Matanzas Innlet Rebuild Advances in St. Johns County: 2,310 Square Feet Over Three Floors Planned Where Hurricane Matthew Destroyed a Waterfront Favorite

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The owners of the Matanzas Innlet, a waterfront restaurant south of Crescent Beach that was destroyed after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, returned to St. Johns County on Oct. 23 with a new pre-application and a revised site plan to rebuild it. The plans show a 2,310-square-foot restaurant spread across two buildings and three floors, overlooking Matanzas Inlet, according to a Jacksonville Daily Record report published Oct. 28. The project is still in the county permitting process, and no approvals have been reported.

The site is at 8805 State Road A1A South, along the barrier-island highway that crosses Matanzas Inlet. The restaurant was razed in 2017 after the storm severely damaged it. For regulars who remember the place, the filing is the clearest sign yet that the long-discussed comeback is moving through the paperwork.

What the filing shows

The Daily Record reported that the new submission includes a revised site plan and that IME & Civil Engineering LLC of St. Augustine is listed as the civil engineer. The article did not report a construction cost, a construction start date or an opening date. It also did not describe how long the county's review might take.

How the rebuild got here

The Daily Record reported in September 2025 that a pre-application had been filed on Sept. 12 of that year to begin the permitting process. County documents identified Jerry Galasso as the property owner and Jed Galasso, his son, as the applicant, according to that report. Jerry Galasso operated the restaurant for 25 years before the storm, and Jed Galasso declined to comment at the time until the process was further along.

The 2025 article described the original restaurant as having a separate dining room and bar, beer signs, aquatic-themed wall hangings, a gazebo with live music, an adjoining dance area and outdoor waterfront dining. A photograph taken on June 5, 2016, shows the original one-story building, which was later flooded when Hurricane Matthew struck on Oct. 7, 2016, according to the Wikimedia Commons description of the image. Together, the two filings a year apart show the owners returning to the county to continue a process they began in 2025.

Why the site is notable

The restaurant stood beside Matanzas Inlet, where the Matanzas River meets the Atlantic south of St. Augustine. Fort Matanzas National Monument sits nearby, and the inlet has moved over the centuries: a Wikimedia Commons description of an aerial photo notes that the 16th-century inlet was several hundred yards north of its present location. That setting is part of why the old restaurant drew both locals and visitors driving State Road A1A.

The old restaurant was flooded by Hurricane Matthew, so flood protection is a natural question for any new design. The reports reviewed do not say which county or state standards the new plans must satisfy. A site plan review is where such details would be settled.

What happens next

The next step is county review of the revised plan. Until the county acts, the design, size and layout could change. St. Johns County posts permit and development review information through its online systems, and any public hearing would be noticed in advance.

For now, the filing is a plan, not a construction schedule. Anyone hoping to eat at a new Matanzas Innlet should watch for county approvals first, followed by building permits and then construction. This story will be updated if the county posts a decision.