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It’s been a rough summer for some of the biggest names in casual dining.
In May, Red Lobster closed three Jacksonville-area restaurants. In June, Hooters closed its Orange Park restaurant. In August, Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar closed its North Jacksonville restaurant.
Two of those — Red Lobster and Hooters — were founded in Florida decades ago, in 1968 and 1983, respectively. (Even older is Boston’s Pizza, which traces its founding to 1964 in Edmonton, Canada.)
But another storied chain founded in the Sunshine State is growing, planning a new location in Jacksonville.
According to plans submitted to the City of Jacksonville and JEA, Orlando-based Olive Garden is proposing a restaurant at the intersection of Hodges and Butler Boulevards, at Glen Kernan Park.
The restaurant would be the fifth in Northeast Florida for the 42-year-old Italian-American chain famous for its never-ending first course of soup or salad and breadsticks, and the first since opening a location at River City Marketplace in 2009. (After a fire in January 2014 at its Regency location, Olive Garden rebuilt and reopened the restaurant in April 2015 .)