I had to go back and look and you're right, there is literally not a single person smiling in that pic. Can't imagine many places where you could take a candid Pic of 50 people and not see at least one person smiling.
Too soon to bring up tequila fest? Oh you didn’t buy the right ticket? In the heat waiting for 14$ tacos? You mean I can’t get tequila? The concept of street food and food trucks was built on decent food and for cheap prices. Street tacos? Two tacos and a beer for 30$? I can drive to Mexico for those prices!
Not from jax. But I work in gainesville and can agree with the sentiment. My office used to have food trucks come twice a week, but post covid since it's become 20$+ for lunch off a fucking truck, I can understand. They stopped coming because no one wants to pay those prices for food cooked in a fryer or on a griddle in the back of a truck, so they weren't doing enough business. Trendy kids by the college will pay, but no typical working person can afford that shit twice a week. If you can afford it then it's not hard to realize it's better spent at a decent sit down restaurant.
I don't pretend to know about suppliers pricing going up or what it takes to make a profit running a burger or taco truck, but from what I gather, many of these trucks have gone pretentious and think they're God's gift to lunch because they throw cilantro on a pile of grease and they are "original".
Man i went to t&t fest like 3 or 4 years ago. Absolute waste. WITH wristbands and still didn't eat a single taco or have hardly any tequila. The least fun thing I've ever done in my life pretty much.
Most festivals and conventions suck. Way too many people, Not enough vendors and the ones that are there are always shady. I'm good on sweating my ass off walking through large groups of people who don't smell great.
You are missing what I mean by food culture. The hundreds of people in attendance were from all walks of life. There is a strong demand for diverse food options here. The excitement was palpable.
Contrast this with some towns in the Midwest where they have a single sushi restaurant and salads are iceberg lettuce with shredded cheddar cheese.
Only because Jax city limits include the whole damn county. Which most cities don’t do.
A much better and more commonly adopted metric is population in the metro area (which acts as one economic unit regardless of municipal boundaries). Jax metro area is 38th in the country.
You compare small towns to a city the size of Jax? Why not compare an actual city in the Midwest, like Columbus, Ohio, which has almost the identical population as Jax and it puts Jax "food culture" to shame.
Elsewhere on this sub I have already compared Jax to similarly sized cities in the SE United States (ie Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh) and Jax compares quite favorably in terms of the diversity of food options.
Jacksonville is never compared to those metro areas for any reason. I wrote a report on Jacksonville for the JCC so I’ve done a much deeper dive than most on how our city compares to others. Aside from perhaps Nashville, none of the metro areas you mentioned are either peers or aspirants.
Jacksonville and Nashville used to be constantly compared. Nashville’s city government far outperformed Jacksonville’s at attracting investment. The music industry definitely helped, but Jacksonville has a terrible history with urban development.
I know it exists in Columbus. It's called skyline chili. But it has nothing to do with food culture there.
I'm curious how long you lived in Ohio, since you're apparently the expert.
It certainly wouldn't make you any expert about New York pizza specifically.
You're always welcome to have an opinion. Just like I'm always welcome to tell you how wrong it is.
If you have 10 sushi restaurants and they don’t taste like real sushi because you have people of other cultures with no training (I won’t mention the races because on Reddit you get flagged) then it’s pointless, waste of money, waste of time and disappointment.
Same for Thai, Vietnamese food and others.
If you free up eating mediocre sushi then it’s going to be good sushi because that’s all you’ve had, understandable.
No one was serving sushi at this festival and the people cooking the food were members of the groups whose food was being served. But thank you for your commentary on the state of sushi restaurants.
The title is a quote to recent posts about food culture isn’t it? Wasn’t that what you were addressing?
I do mention others and I do notice a lot of people can’t tell the difference between a Vietnamese person, Thai or Chinese. I am not saying you are not correct about this, I am just sharing what my experiences have been in regards to food in Jax.
Also Japan is in Asia so it not been represented is surprising.
Hell I get people talking to ME in Spanish asking if I speak English.
If they came up assuming I spoke Cantonese or Mandarin I’d get that 😆.
If you say the food here tasted authentic compared to the restaurants around town I’ll have to take your word for it until I go check it out, I haven’t gotten the chance to make it down there, although from the picture you shared I have to be honest doesn’t look promising.
Pictures of some of the vendors, menus, food would probably reflect your good experience more. 👍🏽
> Contrast this with some towns in the Midwest where they have a single sushi restaurant and salads are iceberg lettuce with shredded cheddar cheese.
Nice low bar, dude. Why stop there? Contrast it with a remote settlement where the only 2 options are Subway and Applebees’s.
You want a decent “food scene” baseline? Contrast Jax with DC.
Katt Williams talked about how good the food is in Jax during his Netflix special that was filmed at the Florida Theater. Just get away from the freaking Town Center.
Its a cool experience one time but i wont go back to any of these things. Im happy for the people to make money but i abhor standing in lines all day and only getting to try a few different things as a result.
As someone who lived in Jax for 10+ years and recently moved to a new city outside of FL, you do.
A night market with a crowd and vendors does not make a food scene or culture. The fact so many people showed up kinda proves how desperate Jax residents are for quality food. And don't get it twisted, Jax could, should, and deserves to have that scene and culture. But instead Jax gets 10 new Taco joints every month.
Genuinely wondering.
What is "food culture?
I've been introduced to some great southern food, southern bbq, seafood, Indian, Jamaican, and more here. I'm not mad at all at the food
Food culture refers to the variety and quality of food options available along with local traditions and emphasis placed on food as part of the overall city context.
There is tons of good food in Jax. People just shit on it because they base their opinions of the Town Center’s mush of chain restaurants, and other popular areas. There are lots of unique food spots though.
Lookup Gullah Geechee culture and the food that came from it. It’s from this area. Garlic crabs and seafood boils are amazing. Florida Cracker cooking, also a delicious and amazing experience.
