6 Impressive Restaurants Opening Downtown

[Metro Jacksonville]

6 Impressive Restaurants Opening Downtown



Downtown Jacksonville is in the midst of a culinary boom. Here's six impressive restaurants that will be opening over the next few months.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-nov-6-impressive-restaurants-opening-downtown

[TheCat]

Cowford Chophouse is going to make for a very nice restaurant for whoever takes it over when Cowford Chophouse goes out of business.

Why won't it survive?

[coredumped]

Cowford Chophouse is going to make for a very nice restaurant for whoever takes it over when Cowford Chophouse goes out of business.

What a crappy thing to say...Oh, that was Murder me rachel, shocker.

I'm very much looking forward to the CCH and I think they're going to do quite well.

[Adam White]

I was a bit bummed to hear that the jaguar mural was going to be making a comeback. But I guess if it's popular, it makes sense - and it has been there for a long time now. I just think it's tacky and ugly.

[jaxjaguar]

I'd like to see them print it onto vinyl so that we can still have the artwork, but also have the ability to see out those huge windows while dining. Similar to the image below (good ones are nearly one way visibility)

[Captain Zissou]

I thought the Jaguar Mural was going to be put on a building in La Villa.  Why the change?

[coredumped]

The TU said (as of Sept)

The 23-panel mural of a jaguar that has decorated the windows of the Bostwick Building at Ocean and Main streets since 1995 is headed for a new home not far from EverBank Field.

It will be at the FreshMinistries’ J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Center for Community Outreach at 616 A. Philip Randolph Blvd., where it will be installed later this year.

http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/arts/2015-09-03/story/iconic-jaguar-mural-moving-weaver-center-community-outreach

[thelakelander]

Black Sheep's proposed floor plan for the old Midtown Deli spot:



full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546503

[Captain Zissou]

The TU said (as of Sept)

The 23-panel mural of a jaguar that has decorated the windows of the Bostwick Building at Ocean and Main streets since 1995 is headed for a new home not far from EverBank Field.

It will be at the FreshMinistries’ J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Center for Community Outreach at 616 A. Philip Randolph Blvd., where it will be installed later this year.

http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/arts/2015-09-03/story/iconic-jaguar-mural-moving-weaver-center-community-outreach

That's what I remember reading.  I just confused APR with La Villa.

[JaxJersey-licious]

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer about all this exciting restaurant news, but we are talking about at least 7 full-service eating establishments opening or planning to open within a half-mile of the urban core within a year. Has anyone brought up possible oversaturation especially with not that many new plans for significant commercial or residential on the horizon? I'm sure most of these places will do well and I hope I'm wrong but I remember all of the promises during that first wave of renewal for Springfield with all their galleries and dining establishments opening then closing and that strip of Main St. has yet to fully recover.

I know the development of Laura Trio would be a great catalyst for lifting all boats, but it's all been talk so far. I just hate to start hearing years later the same old "Well we thought DT JAX was gonna be the place to be/Boy were we wrong/But DT has so much potential just you wait in 5 years" song and dance because these places cannibalize on each other.   

[coredumped]

I get the concern, but restaurants are a destination. All the people in Southside, Arlington, and, I suspect, most of downtown drive now to eat, so I can easily see them driving downtown if the food is good.

It works for the Southbank.

[thelakelander]

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I saw Tampa's Ybor City go from virtual abandonment to +20 continuous blocks of dining, boutique retail and entertainment uses in the 1990s. The clustering of complimentary uses results in the area becoming a regional draw.

[JaxJersey-licious]

I get the concern, but restaurants are a destination. All the people in Southside, Arlington, and, I suspect, most of downtown drive now to eat, so I can easily see them driving downtown if the food is good.

It works for the Southbank.

Good point, and I hope you're right. Is there enough of a market for diners to make the trip into town, particularly with all the offerings the St. John's Town Center has brought to the region? At least most of these new restaurants have solid ownership and stellar reputations behind them so that's a plus.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I saw Tampa's Ybor City go from virtual abandonment to +20 continuous blocks of dining, boutique retail and entertainment uses in the 1990s. The clustering of complimentary uses results in the area becoming a regional draw.

