Published June 8th 2016:

The criteria was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness. To see the 2015 winners click here.

Please vote for some of your favorite restaurants both that made the list and ones we missed: click here to vote!.

See full list

or only:
Northwest Florida

Northeast Florida

Central Florida

South Florida

Northeast Florida List Only:

Alachua County

Root & Pecker: 

Baker County

Cecil’s Hometown Cooking:

This is the brand new local hot spot in small town McClenny, FL.

Bradford County

Tom’s High on the Hog Real Pit BBQ:

Clay County

Just A Pinch Café & Catering:

Columbia County

Sal’s Italian Deli:

Dixie County

Taste of Dixie Diner:

Duval County

Restaurant Orsay: 

Runners up: Sbraga & Company  and HOBNOB

Flagler County

The Blue Heron Beachfront Bistro:

Gilchrist County

Cherry’s Steak and Seafood:

Hamilton County

Crossroads Market and Grill

Lafayette County

Tumbleweed’s Smokehouse

Levy County

Tony’s Seafood Restaurant

Liberty County

Apalachee Restaurant

Madison County

Rancho Grande

Marion County

The Blue Wagyu 

Nassau County

Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen: 

St. Johns County

The Ice Plant: 

Suwannee County

The Brown Lantern:

Union County

Someone needs to give Union County/Lake Butler a place to eat besides Hardee’s.

Volusia County

Chucherias Hondurenas Restaurant:

See full list

or only:
Northwest Florida

Northeast Florida

Central Florida

South Florida

The criteria was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness.

If you’d like to vote for some of your favorite restaurants in up to 5 Florida counties click here.

Published June 8th 2016:

The criteria was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness. To see the 2015 winners click here.

Please vote for some of your favorite restaurants both that made the list and ones we missed: click here to vote!.

See full list

or only:
Northwest Florida

Northeast Florida

Central Florida

South Florida

Northwest Florida List Only:

Bay County

Firefly:

Runner up:  g. Foley’s

Calhoun County

Parramores Too Restaurant

Escambia County

Restaurant IRON

Gadsden County

Rutabaga Café:  

Chattahoochee, FL is on the culinary map with this gem.  Specials like quail, amber jack, basil shrimp and grits and more.

Gulf County

Indian Pass Raw Bar

Nearby Provisions and Bin 4eleven are heating up.

Holmes County

Castaway Seafood

Jackson County

Spears’ Café:

Great burgers and fried chicken in a county that desperately needs a few new local restaurants.

Jefferson County

Tupelo’s Bakery and Café

Leon County

The Edison Restaurant:

Finally, a modern foodie hot spot in the Florida capital of Tallahassee.

Liberty County

Apalachee Restaurant

Madison County

Rancho Grande

Okaloosa County

One20 a Modern Bistro

The team behind One20 is opening a new restaurant in summer 2016 on Racetrack Rd in Ft Walton Beach: Spork Eatery

Santa Rosa County

The Slippery Mermaid

Taylor County

Deal’s Famous Oyster House

Wakulla County

Hamaknockers BBQ

Walton County

Vintij

Another great restaurant to consider in Walton County is Bijoux.

Washington County

French’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar

Because, who doesn’t love a country seafood buffet with deviled crab and snow crab legs?

Click here to see all full list or other regions:

See full list

or only:
Northwest Florida

Northeast Florida

Central Florida

South Florida

If you’d like to vote for some of your favorite restaurants in up to 5 Florida counties click here.

The criteria for this list was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness.  This is the first time a county by county list of the best restaurants in North Carolina has been compiled.

We plan on updating it in 2016.  We hope to use more local feedback to improve the list for next year.  You may participate in the selection of next year’s winner by clicking here.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for updates!

