Public & General Restaurant

Public & General Restaurant is the kind of place that reminds you why dining out can still feel special, with a warm, effortlessly stylish atmosphere, thoughtful service, and food that's both comforting and quietly inventive.

Fantastic food and craft cocktails! Stopped in on a Friday night. They were busy, but food and drinks came out quick. I ordered polenta bites and the chicken hoagie. My fiance got their fried green tomatoe sandwich. Everything was fantastic, highly recommend everything. Dill fries were really good, but I think the best thing we are was the polenta. Crispy outside, creamy inside. Very good. We are thinking of stopping again tomorrow night for take out

Found this tucked away in Gainesville Google Maps has a weird way of getting you there looks like there's two outside patio seating did not feel very welcome coming in it's dark in there it does smell good it was quiet not very many people there while we were visiting order at the bar they give you a number and you go have a seat you're pretty much on your own after that they bring out the food which looks very nice and it did taste amazing including the mocktail. My only complaint which is more of just a disappointment 13.00 for three tiny slices of green tomatoes layered on top of basically a salad the tomatoes were delicious I just wish there was more of them for that price and no salad with it. yes I'll be back to try more just won't waste $ on the fried green tomato appetizer but definitely will get the dilll french fries again

The fried green tomato sandwich was huge and good. The fries are some of the best. You order at the bar, they have a water station to get your own water, and they bring your food to you in a basket. The place is a bit dark..not super clean.

The waitress was friendly and answered our questions about the menu. We ordered the special, fried green tomato sandwich with choice of tomato soup or salad. The sandwich, bread from a local bakery, was very good, as was the soup. The Caesar salad looked fresh, the dressing is made in house. However in my opinion it tasted too fishy. The waitress readily offered to replace it. The restaurant was clean. Bottom line, I will eat there again.

4 feels slightly low for our experience, but this wasn’t a 5⭐️ experience. Everyone in my group was satisfied with their food. It was just a bit on the greasy side though and the food took ages to come out despite not being very busy. A little dark and dingy; will sit outside next time. Would be nice if there were more veg options.

I wanted to skip my usual Zaxby’s Cobb Zalad so I tried Public & General. First thing first it smells so good in the restaurant! I thought they were serving pizza, but they don’t! I ordered their Artichoke Caesar salad & Soup of the Day: Tomato Basil with Grilled cheese! It was so delicious & fresh! Everything blend in just right! I don’t feel full, even though I am; the food is not heavy on your stomach. The waitress was such a doll, I think I asked her like 30 questions and she answered them all. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful, it feels very cozy. I will definitely be back again!

The fried tomato sandwich was good. I liked the goat cheese butter. The fries were not edible. Overly salty and hammered.

It's been a while, but we hit #publicandgeneral. The friend green maters had whipped goat cheese, and was a hit! The Caesar salad (large shown) was good and filling without protein, with a tinge of anchovies and bites of artichoke. It might not be for everyone who isn't expecting the anchovy addition, but that is the classic Caesar. The burger was good, smaller and seemingly in a hand-made bun. Happy hour from 3:00-6:00 was a bonus. Gator game bound!

I went back in a weekday and I don't know who was back there but my food was made with LOVE. I got the buffalo chicken sandwich with fries and it was too good for words. I absolutely loved it and it's now my favorite thing to eat. Highly recommend their ranch which I believe is homemade . Will definitely come back!

I came here for the live music, Howard Wapner's trio. Great atmosphere. I haven't ordered any food or drinks yet, but you can't order from the table, I just learned. I was waiting for the dirty dishes from the previous diners to be cleared away from my table. It was a longish wait, but the restaurant is pretty full. First time here. It says it's a grocery store but it really just looks like a hipster restaurant where you order at the bar.

Really chill atmosphere. There is seating inside and outside and bar seating but it's not a huge place, so seating can be limited if it's a very busy day. The food is really delicious and drinks are made well. The staff are helpful and have made some good suggestions for food. This is a great spot to visit!

I really liked the food here, I got a sandwich with a side salad and both were unique and delicious. The chocolate peanut butter cake was very rich and tasty, though a bit dry. The service here is interesting as you go up to the bar to order and then they serve you at your table, but the servers were still very attentive and helpful. The lighting is very dark inside but it's a cute atmosphere overall with the vibe of a brewery.

Great food, excellent beverages. Friendly service! The decor and outdoor area look amazing. Would make for great events or bringing your friends out. Strangely, was quite quiet when I arrived. Maybe I came on a slow night. Worth a try!

We arrived for lunch and I had the pork tacos and a kale salad. The salad was good. The tacos were ok. Service was slow for some of my party who got the food long after we ordered. The ambiance is kind of dive bar-ish.

