Friends are going to St Augustine and I wanted to suggest two restaurants that we visited on our trip several years ago. If you were standing with your back to the large fort by the old town and looked across the wide street, there is a large restaurant with a lanai running around its second floor. We ate french fried spinach (maybe a bad description) and drank beer. Then in old town we ate at a restaurant that was sort of a house with lots of little rooms. Good food, service, probably upper end. To enter, you walked up a little path and I believe there were glass doors.
Hope I'm not being over the top vague. I did try a general search on google but no luck so far. Thanks to all!

Hi, happy. Hopefully Orlando Vic will see your inquiry, but meantime I wanted to mention that the 2nd place you mention sounds as though it could be Harry's. OTOH, you did not allude to the NOLA atmosphere/cuisine, so maybe not. Either way, here's a linkwith pics that you will recognize immediately, if this is the one:
http://www.hookedonharrys.com/page/28-4189.htm

Another link with dining recs/ads are:

http://www.oldcity.com/

I'll be watching with interest for any replies you receive, since we just moved here 10 days ago from coastal NC. We've already had some terrific meals (including lunch at Harry's) and are always on the lookout for that next great dining experience.

Happy travels to your friends !

Oooops--make that "another link.....IS", not "are."

I must admit I'm stumped, so obviously I've never eaten there. However, why don't you consult the Restaurant Times <http://www.therestauranttimes.net/dining.html>? It may get you one step closer to your answer(s).

And, hey, if you find out the name of restaurant #1, let us know. I could always go for some good French fried spinach and beer!

Could restaurant #2 possibly be the Raintree <http://www.raintreerestaurant.com/> or Le Pavillon <http://www.lepav.com/>?

The first might be Milltop Tavern. http://www.milltop.com/

Thank you all for your replies. I followed the links, found the picture of A1A Ale House and recognized it as restaurant #1 right away. I'm wondering if the second restaurant has closed. It was in the heart of the old town, sort of a town house, and split into several small rooms. However, I did send the entire thread to my friend and several of the restaurant descriptions make me sorry we're not going with them.

A1A is the one with the second floor Lanai, the other could be Harry's, it has a beautifal patio area to eat on, they have a website as well, but not sure if that will give you enough information to know if that is the right one. The two that Orlando Vic mentioned are great resturants and higher end, but closer to the big cross which is on the most northern end of downtown not visiable from the fort. If you do figure it out, please let us all know.