Gypsy Cab Company

With its strange name and gaudy green and purple exterior, St. Augustine's Gypsy Cab Company could easily be mistaken for a gimmick. But on the contrary, Gypsy Cab Company is one of the area's best and most iconic restaurants.

The food, like that found at many good restaurants these days, is hard to pin down with a few simple descriptors or ethnic references. There is no single culinary style employed nor could one aptly call it "fusion" as their self-labeled "Urban Cuisine" incorporates elements from many flavors of the culinary arts until the end result is something wholly unique.

The signature Gypsy Chicken dish is a good place to start. Based solely on appearance, one might assume it came from the Applebee's recipe book. But as we all should know, looks can be deceiving. The chicken is lightly breaded and cooked to perfection and the sauce is flavorful and entirely unlike the viscous, syrupy mess slathered upon the food at its big-chain counterparts. My fondest memory at Gypsy Cab involved a blackened salmon burrito. It was absolutely delicious, far exceeding any other fish burrito I've had since and, apart from the tortilla, there was very little resemblance to typical Mexican cuisine. The menu also changes regularly. Alas, the blackened salmon burrito is no more but it's never hard to pick a winning dish when dining here.

Next door is the Gypsy Bar & Grill. There's a full bar and a menu sporting way-better-than-usual bar food. On Friday and Saturday (and some Thursday) nights it becomes the Gypsy Comedy Club where you can attend performances by touring comedians and laugh until your beer comes back up. Visit the Gypsy Comedy Club website for the schedule and pricing information.

Not wanting to be outdone, the main restaurant sometimes hosts Dinner and a Movie-Monday Night where $25 will get you a buffet dinner, a movie, one non-alcoholic beverage, and a $5 donation to the St. Johns Cultural Council. The schedule is erratic and I don't think there's a calendar anywhere online so either call or visit the St. Johns Cultural Council website to find out about upcoming events. The next Dinner and a Movie night is April 27, 2009 and will feature the film The Village Barbershop.

There's a lot to do at the Gypsy Cab Company and the adjacent Gypsy Bar & Grill but the great food is the only motivation I need to keep going back. It's definitely worth it, particularly when prices are often lower than comparable mid-tier restaurants.

Gypsy Cab Company
Gypsy Cab Company
828 Anastasia Blvd.
St Augustine, FL 32080
904-824-8244