Kickbacks planning an expansion

[Tacachale]

I'm sure they'll have some cheese to pair with your whine.

[RiversideLoki]

Fantastic contribution to the conversation, really. You deserve an award.

[johnnyliar]

I Lol'd at Tacachale's comment. If that's worth anything. 

[Kickbackssteve]

"I find it hard to believe that a restaurant with a lot of beer, a lot of pennies glued to the wall, and a steampunk theme serving the same food that everywhere else is serving is gonna be revolutionary. Especially after taking two years to open."

1. We're not a restaurant with a lot of beer, we're a restaurant hard core focused on food, that will just happen to have the biggest beer selection in the entire world.
2.  As anyone that knows me should know, the 1,000,000 pennies on the walls are admittedly a mistake by me because they were only intended to serve as a back drop for the amazing art that 3 neighborhood artists have spent YEARS creating. In much the same way that every great painting deserves a great frame.  But I never expected them to "steal the show", as they have in your case, away from truly amazing art that you never even mentioned in your comment. 
3. As I've said from the beginning, we will be serving the same menu we have for years, plus another 150 items from around the world, that you typically don't see on menus in Jacksonville, and do it at an affordable price, in fair portion, in a lightning fast service, with zero ounces of pretention added.
4. Building something special takes time.  Especially when you fight the forces of nature, and are determined to build an underground, Belgian inspired dining room and bar, no matter the expense or delay. But for the basement space and all of the construction beneath and around its 3 foot thick slab, we could have opened the space a year ago.

I have never said we are awesome, and never will, in fact, all I want is for us to "suck a little less everyday". Never being satisfied has worked for me until now, and I'm not gonna change. I think your comment is rude, undeserved, misguided and an insult to myself and the work has been done so far, both in front of the curtain and behind it.  The space has brought people literally to tears and if you don't think that Jacksonville should be proud of it, maybe you are part of the problem with this city and ZERO part of the solution.

[Jason]

This place is going to be amazing.   

[MusicMan]

Is there a "Grand Opening" date set yet? Can Steve post a pic or 2?

[Slackiinoff]

1. We're not a restaurant with a lot of beer, we're a restaurant hard core focused on food, that will just happen to have the biggest beer selection in the entire world.

Looking forward to the new menu, went in a week or two ago for the first time in a while and the food had actually gotten significantly worse. I got a buffalo chicken sandwich and apparently they've switched to tiny, clearly processed patties instead of what i remember being a solid sandwich. I had ordered hot but got mild and the waitress wouldnt send it back, eventually i got her to just bring me some hot sauce because i was tired of arguing about it.

Ramen noodles that used to come in a large bowl with tasty crackers to dip in the soup is now just a small little bowl of ramen with nothing. That combined with the crazy serving method now where they just bring out anything when its ready instead of together made for a rough night. (I got my mac and cheese, which i just remembered was also awful compared to what it used to be, clearly just microwaved and gross, a good twenty minutes after my sandwich? Brother ordered eggs and bacon that came 20 minutes apart too)

Anyway, Im a big supporter of the restaurant and everything you've done for Riverside but if you want an honest review on how you can improve here it is. I feel like the focus on speed has come at a cost of quality. I never minded waiting for good food before. And that their has been a noticeable decrease in the quality of the ingredients going into the food. It was bad for even bar food.

[Know Growth]

a lot of pennies glued to the wall

Growin' up in North Miami,we had the Bottle Cap Inn- walls,and ceilings covered with bottle caps.

Time we caught up here 

[Bativac]

1. We're not a restaurant with a lot of beer, we're a restaurant hard core focused on food, that will just happen to have the biggest beer selection in the entire world.

Looking forward to the new menu, went in a week or two ago for the first time in a while and the food had actually gotten significantly worse. I got a buffalo chicken sandwich and apparently they've switched to tiny, clearly processed patties instead of what i remember being a solid sandwich. I had ordered hot but got mild and the waitress wouldnt send it back, eventually i got her to just bring me some hot sauce because i was tired of arguing about it.

Ramen noodles that used to come in a large bowl with tasty crackers to dip in the soup is now just a small little bowl of ramen with nothing. That combined with the crazy serving method now where they just bring out anything when its ready instead of together made for a rough night. (I got my mac and cheese, which i just remembered was also awful compared to what it used to be, clearly just microwaved and gross, a good twenty minutes after my sandwich? Brother ordered eggs and bacon that came 20 minutes apart too)

Anyway, Im a big supporter of the restaurant and everything you've done for Riverside but if you want an honest review on how you can improve here it is. I feel like the focus on speed has come at a cost of quality. I never minded waiting for good food before. And that their has been a noticeable decrease in the quality of the ingredients going into the food. It was bad for even bar food.

Opposite review here: wife and I were there with friends a couple weeks ago, and the food (as ever) was fantastic. In fact, in my case anyway, Kickbacks is one of the only places in town where I have not had a bad experience. Slow service? Sometimes, but it's a hangout spot, not a "grab and go" place, so speed never bothered me. But the quality has never been anything less than excellent.

Can't wait for the "other side" to open!!

[Kickbackssteve]

Apache, the owner is too nice of a guy to tell you how he really feels about your comments.  Lol.  Our menu will double in size as we grow into our new kitchen.  The menu is/was not our service issue.  The issue was bottlenecks.  Trust me.  I'm in a much better position to know what the problem has been for the past few years than you.  I lived it and suffered through it, knowing that the only solution was to build a bigger kitchen.  And now it is over.  And we are lightning fast.  Do you understand that the kitchen was 1/6 the size that it should have been?  Not enough fry space, flat space, grill space, oven space, hood space to produce the food.  I promise you. 

