The Tides Grill & Oyster Co @ Dunes Cracker House — Restaurant in Saint Augustine Beach

We were visiting St. Augustine during the long weekend of July 4th and looked up this place as their ratings were good and they were just 1 min drive from where we were staying. The table which we were shown felt sticky but we were still hoping the food would be good as we noticed they are serving great looking patters at the other tables and at much faster rate. However, even we dint get anything after 45 mins. After asking the server multiple times he served orange juice in a plastic cup without lid for my daughter. Surprisingly, at the other tables with kids, they served juices at a much better looking cups. Then we started looking around and found that we were the only people of color in that place. However, we were still hopeful about the food as at the other tables the same server were serving food at a record speed and were also greeting the kids by their names! Our food came close to 1 hour of wait and they completely forgot the baby’s food. We ordered seafood platter which was the most expensive on the menu but our plate was a small size plate and only had 2 pieces of fried fish(super soggy) , 2 small shrimps and one watery zucchini gravy and it was clear that they microwaved the food. We tasted the fish and it was spoilt. We almost threw up and had to rush to the bathroom which was super filthy. To my surprise at the other tables they served amazing volumes of food on their plates and we had spoilt food and almost nothing in terms of amount. When we complained to the server that they dint serve the baby’s food (chicken tenders and fries) they said “oh don’t worry we won’t charge you” . We had very little patience after such a long wait and my daughter was too hungry and reached out to our plate to have the spoilt fish. What broke my heart was that we had to take her out of the restaurant as she was too small to understand what a spoilt food meant. So bottom line, they might have good food and service but unfortunately we were not served. If you are the restaurant manager and you are reading this, please make sure that you don’t allow people of color inside the restaurant if this is how...

We had dinner at The Tide's Oyster Co. & Grill tonight. I was a little little leery at first because of a bad experience here around twelve years ago, (when it was the Dune Cracker House). We walked in and everything looked like it did on our last visit so I was even more nervous. I have always loved this building, (and the oyster shells everywhere), but it's somewhat dark and used to be more than a little dingy. We sat out out in the front part of the building and, (while still dark), everything appeared to be much cleaner than before.

We started with a half dozen of steamed oysters as an appetizer, ($8.99), and they were plump and juicy. They were served with the usual crackers, drawn butter, horseradish and seafood sauce. Definitely no complaints here.

Our main courses were a fried shrimp dinner, ($19.99), and a New York Strip dinner, (on special for $17.00). The fried shrimp were delicious. The breading was crisp and the shrimp were really tender. The coleslaw was unique and had a slight sweetness, (I am thinking they used mango or some other fruit in their recipe). The fries were crinkle cut and I have never been a fan.

The steak was delicious as well, (sorry, my phone didn't save the picture for some reason). I have never cared for New York Strip as it doesn't have a lot of marbling and they're normally tough. That was definitely the case here but it was seasoned well and tasted great.

Oh, we had Rum Runners and they definitely pour a strong drink here...they were awesome!

They were having karaoke tonight and the building filled up fast. There was a nice mix of people, (both young and old), and it appeared that many were locals. In the end I was more than pleased with everything...the food was great and the price was right, ($61.00 for adult drinks, an appetizer and two dinners). It's definitely not fancy dining by any means but I would definitely come back to enjoy some drinks, oysters...

First time here. Had to think about this review and keep it in "beach" perspective. First and foremost, all of the employees were outstanding! The gentleman that greeted us told us 10-15 wait and "I'll find you at the bar," which he did. He was also a server. I love that. Girlfriend and I were in a whiskey mood, so I ordered 2 "glasses" of Gentleman Jack - not even sure why I said glass instead if shots, except I wanted them neat. Bartender poured two low-ball glasses FULL of whiskey! Had to be at least triples, but only charged single shot price. Nice! Tap beer selection was very small. Server / host guy indeed found us at the bar after about 10 "whenever you are ready." So relaxing and low stress after a long week. We weren't super hungry so we had raw gulf oysters, fried pickles and peel and ear shrimp (all great!) and I tried the beer cheese soup cuz I don't see it often (just so so). All the other food we saw come out looked good. Saw two burgers that were monstrous. Also had live music which was enjoyable and low key. Also pet friendly which is a plus for us. The place itself looks like it is just a tired old beach place. I can be a little more "earthy" but felt better about wiping down our table with our own wipe. The rest of the place could benefit from a general overall cleaning, update and a little remodeling. The main concern came when I used the restroom. Way too small for a multi-user restroom, run down, but the biggest issue was when I looked up and the a/c vent (output) was COMPLETELY black with mold. Not just dirty dust and lint, but black. Made me start to wonder if this old place has issue like that in the kitchen. We would go back again, but with so many choices on and around the beach, I can't say it would be a repeat "go to" place before we went...