Whiskey Jax Kitchen and Cocktails – We Love the “Nasty” Sauce

Located at the Baymeadows road exit off Interstate 295, Whiskey Jax is an upscale gastropub with creative chef prepared American cuisine. We’d describe the space as clean and somewhat upscale with a rustic flair. Their chef, Chef Robert “Red” Goens has a tremendous amount of experience in the Jacksonville restaurant scene. He’s perfectly capable of cooking tasty straightforward American comfort food or creative fare that will tickle your tastebuds. To top things off Whiskey Jax also offers one of the most extensive whiskey collections in the area and creative beer options like banana bread beer and hazelnut chocolate stout.

Whiskey Jax – Avocado Fries

Address:
10915 Baymeadows Rd, Ste 135, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Phone: 904-634-7208

Website: www.whiskeyjax.com

Hours: Mon-Fri 5pm-2am
Sat 11am-2am
Sun 10am-2am

After we sat down and got our drinks the waiter brought over some of Whiskey Jax’s signature hot sauce called their “Nasty sauce”. He shared with us that he loved the stuff and ate it on everything. I don’t eat hot sauce on anything. It’s just not my thing. This sauce might have just made me a hot sauce believer. After trying this sauce I’m hooked! The stuff really is good on everything. Throughout dinner we applied it liberally. It’s full of flavor without being too spicy.

Whiskey Jax – Bangin Shrimp

We kicked things off with the avocado fries($6.50). Slices of avocado breaded in a corn flake panko served with a cilantro lime creme fraiche. These were a nice change of pace from the typical pub appetizers. Give them a shot. They were a bit bland for us when we tried them without sauce but with some of the creme fraiche poured on top they were pretty good. With the “nasty sauce” poured liberally over them they were even better.
Next we tried the Whiskey Jax Steak Tacos($7.50 for 2)- Jim Beam and Coca Cola marinated skirt steak grilled with chimichurri sauce, goat cheese and arugula. The steak was very tender. The goat cheese was the perfect flavor pairing for this meat. Although we couldn’t taste the Jim Beam or coca cola flavors it didn’t matter because once we added a bit of Whiskey Jax’s “nasty” sauce we were loving these. They’re definitely worth a try.

Whiskey Jax – Bourbon Salmon

Next up were the Bangin’ Shrimp($9)-Shrimp lightly fried and tossed in our bangin’ Thai chilli sauce. These are offered either as an appetizer like we had them or as tacos. These were tasty. We were definitely fans of the Thai chili sauce.
We tried two selections from the signature plates section of the menu at Whiskey Jax. First was the Short ribs($15)-braised with Cabernet, mushrooms, super tender, good veggies, root vegetables and natural gravy over garlic mashed potatoes. The presentation of this dish is beautiful. Short ribs are a hard dish to make look great and Whiskey Jax really succeeds in doing so. The short ribs were soooooo tender. The flavor was really good. The vegetables were cooked just soft enough to be enjoyable without being too soft. The other signature dish we tried was the Bourbon Salmon($14)- pan seared Atlantic Salmon with Martha’s Mix seasoning finished with an angel’s envy bourbon glaze. Served with roasted fingerling potato medley and seasonal vegetables. The bourbon glaze on the salmon added a wonderful sweetness which we loved! The skin underneath the filet was nice and crunchy which we enjoyed but that same crunchy skin added a slightly charred taste which was a slight drawback as well.

Whiskey Jax – Short RIbs

We ended up sitting at the bar for this review since the bar in Whiskey Jax had by far the best lighting for taking food photos. The bar tender took great care of us and anticipated our needs throughout the night. The service as a whole was very good.

Overall our visit to Whiskey Jax was outstanding. We enjoyed the food, loved the “nasty” sauce and the service was very good. We’ll definitely be heading back to Whiskey Jax very soon.

Note: From time to time we’re invited out to try a new restaurant or try new menu items at a restaurant. This meal is usually comped as this one was. We’re under no obligation to write a positive review or any review at all when we’re invited out to try a place. Every review you see on our site will be an honest review of the place whether or not the restaurant provided us with the meal at their cost.

Whiskey Jax – Steak Taco