Al Mansur to open Iguana on Park in South Avondale

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville restaurateur Al Mansur has chosen which of his restaurant concepts to open at the closed South Kitchen & Spirits restaurant he bought last fall in South Avondale.

Mansur, through Avondale Dining LLC, filed the name "Iguana on Park" with the state Feb. 18.

"We will be moving forward with the Flying Iguana concept," Mansur said by email Feb. 21. "The new sister restaurant will be called Iguana on Park."

The restaurant describes its menu as a fusion of Latin American cuisine that also features creative cocktails, tequilas and craft beers.

Full article: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/al-mansur-to-open-iguana-on-park-in-south-avondale

[BridgeTroll]

Yesssss.... 

[Peter Griffin]

I really used to like South Kitchen and was sad to see it closed, but I like Flying Iguana even better! It'll be sweet to have a location closer than waaaaaay out at Atlantic Beach.

[CityLife]

Great addition. What an embarrassment of food riches R/A has these days. Flying Iguana is one of my favorite restaurants in Jax.

[jcjohnpaint]

Very excited.  South Kitchen did a really nice job with a building.  Too bad it didn't work out.  When they started out, the food was good. 

[JeffreyS]

5 minute walk for some Latin flavor.

[acme54321]

Very excited.  South Kitchen did a really nice job with a building.  Too bad it didn't work out.  When they started out, the food was good.

South Kitchen has a weird vibe.  One of those things you couldn't put your finger on.  Wasn't surprised it closed.

[Florida Power And Light]

Very excited.  South Kitchen did a really nice job with a building.  Too bad it didn't work out.  When they started out, the food was good.

South Kitchen has a weird vibe.  One of those things you couldn't put your finger on.  Wasn't surprised it closed.

Yes indeed. I tried so hard to patronize.
This latest effort hopefully successful, already I  like the exterior painting, presence.

[fsu813]

Iguana on Park is permanently closing after today.

[acme54321]

Not a surprise.  The place has been off for a while now.

[jax_hwy_engineer]

That restaurant space is cursed...

[Josh]

That sucks. They had some great tacos on the menu.

[Captain Zissou]

I think part of the problem is the size.  It's a huge restaurant and not well laid out. It would function better as two smaller spaces.  Already they are trying to have two different experiences in one larger space with the huge dining room that's always dead when you walk in and then you walk past that to get to the bar/bar lounge with the patio spaces surrounding it. Actually split it into 2 venues with different menus/atmospheres and I think it would work better. You could even do something like Taverna/Oceana with split FOH but a combined kitchen. 

[jaxlongtimer]

Restaurants are tough nowadays. 

Inexperienced people, and/or short staffed in both the front and back of the house... resulting in inconsistent food quality and service... plus food and labor inflation that exceeds general inflation... forcing to sell at greatly inflated prices.  The value proposition is just hard to deliver to customers.  And, tariffs, even at 10%, raising costs while scaring away customer spending, are not going to help things.

Over the past year or so, we have been fortunate to eat at some of the area's "premier" eateries, and they have, many of the times, been disappointing, falling off from their past glory or failing to live up to the pricing on the menu.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to start a new place right now unless experienced family members ran the whole show.

[Dolph1975]

Not a surprise.  The place has been off for a while now.

Very true.  Not to mention the fact that the area seem over saturated with Mexican food.  Pity though, I enjoyed the drinks there...