The Local, which has restaurants in Neptune Beach and Miramar, is planning to open in Riverside and Ponte Vedra Beach in 2025.
The first will be at 226 Solana Road, No. 1, in the former Woody’s Bar-B-Q building in Ponte Vedra Beach. An April opening is planned.
The second has a less firm opening date. The former dry cleaner and laundromat buildings at 2216 Oak St., near Five Points, will take longer due to the building’s age. Snap Fitness is in part of the building and will remain when the restaurant is built, according to a Snap Fitness employee.
Robert Newell, director of operations at The Local, said opening in Ponte Vedra Beach after The Players Championship golf tournament is strategic. The Local has a presence in the tournament’s food court and a new staff and crew wouldn’t be ready for fans and area customers until after the March 11-16 tournament.
The Local restaurant’s first location opened in 2017 at 4578 San Jose Blvd. in Miramar. The second opened in 2019 at 301 Atlantic Blvd. in Neptune Beach.
The Local is operated by the Roost Restaurants, owned by Ted Stein and J.C. Demetree.
Wonderbird concept
After opening in Neptune Beach, the group tried its hand at chicken sandwiches and tenders with Wonderbird at 528 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville Beach. It operated about two years before closing in 2023. Before closing, it began a delivery-only service operated out of the Neptune Beach location’s kitchen.
“We just want to make sure we have probably five to six Locals operational before we revisit Wonderbird. Because we are great at this, and we know we can do this and be profitable,” Newell said.
“So let’s get this to where we are operating at a high level and putting enough money in the bank to where we can take chances on things that are a little more fun.”
Besides reviving Wonderbird, he hinted that high-end restaurants and nightclubs could be in the group’s future.
Ponte Vedra Square
The Ponte Vedra Square location is under construction. The Woody’s Bar-B-Q interior has been gutted.
3rd Little Pig Construction of Jacksonville is the contractor. Jason Canning Architect of Jacksonville is the architect.
They will also do the work on the Oak Street restaurant once the Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant opens, Newell said. The construction budget is $3 million for each restaurant.
When completed, the Ponte Vedra Beach restaurant will seat 109 inside and 110 on the outdoor, wraparound patio. A single bar will serve all of the customers inside and out and seat 29.
Being part of the Ponte Vedra Square shopping center anchored by Winn-Dixie allows for plenty of parking, Newell said.
“We won’t have to worry about parking. This will be the first time. Both our restaurants have limited parking,” he said.
Oak Street
The Oak Street location should be open in the late summer or early fall of 2025. It is in the former Deluxe Laundry and Dry Cleaners and De Luxe Launderette buildings. The two structures were built in the 1920s.
“Oak Street is just a unique building. It’s going to be a fun one to see what we can do with that,” Newell said.
They intend to keep as much of the original wood, windows and skylights as possible.
Stein and Demetree have been working for more than eight years to rezone the project and prepare to build. Because of traffic concerns, some area residents opposed having a large, nighttime restaurant in the middle of an urban neighborhood. The property was zoned for restaurant use in 2023 through Ordinance 2023-0365.
This floor plan will have two inside bars and limited patio seating. It will serve 120 to 130 customers at capacity, Newell said.
The patio will have a sound buffer built around it much like the Neptune Beach restaurant’s. Newell said there is ample parking in front and in back of the buildings.
Other locations
While these restaurants are in the works, the company is looking for two other properties in the area to open in 2026. The restaurant group is looking in Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties.
“For now, it’s to expand down into the St Augustine area. We want to saturate Jacksonville to where we think we’ve hit our limit, and then we’ll consider moving outside of that,” Newell said.
“We’ve looked at places in the Town Center. But it’s finding that spot where you think you’re gonna get that right mix of everything we’re looking at it from the demographic, to the flow of traffic, to the price of rent versus capacity, all of that factors into it.”