Beach Front Grille owners tentative pick to replace Green Lion at Palm Harbor Golf Course

Palm Coast has tentatively selected a new restaurant for the Palm Harbor Golf Course after the city’s negotiations to extend The Green Lion’s lease broke down.

Palm Coast selected Jamie Bourdeau, who runs the Beach Front Grille at 2444 S. Ocean Shore Blvd., in Flagler Beach, said Mayor David Alfin in a phone interview.

“He's going to bring his experience and his following,” Alfin said of Bourdeau. “He has a huge following in the community. He’s very well-liked.”

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The city will now negotiate an agreement with Bourdeau to run the restaurant in a portion of a triple-wide trailer at the city’s Palm Harbor Golf Course. The trailer, which has a deck, also contains the golf course clubhouse.

New restaurant at Palm Harbor Golf Course to be dubbed 'Loopers'

The new restaurant will be called “Loopers,” which Alfin said is a term for golf caddies.

Alfin, who once was a partner in a restaurant in Flagler Beach, said Bourdeau was a good choice.

“I think sometimes the stars align, and I believe they have aligned properly in this case,” Alfin said.

Once city staff works out an agreement with Bourdeau, the City Council must approve it, Brittany Kershaw, the city’s director of communications and marketing, wrote in an email.

The Green Lion’s contract with the city ends Jan. 15, Kershaw wrote.

The request for proposals was due Sept. 15; by then the city received "two intent to bid notifications" but no completed packages, Kershaw wrote. She wrote the city then extended the deadline to Sept. 29.

Loopers beat out a proposal from Bounseng Lodbansa, who owns Thai & I at 603 N. State St. in Bunnell.

Lodbansa proposed offering a "traditional breakfast," including omelets, eggs with bacon and sausage, breakfast burritos and pancakes at the Palm Harbor Golf Course restaurant and then serving Thai food for lunch and dinner.

The deadline for any bid protest was Thursday and none were filed, Kershaw wrote.

'Influenced by American cuisine'

Besides Bourdeau, who could not be reached for comment, the Loopers proposal lists Dudley Shaw as a co-owner and states he has more than 10 years experience in the restaurant business.

According to Bourdeau’s proposal, Loopers would serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and would seat about 40 people inside and 48 on the outside deck. The restaurant would feature “a menu influenced by American cuisine” with weekly dinner specials of “fresh fish, prime rib and barbecue options.”

Bourdeau’s response to the city included a proposed menu and prices.

Loopers will have a full bar with cocktails like the John Daly, a mix of vodka, freshly brewed iced-tea and lemonade for $9 and the Palm Harbor Bloody Mary, with vodka, Bloody Mary mix and other ingredients for $10, according to the proposal. 

Menu items include a breakfast burrito with breakfast potatoes for $11.99, an appetizer of chicken tenders with choice of sauce for $9.99, a triple-decker club for $12.49, a chicken Florentine wrap for $12.99, a patty melt for $14.99 and a cheeseburger for $13.99, the proposal stated.

Dinner menu items include a rib eye steak for $26.99 and crab-stuffed haddock for $26.99. A chicken Caesar salad will sell for $13.99, according to the proposal.

Sandwiches and wraps come with a choice of sides, such as French fries, homemade chips or coleslaw. The dinner entrees would be served with soup or salad and a choice of baked potato, vegetable, wild rice or fries. The kids' menu would include a hamburger for $5.99.

Loopers would like to have beverage cart attendants who would offer food and beverage to golfers on the course, according to the proposal, which also states that Loopers would provide the golf cart and required maintenance.

Negotiations break down between Palm Coast, Green Lion

The Green Lion, which is owned by the Marlow family, had initially wanted to extend its five-year agreement to run the restaurant at the golf course another five years.

The Marlows also own the popular Golden Lion in Flagler Beach.

Talks started to break down during a City Council workshop in February when some council members were displeased that the Green Lion was only paying $600 a month in rent while the city was paying utility bills, including the water bill of about $2,000 a month and the electric bill of about $1,500 a month in the shared trailer that also served as a clubhouse.

It looked like the Green Lion and the city would work out their differences after numerous supporters packed a City Council meeting in February and spoke for about two hours urging the city to keep the Green Lion at the golf course.

And while the Marlows made concessions, agreeing to pay $2,000 a month for rent, the two sides got hung up on the water bill.

The city wanted the Marlows to pay half the water bill. The Marlows pointed to a real estate analysis which they said showed they had already agreed to a fair price before the city increased it by asking for the additional money for the water.

Then at a meeting in June, Tony Marlow, one of the owners, called the City Council “crooks” and walked out of the chambers. Another sore point was that Alfin had limited the Marlows to three minutes each of speaking time even though the Green Lion was on the agenda.

Alfin said the Marlows were given limited time because the item was a presentation by city staff and the city had already been in negotiations with the Marlows for 18 months.

In July, the City Council decided to end negotiations with the Marlows and requested others to make a pitch. The Marlows could also submit a proposal, the City Council decided. They did not.

When reached on Friday, Chris Marlow declined to comment for this story.

Alfin said he anticipates a good relationship with Bourdeau, whom he described as "a real people person."

Said Alfin: "I would expect the relationship would be very successful and benefit the golfers."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Harbor Golf Course could become home to Loopers restaurant