A once-derelict property at a high-visibility intersection in Fairfax came back to life June 5 with the opening of The Buoy seafood restaurant.
The 3,800-square-foot restaurant at 4323 Herschel St. was once a mid-century service station that was vacant for years at Herschel Street and San Juan Avenue.
Owner Tito Quinones said he had his eye on the location for some time. His wife’s family lives near the restaurant as does his brother-in-law, who is a partner.
“It was just the curvature, the mid-century charm. I thought it had a lot of personality and I like that sort of thing,” he said.
He met with building owner John Williams in 2022 and made a handshake agreement to convert the building into the restaurant. Before venturing into The Buoy, the 39-year-old Quinones operated the Eat Happy Jax food truck and was executive chef at bb’s restaurant and bar on Hendricks Avenue.
His new restaurant’s catch phrase is, “Caught near. Served here.”
“It is our main focus to only provide seafood from Florida or very nearby neighboring Georgia waters,” he said.
Because he aims to avoid frozen seafood, much of the menu is market priced. But there is a shrimp basket ($20), a Cuban sandwich ($20) and a catfish po’boy ($15). The snapper and yellowtail will be line-caught. The salmon is farm-raised in Homestead.
On-site and street parking is available, and Quinones said the nearby St. Johns Presbyterian Church is allowing The Buoy to use 24 of its spaces behind the restaurant except during church services.
Carlton Construction of Fleming Island was the contractor and Dasher Hurst Architects of Jacksonville designed the adaptive reuse of the building, which included renovations and additions.
Quinones said the restaurant took more than a year to build and cost more than $3 million. He said he is leasing the restaurant from Williams, who paid to renovate the exterior, remodel the interior and install the kitchen, dining room and restrooms.
A red buoy with a gold bell is in the parking lot. Inside, two jon boats built specifically for the restaurant hang from the ceiling.
The Buoy seats about 130 inside in two dining areas separated by a decorative wall. There also is outside seating.
The Buoy will serve dinner only the week of June 8, opening at 5 p.m.
Quinones plans to open at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner beginning the week of June 15. He said the restaurant will initially be closed Sundays and Mondays, but his goal is to be open every day for lunch, dinner and a weekend brunch.
The Buoy features a full bar and Quinones said he plans to start a happy hour in coming days.
“Getting a staff trained up is a difficult task, so we want to make sure we do it perfectly,” Quinones said. “We’ve spent a lot of time and energy in this and to stumble this early is not a good look for us.”
Opening night came as a surprise, Quinones said. He did not advertise or announce The Buoy was opening, but when passersby saw cars in the parking lot, they checked out the new restaurant.
“The phone was ringing off the hook all day, and I had to call somebody in to just answer the phone. We were way busier than I expected,” he said.
In September 2024, the Jacksonville Planning Commission approved requests for zoning code deviations and a waiver of a requirement to allow alcohol sales at the restaurant, which at that time was named Duval Fish Co. in city documents.
In August 2025, Jacksonville City Council approved the alcohol waiver, which eliminated a minimum distance requirement between an establishment serving alcohol and a church or school.
The Council Land Use and Zoning Committee recommended the waiver on the condition that at least 51% of the restaurant’s revenue is from sales of food and nonalcoholic beverages and that there would be no amplified live music played outside the establishment.