River City Marketplace adding popular chains, local concepts to restaurant mix

After a few years of relatively little change, River City Marketplace is poised to add a few new – and notable – restaurants to its mix in 2022.

Highlighting the list is Texas Roadhouse, the popular steakhouse known for its hand-cut steaks, made-from-scratch sides and fresh-baked bread which already has two locations in the greater Jacksonville area: one in Orange Park and another near the St. Johns Town Center.

Texas Roadhouse is set to take over the former spot where Logan’s Roadhouse once stood, between Red Lobster and The Juicy Crab. After opening in 2011, Logan’s closed in 2020 after owner Craftworks Holdings filed for bankruptcy in March of that year. The city recently issued a permit for a new 7,647-square-foot restaurant with a projected build cost of $750,000. The former Logan’s location at 13130 City Station Drive offers Texas Roadhouse a prime spot visible from I-95.

[Keep reading for more news, including our January recap of Jacksonville's biggest dining news, Caron Streibich's roundup of favorite new-to-her restaurants, Florida food festivals worth checking out and more.]

Also planned for River City Marketplace is the first P.F. Chang’s To Go, the new takeout concept from the popular Asian bistro which debuted its lone Northeast Florida restaurant in 2005 with the opening of the St. Johns Town Center.

The restaurant will take over a former Subway spot next to Cold Stone Creamery at 840 Nautica Drive.

P.F. Chang’s To Go has just nine locations now, the bulk of them in the metropolitan areas of New York, Chicago and Dallas, according to the restaurant chain’s website. In Florida, the restaurant has one location in Orlando. In addition to Jacksonville, others are planned for Boynton Beach, Winter Garden, Lake Mary, Miami Lakes and Orlando, according to applications on file with the state’s Department of Business & Professional Regulation.

The concept, company officials said, is designed to "allow more guests to experience the P.F. Chang’s Asian favorites they know and love in a convenient format that provides a solution for online ordering, takeout, catering and delivery in areas that don’t have a P.F. Chang’s restaurant nearby."

On the north side of Airport Center Drive, work is underway at Aloha Waffle Bar, which plans to offer made-from-scratch bubble waffles as well as Kona coffee and boba milk teas. Look for the bubble waffles to hold the restaurant’s Classic Monte Cristo, Turkey Bacon Ranch Melt and other sandwiches.

The restaurant, at 725 Skymarks Drive, joins existing Jacksonville favorites La Nopalera Mexican restaurant and MayDay Ice Cream.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza, the pizza concept from the family behind Jacksonville-based Ascho Inc., the developer of the small retail center, is also in the works, according to a sign at the project.

In other news

BIDDERS FORK OVER CASH FOR PLATES: If you remember The Rite Spot in Jacksonville Beach, then you probably remember the dozens of whimsically painted plates that lined the popular restaurant’s walls until its closure in 2010. The plates, painted by the late local artist Kaye Kauffman, are now up for auction to benefit the Beaches Museum and Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry. Dozens have already sold for $525 each. And a bidding war is underway for two of the plates – one depicting the landmark Casa Marina and another featuring the Jacksonville Beach Lifeguard Station – have topped $1,200 each. The auction continues through 7 p.m. on Friday. Times-Union reporter Anne Hammock has more on The Rite Spot, Kauffman and her plates.

NAME CHANGE: Dreamette Ice Cream in St. Johns has changed its name to Dream Ice Cream. Located at the Shops of Bartram Walk, the ice cream shop opened in Summer 2021 under a name licensing agreement with the 73-year-old Murray Hill landmark Dreamette. Unlike the original, though, Kimberly and Brian Kraut’s shop offered walk-in service and a menu that included ice cream cakes and pies, ice cream cookie sandwiches, fresh-baked cookies and handmade chocolates, as well as seasonal treats like hot cocoa bombs. The name change comes as another Dreamette is set to open later this year nearby, at 3735 Longleaf Pine Parkway, one of at least two new locations planned for 2022.

HEAD OUT TO EAT UP: Northeast Florida’s food festival season doesn’t pick up until spring. But there are plenty on the calendar in the coming weeks in warmer parts of the state. One of the biggest -- SeaWorld Orlando's Seven Seas Food Festival – kicks off this week. The festival, which runs Thursday-Sunday through May 8, boasts more than 200 flavors and 28 concerts. Looking for more? We have the list.

HERE’S A TIP (LITERALLY): Domino’s is paying you to pick up your own pizza. As restaurants continue to face staffing shortages, the pizza company is rewarding its carryout customers with a $3 “tip” each time they pick up a pizza ordered online through May 22. The tip comes in the form of an offer good the following week on another Domino’s carryout order.

More restaurant news below.

Have a question about a restaurant opening or closing in your neighborhood? Let me know.

Cheers!

Gary Mills

Deputy Managing Editor

The Florida Times-Union

Email: gmills@jacksonville.com

Twitter: @garytmills

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: River City Marketplace adding Texas Roadhouse, P.F. Chang's To Go