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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Downtown restaurant The Jones closes for good

Gabriela Quadri spent just less than $13 Tuesday on what would become her last chicken Cobb salad at The Jones, a popular downtown restaurant.

The 24-year-old UF alumna said the salad, typically served in a biodegradable container, was handed to her in a Styrofoam bowl instead.

Aside from that, there were no signs that one of her favorite Gainesville restaurants would soon close.

But Saturday, it became official.

After 10 years in Gainesville and four years at 203 SW Second Ave., the restaurant announced it would permanently close.

In a statement posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page, The Jones thanked its customers for years of loyalty and promised this would not be the last time they would hear its name around the city. However, amid allegations of mounting debt, first reported by food-critic site Ken Eats Gainesville, the restaurant would not specify what led to the closure.

“Even though we have closed our doors for business you can expect to see our name as a brand of quality in this community,” the post read. “I don’t want to bore people with the ins and out(s) of small business struggles that led to our eventual close. Many will have (their) own stories as to what the jones (sic) was to them. All I can say for sure is that we rode until the wheels fell off. Thank you for being part of our family. Jones out.”

Quadri ate there twice a week for the last two years after discovering their salads while eating with friends. Unlike other restaurants’ salads, she found The Jones’ chicken Cobbs, topped with a hardboiled egg, bacon and onion, especially filling.

“The first time I went was kind of a shot in the dark,” she said. “They turned me onto The Jones, and then it was love.”

On her hourlong lunch breaks from her job at Akira Wood Inc., a Gainesville architectural woodwork company, she would often visit the restaurant for her favorite salad.

Though Quadri had heard of issues with roaches, which caused The Jones to temporarily close in March, she said she was surprised it actually closed for good. During an inspection March 11, a health inspector found 11 live roaches on the cook line wall and wall fixtures behind a steam table, according to a report filed with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The manager killed the roaches on site, according to the report. But in its most recent inspection, on Aug. 1, the department reported the restaurant “met inspection standards.”

Out of all the restaurants in Gainesville, only The Jones lived up to Quadri’s expectations for a hearty salad, she said.

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She even planned to share her favorite spot with some friends Friday, she said.

“I was kind of frustrated because that was my main salad to-go place,” she said.

Abby Tannenbaum used to eat at The Jones at least once a month, but her last visit left her hungry and skeptical, she said.

About three weeks ago, The Jones refused to serve the 21-year-old and her friend during normal business hours and appeared to be selling kitchen supplies, she said.

The UF political science senior said the situation was odd because she had never had problems with the service or food, despite hearing of its previous health-code violations. She said the closure was not surprising.

“I’m not surprised, but I’m disappointed,” she said.

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