After 84 years serving fried chicken and creamed peas, iconic Jacksonville restaurant razed
A Jacksonville dining destination since 1939 is no more.
Beach Road Chicken Dinners — once the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the city — was torn down Wednesday to make way for a planned 270-unit luxury apartment community.
In its heyday, the iconic restaurant at 4132 Atlantic Blvd. in the heart of the St. Nicholas neighborhood, routinely attracted diners from throughout the state.
Unpretentious and renamed Beach Road Fish House & Chicken Dinners with new ownership in 2019, the restaurant was known for its classic Southern fried chicken dinners boasting scratch-made biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy and creamed peas.
The demolition went quickly Wednesday morning.
The chicken and fish restaurant is the most recent longtime Jacksonville restaurant demolished to clear the way for redevelopment. It joins the former Taco Bell at 3649 Philips Highway and Emerson Street, which recently was razed to be replaced by a Circle K convenience store.
Before closing in 2020, the restaurant had served lunchtime and late-night customers from downtown, Five Points and San Marco for about 33 years as one of Jacksonville's oldest taco joints.
Also falling to the wrecking ball was River City Brewing Co. at 835 Museum Circle, which closed on July 18, 2021, after 27 years in business on the Southbank of downtown. River City Brewing was demolished in July 2022 to clear the way for a mixed-use project calling for 410 multifamily apartments, a 4,559-square-foot restaurant and a 511-space parking garage.
Historic restaurant
The demolition of Beach Road comes more than seven months after it closed permanently.
Veteran restauranteurs Nathan Stuart and his wife and business partner, Margo Klar, took over the restaurant in 2019 — ending Beach Road Chicken Dinners’ run as the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Jacksonville.
Previous owners Kenneth and Tena Ferger operated the restaurant for decades. The couple announced their planned retirement In 2019 and set about to find a successor — ultimately Stuart and Klar — to take over the restaurant.
They subsequently reopened as Beach Road Fish House & Chicken Dinners.
The couple kept the popular fried chicken dinners but expanded the menu to include the seafood component that Stuart has found success with at a number of area restaurants: Julington Creek Fish House & Oyster Co. in Saint Johns, Orange Park Fish House & Oyster Bar, New Berlin Fish House & Oyster Bar in North Jacksonville, Seafood Kitchen in Atlantic Beach, St. Augustine Fish House & Oyster Bar and others.
They bought the property for $1 million in a sale recorded Oct. 29, 2021, Duval County property and court records show. On Feb. 27, records show the property was sold to St. Nicholas MF Partners LLC for $1.9 million. The restaurant closed its doors a day later.
New apartment community
Corner Lot of Jacksonville is developing the restaurant site and neighboring property — totaling roughly 7 acres — into a luxury apartment community.
One of the largest independent, privately owned real estate development firms in North Florida, Corner Lot is responsible for multiple apartment projects underway near downtown as well as a number of commercial developments.
A fond farewell: The story of Chopstick Charley's, Jacksonville's oldest Chinese restaurant
Erich Geisler, senior project manager, said the Beach Road Chicken Dinners site apartment community is "in the engineering and architectural design process."
"We're excited to bring a brand-new apartment community to the area. Details will follow soon," Geisler said.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest dining coverage.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville's Beach Road Chicken Dinners restaurant demolished
