Checked by The Things To Do In Fernandina Beach editorial desk. Hours and menus change; confirm with the restaurant before you travel.
Photo: The Atlantic beach on the east side of Amelia Island.
Salt Life Food Shack sits on North Fletcher Avenue at the Main Beach end of the island — across the road from the sand, with a rooftop deck that looks over it. On an island where most of the well-known restaurants are downtown by the river, this is the one that is actually at the beach.
The menu runs seafood and sushi together, which is unusual here and useful: it is the only place on this list where one table can order a fish sandwich and a sushi roll without a compromise.
What to expect
Casual beachfront service, a big menu, and a rooftop that is the reason to come. It is busy in season and it does not pretend otherwise — this is a high-volume beach restaurant.
Sunrise is on this side of the island, not sunset, so the rooftop is a morning and afternoon proposition rather than a sunset one. For sunset over water, the downtown marina rooms face west.
Where it sits, and where to park
17 N Fletcher Avenue is opposite Main Beach Park, at the eastern end of Atlantic Avenue. There is free public parking at Main Beach across the road — much simpler than downtown.
It sits within a couple of minutes of the beach playground, the volleyball courts and the mini-golf, which makes it the practical lunch stop in the middle of a beach day.
Quick tips
- Free parking at Main Beach across the road.
- The rooftop faces east — sunrise side, not sunset.
- The one place that does seafood and sushi on the same table.