Da Big Kahuna - Jacksonville Beach, Florida - Locating Tiki

A AceExplorer Grand Member (8 years) Deep in the Jacksonville Flori-duh jungle. Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 2566	A AceExplorer Posted posted on Thu, Jul 17, 2014 6:32 AM Name: Da Big Kahuna Type: Restaurant/Bar Street: 528 1st Street North City: Jacksonville Beach State: Florida Zip: 32250 Country: USA Phone: Tel: 904-595-5613 Fax: 904-595-5156 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.dabigkahuna.net Status: DEFUNCT - observed as of July, 13th, 2014. It likely closed a few weeks earlier. Da Big Kahuna soft-opened on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Description: It was a great idea to bring a successful restaurant from Honolulu and Ft. Lauderdale and build it in the up-and-coming beach resort community of Jacksonville Beach. The interior was outfitted with some truly awesome tiki carvings from a local Jacksonville Beach carver who is also a TC member. But the place didn't last. This place was exciting initially because it contained elements of real tiki, but unfortunately those were only the pretty wrappings on the outside. Inside, the restaurant suffered from several things: Staff had little or no knowledge of tiki and that made it "just another place for folks to eat, drink, and party." The bar was typically staffed by low-end but very friendly bartenders. Generally they would not know what mixology was if it bit them on their butts. A somewhat cheesy, almost Jimmy Buffett-like, interior which was quite "thin." It looked like the converted store-front that it was despite previously having been a pretty cool Brazilian steak house. But the food was good, especially the Hawaiian favorite "Loco Moco." And anything with their pulled pork was also very good. Northeast Florida Tiki Central members met up there 2 or 3 times before it became obvious that the place was just too thin to make it a regular stop. With the growth of craft cocktail bars serving real Mai Tais and other great drinks very close by, the bar at Da Big Kahuna quickly became a place good for little more than watching cute beach bartenders pushing their infused fruity drinks made with crappy food-supplier house-brand flavored spirits. The carved tikis alone made this place a welcome addition to the beach. But the owners misreading the true interests and desires of potential customers eventually turned this into a basic college bar and restaurant. They missed attracting the higher-end demographic who would have generated repeat business, who would have brought their friends, and helped the place stay open and continue to grow and develop. There is a lot of money at the beaches, so they were located in a good market. But some entrepreneurial magic was missing and that seems to have contributed to the rapid demise of this establishment. Northeast Florida needs to see the return of tiki, and Da Big Kahuna was a great start. I was disappointed when I saw that it had closed, but I almost instantly realized that I had stopped going there in favor of the other craft cocktail bars which opened in Northeast Florida during the past three and four years.

Name: Da Big Kahuna
Type: Restaurant/Bar
Street: 528 1st Street North
City: Jacksonville Beach
State: Florida
Zip: 32250
Country: USA
Phone: Tel: 904-595-5613
Fax: 904-595-5156
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.dabigkahuna.net

Status: DEFUNCT - observed as of July, 13th, 2014. It likely closed a few weeks earlier. Da Big Kahuna soft-opened on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Description:
It was a great idea to bring a successful restaurant from Honolulu and Ft. Lauderdale and build it in the up-and-coming beach resort community of Jacksonville Beach. The interior was outfitted with some truly awesome tiki carvings from a local Jacksonville Beach carver who is also a TC member. But the place didn't last.

This place was exciting initially because it contained elements of real tiki, but unfortunately those were only the pretty wrappings on the outside. Inside, the restaurant suffered from several things:

Staff had little or no knowledge of tiki and that made it "just another
place for folks to eat, drink, and party."
The bar was typically staffed by low-end but very friendly bartenders.
Generally they would not know what mixology was if it bit them on their
butts.
A somewhat cheesy, almost Jimmy Buffett-like, interior which was quite "thin."
It looked like the converted store-front that it was despite previously
having been a pretty cool Brazilian steak house.

But the food was good, especially the Hawaiian favorite "Loco Moco." And anything with their pulled pork was also very good.

Northeast Florida Tiki Central members met up there 2 or 3 times before it became obvious that the place was just too thin to make it a regular stop. With the growth of craft cocktail bars serving real Mai Tais and other great drinks very close by, the bar at Da Big Kahuna quickly became a place good for little more than watching cute beach bartenders pushing their infused fruity drinks made with crappy food-supplier house-brand flavored spirits.

The carved tikis alone made this place a welcome addition to the beach. But the owners misreading the true interests and desires of potential customers eventually turned this into a basic college bar and restaurant. They missed attracting the higher-end demographic who would have generated repeat business, who would have brought their friends, and helped the place stay open and continue to grow and develop. There is a lot of money at the beaches, so they were located in a good market. But some entrepreneurial magic was missing and that seems to have contributed to the rapid demise of this establishment.

Northeast Florida needs to see the return of tiki, and Da Big Kahuna was a great start. I was disappointed when I saw that it had closed, but I almost instantly realized that I had stopped going there in favor of the other craft cocktail bars which opened in Northeast Florida during the past three and four years.

Post #722760 by AceExplorer on Thu, Jul 17, 2014 6:32 AM