AB Kitchen's Last Weeks, Ragtime's Long Rebuild, and Where Atlantic Beach Dinner Is Heading

Inside the 1927 building that held Ragtime Tavern for more than 40 years, the roof is gone. On September 30, heavy equipment was moving debris through a shell open to the sky. Developers and the landlord were tossing ceremonial dirt out front for a steakhouse that won't seat its first table until next summer at the earliest.

The Times-Union puts AB Kitchen at the same address, 299 Atlantic Blvd., on the historic corner at Beaches Town Center. It is still serving its regular menu, but only until November 16.

The Corner, where Atlantic Beach meets Neptune Beach, is changing almost all at once. Look across the rest of Atlantic Beach's 2026 openings and closings and the same direction shows up. The new money is going into chef-driven, special-occasion dining. The casual places that left this year have not been replaced so far.

Eighteen Days Left at AB Kitchen

As of Thursday, October 29, AB Kitchen has 18 days of service left. Owners Ben and Liza Groshell announced on October 19 that they would not renew the lease, ending five years in business. News4JAX reported that the restaurant will stay open through November 16 on its regular menu, while Southern Table Hospitality turns to new projects.

The Florida Times-Union called it a family-owned bistro known for an upscale coastal and American-fusion menu.

The staff isn't leaving the area. According to News4JAX, the AB Kitchen team will keep working at the company's other restaurants. Southern Table's lineup includes North Beach Fish Camp, Palm Valley Fish Camp, Marker 32, Valley Smoke and Billy Jacks, so a server you know may turn up at one of them.

"We hope you'll join us for another meal before we close our doors," the owners wrote, as quoted by News4JAX.

None of the closure coverage names a new tenant for the AB Kitchen space. So after November 16, both restaurants reported at 299 Atlantic Blvd. will be dark at the same time.

What River Restaurant Group Is Building Where Ragtime Stood

Ragtime closed in January 2025, a month after SPB Hospitality sold it to Kelly Cos. of Southern California. Grafton & Fleck's is the long-term answer. River Restaurant Group, which runs River & Post in Jacksonville and SAINT and River & Fort in St. Augustine, is behind it. The name combines the names of co-founders Jeff Grafton McCusker and Bob Fleckenstein.

The Jacksonville Daily Record's groundbreaking story lays out the plan:

• Size: more than 8,000 square feet and 260 seats, with a second level added to the building
• Downstairs: a high-end steakhouse with a full bar, a main dining room, private dining areas and a piano bar
• Rooftop: more casual by day, turning into a cocktail lounge at night
• Menu: USDA prime steaks, Wagyu, shareable appetizers and seafood, including lobster, a salmon dish and probably some local fish
• Design: art deco influences, wood, marble and granite, plus acoustic features meant to make conversation easier on busy nights
• Parking: valet service
• Cost: about $6 million for construction, according to Fleckenstein, with no full project estimate available

Permit drawings described by the Daily Record in March broke the seating down further. They showed 158 first-floor dining seats, 20 private-dining seats, 42 open-air rooftop seats and 44 covered rooftop seats. That puts the rooftop at 86 seats, a third of the restaurant and a new kind of seat for the town center.

Some of the old place stays. The interior brick partition is being kept, and McCusker told the Daily Record he might try to recreate a popular Ragtime tuna dish.

"Ragtime is very sentimental to a lot of people, myself included. Dear friends of mine met here and got married, and our children are close friends. And there's so many stories like that."

Landlord Rad Lovett, whose family has owned the property for generations, told the Daily Record he thinks "the rooftop element is going to be unique and highly desirable." McCusker described the goal plainly: "When people have a special occasion, we want them to think of us first."

The Rest of Atlantic Beach's 2026 Ledger

The Corner isn't the only place that changed this year. Here is every Atlantic Beach opening and closing reported in local news so far in 2026.

The Times-Union reported in March that The Fly's Tie had served its last pint. In September, the same paper reported that Sierra Grille was closing after four years on Atlantic Boulevard.

Where the New Money Is Going

The two places that closed earlier in the year were an Irish pub and a fast-casual Tex-Mex counter. The two that opened, and the one under construction, are chef-driven rooms where prices start at a sit-down level.

The Coastal Farmer opened in July as part of a full renovation of the property that used to be One Ocean Resort & Spa. The Daily Record reported dinner entrees at $32 to $42, including flounder, snapper and triggerfish. Steaks run $45 to $95, from an 8-ounce flat iron to a 22-ounce rib-eye. The restaurant buys from suppliers such as Black Hog Farm, Down to Earth Farm, Safe Harbor Seafood and Mayport C&C Fisheries. Executive Chef Daniel Tederous described the approach in a July news release: "We're cooking with what the coast gives us, from what the farmers grow to what the boats bring in."

Le Petit Atelier is the lower-cost entry, and it works differently. Alexander Chezaud opened it at the opposite end of the Shoppes of Northshore from his Atlantic Beach Le Petit Paris cafe. It seats about 75, including 12 at the bar, and pours wine at $7 to $16 a glass. Its kitchen also serves as a commissary for his other cafes, and the small-plates menu changes every two months. Chezaud told the Daily Record he wants customers to come in before or after dinner somewhere else. That makes it a natural first or last stop on a night that ends at a steakhouse a few blocks east.

Grafton & Fleck's pushes further in the same direction, with prime beef, Wagyu, valet and a piano bar. Fleckenstein told the Daily Record it is "probably the best location that we can think of in Jacksonville at this time," adding, "There's so much activity in this area."

Taken together, Atlantic Beach is set to have two new steak-focused dining rooms within walking distance of the ocean by next summer, one on Ocean Boulevard and one at The Corner. No reported 2026 opening fills the casual, walk-in slot that Sierra Grille and The Fly's Tie held. Fleckenstein also said more restaurants could follow but that he had nothing to announce.

The Long Gap at The Corner

Here is how the dates at The Corner line up.

1. January 2025: Ragtime Tavern closes after more than 40 years.
2. January 2026: permit applications for Grafton & Fleck's are submitted, and Atlantic Beach's permitting department is still reviewing them in March.
3. September 30, 2026: groundbreaking. An earlier forecast of early 2027 had already moved.
4. November 16, 2026: AB Kitchen's last day.
5. Summer 2027: the current forecast for Grafton & Fleck's to open.

If summer 2027 holds, the Ragtime space will have gone about two and a half years without a restaurant. The forecast has already slipped once, from early 2027 to summer 2027, and the project still involves adding a second level to a 1927 building.

If you have an AB Kitchen dinner you've been meaning to book, you have until November 16. And if you're wondering how all this change at Beaches Town Center affects the streets around it on both the Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach sides, I'm always happy to talk it through. Reach out to The Real Jacksonville and Schedule a Consultation. I'll bring what I know about The Corner, and you bring your list of favorite tables.