Al's Pizza comes to Mandarin

[JeffreyS]

Al's Pizza comes to Mandarin to open its 6th area location
The chain is already a fixture in other parts of Jacksonville.

http://www.jacksonville.com/community/mandarin_sun/2009-01-31/story/als_pizza_comes_to_mandarin_to_open_its_6th_area_location
    * By Dan Scanlan
   
The bright yellow and green awnings of the old Perkins Restaurant and Bakery are gone.

Al's Pizza has taken over the site at 11190 San Jose Blvd., and Perkins' menu has been replaced by pizzas, calzones and pasta from Al's, a fixture in the Jacksonville area since the first location opened in Atlantic Beach in 1988.

The sixth location opened Tuesday as a 5,400-square-foot, 176-seat eatery - the biggest Al's yet, said Al Mansur, company founder and owner.

"We didn't have any presence on this side of town, and looking at the population count it was the place to be," he said.


Plans to tear down the Perkins building and construct a 15,000-square-foot shopping center fell through in 2006, so Mansur bought the site and had KMH Design and Form and Space redesign the restaurant.

"It was tough to convert the building to what I wanted it to look like," he said. "I wanted to de-Perkinize the building, and I have a great architect and interior designer who works on every project."

The restaurant features an open kitchen, where brick ovens cook the pizzas. Mansur says all sauces and dough are handmade and all cheese is shredded on site.

About 90 employees will staff the new restaurant, all trained at the company's other locations, joined by general managers George Atelevich and John Seisert. The restaurant also serves beer and wine and has a designated area for curb-side orders.
Al's Pizza locations
11190 San Jose Blvd. Mandarin
14286 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville Beach
303 Atlantic Blvd. Atlantic Beach
635 Florida A1A N. Ponte Vedra Beach
1620 Margaret St. Riverside
8060 Philips Highway Southside

[copperfiend]

I like Al's. Glad to see a local company expanding.

[reednavy]

Woo hoo!

[kellypope]

Oh, nice! I wonder if Al Mansur is interested in using local produce for his menu items?

[Cliffs_Daughter]

Hey, I ate there yesterday for lunch. Kinda busy, but this spot has LOTS of space.

This one has really fast service compared to the other one I visit (Riverside), but I think that may be due to not having the great influx of lunch traffic R-side gets.
Food was a tiny bit under what I'd rate the other locations, all in the tiny details. But this is SO what Mandarin needed. Give it some time, it will only get better.

[Jason]

I ate there last week and loved it.  Great calzones!

[ChriswUfGator]

I ate there last week and loved it.  Great calzones!

You got a calzone, and they didn't even beat you up ? Nice...

[Jason]

Everyone else at the table got salads, so they spared me the beating and took care of the rabbits.