The Balefire Brasserie

Finally! Someone who gets it. My wife and I went to dinner last night. Pork belly, spinach Brie salad, sea bass and a bluegrass hot brown. The owners of this farm to table concept have elevated dishes to a much higher standard. Warm Brie on the salad. Candied bacon on the hot brown. A new favorite place and at an amazing price point. Well worth the visit. The owner/​chef even made rounds and checked our table. Truly well done. Our server was Ed, he made sure we had a great experience. We will be regulars here.

The food was really good in my opinion. Servers were great and very knowledgeable about the menu. Really enjoyed they use as many fresh and local ingredients as possible. They made sure my shellfish allergy was addressed with the kitchen. Great late Valentine’s Day spot!

Love this place, romantic. Food was awesome, staff great. Best pork chop I have ever had.
A must go to

We ate at this delightful brasserie twice and had excellent meals. The salmon & scallops were delicious and the pork chop was the best I’ve ever had. Prompt, courteous service and great ambience.

Excellent. Great service. Great atmosphere. I am from NYC and it is on par with some of the restaurants there. Definitely recommend.

Had dinner at this place tonight and the Unilocal 5 star rating held true!
I’ll definitely be going back.

A new favorite! Last night was my sister’s last evening in town from a week long visit so we decided to check out someplace new! What a wonderful discovery Balefire Brasserie was! Upon entering the quaint little building, we were greeted with a warm and friendly welcome and a cozy, comfortable atmosphere.
We were fortunate to have arrived early enough to score one of the three comfortable booths but honestly there’s not a bad seat in the house. The tables are nicely spaced to allow for private conversations which you don’t find in many St Augustine restaurants. Greg, our server for the evening, was friendly from the get-​go and took time to tell us about the new restaurant and its chefs.
The restaurant has a nice wine and beer selection, along with a fabulous menu… something for everyone! Who doesn’t love a perfectly grilled romaine lettuce salad, the starter choice for two in our group? The spinach salad with warm Brie, dried cranberries, candied walnuts and a lovely pear vinaigrette was also a winner! The three of us all ended up being in the mood for salmon which sounded too delicious to pass up. The perfect size salmon filet was topped with roasted fennel and served over a bed of sautéed kale, all with a yummy sauce! We finished the meal by sharing a wonderful piece of the decadent chocolate tart which was amazing.
We found the prices to be reasonable for both the wine selection and the menu items. The Balefire Brassiere is great addition to the local dining out scene! We will definitely be back soon!

This place was amazing!!! We had reservations on a Saturday night and the place was half empty. We couldn’t believe it with the amount of people out that night. These people don’t know what they are missing.
We ordered several appetizers. The Fresno peppers which to me were ok, crab and corn chowder which was amazing, flat bread, pork belly (yum) and the beef carpaccio which was my favorite of all of them. What did it for me was the fried Parmesan on top.
For entrees we all shared the following:
Scallops — cooked and seasoned perfectly however the pasta was ok. Kind of like a stroganoff sauce not a lot of flavor.
Short Ribs — I mean who doesn’t like a short rib. They were delicious.
Hot Brown — Hot DAMN that was one of the best entrees we ordered. Highly recommend.
Tenderloin — cooked and tasted great.
Steak au Poivre — amazing it melted in your mouth kind of good. The steak came with this squash, carrot and sweet potato gratin that I can’t stop thinking about. I emailed the restaurant for the recipe and they gave it to me. Awesomeness!!!
If and when I ever return to St. Augustine I will definitely be eating here again!

The food was amazing. I had the scallops and my husband had the pork chop. Both were equally delicious. We shared the bread pudding for dessert it was a must have. Ask for Steve he will give you 5 star service.

The Balefire Brasserie must be St. Augustine’s best kept secret. I would say more than half of the restaurant was empty on a Saturday night, Which is shocking because of how good the food is. I mean this place is delicious! By far the best meal I’ve had in St. Augustine and that’s saying a lot.
We ordered a smörgåsbord of appetizers and entrees and shared it all. That’s the way to go if you’re like me and want to try everything. We had the stuffed Fresno peppers, pork belly, beef carpaccio, crab corn chowder, and flat bread for starters. All of them were fantastic.
For our entrees we had the scallops, steak au poivre, osso bucco, filet, and hot brown. My Ribeye au poivre was the most amazing steak I’ve ever had. The sweet potato, carrot, squash gratin it came with could be a meal in itself. It was so delicious! Close second had to be the hot brown. It’s an open faced turkey sandwich with mornay, candied bacon, and tomatoes.
Our server, Matt, was great. The chef chatted with us after our meal and he was equally friendly. It has Cute décor and we loved the overall ambience. It’s a tiny place, so I would suggest making a reservation.
All ingredients are locally sourced.
I can’t wait to go back for seconds!