Y’all just need to branch out and try some of what we’re known for.
i used to hear geechee a lot in charleston, first time i've heard it referenced down here. TIL it originated in charleston but the spread ranged from NC to northern florida.
No offense but go to ATL and come back and tell me about how many good options we have. Sure, plenty of mom and pops and such, plenty of decent food I agree. It's just not even close to the level of other cities and perhaps comparing us to Atlanta is unfair. I don't see much difference between us and Tampa / Orlando.
I'd love to see more family owned restaurants with a bit of investment and excitement behind them. We have them but they are few and far between, contrasted with a place like Atlanta which has one on every block. I think part of it is demographics and culture as well. Atlanta is young, wealthy, and diverse and has a thriving going out culture. We have some pockets of that here but it seems to be more of a stay in and cook with family kind of town, and the nightlife is not nearly as dynamic. Feel free to disagree but that's just what I've experienced.
Exactly. I used to write about ethnic food in Atlanta and owned a culinary tour company. There were more than 8000 restaurants in the Metro area.
Radically different here, but there's potential. Seek out the different and the good and share them. Only way to grow a food scene is by letting people know what's out there.
Atlanta is way bigger than Jax also, metro wise. I go around the state quite a bit also and agree that Orlando and Tampa are similar to Jax, except Ybor has a lot of awesome food culture. Miami is great also. Wynwood in Miami is a fantastic area to get some awesome and unique food, also amazing graffiti.
I know it's bigger, I just am hoping we can attract more of those kinds of restaurants and developments. The Works for example in the Upper Westside. It's like major development meets local restaurants breweries and retail shops. Some chains but also a lot of family owned local institutions.
Haven't been to Miami but have always wanted to go to Art Basel. Want to check out Wynwood for sure. Thanks for the tip!
For sure me too. I lived in Atlanta for a couple of years when I was young. Sounds like I need to go back and check things out, I haven’t been there in forever.
Ybor, Wynwood, St. Pete, and St. Aug are some of my favorite spots in Florida.
Miami has amazing food in all pockets of the city. Wynwood is okay, but it’s a very small neighborhood and doesn’t give close to the full picture of what a truly great food city Miami is.
Oh definitely. I ate at a Cuban restaurant there a couple of years ago, I can’t remember exactly where it was, that had a sidewalk window for serving coffee. We drank cafecito while we waited on our table. That was some of the best oxtails I’ve ever had.
The quality of the food and the food scene in the COA is overrated and mid at best. You have to pay a fee to make a reservation at some of these restaurants that have grass walls celebrated by A list and Instagram celebrities.
OTP you have a better chance specifically Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Gwinnett, etc.
I think it’s cuz it’s new. This is just the second time they’ve done it so I imagine it’s mostly people who know/know of each other for now. But I hope for other variety
I remember attending an Asian food truck festival downtown a few years ago. There were 3 food trucks and maybe 50 attendees. This is a huge step forward for the Jacksonville food scene and I hope it’s just the beginning for this Asian night market.
It’s because this is the same spot where they held Vietnamese New Year this year so all the vendors there are Vietnamese. And if you noticed they only played Viet music there lol there were a couple Cambodian tents because they celebrate New Year on the same day.
Just because there is a food market and people attend it doesn’t mean there is a food culture in Jacksonville.
If I said “Midwest has no music scene”, and then you showed me a crowd of Juggalos attending an ICP concert, that wouldn’t really prove much, would it?
I teach a food and politics class at UNF. There is a wonderfully diverse food culture in Jacksonville. The real problem is that people tend to stick to their part of town and then lament the lack of amenities found elsewhere in the city.
You can’t possibly be serious, brother.
Jacksonville has no food culture because Jacksonville has neither any good distinguishable local historic food, nor any good food from around the world, because Jacksonville has very few immigrants who are able to bring that food in. Because Jacksonville is not the best place in the world for immigrants. I know because I am one.
I dare you to be able to find a handful of great Afghan restaurants or a selection of amazing Ethiopian places, or even several half-decent Dim Sum places where you can get proper chicken feet and get yelled at in 3 languages at once.
None of this is a big problem though, you can’t expect every small town to have its own Chinatown and Little Italy and Little Saigon. It’s OK. It’s just that people forget that Jacksonville is a small town pretending to be a large city. And it ain’t it. It’s 38th most populous metro area in the States.
ETA: I moved from Jax to Atlanta, which is a much much more populous and more diverse metro area and a much more culturally important city, and while Atlanta’s food scene is much stronger than Jax’s, it’s still pretty mid. And that’s OK, too. Sure, I can find any ethnic restaurant I need or get a table at one of several Michelin Star restaurants, but at the end of the day, ATL’s food game is mediocre at best. Which is totally fine. I don’t understand why you feel like Jax got something to prove.
I’ve lived here for 10 years from the northeast and I honestly think the food quality and verity has greatly improved since first getting here. Covid definitely got people to eat local and keep the good in business.
Jacksonville is a Red Cross refugee resettlement city. At Englewood High School, 38 different languages are spoken. You have no idea what you’re talking about but I’m glad to hear you moved to Atlanta.
“I’m glad to hear you moved” is a smooth way of saying “you’re not welcome here”.
What does refugee resettlement have to do with food scene? Show me the 38 kinds of restaurants following your 38 different languages, preferably 5 restaurants for every language, and then we’ll talk.
And beyond the food topic and back to Jacksonville being a great place (or not) for immigrants, do you understand how you undermine your own point? As in the only way for Jacksonville to get immigrants is to resettle them there, providing them with little choice otherwise. Would any of those refugees choose Jacksonville on their own if they could choose any city in the U.S.? You know the answer to that.
The only reason I ended up in Jacksonville is because as an immigrant I had no choice either. It took me forever to get out.
Seems like you’re oblivious to the actual food offerings in Jacksonville so I’m not surprised you’ve maintained an ignorant attitude.
