NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the majority owner of Whisky River, a restaurant and entertainment venue in St. Johns Town Center that features casual food, live entertainment and a mechanical bull. He owns another Whisky River in Charlotte, N.C. He was in Jacksonville for the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl game.
Your main business focus in Florida appears to be in Daytona and Homestead. How did you choose Jacksonville for the second Whiskey River location?
My partners in the business did a lot of research and found Jacksonville to be quite a good destination for our type of establishment. It has a really healthy nightlife.
Are there plans for more locations?
We’re always exploring new opportunities and new places, venues. We’ll just have to see how it goes. It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing and we’ve had some good success. We don’t want to oversaturate the market because they are kind of niches. You don’t want to look like a franchise because it is not quite as exciting to the customer. There might be another one or two opportunities for us to open up more.
It seems like you’ve been real hands-on with this, not just something you’re throwing money into. Where did the vision come from?
It’s years and years of influence. What you like and don’t like. All the things that make me happy and what I enjoy. I had been to a lot of bars and enjoyed a lot of bars around Charlotte. I had a few things about them that I liked and a few things that I didn’t like. Sort of just mashed together what I really enjoyed about going out at night and having a good time.
Was that the first time you flipped the coin at a game?
Yes, it was very exciting. Never done it before.
Besides the car not starting before the coin toss, how was your Gator Bowl experience?
We push-started the car, so that worked out. I was glad, because I didn’t want to have to be pushed out there, but everything worked out. I’ve never been to a college football game before, so this was really neat. This was great football weather. Everybody has been really nice and hospitable. It’s been an awesome experience.