Recently a friend of mine suggested I sign up and join him for a fun quarterly sampling event through Yelp. If you’re a Yelp member make sure to check out these free events they offer from time to time for active members. This event happened to be at Sliders.
Previous to this event I’d walked by Sliders a few times when strolling through Neptune Beach but never ventured in. Now that I’ve seen what I’ve been missing I’ve got a feeling Sliders will be making it into my regular rotation of dinner restaurants. If you enjoy oysters or seafood and live near Neptune Beach it should be on your list of places to dine as well. Actually if you live in Neptune Beach I’ll bet it already is in your regular restaurant rotation. In business for over 30 years Sliders might just be the ultimate Neptune Beach locals spot. They buy most of their seafood from the Jacksonville area. They’re affordably priced. They have great friendly servers and the food is pretty darn tasty too! Thursday nights are packed for their locals night happy hour til 8pm with oysters for $5/dozen and all sorts of specials at great prices.
Sliders – Crab Dip
The week following the event I made a trip back to Sliders with the kids so we’ll be talking about some of the food at both visits and we’ll discuss the service for just the return visit we made for dinner. The food on both visits was delicious.
Sliders offers an artichoke seafood dip($7.25) with lump crab meat, shrimp, and artichoke. The dip comes out hot and is served with a huge portion of large crostinis. I’m not sure I’ve ever been served a portion of crostinis this large with a dip before. The dip is delicious. If the typical dip gets a 5, this one gets an 8 and a half. It was really good. Plenty of crab meat plus good flavor. If you’re feeling a seafood dip as an appetizer this one won’t disappoint!
We got the chance to try 3 different kinds of oyster. The raw oysters were good. These were listed at market price which usually scares me a little but when I got the bill I thought the $6.95 I was charged for a half dozen was reasonable. Most were decent sized although one or two were kind of on the small side.
Sliders – Oysters Casino
The Oysters casino($8.95 for 6) were flat out delicious. Though, how could you go wrong with 6 fresh shucked oysters baked with cheese, bacon and scallions?
The 3rd type of oysters we tried were the oysters rockefeller. These were baked with spinach and provolone cheese. Maybe it was because the oysters casino were so amazing, but I thought these were mediocre.
At the Yelp event we got a chance to try the tiki scallops. Scallops wrapped in bacon in a teriyaki sauce. We’ve all obviously had bacon wrapped scallops before. They’re not uncommon on the menus of your average seafood restaurant. Usually I find them pretty boring. Limp bacon ruins these at most restaurants. This time though they were cooked just right and the bacon quality was well above average. They really execute perfectly on this item.
Sliders – Oysters
We also got a chance to try their shrimp sausage. A creation of Chef David Pickett, this is a sausage made with shrimp, chicken, and other secret ingredients topped with marinara and served with cheese toast. These were really good. The texture was different. The spices in it added flavor. Marinara and cheese toast were the right accompaniments. I wish I could do this sausage better justice in describing it. Just try it. Trust us when we tell you that you’ll probably like it.
There’s a couple really cool things Sliders offers that I want to make sure to mention. The first is that if you sit outside you can bring your well behaved dog with you. That’s pretty awesome. 2nd they are a great place to bring your kids to eat. My 3 year old ordered the pizza off the kids menu and they asked if he wanted to make it. HUH???? Yep, they’ll bring the dough and sauce and cheese to the table and help your little guy assemble his pizza to be taken back to the kitchen to be baked. That’s really fun and pretty awesome!
The service at Sliders was amazing. I took my 3 year old and 14 year old boys for an early dinner right after school. My older son was in a horrible mood and when I took a quick trip to wash up before our food arrived I came back to see my son in a much, much better mood. I found out the waitress had taken the time to spark up a conversation and make a connection with the kids. This made both my son’s and consequently my day significantly better. Sometimes taking a minute to make someone feel like they matter makes all the difference. Throughout the meal our drinks stayed full and our needs were met almost without us having to think about it. This is the mark of a great server. Thanks to our server Courtney for all the care and attention we were given.
If you’re looking for a great laid back place at the beach with a fun menu, great service and delicious food Sliders is the place you should be headed. They certainly get an A+ from us!
can you tell me where on yelp you signed up for the quarterly samplings?