You'll find Cajun-leaning seafood and home cooking at Kitchen 251, which moved in 2026 into the historic William Bell House at 801 Beech Street, where Beech meets Eighth. Owners Ashley and Chef Michael McCarroll spent six years at the Amelia Island Marina, in a room with only seven indoor tables, before taking the bigger space. Chef Michael grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, has more than 30 years in kitchens, and first came to Fernandina to cook at the former 1878 Steakhouse.
The Louisiana side of the menu shows up in the gumbo du jour, andouille and étouffée from Chef Michael's family recipes, po' boys with shrimp or oysters, and hush puppies with cane syrup. The coastal side is seafood: smoked seafood dip, lump crab cakes, blackened scallops, wild-caught peel-and-eat shrimp, a daily catch, and shrimp and grits. Sides, sauces and desserts are made in house. The menu calls the corn and crab soup famous and Chef Michael's pecan pie award-winning, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce is the other dessert standby.
It's walk-ins only, first come, first served. Kitchen 251 opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and usually closes around 8 p.m., staying later when it's busy; it's closed Sunday and Monday. You can call in a takeout order, and the restaurant also offers private rooms and off-site catering. Street parking is available, along with a private lot near Ninth and Beech.
David's Restaurant & Lounge is a block over at Ash and 8th, and 1928 Cuban Bistro is on the same stretch of South 8th. For French Creole cooking south of downtown, Lagniappe is out on First Coast Highway.