14 Prime — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Our group of seven was genuinely excited to try 14 Prime after hearing glowing reviews on social media and from several friends. We plan weekly upscale dining experiences and were hoping this would be our next favorite spot. While the restaurant itself is beautiful, with excellent ambiance and thoughtful touches like complimentary prosecco on arrival and neatly refolded napkins when guests stepped away, the service and food quality unfortunately left a lot to be desired.

The evening began with promise: early seating, water promptly poured, and a delicious amuse-bouche (a peach and cheese bite on a wafer – 10/10). However, things quickly unraveled. Our waiter remained stationed at one end of the table, making it difficult to communicate with him—especially in such a loud environment. The restaurant was bustling and noisy, and rather than moving person to person or even raising his voice to engage with guests individually, he stood silently at a distance.

When I asked for a Moscato, he said they didn’t have it. I then asked for “the sweetest red or white wine available,” emphasizing I didn’t care which. He stared at me in silence, prompting me to ask, “Can he hear me?” He finally responded “yes” without offering any suggestions or alternatives. The whole exchange was awkward and embarrassing, and other guests at the table noticed.

Drink refills were inconsistent at best. Several times we had to flag down other staff members after long waits, and even then, drinks took 10–15 minutes to arrive—if they came at all. The waiter ignored multiple “excuse me” attempts from our table as he walked by.

When it came time to order, the waiter gave an unnecessarily long explanation of the menu, which was already straightforward. My partner and I started with the king crab cakes. They were flavorful but riddled with bits of shell—some small, some large enough to choke on. We also ordered the house-made Mafaldine pasta with crab, which had the same issue: great taste but still had small pieces of shell.

We requested the scallops and the 10oz Flat Iron steak to be brought out together so we could share. They were served separately, without extra plates. To make matters worse, throughout the evening, used utensils were removed between courses without replacements, forcing us to ask multiple times for new silverware.

The scallops were undercooked—raw in the centers—and the steak was disappointing. It was tough and fibrous, more like a London Broil than the tender Wagyu it was marketed as. We also ordered our go-to side: Lobster Mac & Cheese. Unfortunately, it had a strong, off-putting odor and a mushy, almost spoiled texture. We didn’t finish it.

When it came time for dessert, we waited over 15 minutes with no follow-up from our waiter. I had been sitting with an empty glass for 20+ minutes. A friend kindly approached him to reorder the drink for me, only for him to respond dismissively with “Who? No, she was asked.” He reluctantly took the order only after she pressed the issue—again, with the same snarky attitude he had possessed all night.

We ordered three desserts to share (Chocolate Mousse, S’mores, and Baked Alaska), but by then, the night was soured.

To top it all off, the overall noise level became more grating as the evening went on. Toward the end of the night, the music selection shifted from sophisticated dining to something more fitting for a nightclub—loud and completely out of place for a high-end restaurant setting.

Having dined at several top-tier establishments such as Cowford Chophouse and Capital Grille, we were hoping 14 Prime would stand among them. Instead, it fell dramatically short. From a rude and inattentive server to poorly executed dishes, service gaps, and an atmosphere that lost its elegance as the night progressed, our experience was extremely disappointing. We won’t be returning, and unfortunately, this experience dimmed the potential we had hoped to find in a new...

If I could give 14 Prime a 20 star rating I would. They absolutely went above and beyond to provide great, friendly service along with the best food I've ever had! My wife and I were celebrating an anniversary and from the moment we walked in, we knew we were going to have a great experience. We were greeted with warm smiles and given 2 glasses of complimentary prosecco and seated at our table....and yes we were seated at a table and not the bar even though we were a party of 2. Our reservation time was 4:15 though to beat the "rush". Waiting at our table was a custom written letter congratulating us on our anniversary and a flower arraignment that was ours to keep. Not only was our waitress extremely friendly and prompt to serve us, but all of the wait staff was friendly and attentive. Our glasses of water never went empty (you couldn't drink much before they were rushing to re-fill it), table never got cluttered with plates, and all of the wait staff checked on us, not just our waitress. It was the best service I've experienced!

The atmosphere was incredible and I see clearly now why they don't want to add more tables to accommodate the whole "parties of 2 situation". The feeling is very intimate and doesn't feel like a big crowded restaurant like Cowford Chophouse. We loved the smaller scale and intimate feeling of the dinning area.

We were given a basket of made-in-house and from scratch bread that is undoubtably the best bread I've ever had. I'm not a huge bread guy, but I could have eaten basket after basket of their bread. Then we were given a cracker with seasoned steak, smoked pineapple, jalapeño crème and a dollop of sauce. My only complaint is that this isn't offered as an appetizer! It was to die for! After sampling this, I knew the entree would be amazing. I ordered an old fashion that was so good... I had to order a second one lol. It was made quickly, tasted amazing, and you can tell they filter their water for their ice with the clear, almost transparent quality of the ice cube in the glass.

My wife ordered the fillet and it literally melted in your mouth; you barely had to chew it. I had a ribeye which was full of flavor and cooked to perfection. We split a side of the lobster Mac and cheese. It had a large clumps of lobster, tons of cheese, and had a hint of spice with some Thai chili they add in there...it was the best Mac and cheese I've ever had. We polished it all off with the key lime pie. My only regret here was splitting it and not getting my own! It was incredible!

As we were about to depart the staff gave us complimentary muffins and lattes for breakfast the next day....I can't say it enough, the staff here is amazing and friendly in every single way!

If you do nothing else today...book a reservation!! They made life long customers today and we can't...

So much buzz about this place but really wanted to temper expectations so you don't go in expecting more like our party did. For context, we all have eaten food from several Michelin rated chefs and are very easy foodies. It was a soft opening so lots of grace to be spread around but the list really piled up.

We were enamored upon arrival. Lovely atmosphere. Hostess was super nice. Saw a lot of familiar faces in the wait staff from other local restaurants.

Party of 4 was sat in a booth - this is our first and biggest issue. The booth is long and skinny. Literally the two people on each end could not hear each other at the table and were straining their voices to yell to the other end. We finally all shifted our place settings to sit around one corner, but then that was 3 on one bench and one on the other. It was still a bad situation. The booths look good but they really didn't work. Our table was right next to the server register which was a bit awkward. My husband who literally couldn't hear the rest of the table (until he moved) would just talk to the waiters. Request a table not a booth if you have a part of 4.

Seasonal gin cocktail was amazing. Martinis were good but comically different volumes. Like one was half as full as another. The sommelier dribbled wine everywhere and then was very frustrated with us when we asked for the 5th pour to be distributed in the four glasses poured so the bottle could be cleared. It was off-putting. The espresso martini was very heavy on the espresso - fine for me, but others may have a hard time with it.

The food ranged from great to not good. Ranked in order of preference. The steaks (Filet and Wagyu strip) were deliciously seasoned but served very very cold -soft opening so forgivable. Escargot was good, but not special and underwhelming (think fancy pot pie). Lobster mac and cheese was okay - nothing wrong but better everywhere else. The mashed potatoes were weird - like goopy slime. They didn't taste bad but they texture just threw it off (I heard this from other friends who visited separately as well). The Brodo was okay but honestly barely edible - a little more cook on the pasta and a little more TLC in the broth would have gone far). The mushrooms were trying too hard and just not good. The grouper was not good - two people ordered and neither liked it. The angel hair was more of a broken vermicelli and was incredibly salty. The only seasoning you could taste in the dish was salt. We were so sad about this dish.

Love what they're going for and look forward to coming again in a year once the kinks are worked out. And I think that all the talk of Michelin stars and the rave reviews really set my...