Coast native & cancer survivor opens Kingjaks Biloxi Beach. ‘I knew I needed to do it’
On Sunday, Ava Gazzo-King and the staff found out the barbecue restaurant where they worked on the Biloxi beach was closing.
By the next weekend, she had gone from five years as general manager of Fat Bottom BBQ, named Slap Ya Moma’s before that, to opening her own restaurant, Kingjaks Biloxi Beach., on Restaurant Row along U.S. 90.
“When the opportunity to take over came up, I knew I needed to do it,” she said.
“I didn’t want to go work anywhere else,” she said, and she also protected her co-workers’ jobs.
Instead of closing to remodel the building, which would have put her staff out of work for weeks, King recruited her staff to help her open in record time to feed crowds over the busy Labor Day Weekend.
Together they are creating a “fun, bright and happy” family restaurant, she said, complete with a comfortable lounge for relaxing and games like shuffleboard, darts and a pool table that is on the way.
The big draw is the million dollar view of the water. Customers can choose to sit on the deck and catch the breeze and sunset views or sit inside in the air conditioning and still have sweeping views of the water and the sand. An elevator is available to make the restaurant and views accessible to all.
Family seafood recipes on new menu
King used the week to get her business permits and to pull together a new menu that keeps the barbecue theme from the previous restaurant and adds seafood, tacos and other favorites.
“Our menu is not tied down yet,” she said, and she’s taking suggestions from customers about which dishes they’d like to see added.
She was born and raised in Biloxi, and designed her new menu to include her family’s seafood dishes.
Those seafood dishes fit into every area of the new menu — as an appetizer of seafood bread topped with shrimp, crab and cheese, as shrimp tacos, grilled or fried shrimp salad, and as shrimp or oyster plate or po-boy.
On the barbecue list are dry rub ribs, a brisket plate or sandwich and a BBQ bacon smashburger.
“I wanted to be able to meet the needs of everybody,” she said, so she added tacos, wings, salads and chicken sandwiches favored by families.
Some dishes have already emerged as favorites, like the surf and turn po-boy that combines brisket and fried shrimp and the Kingjaks Platter big enough for a family to share barbecue, sides and a helping of fried shrimp on the top.
King named some of the menu items for her children and all her immediate family, with dessert a chance to share her mom’s banana pudding, her aunt’s cheesecake and Layla’s key lime pie.
A survivor’s promise
This isn’t the first major challenge King has taken on. Her final treatment for breast cancer was last fall, and she said she vowed if she could be healed, she would be the best person she can be and help others.
“She is going to bring a lot of positive force to this,” said Coast restaurateur Rob Stinson, who owns the building where Kingjaks is located.
She’s already making plans to expand to operations on the beach level in phase II and is preparing to host Christmas parties, more family reunions and other events. The restaurant has seating for 300, she said, and can accommodate private events in the atrium or a section of the dining room
The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
