Description: The A1A Ale Works occupies a prime location on the corner of King Street and Avenida Menendez in the heart of St. Augustine’s historic district. Upstairs is a restaurant where either fancy or informal attire is appropriate, and downstairs is a brew pub with an indisputably informal atmosphere.
Our group of three couples, all family members and all of mature years, walked past A1A several times before we decided to give it a try. The pub looked like it might be a bit young and trendy for our inclinations, but that turned out to be a misperception. Driven by duel needs for rest and refreshment, we walked in, procured a table that would seat us all, and were quickly approached by our friendly waiter. He asked our pleasure for drinks, inquired as to whether we would be ordering food as well, and set about making us feel welcome.
At first, we had no intention to order food. One of our party planned to attend a seminar at the local winery, and we were killing time. We ordered our drinks—house brews for four of us and iced tea for the other two—and were gradually and happily entrapped by the sight and smell of food being delivered to nearby tables. Starting out with nachos as a group appetizer, we moved on to sample a fair portion of the menu.
We enjoyed everything we tried, starting with the house brews. I preferred the Nut Brown, but others in our group spoke highly of the IPA and the Brick Red lager. Given that we like to think of ourselves as having educated pallets, the high praise from all quarters attested to the excellence of the beer. The A1A’s claim to borrowing from the best of Irish, British, and German traditions met our credibility test.
Since we were in the pub portion of A1A, our menu selections featured starters, sandwiches, salad, and soup. The nachos we ordered were generous and tasty, served on a large platter with a variety of toppings. The vegetarian in our midst ordered a tasty hummus plate, which she shared with the group. The sandwiches we favored included blackened mahi mahi and sesame tuna with slaw and balsamic tomatoes. The menu also included some very tasty burgers and the fries were excellent.
The menu’s best-of-all offering, at the top of the list for each and every one of our group, was the A1A’s famous ale and cheese soup. It’s famous for good reason. Ingredients include aged cheeses, roasted barley, and caramelized onions. The ale is the pub’s own Red Brick brew, and it is served in generous portions with freshly baked bread for dipping. Most important of all, it is delicious and, well, comforting.
Service was outstanding. The staff was mostly young and some had the knack for instant hospitality. They were not only attentive, they exchanged easy banter with members of our group and they remembered us from one visit to the next.
All told, we patronized the A1A three times over a period of 6 days and we were always pleased. If it were in our backyard, we would be regulars with our own mugs hanging above the bar. As it is, the quality and hospitality we found at the A1A guarantees that we will return next time we visit St. Augustine. The only problem we can foresee is that level of expectation set by our last round of visits may be tough to match!
Close