Atlantic Beach’s high-profile Corner is set to swap pint glasses for prime cuts. Grafton & Fleck’s Steakhouse is planned for 299 Atlantic Blvd., the former Ragtime Tavern site, with local restaurateurs Jeff McCusker and Bob Fleckenstein lined up to operate the new concept. City permits tied to the project were filed earlier this year and are now under review.
Permits were submitted in January, according to the Jax Daily Record, and plans under review outline a 158-seat first-floor dining room along with a 20-seat private dining room. The drawings show a proposed second-story addition with rooftop dining, including 42 open-air seats and 44 covered seats, and they do not list cost estimates or a construction timeline. The filings name Cronk Duch Architecture as architect, RDID of Jacksonville as interior designer, Alexander Grace Consulting Inc. and Trusted Engineering as engineers, and RLH of Oviedo as general contractor.
Building history and ownership
County records list Southcoast Capital Partnership Ltd. as the owner of the parcel at 299 Atlantic Blvd., and one of the buildings on the site dates back to 1927, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser. The property includes multiple structures within Beaches Town Center, the busy retail-and-dining strip where Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach converge.
Ragtime's exit left a hole
Ragtime Tavern, a longtime anchor at The Corner, closed in January 2025 after it was sold to Kelly Companies, a shutdown previously reported by the Jax Daily Record. Its departure left a prominent vacancy in the neighborhood that Grafton & Fleck’s now aims to fill with a more upscale steakhouse format.
Who’s behind the new spot
Jeff McCusker and Bob Fleckenstein, the team behind River & Post in Riverside and River & Fort in St. Augustine, are listed as the operators for Grafton & Fleck’s, a background detailed in local coverage by Folio Weekly. The Atlantic Beach building division notes it is accepting commercial submissions, and the city’s permitting portal serves as the system for plan review and inspection scheduling as part of the standard approval process; the application for this project is currently under review by city staff.
No cost estimates or construction timeline appear in the public filings, and approvals along with a building permit are the next milestones before any work can begin. If the plans clear that process, the steakhouse, with its sizable indoor dining room and rooftop seating, would represent a notable shift for The Corner as it transitions from a longtime tavern to a regional restaurateur’s new concept.