Alamance County

Prego’s Trattoria :

Alexander County

Crossroads Grill :

Alleghany County

Brown’s Restaurant :

Anson County

Oliver’s Restaurant :

Ashe County

Bobby D’s :

Avery County

Artisanal :

Beaufort County

Grub Brothers :

Bertie County

Hammerheads Oyster Bar :

Bladen County

San Jose Mexican Restaurant :

Brunswick County

Mr P’s Bistro:

  remember you can vote, Click here:

Buncombe County (3)

Rhubarb :

Curate :

Dining Room at Inn on Biltmore Estate:

Burke County

Root & Vine :

Cabarrus County

The Smoke Pit :

Caldwell County

Granite Falls Brewing Co :

Camden County

Dockside Grille at Lamb’s Marina :

Carteret County

Amos Mosquito’s :

Caswell County

Hushpuppies Seafood :

Catawba County

Youssef 242 :

Chatham County

Fearrington House Restaurant :

Cherokee County

Doyle’s Cedar Hill Restaurant :

Chowan County

Inner Banks Inn :

Clay County

The Copper Door :

Cleveland County

Bridges BarBeCue Lodge :

Columbus County

Todd House Restaurant :

Craven County

247 Craven :

Cumberland County

Taste of West Africa :

Currituck County

Weeping Radish Brewery & Restaurant :

Dare County

Ocean Boulevard Bistro and Martin Bar :

Davidson County

Lexington Barbecue :

Davie County

Ketchie Creek Bakery :

Duplin County

The Bistro at Duplin Winery:

 vote for your favorites for the 2016 list Click here

Durham County (3)

Mateo Tapas :

Guglhupf Cafe:

Dame’s Chicken and Waffles:

Edgecombe County

On The Square :

Forsyth County

Noble’s Grille :

Franklin County

Hometown Café :

Gaston County

Jia Asian Fusion :

Gates County

Tarheel Bar-B-Q :

Graham County

Jasper’s at Tapoco Lodge :

Granville County

Harvest Restaurant :

Greene County

Morris Barbeque :

  Did we miss a great place? Tell us. Click here

Guilford County (2)

Print Works Bistro :

Iron Hen Café :

Halifax County

Hunan Chinese Restaurant :

Harnett County

Broad Street Deli :

Haywood County

Frogs Leap Public House :

Henderson County

Postero :

Hertford County

Tavern 125 :

Hoke County

Edinborough Family Restaurant :

Hyde County

Martelle’s Feed House :

Iredell County

Epic Chophouse :

Jackson County

Guadalupe Café :

Johnston County

Bistro on Third :

Jones County

Two Jays Diner :

Lee County

The Steele Pig :

Lenoir County

Chef and the Farmer :

Lincoln County

Harvest Moon Grille :

Macon County

The Bowery :

Madison County

Spring Creek Tavern :

Martin County

Sunny Side Oyster Bar :

McDowell County

Bruce’s Fabulous Foods :

Make sure you send in your vote for the updated 2016 list, click here

Mecklenburg County (4)

Luna’s Living Kitchen :

Block and Grinder :

Nan and Byrons :

Price’s Chicken Coop :

Mitchell County

Knife and Fork :

Montgomery County

Blake’s Restaurant :

Moore County

Elliots on Linden :

Nash County

Lou Reda’s :

New Hanover County

Catch :

Northampton County

 Broadnax Diner:

Onslow County

Marrakesh :

Orange County

Lantern :

Pamlico County

The Silos :

Pasquotank County

Montero’s Restaurant :

Pender County

Jebby’s on 17 :

Perquimans County

Patricia’s Grille :

Person County

Brookland Eats :

Pitt County

Parker’s Barbecue :

Polk County

Lavender Bistro :

Randolph County

The Table :

Richmond County

4 T’s Diner :

Robeson County

Candy Sue’s Downtown :

Rockingham County

The Celtic Fringe :

Rowan County

Sweet Meadow Café :

Rutherford County

Larkin’s On The Lake:

Sampson County

The Hungry Farmer :

