The Breakers

Before coming to live at the beach in Florida, my visits here were frequent. For a long time I’ve felt like I have a good handle on this small town and what it has to offer. But until yesterday I was ignorant of what that pink restaurant on the beach, at the end of Flagler Avenue was all about. It’s a well-known restaurant and bar three miles north, straight up the beach from me, and it’s called The Breakers. The name clearly comes from the fact that the windows all look out onto the Atlantic surf breaking on the white sand beach, and from almost anywhere inside the ocean views are endlessly postcard pretty. But all this is new to me, because until yesterday I had never been to The Breakers and was unfamiliar with all but the name and location. Somehow, in my eleven or twelve years of coming here, I had never eaten there.

For that reason, yesterday became a landmark day for me personally when a friend took me to lunch there. Stories from a handful of people had always included mention of the great burgers served at The Breakers. I have my own favorites and so never gave much thought to trying a Breakers burger. After yesterday, I realize my former attitude of little interest was my loss. No doubt about it, any of the burgers on the Breakers menu can stand up against any burger, anywhere. They are that good.

Eating in a large crowd of people is something you have to expect. Lunch or dinner at The Breakers on a day when the weather is good (and it very rarely isn’t) the restaurant will be wall to wall with people, many of whom want to pass the afternoon or evening at one of the window counters looking out at the ocean, sipping a beer, eating a burger. My friend and I were lucky and stumbled upon a couple of seats at the bar just as we arrived; perfect seats, perfect view.

Ask some locals and they will tell you that The Breakers has been here forever, but forever turns out to be no more than twenty years. A Boston family took over the beachfront property and built the restaurant in 1990. But it didn’t take them long to gain notice—apart from the reputation of that premier view of the ocean. The restaurant won a Star of the South Beach - Best Burger award for the first time in 1993. They went on to win the award in ’94, ’95, ’96, 2004, ’06, ’07, ’08 and 2009. The Breakers Burger won the Best Burger in Central Florida award in 1995, ’99, 2000 and 2005. No foolin’, this is a burger not to miss!

A full menu is offered, including dinners, all priced at $14.95, though the choices are limited to seafood. Apart from burgers, sandwiches come in the familiar varieties of chicken breast, BLT, tuna salad, chicken salad, turkey and fish. If a burger is on your mind, you will have to choose from a list of seventeen. I had the Bacon Burger and wish I had another one in front of me now. All burgers are hand-shaped with a half pound of lean ground beef, char-grilled to order, and served with lettuce, tomato & onion, and a choice of fries, potato salad or cole slaw. All are priced at $9.50. The bar offers twenty different beers on tap, and thirty brands bottled.

If you ever find yourself anywhere remotely near New Smyrna Beach, it’s worth going out of your way to spend an hour or so at The Breakers with a great burger and a dazzling view of the deep blue simple.