Jax Kitchen, a commercial kitchen available to caterers, has opened at 1850 Emerson St. near San Marco. Its slogan is “Where caterers come to cook.”
It also is available for individuals who are cooking personally for large family dinners, for example.
The venture opened in mid-September and plans a grand opening and ribbon-cutting Nov. 6.
The owners are entrepreneurs Vance and Dana Stallings, whose ventures include the Kilwins Jacksonville candy and ice cream shop at St. Johns Town Center and the Little Britches Inc. child care center. Kilwins was one of the original tenants at the Town Center when it opened in March 2005.
The couple formed Jax Kitchen LLC in April and paid $299,000 for the property in June, according to Duval County Clerk of Court records. CertusBank issued a $392,400 mortgage to finance the building and equipment.
The 7,142-square-foot building formerly housed a restaurant, storage and office space. Property appraiser records show it was built in 1976.
Vance Stallings said the couple was operating their Kilwins catering out of the 1,150-square-foot Town Center store and sought more space.
They bought the Emerson Street structure for that, but had extra space so they decided to offer it as a by-the-hour catering kitchen and commissary.
The Jax Kitchen Facebook page says it is open 24 hours a day. The office will be staffed from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday, but appointments are required to tour the facility.
The location will be kept locked to meet health regulations and for the safety of the caterers. It is licensed by the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants.
Full information is available at jax-kitchen.com.
Users must agree to a minimum of 10 hours for the contract month at $18.50 an hour. The price drops if more monthly hours are contracted.
Caterers must be licensed through the state.
The front part of the building formerly housed a pizza restaurant and its kitchen was converted for the catering kitchen. The former dining area now is the prep space, and a back area will be used for storage. A small office was set up in front.
Stallings said the couple had been looking for a property that was reasonably located and priced, and the structure was for sale.
“It’s in a better shape than we thought it was. It was a lucky situation,” he said.
The couple is busy with the catering operation, as well as with Kilwins and Little Britches. Their two daughters are in college.
“One day we’ll get some time off,” Stallings said, “but not today.”
Restaurants on the rise
• Publix announced Wednesday that its Cobblestone Crossing store at 2771 Monument Road reopens at 8 a.m. today. The former store was demolished and the space was rebuilt with a larger, 53,785-square-foot store that will include pharmacy, bakery, deli, floral, and fresh seafood departments. It will employ about 160 people. Regular stores hours will be 7 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
• A Walmart Neighborhood Market will open after a 7:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting Wednesday at 6855 Wilson Blvd. The store will operate from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. seven days a week and employ up to 95 full- and part-time workers. It also will offer Walmart’s free Site to Store program, which allows customers to choose from about a million additional items that can be ordered on Walmart.com and picked up at the store for free. The store sells groceries, health and beauty aids, pet products and cleaning supplies. It also has a pharmacy. Anthony Dennis is the store manager.
• The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops will open in Brooklyn Station on Riverside in 1,200 square feet next to Zoës Kitchen.
• Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q franchisees Dan and Fred Gardner opened a restaurant in North Jacksonville at 731 Duval Station Road.
Licensed to serve
Duval County Tax Collector Michael Corrigan issued business licenses for:
• King’s Barbeque 1 LLC, to Tricia Hargrove, 5250 San Juan Ave. Mobile vendor.
• FGHR Investments Inc., to Fadi G. Yazeji, 9041 Southside Blvd., No. 180.
• Monkey’s Uncle Holdings LLC, to Mitchell Greenberg, 10503 San Jose Blvd., No. 12.
• Julington Creek Fish Camp Inc., to Benjamin Groshell, 12760 San Jose Blvd.
Food bites
Food- and drink-related businesses filed names with the state Division of Corporations under the Fictitious Name Law to operate:
• Moe’s Southwest Grill, to MSG Bartram Park L.L.C., 13974 Village Lake Circle. Brad Chasteen is the agent for MSG Bartram Park LLC.
• New York Style Wings, Fish & Chips, to Regina and Gregory McDonald, 10970 Lem Turner Road, mailing address is 1416 Palmdale, Jacksonville.
• DJ’s Crab Shack, to John Haun of Middleburg and Darin Taylor of Orange Park, mailing address is 3667 Oakworth Court, Orange Park.
• Green Lake Chinese Restaurant, to New China of Jacksonville Inc., 4495 Roosevelt Blvd., No. 413. Yi Gong Liu is president of New China of Jacksonville Inc.
• J.J’s Crab House, to Haidar H. Alziadi, 5538 Soutel Drive.
• Shut Em Down Authentic Southern Restaurant, to Joella M. McCray, Richard Lee Jones and Catherine Marie Jones, all of Jacksonville, 6251 Argyle Forest Blvd.
• 4 Trees Smokehouse, to Richard Rountree of Jacksonville, 1712 Russell Road, Middleburg.
• The Cuban Café and Bakery, to Yasier de la Pina of St. Augustine, 331 Sunshine Drive, St. Augustine.
• South A Philly Steaks and Hoagies, to H Enterprises LLC of St. Augustine, 1 King St., Unit 104, St. Augustine. Christopher B. Holland is manager of H Enterprises LLC.
• Pompeo’s Pizza, to Two Guys From Italy LLC of Fernandina Beach, mailing address is P.O. Box 15056, Fernandina Beach. Mario Manganaro is a member of Two Guys From Italy LLC.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-246