James Starling, his wife Melinda and daughter Makenzie accepted two awards for their restaurant. Son Skylar was unable to be there.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Accustomed to serving, Starling’s Fine Seafood and Steaks was on the receiving end Saturday.

The Live Oak restaurant was recognized as Restaurant of the Year on Saturday.

The North Florida/South Georgia Dining Group presented owner James Starling with the 2017 Bon Appétit Restaurant of the Year Award and the People’s Choice Award.

“It’s very humbling,” Starling said. “We work hard to bring fresh fish in. To have someone recognize us for the efforts we put in is very humbling and just awesome.”

They are quite the honors for Starling’s, which will mark one year of being open Sunday.

“Starling’s being a much needed fresh seafood restaurant quickly became number one because of the freshness, because of the service and because of the professionalism of the owner,” said Lady Skorski, a founding member of the group.

The North Florida/South Georgia Dining Group started in 2015 when two retired restauranteurs got together over a meal to discuss featuring local restaurants on a Facebook page as a guide to travelers for places to dine. Now there are currently eight members of the group that travels to restaurants in North Florida and South Georgia.

The People’s Choice Award was decided by how many “likes” featured restaurants received on the group’s Facebook page.

Starling’s blew past the other restaurants with a final total of 6,282 votes or ‘likes.”

Skorski said this is the first year they decided to present awards to restaurants they feature.

Melinda Starling, James’ wife, and Makenzie Starling, James’ daughter, were proud of James and his restaurant receiving awards.

“We are very proud of his hard work and the hard work and efforts of the entire staff,” Melinda said.