We buy less than 10% of our products from Sysco, but they are a much better company than they were prior to their merger.  We buy far more from Blue Buddah and other purveyors.   

Some people come for the beer, as you mention.  But most do not.  They are here to eat.  And while they are eating, they drink the beer.  Whether it was the 15 beers we had on tap for the last year or the 204 we will soon have on tap.  People are fascinated by us because we have a fairly interesting story and a fairly interesting product.  People are polarized by us.  Some people love us, others hate us.  Those that love us, will love us more.  Some that hate us, might learn to love us.  Some that hate us, may resent us even more.  Because that's the way some people are.  I personally, am motivated by the hate.  It energizes me.

Nobody is really claiming that we are on some sort of culinary map.  They most likely think we are on a culinary value map, that you get a great meal, relative to the price you pay.  Some may be surprised though by the new items that we will be adding and the improvements we make to our regular menu items.  Some prices will creep up due to higher food prices or due to improvements to food quality, but we want to be affordable to everyone and offer generous portions and use industry standard food cost percentages.

I won't say that we are doing something revolutionary or groundbreaking, but admittedly,  we are doing something different, something kinda special to a lot of people.  Is it possible that an already successful restaurant can drastically improve 8 and a half years into existence?  Is it possible that I'm actually competent and right about what my customers may actually want and how to give it to them?  Is it possible that you are wrong with all of your predictions and you may actually let me buy you dinner on a very busy night and have a decent conversation with you?  I promise not to serve you any crow. 

[duvalbill]

Apache, the owner is too nice of a guy to tell you how he really feels about your comments.  Lol.  Our menu will double in size as we grow into our new kitchen.  The menu is/was not our service issue.  The issue was bottlenecks.  Trust me.  I'm in a much better position to know what the problem has been for the past few years than you.  I lived it and suffered through it, knowing that the only solution was to build a bigger kitchen.  And now it is over.  And we are lightning fast.  Do you understand that the kitchen was 1/6 the size that it should have been?  Not enough fry space, flat space, grill space, oven space, hood space to produce the food.  I promise you. 

We buy less than 10% of our products from Sysco, but they are a much better company than they were prior to their merger.  We buy far more from Blue Buddah and other purveyors.   

Some people come for the beer, as you mention.  But most do not.  They are here to eat.  And while they are eating, they drink the beer.  Whether it was the 15 beers we had on tap for the last year or the 204 we will soon have on tap.  People are fascinated by us because we have a fairly interesting story and a fairly interesting product.  People are polarized by us.  Some people love us, others hate us.  Those that love us, will love us more.  Some that hate us, might learn to love us.  Some that hate us, may resent us even more.  Because that's the way some people are.  I personally, am motivated by the hate.  It energizes me.

Nobody is really claiming that we are on some sort of culinary map.  They most likely think we are on a culinary value map, that you get a great meal, relative to the price you pay.  Some may be surprised though by the new items that we will be adding and the improvements we make to our regular menu items.  Some prices will creep up due to higher food prices or due to improvements to food quality, but we want to be affordable to everyone and offer generous portions and use industry standard food cost percentages.

I won't say that we are doing something revolutionary or groundbreaking, but admittedly,  we are doing something different, something kinda special to a lot of people.  Is it possible that an already successful restaurant can drastically improve 8 and a half years into existence?  Is it possible that I'm actually competent and right about what my customers may actually want and how to give it to them?  Is it possible that you are wrong with all of your predictions and you may actually let me buy you dinner on a very busy night and have a decent conversation with you?  I promise not to serve you any crow. 

*insert shit talking here*

You can buy me dinner too, Steve.

[mtraininjax]

4. Building something special takes time. 

Steve, right it does. And it takes good people. I know many of the staff at Kickback's from years of patronage and you are an innovator, and a guy who comes out with the wow-factor and makes it work. A few years ago you shocked us all at staying open til 3 or 4 then getting people in at 7 to start all over again. When the pool table took away from more seats, you had it removed and returned to serving more table-tops in the area.

The expansion is amazing and will be fantastic when it all comes together, but again "Building something special takes time" and I think its worth waiting for there at KB. I love the fact that you guys brought Pat in from Pele's. He is a great strong guy on the floor to help lead others. You need more good people and I know you will find them. Liz and I are proud of what you have built after the previous issues you had with others.  - Jack

[Bativac]

Honestly, I can not understand the fascination with this place. Especially from people with culinary backgrounds.  Other than the fact that many seem to really like the owner. I'll give him credit for that, sincerely. There must be something to that.

Never met the owner myself. But I have lived in Jax most of my life, traveled extensively too, and this is a pretty unique place as far as Jax goes. As far as the "people with culinary backgrounds" goes, if you're looking for linen tablecloths, bowtied waiters, and molecular gastronomy, no, Kickbacks is not the place to go. But if you want the best Monte Cristo I've ever had and the most eclectic crowd in town, Kickbacks is it.

[JaxNative68]

^not to mention the beer selection is vast!

[MusicMan]

Steve showed me around the new space a few days ago. Totally unique and amazing! It's a big space!
Will be a truly special addition to the Park and King party-sphere.