The seaside restaurant “Salt Jax Beach” closes in Jacksonville Beach

After twelve years, Salt Jax Beach is closing.

In a social media post on Monday, the Oceanfront Bar and Grill announced that it would be closing its doors at 333 1^st St. N. in Jacksonville Beach after a farewell party on Labor Day weekend.

The decision to close was made a few weeks after the building in which the restaurant was located was sold.

However, the decision to close was “not due to a failure (of Salt),” but rather to the new owners’ plans to “convert this popular spot into a hotel,” the restaurant owners wrote in the social media post.

Evan Rajta, manager of Salt Jax Beach, told the Times-Union that he and his sister Manjola Rajta, the owner of the restaurant, are still in shock.

“It’s terrible, but what can you do? The building is owned by someone else now and they don’t want tenants here, so they’re kicking everyone out,” he said.

According to Duval County land records, the sale to Ocala-based Ocean Crown LLC includes two buildings at the site: a three-story, 35,000-square-foot oceanfront building built in 1932 and a second, two-story, 5,000-square-foot building built in 1938.

The two buildings also house the Hoptinger Beer Garden & Sausage House and The Shim Sham Room, a popular cocktail lounge.

Officials of the new owner of the property were initially unavailable for comment.

Evan Rajta said there were some initial indications that Salt might stay, but that changed within about a week.

“That’s why it was so abrupt,” he said. “Our lease is up at the end of the month and we just didn’t want to try to fight it. It is what it is now.”

He also said they had hoped to move to Jacksonville Beach, but had not yet found a potential location that would meet their needs.

“I’m sure there will be something in the future, but right now we haven’t seen anything available,” he said, noting that Salt needs a patio to accommodate its Sunday Funday activities.

Salt Jax Beach opened in October 2012 as Ocean Grille and Bar before adopting its current name in March 2019, according to state restaurant records and the restaurant’s social media posts. Before that, the oceanfront dining space was home to the short-lived Sakana and Blue Bar, and before that, Atlantic.

“The last 13+ years have been challenging for many Jacksonville Beach businesses, but through it all, our loyal customers – our Salt family – have been our greatest strength,” the restaurant wrote in the social media post. “We have shared so many wonderful times together and are eternally grateful for your support, smiles and the joy you have brought to this space.”

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