Scotland County

Miyako Japanese Cuisine :

Stanly County

Off The Square :

Stokes County

Hillbilly Hide-A-Way Restaurant :

Surry County

Trio Restaurant and Bar :

Swain County

Sassy Sunflower Bakery and Café :

Transylvania County

The Square Root :

Tyrrell County

Old Salt Oyster Bar :

Union County

The Stone Kitchen :

Vance County

Skipper Forsyth’s Bar-B-Q :

Don’t be shy, vote, Click Here 

Wake County (4)

18 Seaboard :

Fiction Kitchen :

Bida Manda :

Sitti :

Warren County

Warren FoodWorks :

Washington County

The Garden Spot Café :

Watauga County

The Table Restaurant at Crestwood :

Wayne County

Carl and ‘Chelle’s Grill Room :

Wilkes County

Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery :

Wilson County

Bill’s Barbecue :

Yadkin County

Hearth Restaurant at Sanders Ridge Winery :

Yancey County

Garden Deli :

I got to sit down and talk with Grammy Award winning artist Darius Rucker one morning in Charleston, SC.  Darius has won international fame in both the rock/pop genre with his former band Hootie and the Blowfish and now in the country genre as a solo artist.  He has won Grammys in both genres as well.  That is pretty dang amazing.

I was excited to discuss his new album Southern Style and to hear about some of Darius’ favorite restaurants.

Scott Wink:  Are you a morning person? Do you do breakfast?

Darius Rucker:  Sure, I make breakfast for the kids. I made breakfast this morning.  We made eggs and bacon and cinnamon toast. We make French toast or eggs or pancakes a lot too. I make a LOT of breakfast.

Scott Wink: What were some of your favorite foods when you were growing up in Charleston?

Darius Rucker:  Growing up for me it was all about the local seafood markets and all the great fresh local stuff. Fried chicken, okra soup, collard greens, mac n’ cheese were a huge part of me growing up. Today they are still my Kryptonite.  You put some collard greens and fried chicken on the table I don’t care what kind of diet I’m on.  I’m going to eat good that day.

Scott Wink: What are some of your favorite restaurants here in Charleston?

Darius Rucker:  I love FIG. It’s great. I love The Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan’s Island. I go there a lot.  I love that place Monza. It’s just awesome. We just stumbled on that place and the food is really good.   For lunch I like going to places like TBonz or Liberty. You know, those places where you can walk in and get a good sandwich or a great burger.  For me its not always about a place having a great chef. It’s just really about the food.  I’ve been blessed to eat in cities all over the world and there are not many places with better restaurants than Charleston.  I tell people all the time that we may not have the same number of restaurants as New York City but if you want to talk quality we rival them.

Scott Wink: What are some of your family or kids favorite places?

Darius Rucker:  They like the ones I just said too.  We like to take the kids with us to eat most of the time. Monza IS our family favorite.  The kids also loveeee Obstinate Daughter.  If we don’t take the kids to FIG when we go, we hear about it for 3 or 4 days….  comments from them like, “I can’t believe you went to FIG without us.”  My youngest child is around 10 and the thing is even if these places don’t have kids menus they all have things that my kids just love to eat.

Scott Wink: What about when you are on the road? Are there cities you look forward to playing in because of the food?

Darius Rucker:  When we go to Memphis we get Rendezvous. I get it every time I go to Memphis.

Scott Wink: Ohh, those dry rub ribs!

Darius Rucker: Yeah, I love it. Then when we go to Raleigh, North Carolina we get Cloos’ hot dogs. I’ve been eating there since my days touring clubs with Hootie and the Blowfish.  We stumbled on it and it’s still there so that’s always fun.

Scott Wink:  Speaking of Hootie and the Blowfish, are you glad when you went solo you got to use your real name and have less people refer to you as “Hootie”?