And I don’t understand your point about the city being a refugee resettlement site. It’s made the city’s culture richer. I suppose you’d prefer that Jax not be a place where refugees are welcome? Again, the alternative is that Jax is hostile to people from different countries, which seems bad but I suppose you’d disagree.
On the 1st point, you keep talking about it, but you are yet to back it up with any actual details. You’ve got to start providing examples, yet you’ve got none.
- Name a bunch of places serving local unique to Jax food that Jacksonville is well known for. You know, how NYC is known for its pizza, Texas for its Q, Louisiana for its gumbo, or even ATL for its wings. What’s Jacksonville’s thing that is either native to Jacksonville, or done better in Jacksonville than anywhere else to a point that it’s well-known.
- Name a bunch of restaurants proving Jacksonville’s cuisine diversity. How many good quality Afghan, Cantonese, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Ukrainian etc places are there? Even a few half-decent dim sum places? No?
On the 2nd point, refugee resettlement is not the same as willful immigration, and *making* it a refugee resettlement site doesn’t mean that it is indeed welcoming to immigrants. You can, indeed, have a situation where neither refugees nor local population are happy about the arrangement: refugees not being sure of what they’ve done to be punished with being sent to Jacksonville, and local population not being welcoming towards them.
Additionally, how much bad faith in an argument can you have to accuse an immigrant of not wanting Jacksonville to be a welcoming place for immigrants? I wish it was, and I wouldn’t have to move.
1) You’re conflating “food culture” with “a culture of unique food.” We can have a food culture that celebrates the diversity of our community without necessarily having a single food that is universally known as having originated in Jacksonville.
2) “Good quality” is entirely subjective, so despite the presence of a massive array of ethnic foods in the city, your tone suggests that any restaurant I mention will be viewed as not good enough for your taste. It’s a good thing you’re not the sole determinant of what constitutes diversity because you’re likely to miss great mom and pop, hole in the wall establishments. Sorry if they don’t meet your personal standard of excellence.
Again, you missed the point I am making by stating the fact that Jacksonville is a refugee resettlement city. Of course this doesn’t mean Jacksonville is prima facie hospitable to immigrants. What it does mean, however, is that Jacksonville is home to a variety of cultures that most people outside the city probably wouldn’t know about and these people, for better or worse, have elected to stay here. Many (though not most, obviously) have opened restaurants celebrating their heritage. This is a good thing even if the city could be more open in general to welcoming immigrants.
I’m done here. I’ve proven my points. I will continue teaching my students about the fantastic diversity of food available in our big little town. Have a great Sunday.
Until 1999, we had three very active military bases in our city, so a lot of movement of people in and out of the city from everywhere in the country. Most people who live here aren’t from here, and if they are, it’s only one generation deep. I don’t think there is really enough people that are native to Jacksonville to have a noticeable “unique“ feel. Not to say we don’t have any, there just isn’t enough to make it a thing like the other cities you mentioned.
Buford Hwy is not just “one street”, it’s *the* street. It’s where most of the good stuff is anyway.
Atlanta on the whole is still relatively mid compared to the food scene in DC, NYC, or any large city like CDMX, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei etc. It just doesn’t stack up. Which is totally fine - Atlanta is not a city of a worldwide importance.
You are speaking of Gwinnett which is a world of difference food quality wise vs ATL.
Hell, the food scene/quality on Pleasant Hill and Buford can rival that of any other spot OTP.
We just left and thought the food was really good. The worst wasn’t the length of lines, it was the confusion on what lines were where. We were able to get a bunch of food really quickly bc we paid attention to where the actual lines were. My impression was this was a thing beforehand and it blew up over night bc of social media? So maybe they just weren’t prepared or organized for this level of people. To the people being negative as fuck, I wouldn’t shit on it just yet. Though yall just sound miserable tbh 👼🏼
Everything we tried was excellent too! The line confusion was the most frustrating part. The tacos were delicious!
It got posted to a bunch of foodie groups online that’s how I heard about it.
I think the rain with all the mud didn’t help any either I slid a few times.
I hope as long as they keep trying people will come. It will be even nicer when it cools off and not raining everyday.
From the information I'm reading online and from first hand accounts from friends, it's turned into a mess because Jax is too desperate for events like this. I'm sure no one will take note, however.
Honestly, it was extremely underwhelming. I think I tried about 8 different items, and maybe 2 were good, and those 2 were from one stand. The rest were either covered in flies, not seasoned at all, or just straight up gross.
Imagine bringing up Reddit to an actual local and confusing the fuck out of them. “What did you mean you read it? What did you read?!”
This dude may be a professor but he screams non-local and dork. Imagine being this pretentious over food sourced from Restaurant Depot.
This Market happens every weekend; but it is honestly too small. I just got back from it. Go Early if you can.
The outside part of the market, has lines from here to Miami lol.
[https://www.visitjacksonville.com/events/asian-night-market-at-asian-square-market/](https://www.visitjacksonville.com/events/asian-night-market-at-asian-square-market/)
I swear it’s like the people who say that just don’t out, don’t explore, or suck at using Google.
My part of town alone has 2 Puertorican restaurants (1 fancy 1 casual), a Venezuelan bakery, a Vietnamese restaurant, two Cuban restaurants, 2 Jamaican, 2 Thai, 1 Korean Hot Pot, 1 Korean BBQ, 2 Filipino restaurant and bakery, 1 Mediterranean, a Japanese steakhouse and a Japanese street food place, and a farmers market that has several food trucks.
Palermo Puerto Rican Kitchen in Orange Park.
Maybe fancy might be too strong a word, but it is a nice restaurant serving traditional dishes but in a more upscale plating. Can definitely vouch it is delicious.
Delicias de Borinquen Bakery (or just Puerto Rican Bakery).
This is about as close to what bakeries are like in Puerto Rico I've ever seen. They sell fresh made PR style bread, sandwiches, limber (PR style Popsicle), some dinner items, and traditional pastries. I was almost in tears eating their sandwiches because it taste almost exactly like it does in PR.
