Restaurant news: Family-owned Flagler beach bar and grill opens in Ormond-by-the-Sea

A Flagler Beach staple recently opened a second restaurant location in Ormond-by-the-Sea.

Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill’s new location , which replaces what was formerly Betty’s A1A Café, soft opened late last month, and plans to open with regular hours by next week. The beachside eatery is currently operating under the limited hours of 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily during its soft opening, with breakfast served from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

“Exhilarating,” is the word that came to mind for Johnny Lulgjuraj, regarding the family-owned restaurant’s long-awaited opening.

“A lot of blood sweat and tears went into this place, but, you know, anything great takes time,” he said.

Lulgjuraj, who owns the restaurant alongside his brother, Tony, tells me the new spot — which was in the works for more than three years — will embrace the same locals-oriented, family-friendly charm that customers have come to know and love at his Flagler location, while striving to be "the cleanest and most efficient place on the beach."

“We were very particular in how we designed the restaurant,” he said. “That small town vibe — charm — we’ve always tried to embrace it but also be a little bit modern … not old school, not new school. We have a great balance of both, and that’s what we like to put into our projects and our businesses.”

The cozy new space, he tells me, was ultimately brought to life through the design talents of Jeffrey Dunn, architectural and interior designer at Creative Concepts, and the unwavering support of the brothers' dedicated parents, wives and management alike.

"This was a family affair," Lulgjuraj said.

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Oceanside 2: Menu, growth and more

The new location, the restaurateur noted, will continue to offer the same breakfast, lunch and dinner items that the original restaurant is known for, with brand new features set to make an appearance in the future, once fully open.

Locals’ feedback, he insisted, is as important as ever before, allowing the restaurant to properly tailor its menu offerings to the wants and needs of its customers.

“It’s going to take time to get that feedback,” Lulgjuraj said.

“During the soft opening, you’ll hear servers asking ‘Hey, what would you love to see on the menu?’ Then our servers take that back to the management team, back to myself and our chef, and we create basically what they’re looking for.”

Oceanside’s menu caters to a wide variety of tastes, offering everything from fruity cocktails, steak and seafood plates to breakfast burritos, Greek gyros, homemade lasagna, and layered burgers, among a variety of other dishes.

How Oceanside came about

The name Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill is certainly no stranger to the Flagler community, serving as locals beachfront dining staple for the last 13 years.

The family-owned eatery was once Manny’s Pizza, which Lulgjuraj’s mother and father owned, until ultimately selling the space in 2005. Lulgjuraj and his brother then took over, years later, opening the now Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill in 2011.

The decision to expand with a second location, Lulgjuraj previously told The News-Journal, was an inevitable business progression that seemed only natural once Betty’s A1A Café went up for sale just 9 miles down the road.

The restaurant’s opening, however, took longer than expected following the need for a complete remodeling and a slew of ongoing delays with the city.

“We kind of looked at it as, it was a good opportunity, but we definitely didn’t understand the amount of work that was going to have to go into it,” the restaurateur previously told The News-Journal.

Looking ahead

While the new location is “always hiring,” Lulgjuraj tells me he’s profoundly confident in the team he’s built, and grateful for the community’s enthusiasm, noting at the time of our conversation that he had received more than 80 applications from the two job fairs he had recently hosted.

Looking ahead, Lulgjuraj says he hopes Oceanside's new location, like the original, will help bring change to the current service industry culture, serving as a place “where you can be more loyal and can actually grow within the company,” he said.

“I think the biggest problem is the lack of communication from both management and employee level. We’re very open-doors with our communication … . Ultimately, it’s been a wonderful growing experience, and I think I have the top-tier management team and best employees in the area.”

Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill’s Ormond-by-the-Sea location plans to open fully on Monday, following Mother's Day.

Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill's new restaurant is located at 1900 Ocean Shore Blvd., and will be open 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily following the soft opening. For information, visit facebook.com/oceansidebeachgrill.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Restaurant news: Family-owned Flagler beach bar and grill opens in Ormond-by-the-Sea