With three locations in Riverside, San Marco, and Jacksonville Beach, European Street Cafe has been a fixture of the Jacksonville food scene since 1990—actually, before that, owner Andy Zarka told What Now on Friday. In 1980, Zarka’s parents had bought a restaurant brand called Mr. Dunderbox, and that restaurant is what later became European Street Cafe.
With decades of history already behind it, European Street Cafe is now preparing to write a new chapter: it’s opening its fourth restaurant before the end of 2026. Its destination? Jacksonville’s Riverfront Plaza, a location Zarka says was just too good to pass up.
“Honestly, there weren’t plans to do much expansion,” Zarka said. “But when the opportunity arose to do something on the riverfront, where the Landing was—we had to go after that. We’re so excited to be a part of it.”
The menu on offer in the Riverfront location will be largely the same as the one available at the other three European Street Cafes, but there will be some additions (which are still under wraps, of course). In general, Zarka says he envisions this location as offering the same great food, but with a slightly faster-paced approach.
“It is the same menu, but it’s geared towards an environment where you have people coming during the week, during the day, folks working downtown, maybe bringing something back to the office. So it will have the European Street Cafe feel to it, but there will be some uniqueness there.”
“Jacksonville has had 46 years to figure us out. Most of them are still working on it,” says a post published to Instagram back in June, featuring the image above. “German sausages, Middle Eastern spreads, New York-style Reubens, legendary quarter-pound cookies, and an award-winning happy hour under the same roof. We are not the restaurant you expected. We are the one you keep coming back to.”
You can keep up with all things European Street by following @estreetcafejax on Instagram.
