Burrito Gallery will be opening a 4th location along the southwest corner of Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Boulevard, roughly halfway between the St Johns Town Center and the new 335,000 square foot Ikea opening in November at the intersection of Gate Parkway and the I-295/9A East Beltway.
An aerial view of the site of a large new development called Gateway Village at Town Center at the intersection of Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Boulevard. Image: Cantrell & Morgan
A look at the current site plan for Gateway Village at Town Center. In addition to retail users like Burrito Gallery, the development will include apartments and a Racetrac gas station. Image: Cantrell & Morgan
The first Burrito Gallery opened downtown in 2005, joining a handful of new business openings ahead of Super Bowl XXXIX. Locations would later open in both Jacksonville Beach and Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood. The restaurant features fresh, hand made all natural tacos, burritos, quesadillas and salads. Jacksonville diners have welcomed the ‘Jax Mex’ concept, voting Burrito Gallery as having the ‘best burrito’ in Folio Weekly’s Best of Jax and Void Magazine’s #1 in the 904 contest every year each poll has existed.
Site plan of ‘Outparcel 7 from the image above. Burrito Gallery will be ‘Tenant A’. A new, as-yet announced, concept from M Hospitality Group will occupy the ‘Tenant C’ space. M Hospitality Group includes M Shack, Matthews and Medures.. Image: ELM - Ervin Lovett Miller
The new restaurant will be located within a new a 18.5 acre mixed use development called Gateway Village at Town Center, owned and developed by Cantrell & Morgan. When fully built out, the $75 million Gateway Village at Town Center project will include a 289-unit luxury apartment complex, a Racetrac gas station/convenience store, an urgent care facility and over 38,000 square feet of retail uses.
A preliminary rendering of Burrito Gallery’s Southside location. Image: ELM - Ervin Lovett Miller
Southside’s JT Butler Boulevard corridor is North Florida’s best example of an Edge City - a term coined by Joel Garreau to describe a new form of 20th-centruy development featuring auto-centric, dense office and residential populations located at or near freeway intersections and airports. The area along JT Butler Boulevard continues to grow with over 3,750 multi-family residential units either approved and/or under construction joining the development of over 100,000 square feet of retail at Town Center Promenade, 30,000 square feet of retail at The Crossing, 500,000 square feet of retail at The Strand, 160,857 of office space at Town Center One and up to 250,000 square feet of office space at Southside Quarter.
A preliminary rendering of Burrito Gallery’s Southside location. Image: ELM - Ervin Lovett Miller
Construction of the 4,000 square foot, 150-seat restaurant with full alcohol service is expected to start in the 1st quarter of 2018. Renderings show a large patio with an outdoor dining area facing east. An exterior wall facing north, will ultimately be adorned with a colourful mural. Public art has become a stalwart for the Burrito Gallery team. The Brooklyn location features an exterior mural painted by noted Jacksonville artist Shaun Thurston, while the downtown location features exterior murals by both Thurston and another local artist Mac Truque.
NEXT: An interview with John Valentino of the Gallery Restaurant Group