by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
It offers Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian and American cuisine, among many, many other dining options. Soon, the Jacksonville Landing will offer yet another.
Bourbon Bayou, a cajun restaurant “with a twist,” is scheduled to open on the first-floor indoor courtyard of the Landing May 16. Bourbon Bayou will be the fourth food venue owned at the Landing by brothers Benny and Loros Yousefzadeh – the two own Benny’s Steak and Seafood, Vito’s Italian Cafe and Bourbon Express in the food court.
“It is an opportunity that kind of fell in our laps and we’re thrilled,” said Benny. “The Landing has been great to us and so when Toney Sleiman came to us and asked if we’d be interested (in launching another restaurant venture at the Landing), we said yes.”
The brothers consider the restaurants’ positions at the Landing prime locations and said the spot often sells itself.
“We’re right on the river,” said Loros. “And there is a lot of traffic from the hotels, from conventions there.”
According to Rachel Kaltenbach, public relations director for the Landing, the space where Bayou will occupy, formerly Demola’s Jersey Subs, became available in February after Demola’s relocated.
“This will be a real restaurant and it will look like it’s never looked before,” she said, adding that Demola’s was more of a walk-up-and-order venue with limited seating. “They (the Yousefzadeh brothers) are putting a lot of work into it. We went to them because we knew they’d do a great job with it.”
Benny has owned Benny’s Steak and Seafood for 5 and a half years and Loros has owned Vito’s, an upscale dining spot across the Landing Courtyard from Benny’s Steak and Seafood, for seven years.
Together, the brothers opened up their first Bourbon Bayou in St. Augustine six months ago and said they saw a great opportunity to provide Landing guests with even more dining variety by opening a second one there.
Aside from the decor and atmosphere, which might be modified slightly to match the needs of an indoor interior restaurant versus en exterior one, the Bayou at the Landing will be pretty similar to the one in St. Augustine, said Benny.
“The menu will be the same, too, except we might expand it some,” he added.
The menu offers much of the standard cajun cuisine to reflect it’s motto of “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” or “Let the good times roll!” like po’ boy sandwiches and shrimp creole but has some specialty items as well, like fried pickles and shrimp and artichoke bisque.
“You could call it ‘Cajun with a Twist’,” said Benny. “Some people think “Cajun’ and they think spicy. We add our own kick things, we add cajun flavor.”