What a great place! We stopped here for dinner on our way south. The ambiance is subtle, refined & pleasant. The dishes are are precisely prepared & presented. The service is experienced & friendly.
We had no reservations, but it was Thursday night, so they sat us as walk ins. We ordered the spinach salad with drizzled Brie & it was fresh and served with the Brie still melting. The beer/​cheese soup was complex & rich, maybe not for everyone, but I found it uncommonly creative. The scallops were nicely selected & perfectly cooked. I have had scallops that were sweeter from other sources, but the preparations & serving was spot-​on.
The selection on the menu makes me want to visit at least 4 more times. The selection runs from familiar to intriguing.

My fiancé and I stopped in after a day of wedding planning and couldn’t have been more impressed. After being seated we were greeted warmly by our server Captain Steve. He was the best. He helped us in selecting our dinner and every recommendation he made was spot on.
Excellent service was only amplified by the delicious food. We started with the stuffed peppers. Just the right amount of spicy. For my entrée I had the bone in pork chop. It was hands down the most delicious pork chop I’ve ever had. Juicy perfection. My fiancé had the filet which was another home run. He loved it and he’s had many steaks. It also had a really unique yummy side that incorporated sweet potatoes thinly sliced. The presentation of the food was impressive, it looked as good as it tasted.
No complaints here :) Top notch service and eats, thanks again Steve!

Balefire Brasserie proved to be a wonderful experience. My daughter, husband and I enjoyed New Years Eve dinner. The waiter, Steve, was a true professional. We enjoyed our interaction with him. He truly knows about the items on the menu.
The pork chop was absolutely delicious, a must try!
Thank you Steve and Balefire Brasserie for making our New Years Eve special. We will see you next vacation!

Previously having the read the reviews, I was a bit concerned with the food portions (some states they were on the small side.) I admit the salad was a bit a small, but for somebody who likes to eat salad before their entrée, it was the perfect size — enough to satisfy but not to fill. I wouldn’t recommend ordering the salad as your main dish, but it was certainly delicious as a starter. The soup, however, I thought had a good size. I didn’t order it myself, but two others at my table did, and they both gave it a thumbs up. Now the entrée I thought had a good size, not small at all. Now, they aren’t monstrous portions if that’s what you’re looking for, but the size is fair, some of those at my table actually couldn’t even finish it they were so full. I actually can’t remember the name of what I ordered, it was turkey on sourdough bread with tomatoes and caramel used bacon with cheese sauce. It came on the smallest plate, but it was loaded! It had a lot of turkey, and the cheese sauce was sitting around the bread where everything was stacked. I would absolutely recommend it. For dessert, I had the «crème-​brûlée» type of one, also delicious! I actually remembered to take a photo this time, so that’s the one I added.
Also, I feel it fair mention that do change their menu every few months, the waiter told us this was the second menu they had printed. They kept some customer favourites, but otherwise brought new dishes, which is just something to be aware of.
In conclusion: I absolutely loved it. Everything I ate was delicious, and I thought the prices and portions were fair. The environment was very nice, dim but not too dark to see your food, and the staff was patient and friendly.

First of all, I have to commend our server, Steve. He took the time to cover the highlights of the menu with us. Besides that, he was very engaging and well-​versed in the subtleties of service in fine dining (yet in a casual atmosphere).
We visited here on our anniversary, enjoying both the peppers and calamari/​clam appetizers. Our entrees were delightful – the Hot Brown (so incredibly yummy) and scallops (wow).
I rarely write reviews, but I can’t recommend this place enough. We have dined in a lot of places in cities everywhere and this place is definitely good as any of our favorites. You won’t go wrong coming here.

