JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — A beloved Jacksonville Beach seafood restaurant is closing its doors indefinitely sometime in October after nearly 40 years in business.
Beachside Seafood Restaurant & Market is shifting its focus to the seafood market downstairs, as the company works to navigate declining sales, rising costs, and increased competition.
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For longtime customers, the closure marks the end of a Jacksonville Beach tradition.
“For the last two days, I’ve had conversations with my team,” general manager Sheila Noffsinger said.
Noffsinger said the decision was not an easy one.
“This wasn’t an easy decision for any of us,” she said.
For decades, Beachside’s colorful sign has beckoned customers to Jacksonville Beach, promising fresh seafood and a familiar dining experience.
Customer Todd Wheeler said the restaurant’s history makes the closure especially difficult.
“A place like this, the history … it’s surprising, a little saddening … that’s the way it goes,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said he has especially enjoyed the restaurant’s fried shrimp.
“When the shrimp’s done right, I call it golden goodness. That light, golden cook that you get on a fried shrimp,” Wheeler said.
Pearl Hospitality Group purchased Beachside for $1.57 million in May 2025, saying at the time that it wanted to preserve the longtime Jacksonville Beach staple.
But Noffsinger said the turnaround has proven more difficult than expected.
She said sales declined amid rising costs, increased competition, and a slower-than-expected flow of new customers.
“I can assure you this was not their plan all along. They wanted to come in — they’re from Jacksonville. Pearl Hospitality … they saw this as a staple,” Noffsinger said.
The announcement has drawn disappointment from customers and sparked a range of reactions online, including disappointment, and even racist comments and posts incorrectly identifying some Filipino members of the ownership group as Chinese.
Now, the company is shifting its attention to what Pearl Hospitality Group called “the heart of this business” - the seafood market.
“We’re going to put some effort into expanding the market, bring some grab and go, more retail,” Noffsinger said.
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The restaurant currently has 26 team members. Noffsinger said many will be moved into positions at other restaurants within the company or at the downstairs market.
The restaurant is expected to close in October, with the company continuing to determine what comes next for the Beachside property and market.
For customers who have made Beachside part of their Jacksonville Beach routine for decades, the closure means saying goodbye to a familiar part of the beach community — at least for now.
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Statement from Pearl Hospitality Group Regarding the closure of Beachside Seafood Restaurant and the expansion of Beachside Seafood Market
Provided jointly by Jeremiah Carolino and Raymond De Padua, Managing Partners, Pearl Hospitality Group
September 1, 2026
While Beachside Seafood Restaurant winds down operations, Beachside Seafood Market — the sister business on the first floor of the same building — is staying open and becoming Pearl Hospitality Group’s primary focus at the location, with plans for expanded retail, prepared food, and grab-and-go offerings in the months ahead.
On the acquisition:
“Pearl acquired Beachside Seafood Restaurant & Market in May 2025 for a total of $1.57 million. Our goal was preserving a longtime local business while improving operations, consistency, and the overall guest experience.”
On the decision to close the restaurant:
“Over the past year, rising operating costs, increased competition throughout the Beaches restaurant market, and slower-than-anticipated growth in new customer traffic changed the equation for us. We made cosmetic and other improvements to the restaurant after acquiring it, but those changes had to happen incrementally, in narrow windows, while we stayed open. That experience made clear that Beachside’s next step requires the ability to address the building and the overall concept more comprehensively than we can while running nightly service. There comes a point where continuing to make small changes is no longer enough.”
On the future of Beachside Seafood Market:
“Beachside Seafood Market has been a Jacksonville Beach staple since 1989, right alongside the restaurant, known for fresh, locally caught seafood — and it’s not just staying open, it’s about to get bigger. With the restaurant winding down, we’re redirecting our attention and resources into growing the market: expanding the retail seafood case, growing our prepared and grab-and-go offerings, and evaluating new retail concepts for the space. Our goal is for Beachside Seafood Market to become the go-to destination at the Beaches for fresh, local seafood — whether someone’s cooking at home, picking up something ready-made, or just stopping in for whatever’s freshest that day.
“Beachside Seafood Market has always been the heart of this business, and it will now become our primary focus. We are not walking away from Beachside — we’re giving ourselves the ability to figure out what this property and this brand need to become for the next generation, and the market is where that starts. We’re excited about what’s ahead, and we invite the community to come see it for themselves as these changes roll out over the coming months.”
On the timeline and the restaurant space:
“We expect to wind down restaurant operations in October, though the exact last day of service will depend on operations, community response, and the transition schedule over the coming weeks. No final decision has been made yet on the long-term use or identity of the restaurant portion of the property. We want the ability to properly evaluate that space rather than continuing to operate while piecemealing improvements.”
On the impact to employees:
“Beachside currently has 26 team members. We’re working to place as many of them as possible in open roles across our other restaurants and at the market, which is expanding. This team has given many years of their lives to this business, and that history is part of what makes this decision so difficult — it’s also why taking care of them through this transition is a priority for us, not an afterthought.”
On Beachside’s legacy:
“Beachside has been a Jacksonville Beach mainstay since 1989, with an incredibly loyal base of longtime customers. That history is a big part of why this was such a difficult decision, and why we’re taking the time to get the next chapter right rather than rushing it.”
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