http://www.nippersbeachgrille.com/
2309 Beach Blvd
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
While down at the Captain's House for a long fall weekend, Katy and I wanted to make the 30 minute drive to Jacksonville Beach, specifically to visit Chef Kenny's restaurant. Kenny was my favorite contestant on Top Chef, Season 7 and I personally think he left the show way too early - it showed at Nippers.
We went only for lunch but ate like it was our last meal. Greeted by Kenny at the bar, we were ushered quickly to a table overlooking the marina full of yachts. Not only does the restaurant offer great views, but there is a large TV room to watch the games, and a Tiki Deck that offers an outdoor area for party-goers to have fun in the sun.
We started off sharing the Conch Fritters and I also ordered the loaded potato soup, the soup of the day. The fritters were good, but I thought they could have had more conch and the potato soup was superb, thick and creamy. For our mains, Katy had the blackened fish sandwich that was first-rate, but her sweet potato fries are still the best she's had. Unlike many sweet potato fries that are thick-cut and soggy, these were cut thinly and were nice and crunchy with great flavor.
My pulled pork sandwich came with a fried green tomato, tomatillo jam, and jalapeno jack cheese. Naturally, since this may have been the only time I'll visit Nippers, I had to add the chef recommendation by making my sandwich dirty (this adds collard greens, bacon, and KG's hot sauce on the sandwich). When the waitress brought my sandwich out I wanted to waive the white flag immediately. It stood probably 8 inches high and weighed nearly 5 pounds! The pulled pork mashed with the hot sauce, collards and fried green tomato made for a hearty southern-cuisine meal. After somehow managing to take down the first half of the sandwich, I had to take the brioche bun away from the second half and finish with a fork. After finishing, we stayed another 45 minutes sipping a beer to let my stomach digest before departing this lovely Southern/Caribbean beach grill. So next time you're in Jacksonville Beach, stop in to see Chef Kenny and take your shot at a dirty meal.
