Avilés Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Saint Augustine

We had always loved this place We treated friends for a special night out . Two of us ordered steaks (turned out they only had one strip left, friend had ribeye). I ordered my steak "as rare as Chef will send it out". It came out only slightly pink. My friends was overcooked too. (but seeing the fuss that had been stirred, he ate it anyway) . I had to get the attention of the server (shouldn,t they stand by while you are cutting it to assure it is to your liking? Even Longhorn does that)/ . She looked at it, and said it looked rare to her. (whaaat?) . Then she said only the part near the bone looked tough. (It was boneless, and tough wasn't the complaint). Finally she took it away and I ordered something else. THEN the manager cam out, not to apologize, but to further argue that the steak should have been acceptable. She said that it was aged steak and aged steak always gets grey when cooked. (horseballs) . The rest of the evening seemed like a war zone. We were afraid to ask for a glass of water. Never again, and what a shame because we loved it. We were embarassed in front of our friends, whom we were treating for the evening. —...

We are locals who have been to almost every establishment in St Augustine. Somehow, we have never been to Aviles which is in the lobby of the Hilton on the bay. We decided to stop by for a pre dinner cocktail on a Saturday.

It is a very small bar with perhaps six seats, basically in a hallway but they make it work. There was a room behind us that had some cocktail tables so they can accommodate more people. There were only two people at the bar so we had no problem getting seats. I think a lot of locals overlook Aviles and think of it as a place for just hotel guests. I offer that it is more than that though because it is small, I would not go with a large party.

They had some solid bourbons and important to me, they have gentlemen’s cubes. I had an Angel’s Envy while my adorable wife chose a gin, basil and strawberry concoction which she enjoyed. Our bartender went in the back to get the basil and it certainly appeared fresh. To our pleasant surprise, they offer a Saturday happy hour of a buy one, get one for free from 5-7. As such, if you are looking to get your evening started with a nice buzz, Aviles needs to be a...

Had dinner here with a group of friends the other night and was pleasantly surprised the atmosphere isn't much to speak of however that is well offset by both the service the staff and the cuisine. I had the blue crab cobbler as an appetizer along with toast points it was quite tasty. The beef short rib Ragu is also outstanding. Other dishes that rank right up there are the paella, the frenched chicken, the filet and the rigatoni. Seems you can't go wrong here. The wait staff is friendly attentive courteous and always Johnny-on-the-spot. Try it I think you'll like it.

UPDATED: 7/22/22. They now have an extensive steak menu that rivals any fine steakhouse although you best prepare yourself for the increased prices.

UPDATED 1/23/24. Ordered the pork chop and while I asked for medium rare it leaned A LOT more towards rare had a significant amount sinew, grizzle and fat and was quite difficult to cut. Not my best meal here. They also seemed to be a bit understaffed as one waiter was handling all the tables. He was a nice enough guy, quite pleasant, however I had to get up and go to the bar to get a refill cocktail & we also ran...