Former mayor Don Samora highlights Beachcomber’s history, menu upgrades and coconut-ceiling tradition

Former Mayor and Commissioner Don Samora, owner of the Beachcomber restaurant in the City of St. Augustine Beach, told Mayor Dylan Rumrill that the beachfront restaurant has been an “icon” since the late 1940s or early 1950s and has been in his ownership for about 11 years.

Samora said the owners invest in small, regular improvements — "we try to do a little bit more and a little bit more" — including new benches and a pergola, to benefit employees and customers. He described an annual menu refresh led by a chef he identified as his brother-in-law and said the restaurant emphasizes fresh seafood rather than typical chain or frozen beach fare. "We're on the beach... we're the only place on the beach out here in St. Augustine Beach," Samora said, adding that they serve trigger fish, fresh shrimp and change chef specials daily.

The Menorcan chowder, Samora said, "came with the restaurant" and is an award-winning, long-standing favorite that the owners have preserved. He emphasized consistency as a value: while they update the menu each year, the chowder recipe remains unchanged.

Samora recounted a tradition that began after Hurricane Matthew. He said the restaurant suffered little damage and reopened within 24 hours; locals began bringing coconuts, and one regular who carried a coconut in his backpack pledged that the ceiling could be covered with coconuts if the building survived. "People started the locals started bringing in their own coconuts," Samora said, noting coconuts from visitors and sports fans around the country, including Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers supporters, and special coconuts marking engagements and bridal parties.

Mayor Dylan Rumrill introduced Samora and thanked him for his civic and business contributions to the city. The brief on-site conversation framed the Beachcomber as both a local culinary institution and a tourist attraction tied to community traditions.

No formal actions, votes or policy decisions were discussed during the segment; the conversation focused on the restaurant’s history, operations and community significance.