Burlingame — Restaurant in Fernandina Beach

Dinner at Burlingame was a real treat, and one of the highlights of my recent trip as I explored Northeast Florida. Set in a charming house, that has been renovated into a restaurant, at Burlingame you can sit back and relax as you enjoy some of the unique dishes from their seasonal menu. Burlingame is doing an excellent job at following the social distancing guidelines set forth due to COVID-19, with all the staff wearing masks, reduced capacity, single-use menus, and even foot pulls on their doors. I felt very comfortable and safe dining here because of how clean it was and how serious they are taking it. Now let’s talk about the food, for starters I tried the Charred Octopus, Summer Salad, and the Fried Okra. All three of these appetizers were delicious and plated beautifully, and they went well with the sourdough bread that was brought to the table. For my main I ordered the Shrimp & Grits which was very flavorful and not too spicy with the andouille sausage.

Be sure to save room for dessert because they were delectable! The Pecan Pie was pure nostalgia, as I felt right at home when I took my first bite. It is served with a scoop of this Brown Butter Ice Cream which compliments it quite nicely. I also tried the Lemon Pie which was light and refreshing. The sweetness of the meringue pairs perfectly with the tartness of the lemon. All in all, having dinner at Burlingame was a delightful experience, and one that will be remembered! This restaurant is in a caliber of its own with regards to the service, the atmosphere, and the creativity of the dishes. I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Chad who is both incredibly humble and kind, and the same goes for the entire staff here at Burlingame, everyone was personable and professional. John was our waiter and he was fantastic. I’m already looking forward to returning again the next time I’m in the area because everything was phenomenal! If you’re in Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach, don’t miss out on the opportunity to visit Burlingame for dinner, you won’t be...

The food at Burlingame is always excellent (and has been on past visits), but our recent experience with our server, Anthony, was disappointing. After waiting for quite a while, he asked if we were going to order anything besides water. When I ordered a cocktail, we both handed him our IDs. He looked at them as if he didn’t believe we were 21 and then gave my boyfriend a hard time because his ID is still vertical, which he said made it more difficult for him to accept. This set an uncomfortable tone for the evening, especially since we were there to celebrate my boyfriend’s 22nd birthday.

What made it even more frustrating is that both of us have grown up in Fernandina Beach, as have our parents and even our grandparents. We go downtown almost every weekend to different restaurants and have always been treated respectfully, so being made to feel like tourists or high school kids was truly surprising.

Throughout dinner, the service continued to feel dismissive and unprofessional, which was unexpected given the quality of the food and the restaurant’s reputation. I would never dismiss the fact that you never know what someone may be going through, which is why I still left a 20% tip, but this is not how a fine dining experience should feel. I truly hope the service standards improve, because the food and atmosphere deserve to be matched with the same level of...

Walked in with no reservations about 6.15P. Place was pretty empty. All the nicely located tables were reserved and so we could sit in a hallway in the bar or outside at a lonely table in the middle of the patio. We chose outside but soon discovered the neighbor next door likes doing his yard work at dinner time with loud power tools. They fancy themselves a high end restaurant and allow people in ratty clothes and flip flops to dine there. We started with the brussel sprout appetizer. It was mostly leaves that had been over-fried in too much oil with a smear of dried hummus or squash (hard to tell which) painted on the side of the bowl. I had the salmon main course which cost $30. For that price I expected something amazing but what I got was unremarkable. The small piece of salmon was cooked nicely but was mostly tasteless. My date had the shrimp and grits. The shrimp were large and tasty on their own. The grits were cooked well but had little flavor. They sprinkled fried okra on the grits and added some kind of greasy ground meat. Another $30 entree that was worth $20 at most. When we left all those reserved tables that we were told we unavailable were all still empty. If you have a lot of money and don't mind wasting it on overpriced and mediocre food in a pretentious restaurant then this is the...