Sweet Sage Cafe — Restaurant in North Redington Beach

Please allow me to preface this review by saying that all of the reviews of this place are true, except in regard to the food.

Upon arriving, parking was hard to find. You should arrange to park nearby and walk. The parking lot is very small! My mother shopped around the boutique before we were seated, and she seemed to enjoy the shop.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is oriented to the tourists that I’m sure come through every day. I didn’t find it offensive by any means, but being born and raised in Florida myself, I do find it somewhat tacky. For anybody who is not from the Great State of Florida, it’s quite a view into a lot of the people in our state! For those of you who are, you may not enjoy the atmosphere as much as our visitors do.

After being seated, we were quickly greeted by a carafe of ice water at the table and four cups, one for each person in our party. This was, of course, very welcome. Our server got herself very confused at one point, but quickly resolved the issue and was very attentive after acknowledging her error. I have no complaints about our service, our service was quite delightful throughout the meal!

My worst comments are on the meal. Regretfully, I do not have much good to say about the meal. As soon as the food hit our table, it was no longer warm. Not a single part of the meal was warm when it served, it was just above room temperature, at best. For the “famous” Eggs Benedict, the Hollandaise sauce was not very good at all. It was thin, watery, and on a personal note, didn’t have enough lemon juice in it. The cinnamon apples were neither sweet nor tart, and were a very strange consistency. The eggs were not cooked correctly, and had likely been cooked prior to the time we had parked the car. What’s worse, while decided what to order, we had to sift through crass jokes on the menu to find what we wanted to order. In one such joke, the egg quiche was mistaken for the word “quickie”, and was written as “quickie” on the menu. In another, a cartoon woman makes a joke about how she believes she is experiencing hot flashes, but instead directly reveals that she had allowed a part of her chest to dip into her cup of hot coffee. The menu is by NO MEANS child-friendly, so parents of young children beware.

In short, if management focused on making a menu that wasn’t as quirky/crass, and if the kitchen actually kept up with the front of house staff, this place could be an absolute cash cow! I feel so bad for the servers at this location, because they did so well and the rest of their team left them out to dry. It was a very expensive mistake for us to make, considering that our bill was just over $100 for four people before the tip. Until we hear there has been a change in management or a change in management style, we won’t be...

Sweet Sage Cafe is an iconic family-friendly breakfast / lunch restaurant in North Reddington Beach, FL located directly across the street from the Gulf. It has been owned and operated by John M. for over 17 years. It is an absolute favorite of both local residents and out-of-town visitors alike! My wife and I first experienced Sweet Sage Cafe 15 years ago, and would make it a point to come in for breakfast several times a year during trips to the St. Pete area. Over time, those visits increased in frequency and, upon retiring 5 years ago and now spending a full 4 months in the area every winter, we now visit Sweet Sage Cafe 2-3 times per week! In all of that time, both past and present, we have never had a bad meal, never had bad service and never had a bad experience at Sweet Sage Café. Having just read the six reviews from the people visiting from Georgia, I felt compelled to respond to provide some balance. Sadly, and being directly aware of the details of their breakfast "experience" at Sweet Sage, what they wrote and what actually occurred are two very different things! Unfortunately, there are still far too many people in this world who are negative, narrow-minded and just plain nasty, and who behave in this manner just to get a free meal! And, let me be very clear here, I do not feel the need to defend Sweet Sage, it's team members or its food in any way. John is more than fully capable of posting an appropriate response to these scurrilous reviews, and I am sure that he will do so in good time. Those of you who know the restaurant who are reading this, know that I am speaking truth, and truth that is consistent day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out, month-in and month-out, year-in and year-out! To those of you reading this who have never visited Sweet Sage Cafe, I would whole-heartedly recommend and encourage you to come and have a meal and see what a delightful place Sweet Sage Cafe is! And, after your meal, I would also recommend you visit the Sweet Sage Boutique, located right next door to the Cafe - very cute place!! To the folks from Georgia, I would ask that you never, ever visit Sweet Sage Cafe again - ever! Your two-faced and wholly inappropriate behaviors, your nasty treatment of the staff and your transparent ploy to get a free meal have no place whatsoever in a fine establishment like Sweet Sage Cafe!

Signed, A Sweet Sage...

A Great, Quirky, and Colorful Place to Eat a Fun Brunch.

When you show up the Sweet Sage Café and Boutique, ask for a table outside, where you will be greeted with fun colors, beautiful trees, and quirky tchotchkes. We were there for brunch and started it off with “Dr. Sage's World Famous ‘Bloody Mary’ and bust developer! Formulated to cure les gripes, gabbers, fibers & light tippers.” They suggest you eat the celery stalk before it grows thru the ceiling. It was delicious and I should’ve ordered three more.

For food, my wife and I ordered the Scrambled Crab Benedict ($12), a tasty crab cake topped with creamy scrambled eggs, covered with hollandaise, and served with a side (we both opted for the hash browns—extra crispy). It was really good the crab cake had a good balance of flavors and the hollandaise was rich and creamy. Sweet Sage has a brunch buffet ($13 for adults, $8 for kids), which works well for those with big appetites in the morning and/or kids. The buffet has a good spread, made up of: Creamy Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Grits, Hash Brown Casserole, Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, French Toast, Waffle Bites, Granola, Yogurt Parfaits, Hot Chunky Apples with Raisins, Corned Beef Hash, Fresh Fruit, Brownie Bites, Pecan Swirls, and a Chocolate Fondue Fountain.

This is a great place for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. I was remiss to not have visited the boutique (we wanted to get back to the beach). There is typically a wait, so perhaps you will have time to do some shopping...