What a fabulous meal! While visiting for the weekend we were looking for a traditional steakhouse but after the reviews, we decided to try Balefire.
With very traditional meat and potatoes eaters in our party, the menu was a bit of a concern. The entrees offered were a little «fancier» then a traditional steakhouse would offer. However, we all chose the pork chop and it was outstanding. The brandy cherry sauce had the perfect balance of sweetness and the pork was exceptionally tender and the portion was very generous. The heirloom carrots were delicious but I would have loved more of them — 3 ½s just isn’t enough. The fingerling potatoes were roasted and seasoned perfectly.
Our entire meal was delicious and the service was second to none. It was a very busy Saturday night but our waiter was very attentive — we honestly never had to ask for anything. He was on top of everything every step of the way.
I would recommend Balefire to anyone visiting the area. I can’t wait to go back and try something else on the menu!

Delicious and lovingly prepared food by a trio of chefs who are in the farm to table vibe. It’s only been open four months, but the ingredients, chefs and the service by Steve make a wonderful experience! Amazing corn/​crab chowder to start with, my husband’s Steak au Poivre to die for, and my perfectly seared scallops completed a memorable meal. Homemade dessert of Pot de Crème completed and sweetened our palate. They deserve all the good reviews!

Wow! This is the best kept secret of St. Augustine! We were first-​timers tonight and really enjoyed our meal.
We started with the pork belly appetizer. Perfect for 2 people. The house cured pork was crispy and not too salty. The corn relish that came with it was very tasty.
For dinner I had to try the Bluegrass Hot Brown. I had researched the origin of the Hot Brown and the more I read the more intrigued I was about the dish. It was very very good and very different from anything else I’ve ever had. The mornay sauce made with Gruyère cheese was very creamy and smooth and not too rich. It’s complemented rather than overpowered. The turkey was sliced breast, not lunch meat turkey. The candied bacon was sweet but not too sweet which was very appealing to me.
Hubby had the pork with white bean ragout. The beans were excellent; nicely seasoned with a sage sauce. He said the pork was good but a little dry.
We finished off the meal with their vanilla crème brûlée. It was topped with Granny Smith apple slices. Not a big fan of granny Smith apples; some sweet Gala apples would’ve been better IMHO. The crème brûlée was very good. Perfect light dessert to top off the meal.
I was really surprised at the number of empty tables. This place is too good; you need to get here. I normally would not encourage more business in a place that has such good food because I don’t want to compete for a table. However I don’t want this place to go out of business.
¹²⁄₂₀₁₅ — came back tonight and enjoyed another excellent meal. Tonight we started with the beef flatbread. That thing was incredible and I think what really made it was the goat cheese sauce. For dinner we had the bone in pork chop, chicken Marsala, beef tenderloin, and scallops. pork chop was the best porkchop i’ve ever had; tender and tasty. Beef Tenderloin was melt in your mouth good. Hubs was pleased that the Marsala was a good sized portion. Scallops were cooked nicely however our friends were disappointed they were only four of them. Pot au crème dessert was excellent. It had salted caramel chocolate on top. Yum!

My boyfriend and I visited last night and were very impressed. We ordered the cheese charcuterie which was great! 4 different cheeses and cured meats with delicious flaky crackers. I enjoyed the sweet chutney and pairing the flavors.
For my entrée I ordered the pan seared scallops with tagliatelle in creamy mushroom sauce. Pure heaven. The scallops had a crispy crust that was to die for. The sauce was light yet flavorful. My boyfriend ordered the «Good, the Bad, and the Ugly» special which had monkfish, coconut crusted shrimp, and crab cake. The rémoulade was spectacular… hints of shallots, mustard and garlic.
Service was attentive and pleasant and the décor was modern. I liked the ambiance. We of course went with dessert– the ice cream sandwich with homemade banana cream pie flavored ice cream between fresh shortbread cookies– amazing!
We will be back to try more of their specials and unique desserts. I hope this restaurant sees much success, it deserves it!

The first grown-​up restaurant in St Augustine! This is s wonderful new place that manages to be comfortable and sophisticated at the same time. Lovely décor — not hippie locavore but just classy and at the same time comfy. The place is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside, btw, and there’s a nice bar area for a glass of wine and snacks in addition to tables and booths for dinner.
Ingredients are locally sourced and top quality.
We tried the blistered peppers to start — yum! Loved the Hot Brown, also. The owners are from Kentucky, so they know this dish. But it’s not under a gluey sauce and instead under a nice mornay sauce, which makes all the difference. Dessert was the ice cream sandwich of the day, in this case, a key lime ice cream between thick cornmeal cookies. Yum again.
Service is excellent because they have actual adult waiters and not college kids whose idea of a great meal is a slice of cold pizza.