Hurricane Grill & Wings-San Marco — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Let me begin this Homeric epic of a review by saying: if you haven’t dined at Hurricane Grill & Wings in Jacksonville, Florida, then what are you doing with your life? Paying rent? Raising a family? Working a steady job? Please. Those things pale in comparison to the transcendental joy that awaits you inside this culinary temple of wings, tropical vibes, and suspiciously attractive staff members who may or may not have the jawlines of Greek statues.

I walked into Hurricane Grill & Wings expecting a normal dining experience. You know, some decent wings, maybe a refill if the server remembers, and a chair with at least three functional legs. But what I got? A transformative pilgrimage through the seven levels of sauce-covered paradise.

Let’s talk about the wings. These wings aren’t just wings. These wings have stories. These wings have dreams. These wings once fought in the Chicken Wars of Flavor ‘08 and emerged victorious. Whether you like your taste buds lightly massaged with the gentle caress of the Garlic Parmesan, or drop-kicked into next week by the thunderous roar of Mango Habanero, there’s a sauce here that will make you believe again—believe in joy, in love, in the ancient and forgotten art of flavor harmony.

The menu? An enigmatic scroll of delicious mysteries. Burgers that make you question your loyalty to cows, tacos that whisper secrets of the Caribbean in your ear, and sides so delicious they make the main course nervously sweat. I’m fairly confident the garlic parm fries have a legally binding emotional connection with me.

The ambiance? Oh, you mean the immaculate island-themed feng shui that instantly lowers your blood pressure by 20 points the moment you walk in? Yeah, it’s casual. Totally normal to feel like Jimmy Buffett might stumble in at any second holding a ukulele and a frozen drink. Every wall is adorned with the type of tropical decor that makes you feel like you’ve been hired as an unpaid deckhand on a cruise ship, but in a good way.

And let me just say this—purely coincidental, not suspicious at all—the staff? Flawless. Friendly. Efficient. Almost like they’ve been personally trained by Gordon Ramsay after he finished a successful round of therapy. I’m not saying they’re the best team of servers, hosts, and cooks on the eastern seaboard, but I’m also not not saying that. There’s something magical about them…like maybe one of them is the chosen one and just doesn’t know it yet.

I even overheard one of them recommending a perfect sauce combo to a customer like a wing sommelier. The tears in that customer’s eyes told me everything I needed to know. He’d found the one.

This place is not just a restaurant. It’s a way of life. A holy place. A Floridian beacon of hope with delicious ranch dressing. Come for the wings, stay because you’ve emotionally bonded with your booth.

Five stars. Would give more if I wasn’t limited by the cruel...

Unfortunately our favorite wing place has really gone down hill. Although the boss sauce wings will always be delicious we most likely won’t be returning until they can try and get their service under control. We have done 3 times now and received some of the worst service in San Marco. Last night was the final straw. My husband and I went in around 8:30pm, there was only 3 tables of 2 people outside and multiple servers, kind of dead which we expected since it was later in the evening. My husband came in first to grab a table and was hoping to get in our food order so we wouldn’t have to wait too long (because we have had such bad experiences the past 3 times going) the waitress never returned for over 10 minutes and also didn’t acknowledge him when he first sat. I came in, asked for a water and lemon, about 15 minutes later a man came out with a water, no straw no lemon no napkins and my husband had nothing in his cup. She asked for our order 20 wings and a side of fries. When she came out with the order she had 2 sides of fries and broccoli, I’m not sure where any confusion was, but we expected the order to get messed up since she never really came to check on us. We also only received 17 wings. When we were already finished and had no drinks in our cup I decided to just ask the bartender for water, lemons, straws and napkins. Way too long after the waitress returned, I told her we got less wings but it was okay, she said let me grab a few which was kind of her, she brought them out prompting thankfully with the check (already this whole experience was over an hour) and I asked for a box, she quite literally never returned. Which was bizarre. I waited and waited then just went back to the bartender’s after 20 minutes asked for a box, my husband and I just found enough cash to leave at the table because she was no where to be found. We both work at the hospital were on call and just wanted to enjoy some wings after a long shift before we went back in. We got in the cars and even driving by she never went back to the table to let us check out or bring a box. Needless to say although the wings are great, the service is by far some of the worst out there. It used to be great so...

Rating: ⭐⭐ (Food 2 stars, Service 2 stars)

We’ve been to Hurricane Grill & Wings over 5 times, but this visit was nothing short of disappointing.

I ordered the “Blackened Mahi Mahi topped with mango/pineapple red pepper salsa and cilantro” as advertised IN THE MENU. What came out the first time (photos attached) was a dry, chewy, grilled chunk of fish—definitely not blackened. The “mango/pineapple salsa” was nothing more than a plain, bland pico de gallo, in fact calling that “pico” would be disrespectful to actual pico.

When I pointed this out, our server Erin tried to excuse it by saying the mango/pineapple was a “paste sauce” (which never appeared) and then, with a rude tone, asked me if I wanted it or not. I reminded her that I didn’t ask for substitutions—I asked for the dish as described on the menu. The second attempt was slightly less sad, a juicier piece of what was technically mahi, but still grilled, not blackened, and clearly not fresh. Same boring pico de gallo on top, still no trace of mango nor pineapple.

Other food was hit or miss: • Sweet potato fries: solid. • Broccoli parm: tasty. • Chicken Hurricane Salad: good. • Chimichurri Steak (ordered medium): first one was dry and did the walk of shame back to the kitchen hand in hand with the rubber mahi, second try was juicier but still overcooked. At that point, we were done trying.

The biggest letdown? The service. Erin was dismissive, rigid, and completely unprofessional when faced with simple, justified criticism. She even interrupted us several times when telling her what we didn’t find okay with our dishes. Not attentive, not welcoming, and certainly not the kind of service that makes you want to come back.

What’s most frustrating is that we’ve had positive experiences here before (different server and more like “bar food”!) But consistency clearly isn’t their strong suit—neither in the kitchen nor in service. A place that can’t deliver what’s on the menu and treats regulars like this doesn’t deserve more...