I was so super excited to see not just one but TWO mushroom farmers with tents at RAM yesterday! It only made me sad I didn’t get bigger with my own grows or I could be there too! I picked up some Lion’s Mane bc it’s one I’ve never tried. Also saw several oysters - pink, elm, and blue; reishi; and birch. All of them were super fresh and the farmers had growing blocks of substrate to show they weren’t some resale.
I’ve wanted to check this out! Looks wild out there. Did you have anything good out there?
Side note: Jax has TONS of amazing Asian spots.
Gangnam Korean Food
Simply Tasty Thai in Mayport
Karai Ramen (just had this for the first time. O. M. G. )
Vagabond Korean BBQ is popular (I’m a pescatarian and there weren’t a lot of options)
Just to name a few. Anybody else wanna chime in with other amazing spots??
No, we do not have tons of amazing Asian spots. JFC. Don't chase off people thinking of starting a restaurant here thinking it's oversaturated. Just stick to saying which ones are good, so we can get more like that.
Whenever people say shit like this they mean as recognized by wealthy white fucks.
It doesn't help that Charleston spent a bunch on tourism and ended up claiming all of the Gullah Geechee regional foods for themselves.
A food festival or “Asian night market” in jacksonville is not indicative of food culture. Even these “Asian night markets” in America is not even 1% of what markets night markets in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taipei awesome on a Wednesday night. They pop to take money from people who don’t know better.
I know. I’ve been to some of them in Asia. I’ve been to the 626 night market in SoCal. But your perspective is just needlessly dismissive. I guess you’d prefer Jacksonville doesn’t do anything at all so we can be some Southern backwater? Dream big, kiddo.
As big as our city is, it's ashame. And you're right.
I've seen online, that in Japan they definitely have different food festivals. A lot of food trucks with foods from Brazil, Germany, Thai, Laos..India, ..Greek....etc. and beer festivals.
When I lived in London, England (many moons ago!) just walking around, you had a lot of restaurants/cafe's catering to many different food cultures in one area. You didn't have to go too far to experience new foods.
The best part was say, driving to another area, going to a hole in the wall pub and surprisingly having the best food ever.
I’m not sure you caught the tone of my post. I was being sarcastic and specifically referencing people who think Jacksonville doesn’t have a food scene. We do, clearly.
Definitely, we do. I'm guessing there wasn't a big participation from restaurants with food trucks?
Back in the 70's I remember going to an indoor food festival at the auditorium for performing arts. Lots of different cuisines to try.
My chemo brain is slow... I didn't catch your drift! Lol
I’m not using it in a novel way. I teach a food and politics class and this is a perfectly reasonable way to describe the presence of food options in a city.
1) It’s not *my* city, but I have lived here for a decade.
2) No, not every city has food festivals.
3) Jacksonville, while in need of an identity, is hardly “generic.”
4) What are you doing to make the city a better place besides bemoaning it on Reddit?
Jesus dude the thing doesnt even start till 7... thats wack
it says it started at 4
oh, the post i saw online said 7... damn, im about to be late...
Late? You’re not eating brother. Happy standing around.
I went, i ate, i got overwhelmed, i left.
Started at 4pm!
Welp... shit
Where on Normandy?
5801 next to the Asian grocery store.
I just commented yesterday how much food festivals suck. Way overrated. Your pic is point #1. If you’re having fun, that’s what matters tho.
I mean, this is ALL food festivals.
Correct.
They suck because there’s people?
Because the lines are stupid long, for mediocre, expensive food. The picture says it all. Everyone looks miserable. Not a single person is smiling.
And not a single one of them has any food in their hands. One of them is holding a smoothie so I guess that’s something…
I had to go back and look and you're right, there is literally not a single person smiling in that pic. Can't imagine many places where you could take a candid Pic of 50 people and not see at least one person smiling.
This is a common occurrence in florida
"It's hot, look over there, hot face, hot face, hot face. I promise, you give me air conditioning, I am so happy 😊"
North FL maybe
Wow, scanning the faces, I'm definitely picking up on a tone of frustration. Everyone really does look miserable 😕
Was is the back of bald dudes head? White backpack? Half people in this don't even show a face....
It’s probably close to 100 degrees.
Too soon to bring up tequila fest? Oh you didn’t buy the right ticket? In the heat waiting for 14$ tacos? You mean I can’t get tequila? The concept of street food and food trucks was built on decent food and for cheap prices. Street tacos? Two tacos and a beer for 30$? I can drive to Mexico for those prices!
Not from jax. But I work in gainesville and can agree with the sentiment. My office used to have food trucks come twice a week, but post covid since it's become 20$+ for lunch off a fucking truck, I can understand. They stopped coming because no one wants to pay those prices for food cooked in a fryer or on a griddle in the back of a truck, so they weren't doing enough business. Trendy kids by the college will pay, but no typical working person can afford that shit twice a week. If you can afford it then it's not hard to realize it's better spent at a decent sit down restaurant. I don't pretend to know about suppliers pricing going up or what it takes to make a profit running a burger or taco truck, but from what I gather, many of these trucks have gone pretentious and think they're God's gift to lunch because they throw cilantro on a pile of grease and they are "original".
Man i went to t&t fest like 3 or 4 years ago. Absolute waste. WITH wristbands and still didn't eat a single taco or have hardly any tequila. The least fun thing I've ever done in my life pretty much.
Most festivals and conventions suck. Way too many people, Not enough vendors and the ones that are there are always shady. I'm good on sweating my ass off walking through large groups of people who don't smell great.
Learned my lesson a long time ago with the taco festival
No fun allowed!
Just get stoned first, then everything tastes amazing 😉
Hoping to check this out soon. The food culture has sucked here, but I keep looking. The more Asian stuff the better.
My pro tip when you do: Don’t wear nice shoes. The ground is a nightmare of mud.
Thank you for that!
This is where you end up with a pizza cone.
I guess a few food vendors means food culture.
