"Emerging as the city's most ethnically diverse neighborhood."

[Dog Walker]

There is a Korean/Sushi restaurant in the Landing and one on University a mile north of Philips Highway.  Haven't eaten in either for years.  Anyone have any reviews for us?

You can't get real bulgogi in the US.  We don't have water buffalo here. The cow beef version is still pretty good.  Wonder if American bison would get closer to the Korean version taste?

[John P]

In my time in Springfield I would not call it the most ethnically diverse area but it is the most socioeconomically diverse area. Riverside used to be but not any more its mostly past that stage of gentrification. Now it is Springfield.

[ben says]

There is a Korean/Sushi restaurant in the Landing and one on University a mile north of Philips Highway.  Haven't eaten in either for years.  Anyone have any reviews for us?

You can't get real bulgogi in the US.  We don't have water buffalo here. The cow beef version is still pretty good.  Wonder if American bison would get closer to the Korean version taste?

Have you been here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hon-korean-restaurant-jacksonville#hrid:dTTnLGeFP6AaZ1LVzzCzCw

Hear fantastic things...like you, I was under the impression the only Korean place was on University. Not a fan of that place, at all....this place looks great though.

[MandolinGirl]

Lutheran Social Services is the agency that is responsible for placing immigrant populations here in Jacksonville.  Starting in the late 80s, they preferred to place out near baymeadows and southside (especially beach and University area)

Its become the center of our immigrant community as a result.

I teach at Englewood High and can tell you that it is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) magnet, so that might explain the placement of families near there.

[JaxByDefault]

I do miss good ethnic food though.  Is there a good Korean restaurant in Jax?  I have been hankering for bulgogi lately...

Ben Says is right.  Hon Korean Restaurant is pretty good and authentic (at least based on what my Korean friends and others who have lived in Korea tell me).

There is also a Korean grocery store in the same strip mall called Dae-Ho Oriental Food Store. They have a small cafe to the left as you enter the store--lunch only, I believe. The two old Korean women make some yummy stuff...and it's super cheap. I think it may be cash only.

[duvaldude08]

Yes, it's time to revise those headings.  There are a few zip codes in the Southside that appear to be the most ethically diverse (one being Baymeadows, another being the Sandalwood area off Atlantic).

Click on this link, suggest racial/ethnic distribution for census 2010, and zoom in on Jacksonville:

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map

Yes baymeadows is definately diverse for sure. One of the most diverse areas in the city actually. When I moved out here two years ago I was amazed at all the different races that reside out here. It makes me very comfortable. If you love Indian food, baymeadows is definately the place to get it!

[Dog Walker]

I do miss good ethnic food though.  Is there a good Korean restaurant in Jax?  I have been hankering for bulgogi lately...

Ben Says is right.  Hon Korean Restaurant is pretty good and authentic (at least based on what my Korean friends and others who have lived in Korea tell me).

There is also a Korean grocery store in the same strip mall called Dae-Ho Oriental Food Store. They have a small cafe to the left as you enter the store--lunch only, I believe. The two old Korean women make some yummy stuff...and it's super cheap. I think it may be cash only.

Didn't know it existed!  Good to know.  I tend to get nosebleeds if I get outside a zip code that doesn't have a zero in the next to last space so haven't been out that way for some time.

[Dashing Dan]

The USA is moving towards a more European model, with expensive housing near the city center, and the more affordable housing out in the suburbs, with the result that our outer areas are becoming more ethnically diverse, while inner neighborhoods are becoming more affluent.  I think that this is one of the main reasons why there are rising levels of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities on roads like Beach Blvd, which were built almost exclusively for cars.

[ben says]

I do miss good ethnic food though.  Is there a good Korean restaurant in Jax?  I have been hankering for bulgogi lately...

Ben Says is right.  Hon Korean Restaurant is pretty good and authentic (at least based on what my Korean friends and others who have lived in Korea tell me).