Darius Rucker:  Yes, when I named the band (Hootie and the Blowfish) there was not one moment when I ever thought anyone would ever call ME Hootie.  That never crossed my mind.  There were years of my life where that was basically my name. Now that has all changed thank goodness.  People have gotten to know me.  Looking back at the last 20 years of my career I’m just very grateful that people still know who I am and have supported me.  I very grateful.

Scott Wink:  You do a lot of charity concerts here in Charleston. Thank you. Was there ever a moment when you decided things had gotten big enough to be able to start giving back to the community like you do?

Darius Rucker:  Not really, I’ve just always thought that way. Ever since I was a kid it was just part of life growing up. I was raised in an environment where we were taught early on that you should always help people when you can. For me its just something I feel I need to do and I love to help HERE in Charleston.  I want our kids to have great hospitals. I want our schools to keep getting better. So its a no brainier for me to help out as much as I can.

Scott Wink:  Your new album Southern Style has a few really personal songs on it. One about Charleston and one about your mom I hear.

Darius Rucker:  Yeah, on albums you have to always have a few songs that really, really, mean a lot to you.  “You Can Have Charleston” is one of those songs. When I finished writing it I realized it was one of those great, sad, beautiful songs. “So I Sang” that song is about… life.  It tells a really cool little story about growing up.

Darius is such a great guy with an amazing voice. You should definitely download his song from iTunes or pick up the CD.  His new single off of this Southern Style album is Homegrown Honey and is burning up the charts and airwaves.

Later in the day Darius performed several songs both new and old for a small group of radio and news people at Charleston Distilling Co on King Street.  Here are a few videos of his performances.

The criteria was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness.  A few other notable contributors were 30AEATS.com and TastyChomps.com.

I have lived in Florida off and on for over 20 years and still visit and eat a dozen or more times a year there.

Please vote for some of your favorite restaurants both that made the list and ones we missed: click here to vote!.

Alachua County

Satchel’s Pizza:

Baker County

Sixth Street Steakhouse

Bay County

Firefly:

Bradford County

Tony and Al’s Deli:

Brevard County

The Fat Snook

Broward County (2)

Hardy Park Bistro

La Huaca Peruvian Cuisine

 Calhoun County

Parramores Too Restaurant

 Charlotte County

Trabue

Citrus County

Vintage on 5th

Clay County

Saigon Tokyo Bistro

 Collier County

Rumba Cuban Café

 Columbia County

Marion Street Deli and Pub

 DeSoto County

Wheeler’s Cafe

Dixie County

Putnam Lodge

Duval County

Restaurant Orsay

Escambia County

Restaurant IRON

Flagler County

Burrito 101

Franklin County

Up the Creek Raw Bar

Gadsden County

The Whip Waterfront Pub n Grub

Gilchrist County

Hobo’s Restaurant

Glades County

Sherry’s Hideout Restaurant and Catering

Gulf County

Indian Pass Raw Bar

Hamilton County

Crossroads Market and Grill

Hardee County

Giouvanni’s Main Street Kitchen

Hendry County

Two Peas Cafe

Hernando County

Florida Cracker Kitchen

 Highlands County

Garden Café at McLane’s Country Garden

 Hillsborough County (2)

Edison

Rooster & the Till

 Holmes County

Castaway Seafood

 Indian River County

The Tides

 Jackson County

Bistro Palms

 Jefferson County

Tupelo’s Bakery and Café

 Lafayette County

Tumbleweed’s Smokehouse

 Lake County

The Goblin Market Restaurant

 Lee County

Wisteria Tea Room and Café

 Leon County

Kool Beanz Cafe

 Levy County

Tony’s Seafood Restaurant

 Liberty County

Apalachee Restaurant

Madison County

Rancho Grande

 Manatee County

The Sandbar

 Marion County

The Blue Wagyu

 Martin County

District Table and Bar

Miami-Dade County (4)

