Ice Plant Bar - St. Augustine.

I had a jealous restaurant experience the other night while in St. Augustine. A moment where I wished I could pick up a historic building and relocate it to Tampa.

On Saturday night, my friend Darlynn and I had an hour to spare prior to the Corey Smith and Darius Rucker concert. We decided to give the Ice Plant in St. Augustine a try. Magical doesn't even begin to describe this place.

 Upon sitting down at the bar, I knew we were in a special place. We received our menus and one of the pages showcased 6 different shapes of ice they use in their drinks. Talk about craft cocktail heaven.

Our first drink choice was the Florida Mule - a Moscow Mule made with Saint Augustine Vodka. This was hands down the best Mule I have ever had. It was made with fresh ginger and a lot of love.

We started off with an order of Devils on Horseback - Bacon wrapped dates, buttermilk blue cheese puree. This is one of my favorite appetizers to make for a gathering. In fact, we served it at Easter dinner. Ice Plant nailed it.

While I wanted to stick with the Florida Mule as cocktail of choice, it would have been a crime to do so with Ice Plant's bar menu. So we decided on the Bell Jar for drink number two. The recipe called for Uncle Val’s Gin. Both Darlynn and I asked to switch this to Vodka. Made with strawberry rhubarb jam, lemon and cucumber, this was a very earthy yet delicious drink.

Since we arrived at Ice Plant at 4:45, we weren't exactly starving and decided to split a burger. This wasn't just any burger - a juicy grass-fed Georgia beef patty with bacon-chive aioli, l.t.o., adding cheddar cheese, mushrooms and bacon. Served with a house made pickle and hand cut fries - wholly WOW.

It was amazing watching the bartenders in action and talk about a busy bar. Check out the cubes of ice in the photo above. The device on the right was used to shave ice while the smaller device to the left was use to make sphere's of ice for cocktails. Many of the ice offerings were cut to order for various cocktails.

photo from iceplantbar.com

The restaurants decor was perfect. It reminded me of being in New Orleans.

The Ice Plant Bar offered a wide array of choices which would make any drink snob a happy content person. Their cocktails are made with fresh and local ingredients and the menu was many pages long.

photo from iceplantbar.com

I look forward to our next visit to St. Augustine and the Ice Plant will become a staple in our frequent trips to this beloved city.