A new restaurant blending Mediterranean grilling with specialty coffee is headed to Murray Hill, with Petra Cafe & Kitchen planned for 1152 Edgewood Ave. S. in Jacksonville. The concept promises grilled dishes, Mediterranean cuisine staples, coffee and beverages, and both indoor and outdoor garden seating on a stretch of Edgewood Avenue that has become one of the city's most closely watched dining corridors.
According to WhatNow, Petra Cafe & Kitchen will combine Mediterranean grill favorites, specialty coffees, and a relaxed cafe atmosphere, adding another dining option to a strip already known for its independent food scene. The outlet describes the concept as bringing Mediterranean flavors and Middle Eastern hospitality to the neighborhood, though the report does not include a construction timeline, permitting status, opening date, or detailed menu.
The property itself has a modest footprint but a long commercial history. The site consists of an 800-square-foot building on a 7,942-square-foot lot originally constructed in 1961, according to Movoto. Real estate records show the commercial parcel last sold in December 2025 for $400,000, per Redfin, and Duval County property records list it under parcel APN 061509-0000 with a CCG-1 zoning designation that permits retail, restaurant, and neighborhood service uses.
A Building With a Working-Class Past
Long before it was slated for garden seating and Mediterranean grilling, the address served a very different kind of business. Florida Division of Corporations records show 1152 Edgewood Ave. S. was once the principal address for J. & N. Tool Repair II, Inc., a company incorporated in 1998 that was administratively dissolved the following year. That history reflects the kind of small commercial and repair businesses that have cycled through the parcel over the decades.
The broader neighborhood has an even deeper backstory. Murray Hill was platted in 1906 as Murray Hill Heights, built atop an 1880s subdivision, and was officially incorporated as its own town in 1916 before later being annexed into Jacksonville, according to historical archives from Metro Jacksonville. Edgewood Avenue itself, originally named Murray Hill Avenue, grew into a bustling commercial corridor in the 1930s and hit its peak retail activity between the late 1950s and mid-1970s, the same archive shows.
Edgewood's Modern Comeback
That mid-century boom faded, but Edgewood Avenue has spent the past two decades clawing its way back. Local outlet The Coastal has reported that independent additions like Moon River Pizza, Maple Street Biscuit Company, Vagabond Coffee, and El Jefe have driven a commercial rebirth along the corridor, turning it into a regional draw for Jacksonville diners.
Institutional money has followed. Community First Credit Union purchased the landmark former Edgewood Bakery building at 1012 Edgewood Ave. S. for $1.65 million in late 2024, with plans to redevelop the site, which had operated as a neighborhood bakery from 1947 until 2016, First Coast News reported. Hoodline previously covered the credit union's expansion plans tied to that same historic property.
Joining a Crowded New Wave
Petra Cafe & Kitchen will not be the only recent newcomer testing Edgewood's appetite for fresh concepts. O'Mara Irish Pub opened at 939 Edgewood Ave. S. with seating for roughly 100 guests and a live-music stage, joining The Forge, a veteran-owned gastropub that debuted nearby, as Hoodline reported in June. Together, those additions point to a strip that has increasingly attracted evening entertainment alongside daytime cafe traffic.
That mix of nightlife and casual dining lines up with who is actually moving into Murray Hill. Market analysis from DJ & Lindsey Real Estate notes that the neighborhood's walkable historic street layout and relatively accessible housing prices have made it a top destination for young professionals and creatives in Jacksonville, a customer base well suited to a cafe pairing Mediterranean grilling with specialty coffee and garden seating.
Whether Petra Cafe & Kitchen will follow through on plans for the vacant 1961 building on Edgewood remains to be seen, with no confirmed opening date yet reported. For now, the plan adds one more name to a corridor that has spent the past twenty years rebuilding itself one independent kitchen at a time.
