New upscale restaurant brings internationally influenced cuisine to Flagler Beach

Flagler Beach recently welcomed an upscale eatery, bringing an international flair to the popular beach town.

Barnhill’s Café, Bar & Grill began welcoming guests at the end of January following its soft opening. The barn-inspired, nearly 6,000-square-foot space is a project owners Ted and Marge Barnhill say has been in the works for over five years; but it's been a dream for much longer.

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“We’ve tried very hard to figure out what was the right investment here — the right property — and we thought a really nice restaurant,” Ted explained. “This particular piece of property is located in an absolutely perfect spot, and so we decided having a very nice restaurant in this location was both good for the community and a very nice investment.”

Located in the heart of Flagler Beach, the eatery's wooden interior, high ceilings and elegant design captivate customers in a cozy, cabin-like escape. The expansive new restaurant hopes to cater to a wide array of dining preferences and serve as a local breakfast, lunch and dinner go-to, providing elevated cuisine with remarkable presentation in a classy, yet relaxed environment.

“(In regards to the atmosphere) I was thinking more of a barn — more of a woody atmosphere that’s friendly. A place where people are comfortable, very home-like. And I mean, we’re Southern. Southern people want to give people food,” Marge said with a smile.

Barnhill’s menu and inspiration

The restaurant’s “café, bar and grill” triple-threat nature was inspired by the duo’s lifetime of travels across the globe.

The Barnhills offer everything from French crepes and pastries to English teas and Australian-inspired kidccinos — the eatery’s adaptation of the popular babyccino steamed milk drink.

“We’re simply fond of cafés,” Ted said, adding that a popular café that serves both great coffee and as a community meeting place is "a good asset for the city."

Currently the restaurant is open for both breakfast and lunch, offering expansive sweet and savory menus that continue to be curated to customers’ individual tastes and preferences during the soft opening.

While Barnhill’s menu continues to evolve, there are a plethora of staple items, including made-fresh sandwiches, breakfast bowls, crab cakes, smash burgers and crepes, as well as vegetarian options.

“We spent a long time very close to Baltimore and we have ambitions of having the best crab cake in Flagler County,” Ted noted. “I’ve had a lot of people come through here that have experience with Baltimore and they say it’s the best they’ve had … and all of the food is scratch-made. We aren’t buying anything pre-made and heating it up.”

Although dinner is not yet served at the restaurant, Marge said the pair plans to offer a more health-conscious menu of steamed seafood, steaks, salads and more in the future.

The restaurant’s café offers an assortment of muffins, croissants, cookies and other freshly baked goods, as well as gourmet coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, chai and dozens of teas, which Marge noted is an homage to both her daughter and her British roots.

“We will always keep quite an assortment so that people can choose a particular tea … this is just a nod to my youngest daughter — a tea snob — and (my mother). She was British and so, of course, British people — whatever crisis there is, go make me a cup of tea. Tea cures everything,” Marge laughed.

A place for all occasions

The charming, barn-inspired restaurant offers indoor, outdoor and rooftop seating with an 1,800-square-foot rooftop deck that overlooks Veterans Park and even has elevator access. The deck will be available for hosting private events as well as enjoying casual, scenic dinners or weekend drinks with friends and family.

According to the pair, Barnhill’s full bar will open in the near future and they are working to hire a mixologist to prepare various specialty cocktails, including the Barnhill Mule.

“We’re just getting started, but eventually, we’ll be open however early until late at night because we’ll have the bar,” Marge said. “We’ll have bar food and full dinners here. They’ll end at a certain time and then we’ll have charcuterie boards, and you know, it’s going to be something that can just keep growing.”

Bringing Barnhill’s to life: the duo's vision

According to the Barnhills, owning a restaurant in Flagler Beach has been a dream-turned-reality that has allowed the pair to express themselves through the restaurant’s serene atmosphere, high-quality cuisine and artistic presentation.

Ted, originally from Jacksonville but raised in Nashville, tells me he’s frequented Flagler his entire life, even in the midst of his 40-year career as a professor at George Washington University, and has owned property in the popular beach town since the early ‘70s.

Marge, an artistically-inclined, Nashville native, opened the neighboring Gallery of Local Art in 2007 in Flagler Beach, and brings a creative touch to Barnhill’s through the eatery’s thoughtful, picturesque presentation and walls decorated with for-sale artwork from the gallery.

The accomplished pair tell me they met in high school at just 14 and 15 years old — now married for over 55 years — and hope to bring a taste of their unique, multi-layered, and well-traveled lives here to Flagler.

“We’re both workers. Our retirement is working,” Marge said. “The community has been really good to us, and I think you should give back in your life.”

According to Ted, no grand opening date has been announced, as the eatery hopes to first finalize its menus and staffing and work through any initial business kinks. Both dine-in and pick-up services are available.

Barnhill’s Café, Bar & Grill is located at 202 S. Central Ave. in Flagler Beach and is open 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Wednesday - Monday. For information, call 386-338-3041or visit Barnhills.com.

Helena Perray is the restaurant and dining writer for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A New Jersey native and passionate storyteller, she can be contacted at hperray@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. Support local journalism by subscribing

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Barnhill's Cafe, Bar & Grill opens in Flagler Beach