Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries has permanently closed its Jacksonville Westside restaurant, ending a roughly two-year run for the Carolina-born chain in Northeast Florida. The closure took effect Wednesday, Sept. 16, near the Commonwealth Avenue/I-295 interchange, where the retro-style burger joint opened in June 2024.
The shutdown was announced in a post on the location's Facebook page, according to bradenton.com, which reported the news. The Jacksonville restaurant had been one of just three Hwy 55 locations operating outside North and South Carolina, per the same report, underscoring how far the chain had reached beyond its home turf before pulling back from this particular market.
A Carolina Chain's Rare Florida Foothold
Hwy 55 traces its roots to North Carolina, where the brand was founded in 1991, according to Hwy55.com. The company later rebranded to Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries in 2012 and had locations in 10 states, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates, according to Nation's Restaurant News, under founder and president Kenny Moore.
At its broader scale, the chain had expanded beyond North Carolina, the trade publication reported. A 2023 permit filing had listed the Jacksonville building's construction cost at $858,000 for a 2,490-square-foot new structure, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. That 2023 permit listed the address as 1027 Danmac Lane, while the September closure report from bradenton.com identified the restaurant's address as 107 Danmac Lane — a discrepancy that remains unresolved between the two accounts.
Rising Costs Squeeze Jacksonville Restaurants
The closure lands as Florida restaurant owners brace for another jump in labor costs. The state's minimum wage for nontipped employees is scheduled to rise by $1 to $15 an hour in October 2026, with the tipped minimum wage climbing to $11.98 an hour, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. Local operators told the outlet they're already paying $17 an hour and up just to hire and retain kitchen staff.
Those pressures aren't isolated to one chain. A March 2026 report from Nation's Restaurant News, cited in the same Daily Record piece, found that 9% of full-service restaurants nationwide could close during the year, with 42% of operators calling their businesses unprofitable in 2025 and 60% reporting worsening conditions. Jacksonville's Tequila's Town closed its Harbour Village location on May 31 after seven years, with its owner citing excessive overhead and noting that a pound of hamburger had doubled in price since the restaurant opened, per the Daily Record's reporting.
Not the First Hwy 55 to Shut Its Doors
Jacksonville isn't the only market where Hwy 55 has recently pulled back. A location in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, closed permanently on Feb. 27, though the company said it hoped to return to the area someday, according to the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald. Founder and president Kenny Moore told the paper, “We were forced to close. We were trying to secure a new lease, and the landlord denied us.”
No comparable explanation for the Jacksonville closure has been confirmed. With the Westside restaurant now shuttered, Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries has lost its Jacksonville foothold, leaving the chain's presence outside the Carolinas thinner than it was just two years ago.
