Go Back

 

New Downtown Restaurant To Open Thursday

    Long-awaited, and now highly anticipated, Umatilla’s 9North Hometown Grill and associated Watering Hole lounge will open its doors to the public on Thursday, October 30.  The restaurant seeks to fill a gap in sit-down dinner house style service in Umatilla, with partners Jonathan Jennings and Brian “Hawk” Hawkins having spent the last several months prepping the downtown location for what will be Umatilla’s most upper scale dining establishment.
    The restaurant, named for its address on Central Avenue,  will be celebrated with an official ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. followed by its regular lunch and dinner service.  Currently, the restaurant and lounge will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with plans to expand to daily service in the coming weeks.
    Customers got a first glimpse of the establishment during a soft opening event on Saturday, October 25, and discovered a completely renovated space from when it was last open several years ago.  With an early 20th century theme, both the restaurant and lounge play on its home building’s status as Umatilla’s largest historic structure with design cues and decorations that meld modern comfort with a classic flair.
    “We gutted it,” said Jennings this week of the expansive renovation project, which included a completely new kitchen. Jennings, who owns the building, decided to partner with Hawkins in the restaurant after a long-term effort to lease the space was unsuccessful.
    But not for a lack of suiters.
    Jennings said over a dozen people considered the location in recent years, but several factors, including required upgrades and Jennings’ desire for a certain ‘level’ of restaurant, failed to find the perfect match.
    So Jennings partnered with Hawkins, who brings decades of experience in the restaurant industry.  The duo developed the concept of 9 North as a family-friendly establishment that is a step up from a standard ‘bar food’ dining experience.
    “The majority of the menu is scratch made,” Jennings said.  And while there are higher end offerings like filet mignon, hamburgers and wings also appear on the menu, all competitively priced with other area dinner house menus. The lounge features 16 beers on tap and a heaving dose of local and Florida-based producers of beer and whiskey, bringing the community a place to find unique samplings while enjoying a  fresh menu offerings.
    Jennings wife, Jackie, led the way on the design concepts, with the trio’s efforts coming to fruition with a restaurant that has not been seen before in Umatilla.
    “You will taste the difference,” Jennings said, with Hawkins noting that kitchen manager Josh Parker and other staff members have experience at places like Mount Dora’s Goblin Market and other finer dining locations. Hawkins himself comes to the project with a resumé that includes stints at The Oyster Troff in Eustis and Tiki West in Tavares.
    The lounge side of the establishment breaks away from a traditional bar experience.  While there are televisions and even a large separate seating area that will allow for a group to watch a featured sporting event, Jennings and Hawkins say the Watering Hole will be a family-friendly place to gather and watch sports - and will serve as ‘Bucs Bar’ for fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
    “We want customers to be able to find things you can’t find anywhere else,” Hawkins says of plans to feature unique menu items that have touches from local suppliers, like Grand Island’s Empire Pickle Company as an example. 
    A one-of-a-kind restaurant in a one-of-a-kind location looks to provide the North Lake Community with a one-of-a-kind experience.  It begins this week, in one of Umatilla’s most historic commercial spaces.