A longtime Beaches customer told First Coast News that a small group of his friends meets at Beachside Seafood about once a month, and that "this was always a good place to come for seafood, Philly cheese steak." He heard about the closing the same day he talked to the station.
Plenty of people at 120 Third St. S. got the same news this fall. But the closing covers only half the building. The restaurant upstairs is winding down. The fish market on the first floor, which has sold seafood at that address since 1989, is staying open, and it is the business the new owners plan to grow. It is also getting more attention at the time of year when the local catch is at its best.
Two Businesses Sharing One Address
Beachside has always been two businesses in one building: a dining room upstairs and a retail market on the ground floor. In its statement dated September 1, 2026, Pearl Hospitality Group called the market "the sister business on the first floor of the same building" and said it "has been a Jacksonville Beach staple since 1989, right alongside the restaurant."
Pearl bought Beachside Seafood Restaurant & Market in May 2025 for a total of $1.57 million, according to the statement published in full by Action News Jax. The managing partners, Jeremiah Carolino and Raymond De Padua, said the goal was to preserve a longtime local business while improving how it ran. About a year later they decided the restaurant needed a pause.
They gave three business reasons: rising operating costs, more competition across the Beaches restaurant market, and slower-than-expected growth in new customers. The fourth reason was the building. Pearl said it had been making cosmetic upgrades "incrementally, in narrow windows, while we stayed open," and that the next step needed work on the building and the concept that it could not do while serving dinner every night.
The Florida Times-Union reported that the restaurant would close "indefinitely" after 37 years. The same reports were clear that the market would stay.
A Restaurant Group Chose the Counter
Pearl is first and foremost a restaurant operator, which is why its choice here stands out. The Jacksonville Daily Record has covered the group's growth through Norikase and Izakaya Ko, which Pearl acquired and planned to revamp. This summer the Daily Record also reported Pearl's plan to bring back Bellwether in downtown Jacksonville with a Temaki Room concept.
At the beach, the same group is putting its money into retail. The September 1 statement lays out the plan: a bigger retail seafood case, more prepared and grab-and-go food, and a look at new retail concepts for the space. Pearl wrote that it wants Beachside Seafood Market to become "the go-to destination at the Beaches for fresh, local seafood."
General Manager Sheila Noffsinger gave First Coast News a more concrete picture of what that means at the counter:
"We are going to include some grab and go items, possibly in the market, and, you know, the side items that you can take with you to where when they come and they buy that fresh fish, fresh oysters, they can also have the side items, and we could help prepare an entire dinner for you to take home and cook for your family."
In other words, a dinner from Beachside is meant to go home with you. Fish, oysters and the sides come from the same counter. "We are 100 percent keeping the Jax Beach staple, which is our market," Noffsinger told the station. De Padua said it more directly: "We are not walking away from Beachside."
The Changeover Lands in Peak Season
Pearl gave October as the month the restaurant would wind down, and said the market changes would roll out "over the coming months." That puts the expanded counter in the stretch of the year when Northeast Florida's local seafood is at its best.
Two dates on the calendar line up with it:
- Stone crab claws. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists the recreational stone crab season as open October 15 through May 1, so claws have been in season since mid-October. FWC's commercial stone crab page lists the closed period as May 2 through October 14.
- Mayport shrimp. Visit Jacksonville's Mayport Shrimp Trail says Mayport shrimp come from the mouth of the St. Johns River, are available fresh year-round, and are generally at their best and biggest in November and December. FWC's recreational shrimp rules list the Northeast Region's inside waters, Duval County included, as closed April 1 through May 31, with no fall closure listed.
So the market's expansion starts as November begins, the first of the two months Visit Jacksonville names for the biggest Mayport shrimp. For a household that cooks at home over Thanksgiving week or hosts guests in December, those are the weeks a better seafood counter on Third Street South matters most.
The Rest of the Counter Map
Beachside is not the only fish counter at the beaches, and the season will bring traffic to the others too. Visit Jacksonville's Mayport Shrimp Trail lists the retail markets and seafood restaurants that serve the local catch. Here is how they line up for someone driving north from Jacksonville Beach:
| Stop | Address | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Beachside Seafood Market | 120 Third St. S., Jacksonville Beach | First-floor retail market since 1989, now expanding |
| Grouper Shack | 1700 Third St. S., Jacksonville Beach | Listed on the trail |
| North Beach Fish Camp | 100 First St., Atlantic Beach area | Listed on the trail |
| Mayport C&C Fisheries | 36 W. 6th St., Atlantic Beach | Retail fresh-seafood market |
| Safe Harbor Seafood Market | 4378 Ocean St., Mayport | Market with restaurant, delivery and shipping |
| Singleton's Seafood Shack | 4728 Ocean St., Mayport | Listed on the trail |
Mayport C&C Fisheries says it started in 1987 as a wholesale fresh-fish house. Its site describes a fresh-seafood market and sells take-home seafood boil cans that come packed with shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and seasoning. That puts it in the same take-home business Beachside is now expanding into.
Safe Harbor's market page says it sells fresh seafood and offers home delivery and nationwide shipping. Its posted hours are closed Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Check its market page before a holiday-week trip, because hours can change.
Beachside is the counter on this list closest to downtown Jacksonville Beach. The Mayport markets sit near the river mouth where the shrimp are caught. Beachside's plan puts prepared sides next to the raw fish, so one stop can cover a full dinner. Mayport is still the place to go when you want the shrimp straight from the river.
Before Your Next Stop on Third Street South
A few practical points while the changeover is underway:
- The last day of restaurant service had not been announced. Pearl said the exact date "will depend on operations, community response, and the transition schedule." If you want one more meal upstairs, call before you go.
- The wind-down was paced on purpose. Noffsinger told First Coast News the restaurant wanted to give "people that have memories here" ample time to come back before it closed.
- The market's new offerings will arrive in stages. Pearl described the bigger case, prepared food and grab-and-go items as plans for "the months ahead," so expect the counter to change over the season rather than all at once.
- The upstairs space has no announced future. Pearl said no final decision had been made on the long-term use or identity of the restaurant space.
The market downstairs is staying at 120 Third St. S. and getting a bigger seafood case in time for November and December, the two months Visit Jacksonville names for the biggest Mayport shrimp.
If you're weighing a home within an easy drive of Third Street South or the Mayport docks, Jean Pickett can walk you through what daily life looks like on those blocks. Schedule a free consultation and let's talk it through.
