The paths of Pratt Guys and Asado Life began a few years apart and just a few miles down the road from one another.
Both started as small Northeast Florida businesses built by people working with their hands, learning by doing, and creating something they believed could be better.
Today, Pratt Guys is designing the outdoor spaces at both Asado Life restaurants — our original waterfront location in St. Augustine and our newly opened second location in Jacksonville — bringing its expertise in custom outdoor living to spaces shaped by the same idea that has defined Asado from the beginning: gathering outside around the fire.
Pratt Guys began long before the resort-style pools and complete outdoor living spaces the company is known for today. In 2004, Derek Pratt and his father started Pratt Home Maintenance Service, taking on projects such as residential repairs before Derek and his brother Adam expanded into larger renovations.
Then, a customer found them through Craigslist and asked if they could build a pergola. Adam recalled that he did not know what a pergola was at the time, so he looked it up and decided they could not only build one, but build it better. A few years later, a pergola they created for a booth at the Jacksonville Home & Patio Show began attracting more attention than the booth itself, helping point the company toward outdoor living.
What emerged was the Pratt Guys of today: a start-to-finish outdoor living company specializing in technically complex pools, resort-style pools, outdoor kitchens, structures, hardscaping, and complete backyard retreats.
Around the same time Pratt Guys was finding its direction outdoors, Nick Carrera was building Argentine-style grills from memory in St. Augustine. Inspired by childhood asados, he began recreating the grills for family and friends. Nick and Christie Carrera formally launched Urban Asado in 2014.
From their waterfront fabrication studio, Urban Asado began hosting gatherings in parking lots, parks, fields, and farms, often in support of local organizations. Guests could smell the fire, watch the cooking, and experience everything happening around the grill, the foundation of what would become Asado Life.
Asado Life opened its first waterfront restaurant in St. Augustine in 2022. With its second location now open in Jacksonville, that same experience of fire, food, and gathering has found a new home.
At the original St. Augustine location and new Jacksonville location, Pratt Guys is collaborating with Asado Life to shape the outdoor spaces. Summer Classics brings elevated furniture designed for long-term outdoor use. John Michael Studio brings highly customizable stainless-steel kitchen cabinetry, while Fire Magic brings premium grilling equipment engineered for serious performance. At the center of each space are Urban Asado’s grills, still hand crafted to this day.
Together, these elements are designed to withstand the demands of outdoor kitchens and grills that feed thousands of guests each week over wood and charcoal, all with front-row exposure to the salty waterfront air along the San Sebastian and St. Johns Rivers.
Through this collaboration, the outdoor spaces at both restaurants have become working examples of what both brands have been building toward for years: thoughtful outdoor environments centered around food, fire, and gathering.
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Instagram: @urbanasado
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