That's why I really like the idea of The Elbow or whatever you want to call that collection of bars and restaurants off Bay St (not a big fan of the name, but oh well...branding). But even though the area around it is not so grand (and that's changing) they have the advantage of greater cruise passengers, more conventioneers, year-round vacationers, and having a unique romanticized history helping it be the draw that it is. If only we could have the other pieces fall into place like Laura St. Trio, FSCJ housing, Landing redevelopment, etc. along with the growing DT dining scene, it could easily have Ybor City's vibrancy.

It just seems there's such a fine line between becoming another Ybor City or another Channelside.

[thelakelander]

I get the concern, but restaurants are a destination. All the people in Southside, Arlington, and, I suspect, most of downtown drive now to eat, so I can easily see them driving downtown if the food is good.

It works for the Southbank.

Good point, and I hope you're right. Is there enough of a market for diners to make the trip into town, particularly with all the offerings the St. John's Town Center has brought to the region? At least most of these new restaurants have solid ownership and stellar reputations behind them so that's a plus.

SJTC is mostly chain restaurants. Different strokes for different folks. There's value in having districts with a cluster of local offerings. The can co-exist like they do in other MSAs across the country.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I saw Tampa's Ybor City go from virtual abandonment to +20 continuous blocks of dining, boutique retail and entertainment uses in the 1990s. The clustering of complimentary uses results in the area becoming a regional draw.

That's why I really like the idea of The Elbow or whatever you want to call that collection of bars and restaurants off Bay St (not a big fan of the name, but oh well...branding). But even though the area around it is not so grand (and that's changing) they have the advantage of greater cruise passengers, more conventioneers, year-round vacationers, and having a unique romanticized history helping it be the draw that it is. If only we could have the other pieces fall into place like Laura St. Trio, FSCJ housing, Landing redevelopment, etc. along with the growing DT dining scene, it could easily have Ybor City's vibrancy.

It just seems there's such a fine line between becoming another Ybor City or another Channelside.

I think Jax is just 15-20 years behind, in such a comparion.  Most places of decent size had a district like Ybor or the Elbow pop up in or near their downtown during the 1990s/early 2000s. In Tampa, Channelside is basically a newer version of the Landing and Tampa's old Harbor Island Marketplace. A shopping center in the city, as opposed to the burbs. On the other hand, SoHo (a few miles west) has also grown to be a decent dining district, over the last 10-15 years, despite all the chain offerings at West Shore and International Plaza, which are closer to SoHo and Ybor than SJTC is to DT Jax.

[E_Dubya]

I get the concern, but restaurants are a destination. All the people in Southside, Arlington, and, I suspect, most of downtown drive now to eat, so I can easily see them driving downtown if the food is good.

It works for the Southbank.

Good point, and I hope you're right. Is there enough of a market for diners to make the trip into town, particularly with all the offerings the St. John's Town Center has brought to the region? At least most of these new restaurants have solid ownership and stellar reputations behind them so that's a plus.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I saw Tampa's Ybor City go from virtual abandonment to +20 continuous blocks of dining, boutique retail and entertainment uses in the 1990s. The clustering of complimentary uses results in the area becoming a regional draw.

That's why I really like the idea of The Elbow or whatever you want to call that collection of bars and restaurants off Bay St (not a big fan of the name, but oh well...branding). But even though the area around it is not so grand (and that's changing) they have the advantage of greater cruise passengers, more conventioneers, year-round vacationers, and having a unique romanticized history helping it be the draw that it is. If only we could have the other pieces fall into place like Laura St. Trio, FSCJ housing, Landing redevelopment, etc. along with the growing DT dining scene, it could easily have Ybor City's vibrancy.

It just seems there's such a fine line between becoming another Ybor City or another Channelside.

There are enough in areas close to downtown. San Marco and Riverside dining are great. Those areas attract folks from the suburbs, so it's not hard to imagine that new restaurants two miles away would have the same ability. Throw in Springfield, and I don't think you have too difficult of a time attracting clientel.