Yardbird Southern Table and Bar

La Camaronera

Bar Crudeo Miami

The Cypress Room

 Monroe County

Garbos’ Grill

Nassau County

La Mancha

 Okaloosa County

One20 a Modern Bistro

 Okeechobee County

Lightsey’s

Orange County (3)

Victoria and Albert’s

Pharmacy

Prato

 Osceola County

Savion’s Place

Palm Beach County (2)

Max’s Harvest

Little Moir’s Food Shack

 Pasco County

Mayoor Indian Restaurant

Pinellas County

Wildflower Cafe

 Polk County

West Caribbean Cuban Restaurant

 Putnam County

The Magnolia Cafe

 Santa Rosa County

The Slippery Mermaid

 Sarasota County

Sofrito Mama’s

 Seminole County

Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café

 St. Johns County

Catch 27

 St. Lucie County

Fernando’s Dockside Grill

 Sumter County

Cotillion Southern Cafe

 Suwannee County

All Decked Out Café

 Taylor County

Deal’s Famous Oyster House

 Union County

Village Grill

 Volusia County

Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill

 Wakulla County

Hamaknockers BBQ

 Walton County

Vintij

 Washington County

French’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar

The criteria was: Taste, Experience, and Uniqueness.

If you’d like to vote for some of your favorite restaurants in up to 5 Florida counties click here.

On the heels of the Charleston Wine + Food Festival about 30 Charleston bar managers and staff boarded a pontoon boat at the Isle of Palms marina. Our journey was sponsored by Don Julio Tequila for the purposes of demonstrating the reasons farming and processing of ingredients are so vital to the quality of the finished product.  Local shellfish farmer Clammer Dave uses similar dedication to growing, harvesting, and processing his main ingredient above and beyond that of his competitors similar to how Don Julio prides itself on its treatment of agave plants for tequila.

As we cruised slowly out toward Capers Island our boat driver Robert of Barrier Island Eco Tours showed us lots of local bird varieties and told us why the Charleston marshes so vital to our ecosystem and lifestyle in Charleston. We sipped on mason jars of Don Julio margaritas as we enjoyed our tour of the beautiful marshes.

As we approached some of Clammer Dave’s oyster beds he discussed how jet skis and the surge of boating in this sensitive oyster bed area can have a dramatic negative effect on clams and oysters.

Clammer Dave discussed how poaching has started to become a problem and how he has begun using HD cameras installed on buoys to help combat this.

He then took us to a floating house boat near his oyster beds. He said that when we started this business around ten years ago that he would live on this boat from time to time so that he could spend more time getting all of his work done. Both clams and oysters are planted and harvested by his business. He sells to many downtown Charleston, SC restaurants and also ships to restaurants around the country including some in New York City.  Visit his website for more information.  www.clammerdave.com

After our boat cruise we headed back to Clammer Dave’s processing plant located near McClellanville, SC and he spent some time explaining to us the ways his crew uses their senses of hearing, sight, and smell to sort out any poor quality oysters. They also sort them by hand one at a time by weight so that they can deliver a superior and consistant product to his customers. This type of one by one hand sorting is almost never done by other oyster producers. At 3:40 in the below video there is a great discussion about how both Clammer Dave and Don Julio respect the ingredients and do everything in their power to keep them at maximum quality.

Then the party began as the bar managers and staff started sampling Don Julio oyster shooters and a local bluegrass band got our collective juices flowing. There was Don Julio cocktails including the “50/50” and “Basil Smash”.

We then sampled roasted oysters (steamed) in clusters as well as selects (singles). At the end of the night we finished with a Lowcountry boil of clams, shrimp, corn and potatoes.

I definitely have a greater respect for the companies that take the time to focus on quality. Taking pride in delivering a world class product like Don Julio and Clammer Dave requires a dedication most food businesses lack. In the age of the global industrial food market it is nice to see and support those companies that do it responsibly.

Cheers to Don Julio for this wonderful day, your dedication to quality, and your delicious tequila!