Local restaurateurs are hoping to open a new restaurant near Pottsburg Creek called the Pottsburg Creek Fish Shack in Jacksonville, located at 8550 Beach Blvd.
Owners Ben and Liza Groshell have proposed to demolish the existing 5,811-square-foot building, currently operating as All Wet Sports, and build a 150- to 200-seat restaurant, according to Jacksonville Daily Record. The city began reviewing civil engineering site plans from The Touring Company Inc. in February. The Groshells own and operate Southern Table Hospitality, which has opened eight other seafood concepts in the area, most recently opening Billy Jack’s and AB Kitchen this year. Ben is also the president of AB Modern LLC.
“The site is partially developed and has been used as a restaurant site and retail,” according to city and utility records reported by JDR. “AB Modern intends to re-develop the site for restaurant purposes.”
AB Modern LLC bought the property in 2020 for $630,000. Before this, the 1957-built building was used as the Cedar River Seafood restaurant. If the city approves these plans, the restaurant will be developed closer to Pottsburg Creek than Beach Boulevard. While the entire site is 3.08 acres, only 2.5 will be used for the development.
Ben Groshell, a Jacksonville native who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, is Southern Table Hospitality’s president and treasurer. He opened his first restaurant, Marker 32, with the group in 1992 and Palm Valley Fish Camp, the first of the Fish Camp concepts, in 2008. Since then, he has opened North Beach Fish Camp, Julington Creek Fish Camp, Dockside Seafood, Valley Smoke BBQ, and St. Augustine Fish Camp. Liza Groshell, a New York native who attended the University of North Florida, specializes in business development and serves as STH’s vice president and secretary.
