A Jacksonville bar and restaurant is closer to opening after receiving City Council approval April 28 to sell alcohol.
Council voted 16-0 in favor of a zoning exception to allow alcohol sales at Kappuccinos Breakfast & Sports Bar, planned in the Dunns Creek Crossing shopping center at 11257 Alta Drive. Members Joe Carlucci, Matt Carlucci and Reggie Gaffney Jr. were away from the dais for the vote.
The vote was retaken after Council member Jimmy Peluso mistakenly voted no on the exception. In the initial vote, Joe Carlucci voted yes.
The exception, contained in Ordinance 2026-0211, allows for on-site sales of alcohol as part of Kappuccinos’ bar business.
Lobbyist Josh Cockrell, who represented the restaurant at the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee meeting April 21, said the exception was the last administrative step Kappuccinos needed to take before opening. LUZ voted 6-0 to recommend the exception, putting it on a path to the April 28 vote.
With Kappuccinos, owners Keith and Catherine Jones created a new dining concept in which breakfast and lunch will be served mornings through lunchtime before the restaurant switches to a sports bar in the evening.
“My intent is to be the ‘Cheers’ and a nice neighborhood hub,” owner Keith Jones said in February, referring to the Boston bar depicted in the TV comedy from 1982-93 with the theme song, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”
He said he and Catherine hope Kappuccinos will attract patrons from the neighborhood as well as workers, truck drivers and port employees from nearby industrial parks and JaxPort terminals.
“Hopefully, everyone on their way to work can stop by and enjoy specialty coffees and a full breakfast,” Keith Jones said.
He said March 29 he was “patiently waiting on the zoning ordinance to be approved,” before providing an opening date. Cockrell said the restaurant would “hopefully” open in late May.
Jones said he intends to open Kappuccinos at 6 a.m. to serve coffee and specialty drinks along with a standard Southern-inspired breakfast, followed by lunch until 1 p.m.
Kappuccinos would reopen at 5 p.m. through 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. as a sports bar with live music later in the week. Jones said the restaurant will include multiple large-screen TVs and a full bar.