A new restaurant is opening in Nippers’ former waterfront location in Jacksonville Beach, six months after Nippers went bankrupt and closed down.
Action News Jax reported in December that Nippers employees had been complaining for weeks that their paychecks were coming late.
Now many of those same employees have returned to give this new restaurant a shot. About 40 percent of the employees at the newly named Blue Typhoon worked there when it was called Nippers.
“I’m excited to be back, man. They’ve improved the restaurant a lot,” said Blue Typhoon executive chef George Cintron.
Cintron has a lot of memories in that kitchen. Some of them are not so great.
“There was a time where we lost probably half the staff in, like, a week. A lot of people weren’t getting paid.
People just didn’t come back to work and we couldn’t be mad at them for it,” Cintron said.
Nippers shut down in December, four months after declaring bankruptcy and about 1 1/2 years after a man was shot to death outside the restaurant during “bike night.”
It’s not just the name that’s changed.
Blue Typhoon has a new second-floor deck, new ownership and a new menu.
But Nippers regulars are sure to see some familiar faces.
“I was here from opening day of Nippers to closing day,” said bartender Sloan Searcey.
Searcey said she’s looking forward to a fresh start with old friends.
“It’s nice to have some people come in that are trying to build their dream as well as incorporate all of us from the job that we all really loved working at,” Searcey said.
Blue Typhoon is planning to do an unofficial opening Friday.
Management has not set a date for a grand opening.
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