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After buying the landmark Players Grille in Miramar and expanding the concept to Mandarin, Orange Park — and soon, Brooklyn — Players Group LLC is proposing a new restaurant on Jacksonville’s Southbank.
But don’t expect a large menu of wings, burgers, sandwiches and appetizers in a sports bar setting with TVs showing the Jaguars and other live sporting events.
Instead, the restaurant group headed by Philip Visali is planning tapas and entrees like Slow Cooked Bone-in Beef Shank and Grilled Salmon in a new concept, described as an “upscale restaurant, lounge and garden patio.”
Known as Prudential Club, the 9,000-square-foot restaurant is planned for 1430 Prudential Drive, according to documents submitted to Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority as part of an application for funding via the Retail Enhancement Program through the Southside Community Redevelopment Area and shared in a draft agenda for a DIA committee meeting on Thursday.
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The siteis a 70-year-old building across from Extended Stay America in the former longtime home of the American Cancer Society, and more recently, WE Insure, Inc., the insurance brokerage/franchise company that Visali sold in 2021 before buying Players Grille a year later.
The building, which is owned by Visali, is also expected to house a 2,888-square-foot upscale liquor retail store listed as 904 Liquors on a June 21 building permit.
Prudential Club plans show indoor and outdoor seating for nearly 350 guests
The restaurant will seat about 250 inside and more than 90 in an outdoor area, in the 6,800-square-foot former Cancer Survivor’s Patio, a feature of former tenant American Cancer Society, plans shared with the DIA show. Among the outdoor seating areas is a covered, 15-seat bar.
Inside, seating is available in the main dining room (94 seats), main bar (32), a rear dining room (40) featuring a stage, a private dining area (12) and lounge seating (68) scattered throughout the restaurant, plans show.
A retractable wall would allow the main dining room to be closed off from other areas, including the stage area, for special events.
The restaurant and liquor store will share the building’s existing entrance, plans show.
Prudential Club menu: What to expect
From the kitchen, expect upscale tapas, entrees and desserts.
A sample menu included with the application shows a selectionof tapas, including Bacon Wrapped Dates, Warm Anchovy, Slow Cooked Short Rib, Berkshire Pork Belly, Octopus, Meatball and more. Entrees include Slow Cooked Bone-in Beef Shank, Grilled Salmon, Prudential Burger and Roasted Half Chicken. Dessert options include Warm Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Custard, Gelato and Churro.
Prudential Club would join upscale restaurants , which opened a year ago, and mainstay bb’s restaurant and bar in a two-block stretch of Prudential Drive and nearby dining landmarks Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Chart House, both on the Southbank Riverwalk.
As Players Grille expands, group launches new dining concept
Prudential Club marks the second restaurant concept for Visali, who entered the restaurant market in December 2022 with the purchase of Players Grille.
A year ago, Players Group LLC — which includes Visali’s wife and business partner, Megan, — opened a second Players Grille, at 10140 San Jose Blvd. in the former Time Out Sports Grill. A third, smaller “express” version of Players Grille opened at 1075 Oakleaf Plantation Parkway, Suite 104, in August 2023, but closed months later.
In June, the Visalis sold the original Players Grille in Miramar to Beau Ward and Dawn Kenney, who renamed the sports bar Players Locker Room, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported.
Now, as Players Group LLC seeks funding support for its Prudential Club concept, work is set to begin on another Players Grille restaurant, this one at 600 Park St., No. 10, in the 100-room Home2Suites by Hilton hotelinthe historic Brooklyn neighborhood. A building permit for the 3,100-square-foot restaurant was issued just last week, according to city records.
The Visalis, who brought on former Wing-It co-owner Dave Morency as director of operations for Players Grille a year ago, hope to expand the neighborhood sports bar concept to other NFL cities, they told the Times-Union a year ago.
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