastimes of those who visit the Derby House is to count the typographical errors on the menu.  The servers tend to share the duties when you visit, so don’t expect to see either a favoritism or jealousy with the staff and confusion about who is waiting on what table. After we placed our order it took a very short amount of time to get the order brought out to our table. My breakfast was very good. As a matter of fact the waffle was delicious! The servers kept our drinks filled and were very kind.

As you sit there and eat you do have an overwhelming feeling that there could be a cleanliness issue there. As far as I know they have not had any official issue with this though so I do not want to accuse them of something that they have not been cited with. However, you can make this judgment for yourself. 

After we were finished with our meal we did have to wait an extra long time to receive our check. My belief is that is you have already taken our dirty dishes then it is time to bring the bill. When you do get the bill you should know that it is best to take your money to the counter in the middle of the restaurant. On occasion they have let me pay at the table, but it can take a while. 

If you walk past the cashier and the kitchen area you will find yourself on the outdoor patio. This is also the smoking section. They offer breakfast all day, lunch and dinner is available Monday thru Friday. Some of the other favorites at The Derby House include the Big ‘D’ Super Burger, fresh tuna sandwich, even meatloaf or a N.Y. Strip. There are no items on the menu over $10 with the average price under $7. On certain nights of the week they do offer live music on the outdoor patio. The patio has about 8 tables that are all covered by umbrellas. If the weather does not cooperate they do bring the music inside. 

The Derby House is not a fancy place by any means. But it is very good and very consistent. Do know that on the Saturday and Sunday mornings that there might be a wait to get a table. As far as the hours go you are going to be best to give them a call at (904) 356-0227. 

Also, do not be surprised at all if you see me at The Derby House…maybe even tomorrow.

Reviewed by Pie, email:  pie@piesplate.com

630 Park Street

Jacksonville, FL

(904) 359-0035

Serving Lunch:

11 am – 2:30 pm, M-F

As a fan of food (or a ‘foodie’ as some would call me) I do not limit myself to only restaurants and cafes. There are festivals, banquets and many other opportunities to indulge in the tasty items available. In 2009 the community of Riverside in Jacksonville, Florida added a weekly open market called the Riverside Arts Market. This market features music, paintings, photos, crafts and of course…food. On this particular day we went to visit a local chef who was there featuring his coconut shrimp soup. The challenge with his booth was there were no drinks. So my girlfriend and I walked to a trailer that was set up by AJ’S at the Market.

There I waited as people ordered sandwiches and fries. When they got to me I told them I was craving an ‘Arnold Palmer’. Now if you are not aware of an ‘Arnold Palmer’ drink, it is quite simple…half tea and half lemonade make this drink. The guys at AJ’S call this drink a ‘flop’. As I watched them make this drink I was very thirsty. I do not know if it was my thirst or the drink but dad gum, that was one of the best drinks I have ever had. Over the next two hours I had three more ‘flops’. The food that was being served to the people in line was looking good as well. Thinking of how good the drink was and how good the food looked, I had to make AJ’S a stop for lunch that week.

Now it is a Monday and I am outside of AJ’S meeting some of my friends for lunch. We are in the parking lot of AJ’S on Park just underneath the Interstate exchange of I-95 and I-10 in the 5 Points area of Jacksonville, Florida. This is a very busy and industrial area of town. Nearby in 5 Points you can see churches and the quaint shops. Then when you look the other way you are staring at the beautiful skyline of Jacksonville. The actual location of AJ’S has only been on Park Street for a few months. Before they moved here, they were near the (kind of) skyscraper of Blue Cross & Blue Shield building.

As you step into AJ’S you find yourself right at the counter to order at. The special of the day is displayed proudly on a plate under cellophane wrap at the register. It was not the presentation of the pork tenderloin, rice and corn on the cob that sold me on it, but the smell of the fresh food right there. Of course I had to order a ‘flop’ even though they sell Coke products, which are a favorite of mine. Apparently you need to ask for the ’special’ recipe of the lemonade from the back. It was just as delicious this day as it was on that Saturday.

My friends and I were given our order numbers and took a seat in the dining area. The place was starting to fill up but it was never packed. We noticed after grabbing our seats that there is also the option to sit out on a gated patio as well. Now, one of my pet peeves is when meals are brought out to a table in a very staggered time frame. This was an issue at AJ’S. The guy that ordered after me got his Beef Brisket about 5 minutes before I got my Pork Tenderloin. Even worse than that, my other friend received his burger (known as the Outstanding Burger) just as the Beef Brisket was almost gone. One thing that does make-up for this was the quality of the food. Another thing that made this lunch enjoyable was the staff. One of the ladies there was willing to bring out a sample of Macaroni and Cheese and was very sweet to us.

