When I moved to Orange Park in 1983, there was a small, eat-in Pizza Hut restaurant on Blanding Blvd, next to a lot which would soon house my credit union. The restaurant was in the middle of the block, so it was inconvenient to north-bound traffic, and it had a small parking lot that was oddly shaped. But the fare was OK for a Pizza Hut, and the time we ate there and found we were short of cash, it was an easy dash next door to the credit union money machine.
Some time between 4 and 6 years ago, Pizza Hut left, and it became a Chinese restaurant. The paint scheme was pseudo-Chinese, but I don’t suppose the food was very good, because about 3 years ago, it closed.
After a vacant period, a seafood restaurant moved in. Being seafood lovers, we decided to give it a try. The decor was unimpressive, and the food was just OK. They didn’t last a year.
In an attempt to sorta return to the building’s roots, “The Brick Oven” Italian restaurant came next. I dined there twice. First time with my husband - it was OK, but it was shortly after they opened, so I figured they were still figuring things out. A couple of months later, I took my daughter there. One other table was seated after we came in - that was the house. The waitress decided to hang out at the other table. I watched our food on the serving shelf, cooling, ignored. So I went up there, asked that it be packaged to go, paid (no tip) and we left. They closed a few weeks later.
Last month, there was activity again in the building. The exterior walls were painted a bright cobalt blue. The shutters got a coat of golden arches yellow. Last week, a new sign went up. It’s a hold-till-payday check cashing place. Just struck me as odd because there are all kinds of vacant storefronts in strip shopping centers along the boulevard, but these guys set up shop in an old restaurant.
So, do I win the prize for most mundane du jour?
