Food + Drink

12740 Atlantic Blvd #105, Jacksonville Epik Burger has long been a Jacksonville favorite when it comes to their burgers, but they recently added a new menu item that is guaranteed to knock your socks off, a Poutine using fresh Cheddar cheese curds from Wainwright Dairy & Creamery in Live Oak. In early March, we took a trip down to the farm to check out the creamery and pet some cows. Sadly, the cows did not cooperate, but we had a great time learning all about the farm and the amazing family that has been running it since the late 60’s. …

Plans include restaurant and specialty marketplace – Bread & Board Provisions  The Bread & Board continues to branch out from its Five Points neighborhood roots. The restaurant, best known for its baked in-house artisan breads and meats served as sandwiches or sandwich boards, is adding a location at VyStar Credit Union’s headquarters campus in Downtown Jacksonville. More than a restaurant, the 7,200 sq. ft., ground-level space, at 100 W. Bay St., will include a specialty marketplace – Bread & Board Provisions – stocked with top culinary offerings and local retailers. “We are excited to have been approached by VyStar about …

With wonderful views of the St John’s River, the rooftop lounge of River & Post is a nice, serene place to enjoy happy hour after a long day at the office. Recently, Chef Steve Thurston was hired on from the German Schnitzel Haus, where he worked for the past 5 years. Chef Steve has been at River & Post for less than a year, but he has already accomplished quite a feat, opening a brand new kitchen to serve the rooftop bar. Before this, any food ordered would have to come from the first floor kitchen, which as you can …

#EATUPJAX is a monthly column featuring restaurant openings, closings, new locations and other food news in the local Jacksonville food scene brought to you by GastroJax, Inc. Native Sun, Bread & Board, Pizza Cave and Pizza Vending Machine We were all sad to hear that our home-grown, green-conscious grocer Native Sun, shuttered their locations in August 2019. There’s some good news on that front, but first, a little on our grocery store situation and their history. Opening in the 19997, Native Sun filled a need–namely the desire for an organic, sustainable, large-scale grocer, and this being sprawling Jacksonville, they had …

With the news of closing in , a lot of people were pretty upset. Mudville has been a Jacksonville institution since 1994, so this felt like the end of an era (the location is still open, so don’t fret). Luckily, this sad news came with a nice silver lining. It was announced that the owners would transition Mudville into a new seafood concept, Southern Coast Seafood. They currently own , which is a commercial fishing business, so they will be serving their fresh catches in the restaurant. My husband and I visited on a Sunday night. We were seated and …

Jacksonville has quite a few ice cream and frozen custard shops, but there is only one place serving delicious, homemade gelato. Bambino Scoops is located in the Cobblestone shopping plaza in East , at the intersection of Monument and McCormick. Owners Maria Gallo and Manuel Ponce have been operating the shop since June of 2019, after buying the name from the previous owner. The inside of the shop is very whimsical with various posters and action figures throughout. “We brought our favorite characters,” Manuel explained. He collects figures from The Simpsons and various other comics, so they wanted to incorporate …

If you haven’t already heard about Damascus Gate, you definitely will soon! Owners Raed Alshaikh and Mouhammad Maidani have already opened two restaurants in Jacksonville and have a third on the way. I can’t say much about the third location except that it will be located in the middle of Jacksonville and is very unique. As Raed puts it, “I’m gonna do something that everybody talks about.” Alshaikh is no stranger to the restaurant business. He owned seven restaurants in Dubai including one very fun concept called ROGO’s. In this restaurant, the kitchen was located on the 4th floor. When …

We’ve written about closing his restaurant, and assured you that your gift cards could be spent at his restaurant, . That WAS true, for a few months, but it isn’t true any more. Seems that Kenny Gilbert is pulling up stakes entirely and moving on from the First Coast to North Carolina. He opened the Fernandina restaurant in 2015. Over the holidays in St. Nicholas, a drunk driver plowed into the neighborhood watering hole . Nobody was hurt and business resumed the next day! In early December, the of Jacksonville let it be known that they had bought the old …

Jacksonville’s fabulous closed out 2019, a year filled with many outstanding sold-out productions, which included their traditional New Year’s Eve Gala. Suggested attire included formal wear and 1920’s flapper era garb, and we saw many many ladies in beautiful dresses this year. The party began around 6:00 pm in the lobby and library with wait staff offering champagne flutes and fine appetizers (best-ever appetizer: Classic Oysters Rockefeller). Seating followed at 6:30. Dinner included Lobster Bisque or Caesar Salad and four entrée choices: the most popular was Filet & Maine Lobster with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Other choices included deviled crab, …