As we were all sitting there enjoying our food we were visited by a gentleman that is known in the community as ‘Mr. Natural’. For those who do know ‘Mr. Natural’, he is a local chef and used to be a regular on local television cooking features. As he stood at our table he offered us some of his Chocolate Cake that he had made there that morning. The cake was good; I can not personally say it was great; mind you I am not a fan of chocolate. One of my friends joked around that he liked it but would rather sample some of the Peach Cobbler. ‘Mr. Natural’ took off to the back and returned with a sample of the Peach Cobbler for my friend.

If you are in the Riverside/5 Points area or even downtown Jacksonville, Florida, then you should stop by AJ’S on Park Street.  When you stop and ask for AJ…you should know that AJ is not a him but a them. Using the initials of two friends makes the name of AJ’S. These guys are established and well worth the stop. They offer mostly Bar-B-Q, but also have hamburgers, salads, wings and even roasted half chicken.

The exact location for AJ’S on Park Street is 630 Park Street Jacksonville, Florida 32204. If you need to call them the number is (904) 359-0035 and you should be aware that the scheduled hours are currently Monday – Friday 11am until 2:30pm. They do have future plans to open for special events with live music and outdoor dancing. Personally I am glad that I found AJ’S and look forward to many visits in the future.

Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com

818 Post Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

Hours:  7 am – 4pm, M-F 

Gina’s is a little delicatessen on Riverside’s Post Street in 5 Points within Jacksonville, FL.  Pie has taken me to breakfast there a couple of times and has brought their food to me at work. (What a great boyfriend!)  Gina’s isn’t a fancy place, a couple of tables with plastic table cloths and banquet chairs.  There is a self service drink station with Coke products, coffee and sweet tea along with the popular condiment packets and plastic tableware.  They have a walk up counter with a register and a refrigerated display of their salad items which are made fresh every day.  Manning the grill is a friend of Gina’s family, oh yes, there really is a Gina and her family’s friend is there the whole time they are open, slaving over a hot stove.  She takes her work seriously and is usually in business mode. 

We were there for breakfast and they have a great breakfast special 2 eggs, bacon and your choice of grits or hash browns all for $3.99.  They also have other paired specials or you can order al a carte.  Now, me being me, I have a problem with food touching each other on a plate; don’t know why, it just freaks me out…yeah, I’m weird that way.  The first time I went to Gina’s I ordered the breakfast special without grits and requested hash browns instead.  My eggs and bacon came out on a Styrofoam plate served on top of a plateful of grits.  I sent the order back and they brought me my order without the grits; a new order, not just the same one with the grits scraped off.  This time when I ordered my breakfast, Gina’s family’s friend remembered me and served my breakfast just how I had liked it…not touching.  I was impressed that she remembered the last time I visited her establishment.  We grabbed a local entertainment publication and sat down at one of the tables, the news was on the flat screen installed on the wall.  Our breakfast was ready and the counter girl, who helps Gina’s family’s friend, brought it to us.  My eggs were scrambled, a little dry, but good none the less, the sausage patties were perfect.  They weren’t greasy or burned; just right.  The hash browns were the ones that are potato chunks and had a little bit of rosemary on them.  I never realized the variety of hash browns that are out there.  They are different by region and simply different restaurant to restaurant.  Gina’s cooks their hash browns by deep frying them.  Since I am not a fan of fried food, I prefer the ones that are cooked on a griddle or pan fried.  These weren’t as flavorful as I was used to.  Pie will bring me breakfast to my work, again…great boyfriend!  He usually brings me an al a carte order of hash browns and they are usually spiced with a little more rosemary and pepper than what was on my plate this morning.  I have heard that Gina’s salad special is amazing and the salads are fresh and fantastic; 3 or 4 salads for a low price.  I’m hoping I can review that next! 

If you don’t mind plastic forks, Styrofoam plates and a hardy breakfast, stop at Gina’s in 5 Points. Breakfast should be quick, fast and cheap.  Gina’s breakfast delivers .  I can say that the eggs were a little dry or the hash browns were fried, but the place is what it is, and it’s still a tasty value.  If you are in need of breakfast on the go, stop by Gina’s and say Hi. 

Review by Rhonette   email: rhonette@piesplate.com