St. Augustine Saltwater Jeans – Review

Note: Menu offerings and prices may vary.

If any restaurant truly embodies the intentions of St. Augustine’s seafood, it’s the Salt Water Cowboy’s. This is a restaurant that even if you know how to get there, you will likely have to look for it, even by following the signs! (Thank goodness for the sign telling you you missed the turn.) Fortunately, the food is worth the trip and the effort.

The house specialty is high-quality local seafood dishes “served in a turn-of-the-century fish camp setting.” They also feature open-air barbecue items, stating that they are “the best on this side of Suwannee, and indeed the other side, too!”

Start your dining experience with Cowboy’s Spicy Red Clam Chowder or their award-winning Creamy White Clam Chowder. You can also choose the “Florida Cracker” combo: frog legs, cooter (soft-shell turtle), and alligator tail. For the less adventurous, there’s boiled shrimp and freshly shucked oysters, and my personal favourites, the Dondanville oysters (made with garlic butter, vermouth, and scallions, served on the half shell) and the Large Bucket of Steamed Oysters.

Let’s hope you’re not too full, yet. Dinner selections are plentiful, affordable, and span a wide range of seafood that is available fried, broiled, blackened, grilled, and baked. On our visit, the fried shrimp were lightly battered and HUGE! The grilled scallops were cooked sweetly in their own juices with a hint of lemon and butter, and the fried shrimp and oyster combo offered large, tender shrimp and flavorful oysters. Other notable menu items include soft-shell crabs with the famous Cowboy Rebel sauce, catch of the day baked in a sour cream vermouth sauce topped with Parmesan cheese, Cooter, Cowboy baby back ribs (okay, that’s not seafood, but it’s they looked really good at the table next to us), and a 12 ounce blackened New York Strip. I can’t wait to go back soon to try the fried blackened catfish. All dinners include hot bread (it’s really good), salad or cole slaw, and a choice of two of the following: French Fries, Baked Potato, Potato Salad, Baked Beans (my choice), or Vegetable of the Day .

A recent visit confirmed my earlier assessment of this restaurant. As always, their fried shrimp were amazing, and the rellenos were very good. I also enjoyed the spicy sauce on the grilled shrimp. Other members of our group tried the fried combo plate and really enjoyed the seafood selections. This item is served with some of the biggest, sweetest, most tender scallops I’ve ever tasted. The shrimp are large and the fish is quite tasty, obviously not an afterthought like the fish served in combination plates at many restaurants.

The service was fast and very attentive. Salt Water Cowboy’s is not a fast-food restaurant, so sit back and enjoy the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap around the modestly-sized dining room on three sides. [If you have time now, preview an artist’s rendering of the restaurant.]

Salt Water Cowboy’s can be found at the end of Dondanville Road, just off A1A in St. Augustine Beach. They open for dinner only around 5:00 in the afternoon. I highly recommend getting there early unless you don’t mind waiting, as they don’t take reservations. They have an outdoor bar and a beautiful terrace from which to look out over the water while enjoying a drink. For information and directions, call (904) 471-2332.