Jacksonville food hall, live music venue The Block Jax nears opening
Owner Daniel Moffatt offers a preview of The Block Jax, a new outdoor food hall, live music venue and dog park, nearing completion in Jacksonville.
A new family-oriented entertainment venue called The BLOCK Jax is set to open in Jacksonville.The 2.5-acre venue will feature an outdoor food hall with eight restaurants and a craft brewery.It will also include a kids’ park, a live music pavilion, and a private dog park.The grand opening celebration is scheduled for the weekend of March 20-22.
A first-of-its-kind, family-oriented Jacksonville entertainment venue with an outdoor food hall featuring eight restaurants and a craft brewery, plus a kids’ park, live music pavilion and a private dog park, is getting ready to open.
The BLOCK Jax will debut March 20-22 with a grand opening weekend celebration, owner and founder Daniel Moffatt told the Times-Union on Feb. 11.
“It’s official. I’m going to make it happen one way or another. Unless there is something catastrophic that happens, we’re in a good spot. We’re wrapping up construction in the next week, and then we’ve got inspections and licensing at the end of the month,” Moffatt said.
The 2.5-acre venue at 7520 Quarter Mill Drive off Gate Parkway — roughly a half mile north of IKEA on the Southside — has been in the works for slightly more than two years.
“It wasn’t a cookie-cutter project. … The biggest challenge has just been building something new and unique to this area that hasn’t been done before,” Moffatt said. “Essentially, we’ve built eight different restaurants on site. We have a live music pavilion area. We have a kids’ park and then the Kanine Social dog park area.”
Restaurants, craft brewery at The BLOCK Jax
The BLOCK will feature a diverse menu of established Jacksonville restaurants as well as newcomers.
Chancho King will lead off the roster — opening a second location of its authentic Ecuadoran restaurant based at 1130 Edgewood Ave. S. in historic Murray Hill.
The restaurant is led by husband-and-wife chefs Chason Spencer and Maria La Mota. The couple was recently named among James Beard Award semifinalists, one of the culinary industry’s most prestigious honors.
The Bearded Piglet, a satellite restaurant of popular Jacksonville barbecue The Bearded Pig, 1808 Kings Ave. in San Marco, plans to offer pulled pork, chopped brisket and baby back ribs plus several side dishes, Chad Munsey, barbecue co-owner, previously told the Times-Union.
Just Kitchen Pita Bar comes from Just Kitchen, a Mediterranean restaurant led by chef Justin Rohloff, based at 13423 Beach Blvd., No. 104. Just Kitchen offers fresh Greek and Mediterranean fare, with guests encouraged to customize their salads, wraps, and platters. The pita bar is expected to offer shawarma as well as other Greek and Mediterranean food.
Moffatt said The BLOCK will introduce Stack’d, which is a new smash burger concept from Rohloff. Stack’d will serve classics such as the American burger, cheeseburgers, bacon burgers, crispy fries, onion rings and fried pickles. The restaurant takes the place of Let ‘Em Cook, an unrelated concept initially announced as coming to the venue but needed more operational preparations than immediately feasible.
Award-winning Southern Swells Brewing Co. will be the on-site craft brewery. Established in 2017 at 1312 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville Beach, it’s known for Hazy IPAs, lagers and inspired seasonal beers.
The BLOCK’s other restaurants:
Dairy Joy Tampa: A family-owned old-fashioned ice cream parlor dating back to 1958 in Tampa. The shop specializes in about 30 flavors of premium ice cream, dipped cones, “boat sundaes,” milkshakes, snow cones, smoothies, root beer floats and more, according to its website.The Hungry Owl Asian Eatery: Known for Thai and Southeast Asian fare, The Hungry Owl has been a local food truck since 2019, according to its social media pages. The Block Jax will be its first brick-and-mortar location.Dark Side Tacos from The Dark Side of the Spoon LLC catering company: Described on its website as founded “to curate one-of-a-kind culinary taco catering experiences.” Its website lists a taco catering menu including adobo chipotle chicken, pulled pork, sweet potato ground beef, chorizo and ground beef, and more.Slingin’ Wieners: Offering gourmet wieners in a first-of-its-kind concept for Jacksonville, according to an Aug. 20 Instagram post announcing The Block Jax restaurants.
‘Food. Family. Fun.’
The BLOCK promises to be “pet-friendly and kid-approved.” Its tagline is “Food. Family. Fun.” Its Instagram page invites guests to come out and enjoy “Jacksonville’s backyard for great food, live music and easy hangouts.”
In addition to the restaurants and craft brewery, the venue features a spacious Kids on the Block Play Area — designed to be “a little bit different” from a traditional playground.
“We’re going to have these big hills that kids can climb up, roll and slide down. And there are tunnels through them. We’re going to have life-size Candyland and Chutes and Ladders,” Moffatt previously told the Times-Union.
To offset Florida’s hot, humid weather, the play area will have at least 2,000 square feet of shaded areas, and refreshments will be available, according to The BLOCK’s past social media posts.
In addition, the venue’s main seating area will be under a 10,000-square-foot covered pavilion that will include two 24-foot fans.
There will be a 30-foot-by-16-foot LED screen wall on the back of the venue’s stage so people can watch football or other sports, movies, or concerts “from any seat in the house.”
The original Kanine Social will remain open at 580 College St. near downtown. The new one at The BLOCK will be larger with enhanced amenities, including an expansive outdoor off-leash dog park, as well as more indoor space for daycare, boarding and related services.
The BLOCK will have about 130 on-site parking spaces, with overflow parking planned to be available nearby.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
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