New restaurant alert: What exactly are the 5 Great Things at this Cocoa Beach spot?

Let's talk about Big Daddy J's 5 Great Things Watering Station and Restaurant in Cocoa Beach.

Confused by the name? Let's break it down.

At 6-foot-5, Big Daddy J, aka Jesse Bennett, is pretty big. And he and his lady Rachel Woolery parent 6-year-old Skylar, so there's that.

But the 5 Great Things are the real curiosity. What the heck are they?

The idea, he said, is instead of having a giant menu with lots of dishes that are just OK, he's committed to making those five items great: hickory-smoked brisket, citrus-infused mojo smoked pork, brined turkey, Frito pie and smoked mac and cheese.. Guests can decide if they want one of those five things as a sandwich, a wrap, in tacos or chimichangas, added to a grilled cheese sandwich or stuffed into a giant potato.

Vacillating between the pork and the mac and cheese? The five things are designed to complement one another, so go ahead and load that baked potato with pork, brisket and mac and cheese.

Restaurant of the future

Centering the menu around five core items has several purposes.

Concentrating on those things means they're always consistent, always good.

It streamlines things in the kitchen, making it possible to get orders on the table within 10 minutes.

The bulk of the prep work is done before opening or after closing, Bennett said. During operating hours, a line cook needs to toast bread or dip fries into the grease, but for the most part, dishes only need to be assembled.

The simplified system means fewer people are needed in the kitchen and makes it easier to cross train. Servers know how to prepare the food and cooks know how to wait on tables.

It also means Bennett can raise his employees' wages. Instead of paying four or five cooks per shift, he's paying one.

"I think what we've built here is the future of restaurants," he said. The old restaurant model, with multiple servers, hostesses, bartenders and line cooks isn't sustainable, between the rising minimum wage and staffing shortages.

Learning the business

At 43, Bennett is young enough to have the energy to put in the long hours needed to open and operate a restaurant and old enough to have plenty of experience from which to draw.

"My first job was as a dishwasher at a Perkins," he said. "I worked my way up to front of house."

Originally from Colorado, he worked various restaurant jobs before moving to Key West, where he got neighborhood bar experience.

"I've done this for a while," he said, "but never done it for myself."

Just before the pandemic, he decided to move to Melbourne. He was looking at restaurants for sale, and kept being drawn further north. He ended up buying Beef O'Brady's on Merritt Island in March 2020.

"People thought I was crazy," he said.

Despite the pandemic, he did well with Beef's, increasing business by 75%.

Bennett said he enjoyed getting to know the community and Beef's role in it. Some of his servers have worked there for more than 15 years.

But Beef's is chain, with a menu that's carefully controlled by corporate. He longed for more creativity.

The beginning of 5 Great Things

"I took everything we'd made and put it back on the line," he said.

He leased a building previously occupied by A N.Y. Pizza House on North Atlantic Avenue (State Road A1A), just south of the Cocoa Beach Causeway.

"I came in and gutted the building," he said.

He made room for two bars, plus tables and booths. He reconfigured the kitchen and was able to increase seating, inside and out, from 68 to 115, which enabled him to get a liquor license.

"I was literally pulling out my old high school CAD (computer-aided design) program trying to design seating," he said.

The resulting restaurant opened in late February with a sunny, beachy décor and a dedicated but lean staff that can do any job in the building.

His team includes business partner Shawn Hausman, who serves as general manager, and Tonya Allsopp, who manages Beef's and fills in at 5 Great Things as needed. Both are friends from Colorado who moved to Florida to help out. Bennett also gives props to chef Walter Perez.

"He and the kitchen staff are the heart," he said.

Bennett is excited about the reception 5 Great Things has gotten from locals. It's quickly become more than just a place to eat. The restaurant hosts open mike, karaoke and trivia nights as well as themed parties, local musicians and bike nights.

More food news: Flavor of North Brevard: 5 interesting, innovative restaurants to try in Titusville

More food news: 321 Flavor Bites: July 4 in Rockledge, Leader Brewing beers go statewide; food holidays

Looking to the future

Eventually, he'd like to open 5 Great Things restaurants in other parts of the county and beyond. The five core things can change according to location and the chef's creativity. Maybe one of the five things could be seafood or pot roast. (He's testing out smoked pot roast bites on the specials menu, by the way.)

Heck, the 5 Great Things could change at the Cocoa Beach restaurant over time, depending on what guests like.

For now, Bennett continues to try new recipes. Some are inspired by his mother.

"We wanted to do stuff that reminds you of home," he said. Take that Frito pie, for example, with its ranch-style beans, ground beef, smoked green chilis, roasted tomatoes and cheeses cooked on a Frito crust and served with sour cream and more cheese.

Others he gleans from social media.

"I don't consider myself a chef," he said. "I'm just a guy who cooks. But I'm a hell of a cook."

Which brings us to ...

What is biscuit bread?

He found the recipe for 5GT's popular side online, then tweaked it until he got it right.

"I looked at a million different biscuit recipes and a million different bread recipes," he said. "Originally it was in a smaller tray."

Now the 5GT kitchen turns out big pans of bread that's light and fluffy like biscuits but served in big hunks like double helpings of a sheet cake frosted wtih butter.

There are other sides on the menu — deviled egg potato salad, brussels sprouts cooked with caramelized onion and bacon, sidewinder fries — but that biscuit bread stands out from the crowd.

Maybe Bennett should change the name to 6 Great Things?

Big Daddy J's 5 Great Things Watering Station and Restaurant is at 3850 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach. Call 321-613-2405 or visit bigdaddyjs5gt.com. Hours are 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

Suzy Fleming Leonard is a features journalist with more than three decades of experience. Reach her at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Find her on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard. 

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa Beach eatery uses 5 great things to change future of restaurants