A Starving Like Marvin restaurant is set to open in mid-October in Arlington.
Owner Marvin Hearman will open the restaurant, his second, at 2111 University Blvd. N. in the former Angelo’s Italian Restaurant, which closed in 2004.
He opened his first Starving Like Marvin at 311 W. Ashley St., between Pearl and Julia streets, Downtown in the ground floor of City Residences.
The restaurant serves seafood and soul food and other Southern favorites.
Hearman, 42, was a merchant seaman for 14 years before starting his Starvin Like Marvin food truck 10 years ago. He opened his brick-and-mortar location 1½ years ago, he said.
Praxol Investments Corp. of Jacksonville owns the Arlington property. Praxol Corp. bought it from Angelo’s Italian Restaurant Inc. in September 2005 for $610,000.
The 5,652-square-foot building was constructed in 1983.
Nesmith Construction of Jacksonville is the contractor for the Starving Like Marvin project. John Reep Architect designed the building renovations.
Hearman estimates that construction costs will be about $200,000.
The menu includes chicken wings and tenders, fried shrimp, oysters and fish and crab cakes. The restaurant will serve beer and wine.
Staying local is what brings in his customers, Hearman said.
“We serve freshly caught local seafood,” he said.
“We have our good and bad days but we still keep rolling.”
City Council member Ken Amaro, whose District 1 includes Arlington, said he welcomes the restaurant.
“There has been several attempts to maximize the use of that space. I believe Starving Like Marvin will be a good fit. It not only fills a void, but the cuisine will be embraced by the Arlington community,” he said in an email.
The Ashley Street restaurant seats about 20 customers. The new one will seat 130 to 140.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Hours Downtown are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sunday.
Hours for the Arlington store have not been set. Hearman said he expects to stay open later to accommodate a larger dinner crowd.