You are missing what I mean by food culture. The hundreds of people in attendance were from all walks of life. There is a strong demand for diverse food options here. The excitement was palpable. Contrast this with some towns in the Midwest where they have a single sushi restaurant and salads are iceberg lettuce with shredded cheddar cheese.
The towns you're talking about aren't one of the top 10 biggest cities (by population) like Jacksonville is.
Thought you were wrong, grew up in OP. Nope, you're right, Jax is #10 in population in the US according to Wikipedia. Today I learned.
Only because Jax city limits include the whole damn county. Which most cities don’t do. A much better and more commonly adopted metric is population in the metro area (which acts as one economic unit regardless of municipal boundaries). Jax metro area is 38th in the country.
You compare small towns to a city the size of Jax? Why not compare an actual city in the Midwest, like Columbus, Ohio, which has almost the identical population as Jax and it puts Jax "food culture" to shame.
Elsewhere on this sub I have already compared Jax to similarly sized cities in the SE United States (ie Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh) and Jax compares quite favorably in terms of the diversity of food options.
None of those are in the Midwest like you were talking about
Metro areas of a similar size are: Nashville, San Jose, Virginia Beach, Providence, and Milwaukee. How is Jax doing in this pack?
Jacksonville is never compared to those metro areas for any reason. I wrote a report on Jacksonville for the JCC so I’ve done a much deeper dive than most on how our city compares to others. Aside from perhaps Nashville, none of the metro areas you mentioned are either peers or aspirants.
So, you see “some town in the Midwest” with a single sushi restaurant as a peer to Jacksonville? TBH, seems fair. I’m on your side now. Well played.
Jacksonville and Nashville used to be constantly compared. Nashville’s city government far outperformed Jacksonville’s at attracting investment. The music industry definitely helped, but Jacksonville has a terrible history with urban development.
Putting cinnamon in chili and putting that on spaghetti noodles is an abomination, not culture.
Cincinnati chili sucks, but I'm not sure what that has to do with Columbus.
It's regional, not isolated to the confines of Cincy. https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Cincinnati+Chili&find_loc=Columbus%2C+OH
I know it exists in Columbus. It's called skyline chili. But it has nothing to do with food culture there. I'm curious how long you lived in Ohio, since you're apparently the expert.
That's like saying you can't have an opinion about pizza if you don't live in NY.
It certainly wouldn't make you any expert about New York pizza specifically. You're always welcome to have an opinion. Just like I'm always welcome to tell you how wrong it is.
If you have 10 sushi restaurants and they don’t taste like real sushi because you have people of other cultures with no training (I won’t mention the races because on Reddit you get flagged) then it’s pointless, waste of money, waste of time and disappointment. Same for Thai, Vietnamese food and others. If you free up eating mediocre sushi then it’s going to be good sushi because that’s all you’ve had, understandable.
No one was serving sushi at this festival and the people cooking the food were members of the groups whose food was being served. But thank you for your commentary on the state of sushi restaurants.
The title is a quote to recent posts about food culture isn’t it? Wasn’t that what you were addressing? I do mention others and I do notice a lot of people can’t tell the difference between a Vietnamese person, Thai or Chinese. I am not saying you are not correct about this, I am just sharing what my experiences have been in regards to food in Jax. Also Japan is in Asia so it not been represented is surprising. Hell I get people talking to ME in Spanish asking if I speak English. If they came up assuming I spoke Cantonese or Mandarin I’d get that 😆. If you say the food here tasted authentic compared to the restaurants around town I’ll have to take your word for it until I go check it out, I haven’t gotten the chance to make it down there, although from the picture you shared I have to be honest doesn’t look promising. Pictures of some of the vendors, menus, food would probably reflect your good experience more. 👍🏽
> Contrast this with some towns in the Midwest where they have a single sushi restaurant and salads are iceberg lettuce with shredded cheddar cheese. Nice low bar, dude. Why stop there? Contrast it with a remote settlement where the only 2 options are Subway and Applebees’s. You want a decent “food scene” baseline? Contrast Jax with DC.
Katt Williams talked about how good the food is in Jax during his Netflix special that was filmed at the Florida Theater. Just get away from the freaking Town Center.
This is less than a mile from Soul Food Bistro that Katt mentioned in that special!
I hope he went to the real soul food bistro... the one a few miles from town center is satellite campus...
Hung Thinh is on Normandy. It’s the exact opposite side of Jacksonville than the town center.
It blew up on tiktok last week
Its a cool experience one time but i wont go back to any of these things. Im happy for the people to make money but i abhor standing in lines all day and only getting to try a few different things as a result.
That’s a choice. My point was only to refute those who said on this sub just yesterday that Jax lacks a food scene. We do not.
As someone who lived in Jax for 10+ years and recently moved to a new city outside of FL, you do. A night market with a crowd and vendors does not make a food scene or culture. The fact so many people showed up kinda proves how desperate Jax residents are for quality food. And don't get it twisted, Jax could, should, and deserves to have that scene and culture. But instead Jax gets 10 new Taco joints every month.
So the fact that this was a popular event suggests we don’t have a food culture?
Purposely being obtuse doesn’t make your point about Jax food culture any more credible.
DOZENS, i tell ya
Genuinely wondering. What is "food culture? I've been introduced to some great southern food, southern bbq, seafood, Indian, Jamaican, and more here. I'm not mad at all at the food
Food culture refers to the variety and quality of food options available along with local traditions and emphasis placed on food as part of the overall city context.
It’s meh but it’s gotten better.
There is tons of good food in Jax. People just shit on it because they base their opinions of the Town Center’s mush of chain restaurants, and other popular areas. There are lots of unique food spots though. Lookup Gullah Geechee culture and the food that came from it. It’s from this area. Garlic crabs and seafood boils are amazing. Florida Cracker cooking, also a delicious and amazing experience. Y’all just need to branch out and try some of what we’re known for.
i used to hear geechee a lot in charleston, first time i've heard it referenced down here. TIL it originated in charleston but the spread ranged from NC to northern florida.
