Jacksonville’s closed Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers on Beach Boulevard appears to be the site of the area’s first Cook Out, the North Carolina-based privately owned fast-food chain that sells burgers, barbecue and shakes.
It could be one of the first Cook Out locations in the state.
The site is at 14016 Beach Blvd., east of Hodges Boulevard in the Beach Haven area.
FVR Florida LLC sold the Freddy’s property to Cook Out-Beach Blvd Inc. for $2.75 million. The deed was recorded May 9 with the Duval County Clerk of Court.
The deed image was not released as of 11 a.m. May 9.
Cook Out calls its combo meals trays.
Its menu features chargrilled hamburgers; grilled chicken, chicken breast fillets, chicken strips, wraps and nuggets; hot dogs, corn dogs, chili dogs and bacon cheddar dogs; quesadillas; BLTs; wraps; sides such as fries, onion rings and white cheddar cheese bites;and cheesecake.
Along with traditional beverages, Cook Out offers three dozen flavors of shakes such as banana berry, Orange Push-Up, peach cobbler, Snickers and vanilla.
Cook Out bought the 3,355-square-foot Freddy’s on almost 1 acre. It was built in 2015.
There are two area Freddy’s now – at 4458 Town Center Parkway near St. Johns Town Center and at 386 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Duval County Property Appraiser shows the Beach Boulevard property ownership as NADG NNN Fred FL LP of Dallas at the same address as FVR Florida LLC.
Jacksonville Beach-based Strategic Sites Clifford Commercial Retail Sales Associate Clay Weaver represented Cook Out.
“In her first sales meeting Clay said she was bringing her favorite burger to Jacksonville. Three years later she intends to be their first customer and order her usual “Combo with shake!”said Kate Clifford, founder and broker/owner of Strategic Sites Clifford Commercial.
The seller was represented by John Artope, executive vice president and managing principal of SRS Real Estate Partners of Orlando.
“We had significant interest in the site with multiple offers,” Artope said by email.
“The seller was more comfortable going with an end user for the site and we ended up with Cook Out for their entry into the JAX market,” he said.
NADG bought the property in July 2018 for $1.97 million from Wessley Real Estate Beach Blvd LLC of Wichita, Kansas.
Wessley had purchased the site in 2014 for $875,000.
NADG NNN Fred (FL) LP, then with an Ontario address, canceled its Florida limited liability limited partnership as of May 1, 2025.
Cook Out in Florida
The closest operating Cook Out to Jacksonville is about 60 miles north in Brunswick, Georgia.
The Florida entry shouldn’t be a surprise.
Cook Out has been registering its name with the Florida Division of Corporations for years, but has yet to open a location in the state
• Cook Out-Beach Blvd Inc. was registered April 24.
• Cook Out-Dale Mabry Inc., May 1, 2024.
• Cook Out-FSU Inc., June 23, 2022.
• Cook Out-Pensacola Inc., July 9, 2021.
• Cook Out-St. Petersburg Inc., Aug. 29, 2024.
• Cook Out-Tallahassee Inc., June 6, 2022.
• Cook Out-Tampa Inc., May 1, 2024.
Cook Out CEO Jeremy Reaves is listed as president and his father, Cook Out founder and owner Morris Reaves, is listed as secretary for the companies.
In St. Petersburg, StPeteRising.com reported April 24 that Cook Out filed plans with the city for an $800,000 build-out at 9595 Fourth St. N., a 3,146-square-foot closed Boston Market, which closed in 2023. Jeremy Reaves bought the property in September 2024 for $2.6 million.
It said Cook Out will also open its first Tampa locations at 5501 E. Fowler Ave. in Temple Terrace and 16215 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. Both of those Hillsborough County sites are also former Boston Market locations.
About Cook Out
Cook Out originated in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989. When it opened in 2022 in Memphis, Tennessee, it had reached 300 locations.
It now has more than 300 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Slate.com reported Sept. 5, 2023, that “Cook Out locations are utilitarian and uncharming, vaguely retro, with dollar store–esque signage. Most locations are drive-thru only, often with the addition of a walk-up window and some picnic tables.”
It and other media sources say Cook Out does not seek out news coverage.
Writer Jeremy Markovich at the North Carolina Rabbit Hole newsletter reported Aug. 1, 2024, at ncrabbithole.com that Morris Reaves started in fast food in his 20s.
It reports that he and his parents had previously owned more than a dozen Wendy’s franchises in North Carolina’s Triad region before selling them back to the company in 1979.
It says that in 1982, Reaves and his then-wife opened the Sunday House restaurant in Stone Mountain, Georgia, as a sit-down Southern cooking restaurant that served “Sunday dinner” seven days a week.
After it closed a few years later, Reaves and his parents opened the first Cook Out in 1989 on Randleman Road in Greensboro, across the street from one of his former Wendy’s restaurants. The site said some newspaper stories say the original opened in 1987.
The site says his time in fast food gave him the idea for Cook Out’s double-drive thrus. “We saw people going to more takeout, even back then,” he told the Greensboro News & Record. The milkshakes were an early hit.
The site said that not long after his the first Cook Out opened, Reaves married the former Cathy Samples, the daughter of legendary “Hee Haw” performer Junior Samples.
Reaves opened more Cook Outs in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, and built the first one with a sit-down restaurant in High Point in 1996.
“As the company expanded, Reaves got quieter,” the site says.
In 1998, the company opened its 10th location. Ten years later, there were 50. The 74th Cook Out, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, was the first one outside of North Carolina.
The site said that by then, Morris’ 29-year-old son Jeremy had taken over as company president.
It reported that in 2007, Jeremy Reaves said in brief interview with the Charlotte Observer that his father had come up with the building design, with mirrors where windows would normally go.
His parents had moved to Florida but still helped out. His dad came up with the menu. His mom was the company controller. The site said there wasn’t much insight into the rest of the operation.
“I look for busy roads,” he told the reporter about his process of picking new locations. “The more cars, the better.”