The G.O.A.T Tapas & Bar — Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach

I have a lot to say about this place. My wife and I had heard amazing things about it and decided to have our date night there tonight. We show up pretty much right when they open since we were already in the area and there was not a person in there except us. We weren’t worried, just thought we were beating the crowd. They took our order and it went down hill. The first two dishes arrived decently back to back time wise but then our next two dishes took forever. We ordered the Seafood en croute which was just a seafood pot pie. You’d think it would only take a few minutes in the oven to be ready to serve. Well it took roughly 40 minutes for it alone to come out after our third dish. After finishing the four dishes we ordered we were still hungry and ended up ordering a charcuterie board. The meat and cheese selection was nice but it only came with a few crackers. The waitress offered to bring some more which was great but then after waiting 10 minutes she brings four crostinis…

All of this to say, I would be completely understanding of the slow service if the place was packed out. I have no problem waiting. But the place was completely empty for the first half hour of our two hours there. And after that it was maybe 30-40% full. The real kicker was that the food was only okay. My wife said the jelly was amazing… crazy when the best part of a meal...

To fully appreciate The G.O.A.T., sit at the bar for the “Shawn and Sig Experience”. Shawn and Sig are a husband-wife management team with 25 years of experience together. Their connection is clear, their energy is contagious, their knowledge of the tapas food and bar drinks are hands down top shelf. They share food and drink ideas as well as stories. I felt like they knew everything and everyone.

Shawn and Sig create their own fusion alcohol (e.g., fusion bourbon, fusion vodka). The night I dined with Shawn and Sig, they shared with me a banana cinnamon infused bourdon — what?!?!? As unique a flavor profile and its creators.

This night I dined on tapas of corn and mushroom empanadas, beets and labneh (thick yogurt), wagyu tartare, and charred quail paired with an Old Fashioned and an infused bourbon on a square ice rock. I finished off my experience with coconut rum cake.

The energy at The G.O.A.T. is a welcoming community of conversation paired with appreciation of unique foods and drinks.

I am locked in for repeating the Shawn and Sig Experience. The G.O.A.T is an easy pick for your next dining...

Absolutely amazing food! I dined here with two of my coworkers on a Wednesday night. Our server recommended 2 dishes per person. We ordered 6 dishes total. As a group we ranked our dishes as follows: Brussels sprouts were the number one choice, followed by the chicken thighs, the spicy octopus, beets and Labneh tied with the Iberico pork (served medium rare and was absolutely delicious), and lastly the Croquettes. There was nothing necessarily wrong with the croquettes, however compared to all the other amazingly flavorful dishes, it fell a little flat. I tried the Coco Loco for a signature drink and it absolutely hit the spot. A perfect balance of sweet and spicy. My only regret is that we didn’t photograph any of our dishes. The aromas and presentation of the dishes made us dig in with no second thoughts of social media photographs. Thank you for an amazing meal and a really honest waitress with her recommendations. When we asked about the duck confit, she said it wouldn’t be her top choice...