Jumpin’ Jax House of Food—“Jacksonville’s newest fast casual restaurant”—is saying goodbye to its Mandarin location at 10131 San Jose Blvd. The closing comes as a result of changes in consumer eating habits, which have made much of the location’s 5,000 square feet of space superfluous, according to recent coverage in the Jacksonville Daily Record.
However, the story is not over for the brand, which is moving to expand under a newer, more streamlined business model with a focus on takeout, delivery, and catering. It is planning to open a new location in Butler Plaza at 4899 Belfort Road. The smaller location will seat sixty to eighty, the coverage says.
Jumpin’ Jax serves a whole slate of burgers, including the Which Came First Burger with fried egg, avocado, and garlic aioli, and the “Air Thang” Burger, with cheese, applewood smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms, honey balsamic grilled onions, garlic aioli, and crinkle cut pickle chips. Other handhelds include battered cod sandwich the Flippy Floppy, Chicago-style hot dog the Shy Dog, and the Caribbean Chicken sandwich with jerk-seasoned grilled chicken, pepper jack cheese, and JAX BBQ sauce.
Jumpin’ Jax also serves pizza, including a choose-your-own five topping pie, plus pre-imagined varieties like The Caveman—topped with JAX cheese blend, pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, crumbled bacon, grilled fresh beef, diced smoked ham, and fresh grilled chicken—and the Mediterranean Chicken Pizza.
What Now reached out to owner Howland “Howdy” Russell on Monday. Russell was not available for comment. The Butler Plaza location is expected to open in early 2023.
