Mandarin, is a section of town in Jacksonville Florida that located about 20 miles south of downtown Jacksonville was primarily a rural area until the late 1960s. Today, Mandarin is a quiet, upscale suburban community located on the southside of Jacksonville with single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums, many of which have water views or are situated on the waterfront. The town has towering oaks dating back to its first settlers, among whom was author Harriet Beecher Stowe who called Mandarin a “tropical paradise” in her book Palmetto Leaves. The community has a fabulous array of shopping, dining, entertainment and a lively local nightlife.

Despite more than a century of growth, the community maintains its sense of history. In 1997 the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society completed restoration of the Walter Jones Store and Post Office, a circa-1911 structure that once served as the community's focal point. The building, which is still used for meetings and other functions, also displays artifacts of the region's original inhabitants, the Timucuan Indians. A new facility for the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society has also been completed at the riverfront Walter Jones Historical Park.

The town of Loretto, nestled between San Jose Boulevard to the west, and Philips Highway to the east, is also considered a part of Mandarin and offers a variety of housing options priced from the $250s to the $750s.