Lunch in St. Augustine

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(edited: shortly after this post was published, Casa Maya moved into a larger location. All photos are from the original spot.)

My last post we took a tour of the Whetstone Chocolates factory. Well, after all that sampling of sweets we wanted to eat something a little more substantial so Chad consulted Urbanspoon to find a nice healthy place to have some lunch in St. Augustine. He found a place called Casa Maya – a Mexican organic restaurant with some great reviews from fellow foodies.

Casa Maya is tucked away on a little side street in the historic downtown area of the city. It looked cute and more like a local spot so we decided to give it a shot.

The place is small…very very small……only 5 tables inside and 4 outside in a tiny courtyard.

The first thing I ordered was an iced tea – this is how it was served to me- a glass of tea with a bottle of Agave Nectar on the side –

As I sipped the tea I realized the tea was spicy before I added anything to it. Turns out they brew the tea fresh with cinnamon sticks – the Agave Nectar was perfect as it balanced the spiciness with a little sweetness.

The menu consisted of  very basic Mexican café fare – salads, soups, sandwiches and tacos. This was not your typical Mexican place with enchiladas and burritos – you know those kind of places where you get the plates the size of your head smothered in cheese and sauce? Ya- not this place. As a matter of fact, they are only open from 10:30am – 3:30pm during the week and 8:30am – 3:30pm on the weekends.

This isn’t a vegetarian place either as you can order beef and chicken (or shrimp or tempeh) on about anything but they did have a vegetarian wrap sandwich. Chad and I decided to order that and also split an order of fish tacos. The fish tacos had really good reviews online – the last time I had fish tacos was in San Diego at the original Rubio’s – beer battered Alaskan Pollock and it was quite tasty but I have been a little reluctant to order the dish since- I mean fish and tacos just don’t seem to mix in my head.

However, the Casa Maya version stated it was made with fresh Mahi Mahi which sounded refreshing and yummy.

We were so pleased with this dish. The Mahi Mahi was so fresh, not battered but grilled. The sauce was a Homemade Chipotle Mayo Sauce and it added just enough kick to the tacos – they were really delicious!!  (Although you can’t really go wrong with adding Chipotle to about anything)

The vegetarian wrap was also incredible – even Chad made the comment that is was very hearty and filling for it being veggies.

The wrap was made with organic spring mix, avocado, tomato, beans, freshly chopped mango, and a Queso Fresco sauce. On the menu you are also given a choice of either hummus or vegetarian refried beans – we chose the hummus. (You can also add Tempeh for an extra dollar)

We split our entrees and were very very satisfied. The service was great also – we didn’t have to wait long for the food and my cinnamon iced tea never went empty.

The downtown historic district of At. Augustine is filled with little hole-in-the-wall places to eat – as a matter of fact I didn’t see any chain restaurants (if there are I certainly didn’t notice any). We just really wanted to find a spot that was unique to the city and I think Casa Maya was perfect. We will definitely eat there again the next time we visit. A BIG 5 STARS from this  Foodie! 

But don’t forget – they close at 3:30pm  so don’t wait and think you can grab an early dinner here….grab lunch!