Jumpin’ Jax House of Food owner Howland “Howdy” Russell says the Butler Plaza location that opened March 17 shows that his strategic shift is working.
He now has two locations – Downtown and in suburban office space – that cater to daytime traffic, takeout and catering.
His two closed restaurants operated for lunch, dinner and weekend service.
The strategy shift for Jumpin’ Jax is the daytime business.
“Delivery, lunch and morning food is where we have found ourselves,” Russell said July 16.
Jumpin’ Jax sells burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken, pizza, salads, wraps and sides.
The Butler Plaza restaurant opened March 17 at 4887 Belfort Road. It is in a three-building office park anchored by Wounded Warrior Project.
The 3,000-square-foot Belfort Road restaurant seats about 60 and operates 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and for special events.
Russell said it soon will also be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Downtown restaurant at 20 W. Adams St. opened in January 2020. It seats about 120.
Its posted hours online are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday for breakfast and lunch.
The Downtown restaurant, at 5,200 square feet, has a large kitchen that was built for its initial use as a culinary training restaurant for Florida State College at Jacksonville.
“Both stores are building the catering business. We have done a great job filling the requests and the orders are much more efficient for us,” he said.
Both are near offices and workplaces where employees dominate the daytime clientele.
Russell opened the Belfort Road restaurant after closing larger neighborhood restaurants in Atlantic Beach and Mandarin in late 2021 and 2022 that served lunch and dinner on weekdays and weekends.
Russell called it a “pretty big strategic shift.”
“We are still feeling the effects of everything COVID from the past two years,” he said.
Russell said “big rents for big restaurants are inoperable now. Less people are looking for a big and social dining room.”
“Our rent is a fraction of what we paid at the San Jose and Atlantic Beach locations,” Russell said.
While the Downtown and Belfort Road sites are doing modest sales, he said both are full each day for lunch.
“Both restaurants have the same open times and target audiences,” he said.
“Our menus and food seem to be as much a hit as ever.”
He opened Downtown a few months before the pandemic shutdowns while operating the two neighborhood restaurants.
It wasn’t easy.
“Inflation and the effects of COVID nearly did us in. We believe we have just about turned the corner,” he said, crediting customers, partners and landlords.
Russell had opened the 5,000-square-foot Jumpin’ Jax at 10131 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin in June 2017 and closed it in October 2022.
He opened at 1021 Atlantic Blvd. in Atlantic Beach in January 2019 and closed it in December 2021.
He opened Downtown on Jan. 6, 2020.
FSCJ had operated the 20West Cafe training restaurant from April 2018 to June 2019, closing it because it wasn’t performing financially.
It leased the restaurant space to Jumpin’ Jax House of Food.
The rental arrangement with FSCJ is based on a percentage of sales rather than a fixed monthly payment, Russell said.
He said the neighborhood restaurants were “very much ‘in-store dining’ and socialization.”
“Business has moved to a better quick lunch and something different for breakfast or lunch. Conversely, larger catering orders look for more healthy, more tasty, and delivered when promised.”