JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Captain Sandy Yawn from Bravo’s “Below Deck Mediterranean” is converting Historic Fire Station No. 4 on Adams Street into a new downtown Jacksonville restaurant.
Yawn said she hopes to open Maritime 618 by November 2021.
The name refers to the planned nautical theme for the restaurant at 618 Adams St.
“I bought it for the location. I wasn’t thinking restaurant,” Yawn said.
But now she’s planning a “really cool, vibe restaurant” with an edgy feel for younger crowd.
“I am going to let the locals decide what they want, to be honest, let’s see what they want. That’s really the question, what do they want? And I want to make it affordable for everyone,” Yawn said. “I plan on bringing in celebrity chefs to the location, and I don’t know, every day is a new beginning.”
Yawn said the key with opening a restaurant is flexibility.
“If some things don’t work, I’ll switch gears and do something else. It’s like navigating in the sea, if it’s too windy and rough that way, I am going to alter course,” Yawn said. “That’s what I will do with the restaurant.”
Yawn said she was inspired by seeing Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s 312-foot yacht anchored nearby.
“When I saw Kismet sitting there, I was like, ‘I could see a lot of these because the water is so deep from the entrance all the way down to downtown Jacksonville,’” Yawn said. “It has a controlling depth of 45 feet. That’s unheard of. And the cool thing is when a hurricane is coming, what a shelter. That’s an incredible place to shelter your vessel.”
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said in a statement featured on the restaurant’s website:
“We are grateful they chose to open ‘Maritime 618’ in our city and we wish them much success. We also look forward to working with Captain Sandy on future projects to enhance development and economic growth in the heart of downtown Jacksonville.”
“There’s so many opportunities in downtown Jacksonville from the water side that I would like to see all these visions and all these renderings I see online come to fruition,” Yawn said.
Yawn said she hopes to have construction bids back within a couple of weeks and she wants to begin work immediately.
She shared the floorplans on the restaurant’s website.