Jan's Beach House Grill likely to remain open until September

Somewhere there's a pink neon clock ticking down after almost a dozen years of friends, food, drinks, music, dancing and, yes, flamingos at Jan’s Beach House Grill in Montgomery — but the party’s not over quite yet.

Yes, their lease at 850 Eastern Blvd. is up at the end of June, and the building’s owner is in the process of selling it.

“But we have been told that we’re going to be able to stay 90 more days,” said restaurant owner Jan Goings. “It looks like it will be the end of September before we have to close.”

That’s an estimate. Goings said she’s still waiting to hear the closing date for the property’s sale. Goings believes the popular local restaurant’s final days will happen during Jan’s 12^th anniversary.

“We’re just kind of in limbo at this minute, but we have been told for sure that it’s happening,” Goings said.

What she knows for certain is that Goings doesn’t plan to reopen Jan’s elsewhere.

“I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago,” Goings said. “I just realize that I don’t need to try to reopen. It’s a lot more hard work than people realize to open a restaurant and to run a restaurant.”

Goings said her staff is devastated over news of the upcoming closure.

“So far, they’re all saying they want to stay until the end,” she said. “They love this place so much, and they don’t want to leave me having not enough servers to take care of business.”

Asked what she’ll miss the most about her restaurant, Goings said it’s the customers — who’ve told her they’ve made lasting friendships during their visits. Goings said she and her staff love them.

“We have some of the best people in Montgomery, and the surrounding counties, that come here,” Goings said. “They appreciate us so much. They treat us like family. We love them like family.”

Jan’s faced another, more temporary, closure during the pandemic. When they reopened, Goings said customers showed up en masse to show their support. Since word got out about an upcoming permanent shutdown, Goings said they’ve had a similar reaction.

“Because people think we’re closing at the end of June, we’ve had a lot more customers, a lot more parties planned,” she said.

Though the restaurant’s final days will be a celebration, it’ll be a bittersweet one for Goings.

“I was ready to semi-retire, but I definitely wasn’t ready for this place to go away,” Goings said. “It’s really heartbreaking for a lot of us… It’s a weird thing for a place to come to an end that’s been such a wonderful place.”

Beach House serves up food and music

Goings is a big fan of her restaurant’s lunchtime vegetables and nightly food specials, items like tuna steak and pan-seared grouper. Jan’s has also become well known in the community for steaks.

“We serve those after five every day,” Goings said. “We have several really good cooks that know how to cook a steak.”

Beyond the food and drinks, Jan’s has been a constant source of live music for the Montgomery area, always without a cover charge and able to accommodate both bands and a dance floor.

From Wednesday through Saturday, Jan’s features a variety of local music talent, including an act that's have been playing exclusively at the restaurant for about a year.

Tommy Peters, who plays there with his with wife in Tommy & Kay on the first Saturday of each month, said they’ve performed at Jan’s for about 9 years. The couple also plays in the new four-piece band Kayotics, which is at Jan’s on the second Friday of each month.

“Her place is always fun,” said Tommy Peters, who said Jan’s is like the classic TV show “Cheers,” where everybody knows everybody. He’s gotten to know most of the regular audience members, and said his favorite dish there is the chicken bites with teriyaki sauce.

“Jan’s is going to be hard to replace,” he said. “It’s definitely the ‘Cheers’ bar of Montgomery, for sure... We’ll be out there until Jan’s closes.”

Goings said she’s always been a fan of live music.

“We cater to our older folks with our kind of music,” Goings said. “We have a lot of dancing and a lot of fun in here at night.”

The dance crowd often includes Goings and her husband.

“We’re thinking, where are we going to go now?” she said. “It’s just been the best place.”

A pink bird paradise

The restaurant’s décor has a strong oceanside vibe mixed with one of Goings’ favorite birds, pink flamingos.

“If people had never been here, they would laugh because there are hundreds of flamingo things in here, and almost all are gifts,” Goings said. “Pictures on the walls, figurines and anything you can think of.”

Probably the most precious flamingo among them to Goings is Mrs. Ruth, the huge one outside in the grass that welcomes guests as they drive into the lot. This big bird is named after Goings’ late mother. A year before her death, when she was 93, the original Ruth had a revelation while eating lunch.

“She said, ‘Jan, you need a giant flamingo out front.’ I laughed at her. I said, ‘Where are we going to find a giant metal flamingo?’ She said, ‘I don’t know, but you’ll find one, one day,’” Goings said. “Sure enough, some of my friends discovered this big flamingo, and they bought it for me for my birthday several years ago.”

You’d think the life of a giant metal bird would be pretty sweet, and it was — right up until someone crashed into it during a police chase last year, Goings said. Fortunately for Mrs. Ruth, Goings’ new husband (then fiancé) Keith Sdao is a retired welder and was able to restore it.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask if they can buy her when we close, but she’s going to stay with me,” Goings said. “Don’t know where she’s going, but I guess she’s going in my backyard by the pool.”

Fortunately for Jan’s customers, Mrs. Ruth has a lot of small siblings that will be available as keepsakes.

“I’m going to keep some things, but I’m definitely going to sell some things and give some things away,” Goings said. “A lot of people are already asking me for things they want.”

Among them is Tommy Peters, who said he’d like to get his hands on a flamingo keepsake.

She’s also planning on printing commemorative Jan’s Beach House Grill t-shirts.

She brought beach life to Montgomery

Montgomery is many things, but it’s definitely not a beach town. So why’d she open a “Beach House” themed restaurant here to begin with?

“I’ve always loved the beach,” Goings said. “I’ve never really wanted to live there, but I’ve always just loved it. When I go on vacation, I almost always go to the beach. I just think it’s the place that I feel closest to God. I just love it.”

So when she opened the restaurant, Goings wanted Jan’s to have that same casual beach life atmosphere.

“You can wear your sundress or your shorts or whatever, and feel comfortable,” Goings said.

Now that she and her husband are looking for a new house, and will soon be free of restaurant duties, Goings said rumors have been flying that they’re moving to the beach. That rumor is false. She said they’ll be sticking to the Montgomery area.

“I have too many friends here, and I have family here,” Goings said. “I won’t leave my friends and family for anything. I love the beach, but only to visit. Not to live.”

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Jan's Beach House Grill likely to remain open until September