Sunset Grille: Celebrating 25 Years!

As this year marks the 450^th anniversary of St. Augustine, celebrations are in

full effect but there are a group of folks celebrating another anniversary this year. The owners of Sunset Grille, a local restaurant and landmark of St. Augustine Beach are celebrating their 25^th year anniversary. What once used to be a small beach café with one dining room and a bar on top of sandy floors has grown over the years into a two story full service restaurant that is known for its Award-Winning Chowders and a “Key West” atmosphere. Owners Pete Darios, Mike Rosa, and former owner John David get together with St. Aug Blog and reminisce when, why, and how there were able to create and run a successful business and all the growing pains that came along with.

It all began in 1989, when Pete Darios and John David came to visit some friends who had transplanted to St. Augustine Beach. “It was great,” David recalls, “ the sun was shining, the beach was beautiful, cute girls, what’s not to love?!” Darios and David both native to New York City and both Hoffstra University Alumni, were roommates after college and bought a bar together in Hempstead called McHebe's Depot, a local Hoffstra University watering hole. “So we had a pretty good idea how to run a bar, the restaurant part was a new adventure.” So it was decided, two New Yorkers walk into a bar…well several until they found the ideal spot to open a restaurant on A1A. The Sandpiper Restaurant, formerly known as the Village Cove, formerly a pharmacy, was sold to Darios and David on a handshake and 6 months later the two would sell their bar in New York and move down to St. Augustine and open what is now known as the Sunset Grille.   

But it wasn’t an easy task. It took them 2 and ½ months to clean the restaurant and by March 1^st , they were open for business. The reception, not as bad a one would think. “There were some grumblings, but nothing crazy just the usual, mostly because we were from out of town and no one knew who we were,” Darios says. By 1991, the third partner came along, Mike Rosa. Also from New York, Rosa met Darios and David at the bar he worked at next to McHebe's in Hempstead. “We would go in just to see Mike, he was an amazing bartender!” says David. “ He always remembered everyone’s name and what they were drinking and he was hilarious too! On his days off he would go around to different bars and restaurants and get to know the staff and then get them to come to his bar after work. It was crazy packed between 2  and 3 a.m.!” recalls Darios. So on April 1, 1991 Rosa moved down to St. Augustine and showed up with a ton of energy and knowledge of the bar business. By that following summer in 1992  they started Silver Bullet Sundays which consisted of 25 cent oysters, 1$ Coors Lights and The Seiner’s ( Anyone know Those Guys?) played live music and this put Sunset Grille on the map. “Before it was just Passport Joe’s (now Dunes Cracker House) and Panama Hattie’s and that was it!” says Rosa. It was from then on and to this day, habitually Sundays have always been busy.





The front entrance of Sunset Grille

But it wasn’t just Silver Bullet Sundays that gained the restaurant recognition. Sunset Grille became heavily involved in the community, and joined the South Beaches Area Council which consisted of local business owners along St. Augustine Beach getting together to raise money for things such as beach re-nourishment,the Christmas lights during the holidays along A1A, community parks such as the Splash Park at St. Augustine Beach Pier and always lended a helping hand for the locals. It was then that people realized that Sunset Grille was here to stay. They became involved in charities to help members of the community in need, poker runs, the Shriner’s Chowder Debate, Sertoma, the Beach Blast Off (an event on New Year's Eve at the St. Augustine Pier) and continue to do so. Over the past 25 years Sunset Grille figured out their recipe for success- fun, dedication, creativity, compassion but most of all- love for a town that has welcomed them, locals and tourists alike.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...?????? ( A little stroll down memory lane circa "the 90's")

St. Aug Blog: So what took some adjusting to once you moved down to St. Augustine from New York?

Darios: Last call was at 12:30 a.m.!

David: Yeah, it was funny, we were hanging out downtown at Scarlet O'Hara's and the lights all turned on at midnight , I thought that signaled late night happy hour, nope it was last call!

St. Aug Blog: What did you do for fun when you weren't working all the time?

David: After work, I would go on top of the roof of the building and hit golf  balls across A1A where the Hampton Inn is now. I did this at night and there were times not a single car would pass. 

Darios: It's crazy, I feel like we all just worked all the time, literally all the time. But I do recall making it to Passport Joe's for a couple drinks after work. There weren't a lot of options ,so we either went to Passport's or Panama Hattie's.

Rosa: Yeah I agree. We worked all the time, but if I did have any time off , I always went to the beach. 


St. Aug Blog: If you hadn't moved down to Florida and opened up a restaurant what do you think you would have done instead ?

David: I think I would have been a teacher. I coached football before and I really enjoyed that, so I definitely think I would have been a teacher.

Rosa: I probably would have opened up a night club in New York. I'm the type of person that needs to be busy all the time plus I love to dance.

Darios: My dream job would have been to be a Starship Captain.  

St. Aug Blog would like to thank Sunset Grille for their time and Best Wishes for the future!