Jaco's Perdido is up and running, bringing a new chef, menu items and jobs to Perdido Key

The first question most people ask when visiting Jaco's Bayfront Bar and Grille is a simple one: Who's Jaco?

The sketched photograph of founder David Hambrick's beloved soft-coated wheaten terrier, Jaco, is now an icon for the growing restaurant business that added its second location, Jaco's Perdido, in late September in Perdido Key.

The brand has become something many Pensacola locals recognize and equate with family values and customer service, according to Madeline Cates, Jaco's marketing manager. So it made sense for the new location at 12700 Gulf Beach Highway to continue under the same brand.

"That's what we're known for. Not only from-scratch kitchen, craft bar, fresh seafood ... but also customer service. People will come in and just know they expect a certain type of experience when they go to Jaco's, and that's what we strive to give them," Cates said.

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Hambrick said from spending 30 years of his working life in the car business, he knows that first impressions are important and good customer service goes a long way. He wanted to create a restaurant where that was the case every time, prompting the opening of the first location in Pensacola just more than 11 years ago.

"Once you walk in the door, the rest of your experience is up to us," Hambrick said. "The next thing you need to worry about is where did I park my car."

While the name and majority of the menu at Jaco's Perdido has stayed the same as the picturesque Jaco's Bayfront location in Pensacola, there are some new additions. This is mainly because the Perdido Key kitchen is triple the size of the downtown Pensacola location.

Many of the Perdido-specific menu additions are fresh seafood such as the Perdido Po'Boy, Big Lagoon Sandwich or a plate of Gulf oysters, all sold at market price.

Hambrick said the Perdido Key restaurant building itself has come a long way in terms of history, but its roots are tied to seafood.

Legend has it that it started as a convenience store and gas station with a little grill in the back that was used to cook whatever catch local fishermen brought in that day, Hambrick said. The unofficial fish fry became so popular, it eventually turned into a food establishment, paving the way for restaurant owners who came after it, according to Hambrick.

The location is just now beginning to dive into a full day's schedule. The kitchen started out slow, prioritizing dinner and only offering lunch on weekends. But starting Dec. 15, lunch will be offered every day, Cates said.

Getting enough customers to come over from the Bayfront location to the new spot was not difficult, Cates said. She said many regulars live closer to Perdido Key, but routinely made the trek downtown just to eat at Jaco's.

She said many Perdido Key locals also expressed excitement over the more than 40 job opportunities the addition was bringing since only a handful of employees transferred from the downtown location.

Hambrick said he wanted to keep the menu simple, with items that could be replicated to perfection with each customer's visit. However, he does allow for his executive chefs, such as Sean Robinson at the Perdido location, to exercise creativity through offering a rotating list of specials.

Robinson, who worked as chef de partie for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts based in Teton, Wyoming, for more than eight years, was brought back to his hometown of Pensacola through the pandemic. While spending a bulk of his career in fine dining, he was able to master the established Jaco's menu at the Bayfront location quickly, while also concocting new flavor pairings of his own.

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For example, Robinson's specials for December include a house cut bone-in pork chop served with jerk spiced sweet potato mash, braised kale and a root beer glaze. To drink, he crafted a Jaco’s mulled wine made with Cabernet, brandy, honey, cinnamon, clove, star anise and orange. For dessert, he leaned into the quickly approaching Christmas season with candy cane beignets served with white chocolate hot cocoa and dark chocolate marshmallows.

Hambrick said the Perdido location may have an expanded menu, but the downtown location has expansion plans in store for an upscale Craft Bar & Lounge to open in 2022. Now building onto the upstairs portion of the building, customers will be able to sip craft cocktails and soak in sunset views.

With each building addition, Hambrick said he has always wanted his management team to be hands-on with the process. The general manager he selected for the Perdido location, Contessia Gibson, truly took this sentiment to heart, even ordering her own shiny red hard-hat with the Jaco's branding to oversee the final months of construction.

"She always puts her little touches on everything. ... It was her baby from the get-go," Hambrick said.

Gibson said she wanted to make sure she was right there for all the decision-making, even the most minuscule ones, like matte or shiny paint. She said the staff at Jaco's are as close as family and they want to watch the business succeed. Even customers have found their way into her friend group.

"I love how people come in as guests and they turn out being our friends after the first visit," Gibson said.

At the Perdido Key location, she plans to continue holding the same events that have become popular at the Bayfront location, such as "Meet the Artist Nights" on the second Wednesday of each month. Customers can come in for a meet-and-greet with a local artist and participate in a free wine tasting. December's art reception will feature Mandy Glickman on Dec. 8.

Jaco's Perdido is open from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, but its hours will increase starting Dec. 15. Updates can be found on the Jaco's Perdido Facebook and Instagram pages.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Jaco's Bayfront Bar & Grille dives into second location at Perdido Key