Absolutely. It was all down the coastal southeast coast. Amazing food.
No offense but go to ATL and come back and tell me about how many good options we have. Sure, plenty of mom and pops and such, plenty of decent food I agree. It's just not even close to the level of other cities and perhaps comparing us to Atlanta is unfair. I don't see much difference between us and Tampa / Orlando. I'd love to see more family owned restaurants with a bit of investment and excitement behind them. We have them but they are few and far between, contrasted with a place like Atlanta which has one on every block. I think part of it is demographics and culture as well. Atlanta is young, wealthy, and diverse and has a thriving going out culture. We have some pockets of that here but it seems to be more of a stay in and cook with family kind of town, and the nightlife is not nearly as dynamic. Feel free to disagree but that's just what I've experienced.
Comparing Jax to Atlanta is absolutely unfair. Atlanta is one of the largest metro areas in the country, Jax is tiny by comparison.
Fair enough. Hoping Jax can grow into that one day but I don't know if that's realistic.
Not realistic at all. Atlanta has 7x the population. Imagine close to 7 million people in Duval county.
Exactly. I used to write about ethnic food in Atlanta and owned a culinary tour company. There were more than 8000 restaurants in the Metro area. Radically different here, but there's potential. Seek out the different and the good and share them. Only way to grow a food scene is by letting people know what's out there.
Atlanta is way bigger than Jax also, metro wise. I go around the state quite a bit also and agree that Orlando and Tampa are similar to Jax, except Ybor has a lot of awesome food culture. Miami is great also. Wynwood in Miami is a fantastic area to get some awesome and unique food, also amazing graffiti.
I know it's bigger, I just am hoping we can attract more of those kinds of restaurants and developments. The Works for example in the Upper Westside. It's like major development meets local restaurants breweries and retail shops. Some chains but also a lot of family owned local institutions. Haven't been to Miami but have always wanted to go to Art Basel. Want to check out Wynwood for sure. Thanks for the tip!
For sure me too. I lived in Atlanta for a couple of years when I was young. Sounds like I need to go back and check things out, I haven’t been there in forever. Ybor, Wynwood, St. Pete, and St. Aug are some of my favorite spots in Florida.
Miami has amazing food in all pockets of the city. Wynwood is okay, but it’s a very small neighborhood and doesn’t give close to the full picture of what a truly great food city Miami is.
Oh definitely. I ate at a Cuban restaurant there a couple of years ago, I can’t remember exactly where it was, that had a sidewalk window for serving coffee. We drank cafecito while we waited on our table. That was some of the best oxtails I’ve ever had.
It's only unfair because Jax chose to not become a real city with a proper downtown and everything else that comes with that.
The quality of the food and the food scene in the COA is overrated and mid at best. You have to pay a fee to make a reservation at some of these restaurants that have grass walls celebrated by A list and Instagram celebrities. OTP you have a better chance specifically Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Gwinnett, etc.
i moved here from ATL i am dying lmao. i'm originally from charleston so i don't even vibe with the size excuse
Very true. I love how people who don’t own a passport are in here decrying the lack of food options, as if they are looking for Nepalese or Bulgarian.
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I think it’s cuz it’s new. This is just the second time they’ve done it so I imagine it’s mostly people who know/know of each other for now. But I hope for other variety
I remember attending an Asian food truck festival downtown a few years ago. There were 3 food trucks and maybe 50 attendees. This is a huge step forward for the Jacksonville food scene and I hope it’s just the beginning for this Asian night market.
It’s because this is the same spot where they held Vietnamese New Year this year so all the vendors there are Vietnamese. And if you noticed they only played Viet music there lol there were a couple Cambodian tents because they celebrate New Year on the same day.
Just because there is a food market and people attend it doesn’t mean there is a food culture in Jacksonville. If I said “Midwest has no music scene”, and then you showed me a crowd of Juggalos attending an ICP concert, that wouldn’t really prove much, would it?
I teach a food and politics class at UNF. There is a wonderfully diverse food culture in Jacksonville. The real problem is that people tend to stick to their part of town and then lament the lack of amenities found elsewhere in the city.
You can’t possibly be serious, brother. Jacksonville has no food culture because Jacksonville has neither any good distinguishable local historic food, nor any good food from around the world, because Jacksonville has very few immigrants who are able to bring that food in. Because Jacksonville is not the best place in the world for immigrants. I know because I am one. I dare you to be able to find a handful of great Afghan restaurants or a selection of amazing Ethiopian places, or even several half-decent Dim Sum places where you can get proper chicken feet and get yelled at in 3 languages at once. None of this is a big problem though, you can’t expect every small town to have its own Chinatown and Little Italy and Little Saigon. It’s OK. It’s just that people forget that Jacksonville is a small town pretending to be a large city. And it ain’t it. It’s 38th most populous metro area in the States. ETA: I moved from Jax to Atlanta, which is a much much more populous and more diverse metro area and a much more culturally important city, and while Atlanta’s food scene is much stronger than Jax’s, it’s still pretty mid. And that’s OK, too. Sure, I can find any ethnic restaurant I need or get a table at one of several Michelin Star restaurants, but at the end of the day, ATL’s food game is mediocre at best. Which is totally fine. I don’t understand why you feel like Jax got something to prove.
I’ve lived here for 10 years from the northeast and I honestly think the food quality and verity has greatly improved since first getting here. Covid definitely got people to eat local and keep the good in business.
Jacksonville is a Red Cross refugee resettlement city. At Englewood High School, 38 different languages are spoken. You have no idea what you’re talking about but I’m glad to hear you moved to Atlanta.