There is also a Korean grocery store in the same strip mall called Dae-Ho Oriental Food Store. They have a small cafe to the left as you enter the store--lunch only, I believe. The two old Korean women make some yummy stuff...and it's super cheap. I think it may be cash only.

Didn't know it existed!  Good to know.  I tend to get nosebleeds if I get outside a zip code that doesn't have a zero in the next to last space so haven't been out that way for some time.

Same here, hate leaving the core...especially 32202/32204/32205/32207.

I've never heard of Hon Korean either, until last week. Look forward to checking it out. Been going over yelp and Cari-Sanchez Potter's old posts lately, finding a bunch of hidden ethnic gems sprinkled around town.

Btw, I'm an ethnic food junkie. While I hate leaving the core, I don't know what I'd do without Beach Blvd, University, and Baymeadows for ethnic food. 02/04/05/07 is seriously lacking. Bowl of Pho, the Indian restaurants on Baymeadows Middle Eastern on University, Japanese supermarket/Korean/World Food market on Beach, all come to mind..

[Debbie Thompson]

Lutheran Social Services is the agency that is responsible for placing immigrant populations here in Jacksonville.  Starting in the late 80s, they preferred to place out near baymeadows and southside (especially beach and University area)

Its become the center of our immigrant community as a result.

I teach at Englewood High and can tell you that it is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) magnet, so that might explain the placement of families near there.

Actually, I think it may be the other way around.  I lived 4 blocks from Engelwood from 1967 to 2001, and graduated from there.  Lutheran Social Services on Philips Highway began placing refugee families in our neighborhood quite some time ago.  When magnet schools were developed, Englewood became a Communications Magnet.  I didn't realize it was now the ESOL magnet, and that makes sense, but I think was because of the large concentration of refugee families placed near there, not the other way around.  The homes are older (1960's), smaller (1200-1500 sq. ft.), not in an historic district, and consequently affordable.

When I visit friends who still live in the area, I find it pretty much as diverse as Springfield, where we now live.

[hooplady]

It's a chicken-egg thing.  Why are there so many Hmong in Minnesota?  Because somebody moved there and others followed.  I suspect it's the same for Arabic cultures to Michigan, Puerto Ricans to New York, Portuguese to Providence, Greeks to Tarpon Springs.

It just takes the first adventurous immigrant to start the wave.  Whether it's a job, a specific social service agency offering help, or just throwing a dart at the map, it starts with one and others have a reason to go to the same place.

I always wondered why there were lots of Koreans around me but not a lot of Vietnamese, Estonians but not Russians, Poles but not Czechs, etc.  For whatever reason, the Italian restaurants were run by Greeks (I grew up thinking moussaka was Italian).  It could be very different in my hometown now, depending on the specific economic or political pressures going on in various places in the world.

Mmmm...now I want bulgogi AND moussaka!

[Debbie Thompson]

Me, too!  And there's a really good Italian restaurant near Englewood.  Luigi's.  Best lasagna in town. 

[Dog Walker]

Me, too!  And there's a really good Italian restaurant near Englewood.  Luigi's.  Best lasagna in town. 

Haven't tasted Luigi's, but it's going to be very hard to beat Carmines vegetarian lasagna.  It's simply fantastic!

[Kaiser Soze]

There's an annoying trend in many discussions in the 21st century American media on urban issues that uses the term "diverse" to mean "a large percentage of African-Americans".  Of course this isn't what the word means at all, but much too often I see it used that way and it always grates on my nerves.

I liked it better when we called the area where all the Chinese lived "China Town" and there area where all the Italians lived "Little Italy."  At least you knew that if you wanted the best General Tso's chicken, you could simply head to China Town.  You want some manicotti, head to Little Italy.  I guess "Little Herzegovina" would be a bit of a mouthful and, frankly, I don't know what the hell Bosnians eat. 

Even Kaiser Soze won't touch the name for the area dominated by African-Americans.

[PhanLord]

we ignore "Herzegovinians" anyway
so Little Bosna would be fine or Little Balkans in order not to offend anyone too much

and as far as what Bosnians eat if they are like me they eat everything that doesnt move too fast.