Congaree and Penn — Restaurant in Jacksonville

An incredible experience that invites returning visits every time.

Farm restaurants is a rare sight here in Northern Florida. And even rarer to be in driving distance of a large city like Jacksonville. The service team with their southern hospitality greeted us with grace, and because it was my mother's birthday, the table was prepared with a small hand written note celebrating her birthday.

It was in the afternoon, the sunkissed rays still shining down the dining hall. Was bothering, but the team did not hesitate to pulled in umbrellas to shade us from the descending sunset. Introduction dish we choose was a charcuterie board, gem packed with hearty selections of cheese, dry meats, nuts and spreads. However the highlight was the freshly harvested honeycomb, dripping with sweet and fresh honeys.

I was the only drinker of the day, the selection after discussing with the wonderful waitress was the Gallberry Honey Apple Cider, which I thoroughly enjoyed the sweetness, crisp and fresh taste with mild warmth from the cider. An unfortunate that the canned packs are not available that day. I feared I would cleaned the stock of Gallberry Honey cider and bring it all home to further enjoy.

The main courses were yard bird, and two long roasted short ribs dishes (one substituted mashed potatoes with grilled asparagus, which the restaurant happily provided). The chili verde of the yard bird was beautifully made, complimented perfectly with the soft cooked chicken breasts that is still juicy and perfectly seasoned. The short ribs was incredibly soft, tender and seasoned beautifully. With the spring onions cream perfectly complimented the amazing ribs of the dish.

The farm is incredible to explore, although summer is not the greatest season to visit a farmland, the ducks and chicken joyously wandering the greeneries, goats casually wondering the afternoon hours, and horses majestically trolling the space is a beautiful sight to enjoy. Perfectly wrapping up the beautiful afternoon visit to Congaree & Penn.

This was not our first visits, but I'll definitely coming back for more. I would recommend visiting the farm even just for the food. It is that stunning of an experience.

P.s: Please install UV bug lights. Summer season is brutal with gnats and biting insects and ourselves forgetting about bug...

Not the best experience. We visited the farm back in March to look at the vineyard to see if we wanted to reserve it for my sister and brother in-law’s 10 year anniversary dinner. The staff was very nice and the place was cute. They said they can accommodate us on the patio if it rains. So I went ahead and put the deposit down 45 days in advance, we invited our friends, and got everything arranged.

And then three days before I receive an email from congaree and penn saying: “In the event of rain, we will not be able to reseat you on the covered patio.” I immediately got stressed out because the weather forecast wasn’t looking good and all of our guests are coming and we had a whole dinner planned for my sister and brother in-law and now I didn’t know what to do.

So I called congaree and penn and the girl I talked to was very rude and said they can’t accommodate us if it rains. I told her we planned this for their 10 year anniversary and the farm originally said they would accommodate us. And she said it’s in the policy. So I read the policy, it is in the policy when you book a dinner in the vineyard. But why would they tell me that they could reseat us if it rains in the first place?! So I’m freaking out trying to find another place where we can have their anniversary dinner but being that we’re only three days away everything was booked up of course. So I call again and speak to another girl and she was nicer and this time she tells me they can accommodate us. So I become very confused! She hands the phone to her manager who was also nice and said due to a lot of reservations they can’t guarantee it.

So I ended up canceling and finding another place. I am very unhappy with my experience it was a stressful week having to completely change dinner party plans within three days. If I had known they couldn’t have accommodated us from the beginning I would’ve never booked with them or I would’ve had a back up plan! It’s disappointing because the farm is cute and when we visited in person the staff was nice but the mixed answers and miscommunication between the staff isn’t good as well as a few people being rude to us when we called to...

Giving this place two stars because the place is beautiful and there’s a decent amount of things to do, however the customer service is awful and they charge fees for everything. First of all getting any information for an event/party is almost impossible because by the time you get through the automated phone the lady who answers is extremely dry and unwilling to answer any questions. After calling several times and emailing them we finally were able to reserve the vineyard table for May. Because of the unpredictable florida weather, the staff said that if it rained they’d be able to move us to the covered area. Well only a few days before our reservation, we receive an email from them saying they aren’t responsible for accommodating us to a covered area if it rains and that we are responsible for finding a back up plan. Completely contradicting what they originally told us when we booked. So we call them and the lady who answered was super rude and said they can’t help us. We call again later and a different lady answers and say that they can accommodate us. Well at this point we are confused so we ask to speak to a manager for clarification. We explain what has been going on and she was nicer than the previous people, but she said that “usually” they will accommodate if it rains but there’s no guarantee since they have several reservations so if it’s too full and there’s no cancellations they won’t be able to help us. Why would an outdoor place in Florida (where it rains all the time) book that many reservations if they aren’t able to help the guests ? We might return in the future for dinner or drinks but between the miscommunication and rude customer service, we probably won’t be making any party reservations with them again. Really disappointed as it’s such a pretty place and unique venue in Jax. Also if you read the one star reviews you’ll see how much attitude they have when responding to other unhappy customers. Not saying the customer is always right but it’s a huge red flag if they respond so unprofessionally and blame...