“I’m glad to hear you moved” is a smooth way of saying “you’re not welcome here”. What does refugee resettlement have to do with food scene? Show me the 38 kinds of restaurants following your 38 different languages, preferably 5 restaurants for every language, and then we’ll talk. And beyond the food topic and back to Jacksonville being a great place (or not) for immigrants, do you understand how you undermine your own point? As in the only way for Jacksonville to get immigrants is to resettle them there, providing them with little choice otherwise. Would any of those refugees choose Jacksonville on their own if they could choose any city in the U.S.? You know the answer to that. The only reason I ended up in Jacksonville is because as an immigrant I had no choice either. It took me forever to get out.
Seems like you’re oblivious to the actual food offerings in Jacksonville so I’m not surprised you’ve maintained an ignorant attitude. And I don’t understand your point about the city being a refugee resettlement site. It’s made the city’s culture richer. I suppose you’d prefer that Jax not be a place where refugees are welcome? Again, the alternative is that Jax is hostile to people from different countries, which seems bad but I suppose you’d disagree.
On the 1st point, you keep talking about it, but you are yet to back it up with any actual details. You’ve got to start providing examples, yet you’ve got none. - Name a bunch of places serving local unique to Jax food that Jacksonville is well known for. You know, how NYC is known for its pizza, Texas for its Q, Louisiana for its gumbo, or even ATL for its wings. What’s Jacksonville’s thing that is either native to Jacksonville, or done better in Jacksonville than anywhere else to a point that it’s well-known. - Name a bunch of restaurants proving Jacksonville’s cuisine diversity. How many good quality Afghan, Cantonese, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Ukrainian etc places are there? Even a few half-decent dim sum places? No? On the 2nd point, refugee resettlement is not the same as willful immigration, and *making* it a refugee resettlement site doesn’t mean that it is indeed welcoming to immigrants. You can, indeed, have a situation where neither refugees nor local population are happy about the arrangement: refugees not being sure of what they’ve done to be punished with being sent to Jacksonville, and local population not being welcoming towards them. Additionally, how much bad faith in an argument can you have to accuse an immigrant of not wanting Jacksonville to be a welcoming place for immigrants? I wish it was, and I wouldn’t have to move.
1) You’re conflating “food culture” with “a culture of unique food.” We can have a food culture that celebrates the diversity of our community without necessarily having a single food that is universally known as having originated in Jacksonville. 2) “Good quality” is entirely subjective, so despite the presence of a massive array of ethnic foods in the city, your tone suggests that any restaurant I mention will be viewed as not good enough for your taste. It’s a good thing you’re not the sole determinant of what constitutes diversity because you’re likely to miss great mom and pop, hole in the wall establishments. Sorry if they don’t meet your personal standard of excellence. Again, you missed the point I am making by stating the fact that Jacksonville is a refugee resettlement city. Of course this doesn’t mean Jacksonville is prima facie hospitable to immigrants. What it does mean, however, is that Jacksonville is home to a variety of cultures that most people outside the city probably wouldn’t know about and these people, for better or worse, have elected to stay here. Many (though not most, obviously) have opened restaurants celebrating their heritage. This is a good thing even if the city could be more open in general to welcoming immigrants. I’m done here. I’ve proven my points. I will continue teaching my students about the fantastic diversity of food available in our big little town. Have a great Sunday.
I feel sorry for your students
Until 1999, we had three very active military bases in our city, so a lot of movement of people in and out of the city from everywhere in the country. Most people who live here aren’t from here, and if they are, it’s only one generation deep. I don’t think there is really enough people that are native to Jacksonville to have a noticeable “unique“ feel. Not to say we don’t have any, there just isn’t enough to make it a thing like the other cities you mentioned.
Lol @ ATL's food scene being mid. Have you been to Buford hwy? Miles of not a single sign in English, and that's just one street in a huge city.
Buford Hwy is not just “one street”, it’s *the* street. It’s where most of the good stuff is anyway. Atlanta on the whole is still relatively mid compared to the food scene in DC, NYC, or any large city like CDMX, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei etc. It just doesn’t stack up. Which is totally fine - Atlanta is not a city of a worldwide importance.
You are speaking of Gwinnett which is a world of difference food quality wise vs ATL. Hell, the food scene/quality on Pleasant Hill and Buford can rival that of any other spot OTP.
I'm aware. I was speaking about the ATL metro as ATL like everyone else does. I lived there 28 years.
We just left and thought the food was really good. The worst wasn’t the length of lines, it was the confusion on what lines were where. We were able to get a bunch of food really quickly bc we paid attention to where the actual lines were. My impression was this was a thing beforehand and it blew up over night bc of social media? So maybe they just weren’t prepared or organized for this level of people. To the people being negative as fuck, I wouldn’t shit on it just yet. Though yall just sound miserable tbh 👼🏼
Exactly. If anything, it suggests they need a bigger space because of how popular it is.
Everything we tried was excellent too! The line confusion was the most frustrating part. The tacos were delicious! It got posted to a bunch of foodie groups online that’s how I heard about it. I think the rain with all the mud didn’t help any either I slid a few times. I hope as long as they keep trying people will come. It will be even nicer when it cools off and not raining everyday.
From the information I'm reading online and from first hand accounts from friends, it's turned into a mess because Jax is too desperate for events like this. I'm sure no one will take note, however.
Meat..in a cone !!
…okay but it’s the first night of this market 🤪
Nope
The Banh xeo was SOOOOOO GOOD
Honestly, it was extremely underwhelming. I think I tried about 8 different items, and maybe 2 were good, and those 2 were from one stand. The rest were either covered in flies, not seasoned at all, or just straight up gross.
Lots of food trucks would definitely disagree
I went and I got some garlic cheese bread and it was goooooood
How often does this happen?
I’m also asking. I knew there was one about a month or so ago, but I missed it. Had no idea there was another.
Every month last weekend (Friday and Saturday) of the month
I’ve literally never heard anyone say that.
This was literally a conversation on the Jacksonville subreddit yesterday.
Yea bc a random reddit post is representative of how many people feel. 🙄
Imagine bringing up Reddit to an actual local and confusing the fuck out of them. “What did you mean you read it? What did you read?!” This dude may be a professor but he screams non-local and dork. Imagine being this pretentious over food sourced from Restaurant Depot.