A nice little stop on our way to the spring, Public & General was an interesting little find with some good specials and wide open seating. The dill fries were delicious and the kids enjoyed the chicken and burger. My BLT was rather greasy which was unexpected since it was on "local sourdough", but I still managed to enjoy half of it. The craft beer selection had a little for everyone also, which is always a good touch. Overall, I'd love to return and try their dinner menu, and in the meantime might enjoy lunch with a different pick.

A hole in the wall joint that pleasantly surprised. Looking for a dinner close to the airport and decided on Public. Warning there is no visible signage at night, so good luck finding it without GPS. Once inside, you go to the bar for menus and ordering. You find a table and the food is brought out to you. The menu is small but perfect if you are hungry for a good meal. They have many hard to find beers and solid taps. They also have a separate wine bar with someone to assist. We opted for dry rub wings, a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, and the Brisket sandwich. I highly recommend the Buffalo Chicken. Service and staff are excellent. We will return.

Went here for a relaxing lunch after a long few days with two of my sisters. We love this spot, especially the outside seating in the back patio. Cole is awesome and made me miss being back in my hometown. Good service for how busy the place was. Very popular spot with great beer on draft and reasonably priced wine. 10/10 would recommend this spot. I love the food and always an easy going vibe.

Cocktails are always a 5 out of 5!! We got the Gin Basil and Aviation cocktails. Always tastes fresh and consistent. Food's a solid 3.5 stars, but it's a fair trade off for how good the cocktails are. We've gotten the brisket hoagie, burger, and wings. They're good for bar food, but usually on the dry side and light on flavor. Well worth the visit for the cocktails!!

Went for dinner with friends and had one of their dinner specials and am so glad I did. I ordered the pan seared snapper and it was prepared perfectly and the portion size was great. Even though it was a Friday and they weee busy the service was still great and they were so friendly. Definitely recommend for a chill night out with great food.

We were a bit skeptical when we drove up but were pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. Moving from a big foodie city we have had trouble finding decent food options but Public & General did not disappoint. The cocktails were great as well as the food and service. We had Gin Basil Smash and a Cuke Ellington for cocktails, both refreshing and delicious. We had the burger and pork taco lunch specials. Both great. Glad we didn't drive on by to look for something else. We will be back.

Public & General, the "P&G", a Gastropub in Gainesville. Any beer enthusiast and foodie would dig this place. Amazing burger cooked perfectly medium rare, fried green tomatoes, Florida beers. Take a look at those great menu prices!

Interesting place. Great service,good food. Away from students ))) nice vibe mixed with live music

This is the second time in three days we have found ourselves at this local eatery. The staff is incredible, hip and very attentive. Service is fantastic. The menu is limited and I appreciate this because the quality is above board. They are focused on doing what they do well. Cocktails are on point. I HIGHLY recommend the Shrimp and Pesto Gnocchi. I had them add pesto to a grilled cheddar cheese sammich and accompanied it with the tomato basil soup! Enjoy other options. First time we went in the evening and it was such a vibe. The second time we went after the "school" let out and we sat outside. Do not recommend doing this. Overall it was 10/10 highly recommend!!

P&G is off the beaten path! They have such an amazing and eclectic menu that it would be a crime to find this place in a strip mall. Everything is at the bar! Come in, walk past the busy kitchen, and ORDER AT THE BAR! There is also a non-alcoholic beverage cooler, and you can grab what you want, before you order. Find your food, peruse their beer and wine menu, take your number to whatever table you want... and don't forget the deck! Chill with your friends and wait for hot food and good drinks!!

Very cool place and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Fried polenta was outstanding!! Burger was excellent and the fresh cut fries were so good.

Good 'ol Google maps led me to Public & General on a whim tonight. I'm new in town and still learning about Gainesville's hottest dinner spots, and I do declare the pulled pork sandwich and fried polenta squares did not disappoint! I'm not afraid to admit that I like dining alone. Do I prefer it? Nah, but the people watching was top notch, making me feel like I was eating with company. I guess what I mean to say is that the ambience was perfectly intimate while also appealing to my people watching instincts. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with fried polenta and a pint of heifenweizen at the bar. The sign at the door says that it's the type of service that you pay up front, and the bartender is also the cashier. No complaints there ! The bartender/cashier really knows his stuff. When I asked about the fried Polenta, he described the portion size perfectly, and I was glad I took him up on it. I admit I did wait around 20 min for my food, but as I've worked in the service industry, I get it. Good food takes time. And when my order arrived I was pleased as pumpkin pie! The polenta wasn't too rich, but it was sure creamy and paired perfectly with the sauce provided. I decided not to eat the pulled pork as a sandwich, and ate it with a fork, ignoring the bread. That's the way one ought to devour pulled pork with cilantro, methinks. All in all, it was yummy! Especially washed down with some beer.

