A new restaurant will be replacing the old site of Florida Cracker Kitchen at 1842 Kings Ave. in the San Marco neighborhood of Jacksonville. 1937 Spirits and Eatery comes from the minds of Heartfelt Hospitality Group, with Travis Norman as the owner and consulting chef Trey Hartinger as the menu developer. The restaurant is aiming for an end of February opening.
“The property is special. The restaurant is named ‘1937’ for the year the building was constructed, and the culinary aspect will be unique to the area. We are providing something different with some spins on classic dishes,” Norman told What Now Jacksonville.
Local, fresh vegetables and seafood will be highlighted on the menu, along with homages to popularized American dishes.
Quail and funnel cake is going to be a play on chicken and waffles with hot sauce. “It will be quite the surprise,” Norman said. “We’ll also do a ‘jax hot chicken sandwich’ with a pickle juice and tea marinade to tenderize the chicken before we fry it and serve it with a blue cheese coleslaw and a brioche bun,” Norman described.
The restaurant itself will have ample seating space on the renovated historic property, as well as a modern feel and an up-to-date service experience.
“It’s really a great space with a full service, 30-person bar and a great cocktail program, including an extensive 0-proof cocktail menu. We have an 11,000 square feet backyard and a 6,000 square feet dining area inside for seating, as well as a front porch with additional seating. With the way the market is today post-covid, we’re presenting a new way to order with food concierge service members in corners of the restaurant. It won’t be traditional fast-casual, it will be elevated with attentive service, QR code menus and orders placed at a centralized kiosk, which happens to be a repurposed DJ booth,” Norman said.