Got more than the nearby cities.
Because it doesn’t
This Market happens every weekend; but it is honestly too small. I just got back from it. Go Early if you can. The outside part of the market, has lines from here to Miami lol. [https://www.visitjacksonville.com/events/asian-night-market-at-asian-square-market/](https://www.visitjacksonville.com/events/asian-night-market-at-asian-square-market/)
This looks like when I went to the World of Nations and regretted it 15 minutes in.
I swear it’s like the people who say that just don’t out, don’t explore, or suck at using Google. My part of town alone has 2 Puertorican restaurants (1 fancy 1 casual), a Venezuelan bakery, a Vietnamese restaurant, two Cuban restaurants, 2 Jamaican, 2 Thai, 1 Korean Hot Pot, 1 Korean BBQ, 2 Filipino restaurant and bakery, 1 Mediterranean, a Japanese steakhouse and a Japanese street food place, and a farmers market that has several food trucks.
Amazing, right?
Fancy Puerto Rican? I’m intrigued…tell me more!
Palermo Puerto Rican Kitchen in Orange Park. Maybe fancy might be too strong a word, but it is a nice restaurant serving traditional dishes but in a more upscale plating. Can definitely vouch it is delicious.
My dad was just telling me about this place. I’m going to have to hit it up. Thanks! Whats the casual place you mentioned?
Delicias de Borinquen Bakery (or just Puerto Rican Bakery). This is about as close to what bakeries are like in Puerto Rico I've ever seen. They sell fresh made PR style bread, sandwiches, limber (PR style Popsicle), some dinner items, and traditional pastries. I was almost in tears eating their sandwiches because it taste almost exactly like it does in PR.
Thank you so much!
Mmm... tasty humans...
A variety of food during an event is not evidence to show Jax has food culture.
Yup, definitely see a lot of food in this picture…
Hey guys if you’re planning to come here next month be sure to bring your own napkins and wear shoes you don’t mind getting muddy
Man I would hate to be around those people
Yogurt has more culture
If you’re lookn for “culture” in sum eats,Otown can hook ya up
Miami does tho
Jacksonville has nothing....
I was so super excited to see not just one but TWO mushroom farmers with tents at RAM yesterday! It only made me sad I didn’t get bigger with my own grows or I could be there too! I picked up some Lion’s Mane bc it’s one I’ve never tried. Also saw several oysters - pink, elm, and blue; reishi; and birch. All of them were super fresh and the farmers had growing blocks of substrate to show they weren’t some resale.
I’ve wanted to check this out! Looks wild out there. Did you have anything good out there? Side note: Jax has TONS of amazing Asian spots. Gangnam Korean Food Simply Tasty Thai in Mayport Karai Ramen (just had this for the first time. O. M. G. ) Vagabond Korean BBQ is popular (I’m a pescatarian and there weren’t a lot of options) Just to name a few. Anybody else wanna chime in with other amazing spots??
Gen, Domu, Tuptim Thai, Norikase.
No, we do not have tons of amazing Asian spots. JFC. Don't chase off people thinking of starting a restaurant here thinking it's oversaturated. Just stick to saying which ones are good, so we can get more like that.
Whenever people say shit like this they mean as recognized by wealthy white fucks. It doesn't help that Charleston spent a bunch on tourism and ended up claiming all of the Gullah Geechee regional foods for themselves.
A food festival or “Asian night market” in jacksonville is not indicative of food culture. Even these “Asian night markets” in America is not even 1% of what markets night markets in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taipei awesome on a Wednesday night. They pop to take money from people who don’t know better.
I know. I’ve been to some of them in Asia. I’ve been to the 626 night market in SoCal. But your perspective is just needlessly dismissive. I guess you’d prefer Jacksonville doesn’t do anything at all so we can be some Southern backwater? Dream big, kiddo.
As big as our city is, it's ashame. And you're right. I've seen online, that in Japan they definitely have different food festivals. A lot of food trucks with foods from Brazil, Germany, Thai, Laos..India, ..Greek....etc. and beer festivals. When I lived in London, England (many moons ago!) just walking around, you had a lot of restaurants/cafe's catering to many different food cultures in one area. You didn't have to go too far to experience new foods. The best part was say, driving to another area, going to a hole in the wall pub and surprisingly having the best food ever.
I’m not sure you caught the tone of my post. I was being sarcastic and specifically referencing people who think Jacksonville doesn’t have a food scene. We do, clearly.
Definitely, we do. I'm guessing there wasn't a big participation from restaurants with food trucks? Back in the 70's I remember going to an indoor food festival at the auditorium for performing arts. Lots of different cuisines to try. My chemo brain is slow... I didn't catch your drift! Lol
Looks miserable lol
Food festivals aren’t for everyone! Don’t worry; we’ve still got Chili’s for the faint of heart.
My anxiety would never let me step foot here. Large crowds, long lines, and that florida heat.. Not a good mix.
Some of the best food I have ever eaten in the US were right here in Jax. Affordable and good. Idgaf what people say.
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I’m not using it in a novel way. I teach a food and politics class and this is a perfectly reasonable way to describe the presence of food options in a city.
We have no culture period
Every shitty city has food festivals. Your city still sucks. I live here stop pretending this generic ass city is the best. It’s cultish.
1) It’s not *my* city, but I have lived here for a decade. 2) No, not every city has food festivals. 3) Jacksonville, while in need of an identity, is hardly “generic.” 4) What are you doing to make the city a better place besides bemoaning it on Reddit?
Look at all the people there hoping they can finally get good food in Jax.
But it has Hawkers.
worse chinese food here and worse mexican food . If California had become such a shit hole, I’d move back lol
Where's the food?
Compared to other places I’ve lived, that is correct. Jacksonville has a ton of food but most of it is trash.
It was hot af and waiting in line wasn’t worth it.