This is a cute, cozy space. Wasn't crowded when I came in. There's a wine area and either booths or high top tables to sit for food. You go up, place your order and you can either pay then or open a tab and pay after. I got the temphe sub, which was $12. It was the sandwich only no side, which was a little disappointing for the price. Even if it came with chips or something. It was good and I enjoy the veggie option but I wasn't blown away. It was alright but I wouldn't get it again. I'd come back to try some of their drinks and maybe get an appetizer.

I've given this place another chance and frequented it for lunch. I recommend the house pasta and burger. I prefer there lunch menu over the dinner menu. Order with the bartender and wait for your food to come to the table.

I have been coming here for many years, and I fear it's been steadily going downhill. The vibe is by and large excellent and the design is nice. That said, the food seems to have gone down in quality and portions and up in price. The burger looks awful lonely in a big basket by itself and they simply will not cook it to order. See attached what it looks like 'rare'; this seems to reflect either ambivalence or incompetence (or maybe they're afraid of the quality of the meat). The outside seating is lovely but most of our meal there was a pretty strong sewage smell. Lastly, I had ordered a beer and it kicked the keg, so they gave me my beer (about 60% full) and said they'd bring me a fresh one after they changed the keg (no issue there) but when they did, it was about 80% full. More than anything it was just tacky, bringing a pint that was just close enough to being passable -- it looked so cheap, and they probably saved five cents worth of beer, for what? I hope they can work out some of these kinks cause I'd like for the place to stay around.

We have been going to this place for drinks and a light dish to bite and ways like it. The service, the drinks, the food, the ambiance... Tonight we decided to explore some entrée options. We went for the linguini with Andouille & zucchini and it was really really delicious. Glad we decided to share it, there was plenty for both of us (We are not used to eat heavy dinner and don't like to take food back home).

The casual, relaxing atmosphere of Public and General is a welcome change from the busy scenes on Main Street. Many locals bike here to enjoy the local brews on tap, inspired healthy eats, and dog-friendly patio area. The staff are friendly and helpful. The Dill Fries are my favorite menu item. I envision a happy future meeting friends here and ordering just those with a couple tap beers. The cheeseburgers are also excellent, with a perfectly charred exterior and soft interior complemented with fresh cucumber slices, onions, lettuce and your cheese of choice on a sesame seed bun. One of the best Bleu Cheeseburgers ever!

Love the ambiance and the basil gin drinks. Good food. And you can find healthy options as well as vegetarian.

Wonderful fries and burgers with excellent beer selection and very helpful service. Probably one of or the best burger in town.

Great burgers!! Ambiance could use improvement but food is great. Nice drinks. Good specials.

Food and atmosphere were great. There is outside seating when the weather is right. Bring friends to make it a time to remember

Food was ok. Portions were large, but taste was meh. Recommend the fries, but cannot recommend the sammies.

Stopped in for lunch while heading back from tally. It's a little fancy. Vegan options consisted of salad and salad. Our token vegan enjoyed her avocado toast. She wasn't too keen on the salad (wary about the dressing). The burgers were really good (medium was too pink) and the fries hit the spot. Roasted brisket tacos weren't as flavorful as I hoped and a little greasy. The wings were great and pickled veggies were delish. Fried eggplant sandwich with salad was pretty good. The Yelp menu had a lot more options‍. All in all it was a good lunch.

Cute local place with yummy food and good drinks. I love the fries and pretty much can't resist ordering them every time I come here. I like that they offer somewhat elevated bar food in addition to their alcoholic drinks. There aren't a ton of options if you're not drinking alcohol, so my only suggestion is to add more options in that department. The patio here is very cute when the weather is nice, but the inside is also nice, more of a cozy bar environment.

$14 lunch special with a nice amount of salad. Fast service, nice ambiance. Nice outdoor seating.

Great food, service, drinks, and ambience! We will definitely be back next time we're in Gainesville.

I got Sunday brunch here. It's a seat yourself establishment, and there is plenty of seating, both in and outdoors. You order at the bar. I got the eggs benedict. I thought it was pretty tasty. I think I will be back for their regular lunch and dinner services.

Very poor experience. I was excited to try this restaurant as I had never been there before and heard good things. Literally everything we ordered was disappointing, except the nice selection of beer and wine. The trout had a very bland and tasteless sauce, the charcuterie board looked like the servers just slapped on chunks of cheese, the steak was served differently than we ordered, the caesar salad had a very odd taste and the chocolate cake was extremely disappointing. I can get a better slice of cake at publix

Nice local venue with friendly staff and efficient service. Fun selection of beer and wine available as well as small menu with decent bar food. Beware ordering the large fries as they could easily feed four people! Wine tastings periodically scheduled. Two thumbs up and would return.

