St. Johns Town Center Thread

[blizz01]

Think so - it's the 2nd right into SJTC off of Town Center Parkway.

[copperfiend]

Think so - it's the 2nd right into SJTC off of Town Center Parkway.

There was originally a Ruby Tuesday planned for that parcel but obviously it never got built. I think a Bahama Breeze would be ideal for the SJTC.

[77danj7]

Bahama Breeze over Ruby Tuesday anyday!

[fsujax]

that should do well at the SJTC

[stjr]

There was originally a Ruby Tuesday planned for that parcel but obviously it never got built. I think a Bahama Breeze would be ideal for the SJTC.

A few years ago, I ate at the Bahama Breeze's flagship store on International Drive in Orlando (they are owned by Orlando based Darden Restaurants, also owners of Red Lobster and Olive Garden).  I have eaten at native restaurants in the Bahamas and this is not a Bahamian restaurant.  The menu is, if anything, more Jamaican.  I spoke with the restaurant manager there at the time and he said the reference to the Bahamas was to convey the atmosphere, not the menu.  Go figure.  I thought the concept poorly executed and have no desire to return to it.

I would love to find a restaurant in Jax with authentic Caribbean/Bahamian food because its good stuff, but I don't see it coming from a national chain.

[aj_fresh]

What about Pusser's?

[jason_contentdg]

Saw a set of drawings rolled up at one of the printshops for the SJTC Bahama Breeze today...

[nicktooch]

Saw a set of drawings rolled up at one of the printshops for the SJTC Bahama Breeze today...

lol it's like detective work, i love it.

they've begun work on the store between juicy couture and true religion jeans.  from the site plans i saw it's a boutique for a female british designer specializing in clothing handbags and shoes... the name escapes me... but in the SJTC world this doesnt mean much, that it will even be the "proposed" or when built if it will even survive!

[comncense]

Saw a set of drawings rolled up at one of the printshops for the SJTC Bahama Breeze today...

I hope that actually goes through. I love Bahama Breeze.

[blizz01]

I like it too - It's not like "The Outback" is Australian food....

[Duke]

they've begun work on the store between juicy couture and true religion jeans.  from the site plans i saw it's a boutique for a female british designer specializing in clothing handbags and shoes... the name escapes me... but in the SJTC world this doesnt mean much, that it will even be the "proposed" or when built if it will even survive!

The SJTC page of the Simon Malls website states that the name of this store is "Rock Star."  Never heard of it. 

[stjr]

A few years ago, I ate at the Bahama Breeze's flagship store on International Drive in Orlando (they are owned by Orlando based Darden Restaurants, also owners of Red Lobster and Olive Garden).  I have eaten at native restaurants in the Bahamas and this is not a Bahamian restaurant.  The menu is, if anything, more Jamaican.  I spoke with the restaurant manager there at the time and he said the reference to the Bahamas was to convey the atmosphere, not the menu.  Go figure.  I thought the concept poorly executed and have no desire to return to it.

I would love to find a restaurant in Jax with authentic Caribbean/Bahamian food because its good stuff, but I don't see it coming from a national chain.

Here is the dinner menu sampler from Bahama Breezes web site:
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/menus/dinner/dinner_samplers.asp

Let's see.... Jamaican, West Indies, Cuban, Creole, St. Thomas, miscellaneous.... not one Bahamian dish.  The only thing I could find was under soup and salads:  Bahamian Conch Chowder.  It's not the real thing and you need a microscope to find the conch.

No Bahamian style shrimp, conch soup, conch fritters, conch salad, grouper, snapper, other indigenous seafood, cole slaw, macaroni, creamed spinach, sweet corn bread, etc.  Not one bit!  And no reference to Junkanoo either:

Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas every Boxing Day (December 26), New Year's Day and, more recently, in the summer on the island of Grand Bahama. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital.

Junkanoo was celebrated in various parts of the Americas, and variants of the word's orthography may be found in each place - Jonkonnu or John Canoe in Jamaica; John Kuner in North Carolina; and John Canoe in Belize. In The Bahamas, newspaper accounts of Junkanoo in Nassau between 1849 and 1950 referred to the parade alternately as the Christmas Masquerade, Christmas Carnival, and John Canoe. By the mid-1950's the terms John Canoe and Junkanoo were used interchangeably, and by 1970 Junkanoo became the parade's standard nomenclature. Junkanoo groups "rush" from midnight until shortly after dawn, to the music of cowbells, in costumes made from cardboard covered in tiny shreds of colourful crepe paper, competing for cash prizes.

Modern Bahamian Junkanoo is a parade: a showcase for Bahamian goombay music and new Junkanoo costumes. It is also an event during which unorganized groups of Bahamians celebrate, perhaps unintentionally, themselves, their freedom and, for some, their past. It is the most visible and continually experimental artistic realm of Bahamian culture.

Parades in Nassau are judged in various catergories; A (or Major) Category, the B Category, Individual costume, and fun groups. The A catergory groups involved in the Nassau Junkanoo include The Saxons, The Valley Boys, The Music Makers, Roots, One Family and The Prodigal Sons (New). Groups of the past include, The Vikings and Chippie and the Boys. In the B category groups include One Love Soldiers, Clico Colours, Fancy Dancers, Fox Hill Congos, and Conquerors for Christ. Fun groups include The Pigs, Sting and Barabbas & The Tribe. The Tribe's debut was as an "A" category group, however, after years of bringing innovative techniques in music and costuming to Bay Street, they have returned to the spirit of Junkanoo, and are bringing the fun with a flair.

A Junkanoo parade is featured in sequences of the James Bond film Thunderball that occur in Nassau. The celebration was staged specifically for the movie since it was filmed at the wrong time of year, but local residents were enthusiastic, creating elaborate floats and costumes and involving hundreds of people. The parade was also featured in After the Sunset and Jaws The Revenge.

Junkanoo is also a fruit-flavored soda produced by Pepsi-Co and is only available in The Bahamas, and also a modernized style of music sung by Bahamian band Baha Men.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo

[blizz01]

.............keep the Kalik on ice & I'll be just fine.  Seriously - I'm happy to see something new in town, chain or not, in this economy.  I wouldn't expect many upstarts or "mom & pops" to test the waters at SJTC based on lease rates alone.  I may be the only one with this opinion, but I used to LOVE the Caribbean fair at Da Real Ting.  Get the jerk chicken & plantains.............maybe Eddie Bahama's or Caribee Key at the beach (before the speakers crank late night!).

[copperfiend]

Bahama Breeze is to bahamian food what Olive Garden is to italian food.

[nicktooch]

they've begun work on the store between juicy couture and true religion jeans.  from the site plans i saw it's a boutique for a female british designer specializing in clothing handbags and shoes... the name escapes me... but in the SJTC world this doesnt mean much, that it will even be the "proposed" or when built if it will even survive!

The SJTC page of the Simon Malls website states that the name of this store is "Rock Star."  Never heard of it. 

yeh i had seen a site plan and it was labeled "U-Rock", so goes the evolving mysteries of the SJTC.

Bahama Breeze is to bahamian food what Olive Garden is to italian food.

ha! i second and third that!  My fave commercial from the olive garden: "uncle (insert italian name) came in from Sicily to visit... so we took him to the Olive Garden!"  to that i say: NO u didn't bc i know if i ever tried to take any of my Italian family to Olive Garden they would beat me within an inch of my life lol.