Casual ambience , but delicious food We will go back!! There looked to be live music setting up when we were leaving.

I have been meaning to go to Public & General for some food for a while now, and finally for lunch I got the opportunity. I know I have been here in the past, but apparently I never wrote a review for it. As it was lunch time, I decided to just go for a burger, but then I saw the soup was minestrone, and I haven't had minestrone soup in ages, so that had to be an add-on! I sat by a window overlooking a veranda to the side of the establishment, looking out on a colder day. It was peaceful there, and the whole place was kind of peaceful. Not a lot of people, but enough to have some chatter in the background. My soup was the first to arrive, and I started in with it. No crackers were served with the soup, but it was still good. Some crackers would have been nice to have with the soup, even if they had been those oyster crackers you sometimes get. My burger came out a bit later, which was nice as it gave me time to work on the soup. The burger was good, and I would rank it up there in terms of pub burgers. Gainesville needs more places that serve a good pub burger.

Good food very relaxed atmosphere and a great selection of local beers. It's a bar service order at bar food then comes to table

I love the atmosphere here. There's lots of seating both inside and outside and it felt casual, but nicer than your usual college-town restaurants. The string lighting outside is cute for dates or bigger parties, and there's a good selection of food and drinks to choose from. I got their chicken wings, duck confit, and pasta dishes and it was plenty for me and my family! I would totally recommend visiting this quaint place.

Public & General came highly recommended by a friend from Gainesville so we finally tried it out together in late November 2021. I really loved the atmosphere inside, with the (what feels like) royal Victoria-era wallpaper and the rustic, old tavern bar feel. The menu is small but changes every couple weeks. I ordered the crawfish etouffee and a cheesecake for dessert. The etouffee was so flavorful with creole spice and a good amount of crawfish. The cheesecake was incredibly creamy and melted in my mouth. I usually don't save room for dessert when I go out to restaurants to eat but I'm very glad I did in this case and I will order cheesecake any time I return. I am definitely looking forward to my next trip back to Public & General.

This was my first time here with my boyfriend. The burgers were amazing! I subbed american cheese for cheddar & it was great. We also got the dill fries with tomato mayo that were perfect size to share. I also got the Violette Evergarden drink which was tart, but refreshing. Definitely will be back for another date night!

Great place! Super friendly helpful staff, outside dog friendly shady patio. BLT and Brisket French dip and fries, all top notch, and you know I'm picky.

Usually like this place but beware coming in later on a week day because they close early with no warning... happened twice now in my experience. Super disappointing.

It's a bar. Don't expect a restaurant. I had the cedar key clams. My husband had the pork tacos and a glass of Riesling that tasted like it was opened a couple of weeks ago. It was really citric acidy and flat. The clams we good the toast was really good. The pork tacos were ok once. Pay up front. We way over tipped 20% since the server came once to deliver the food and never came back. The garden is really nice.

We've been here before and enjoyed the patio and good food. Today was different. There is zero service to speak of. The one guy at the bar is on his phone and you're expected to bring drinks, water, menus to the table yourself, and come back inside to order. I've been in the restaurant industry for over ten years at James beard award winning restaurants and I've never seen this type of lazy service. I've also never had to try and choke down a ceasar salad. I think they dressed it in mayonnaise. I'm sorry to leave a bad review. Don't come here if you want flavor or service.

This was a new place that I learned about from my boss that my husband and I decided to try! I must admit when I got there I was bummed out because I had my hopes for getting the fried green tomato sandwich which I hear is fabulous but when we arrived and checked out the menu, it wasn't on there:( We ended up getting the burger and fries nevertheless and it was YUMMY! We plan to go back soon! We greatly appreciated the social distancing and the wait staff was very nice and friendly. We sat outside which it was nice and the weather was perfect!

Went here for the first time and was automatically in love with the atmosphere and ambience of P&G. There is a good amount of indoor and outdoor seating, along with a spacious bar inside that serves amazing draft beers. There is also tons of parking in the area and usually enough room to still socially distant. I went on a Friday around dinner time and we had no trouble finding a booth for a party of 4. I got the Hefeweizen draft beer and the braised beef with fries as my meal. Honesty great experience with friendly staff, chill ambience, and local eats. Only downside is this place is pretty far from the normal hub of bars/restaurants in downtown or near campus. Other than that, I recommend to try this place out to support local businesses in Gainesville and enjoy the fall Florida weather! P&G, thank you and I will be back

This is one of the restaurants I visit most. The bar staff so very friendly and knowledgeable. Their seasonal cocktail and mocktail menu is creative. It's a lovely place to sit with friends to chat for a while.