Woody's Bar-B-Q plans to open a new restaurant on Jacksonville's Southside targeting November 1, even as the barbecue brand's original 1980 location on University Boulevard is expected to close at the end of September. The move marks the latest step in a broader operational overhaul underway since new owners took control of the 46-year-old chain last fall.
According to WhatNow, Woody's plans to relocate the University Boulevard restaurant nearby rather than simply shut it down, keeping the original site's legacy alive in a new Southside space. The outlet reports the brand has been focused on updating operations, expanding its digital presence, and finding new ways to reach customers since Jack Dunsmoor and Kelly Harris acquired the company through Greater Purpose Restaurant Group in October 2025. That original restaurant at 1638 University Blvd. S. was opened on July 1, 1980, by co-founders Woody Mills and Yolanda Mills-Mawman, according to the same report.
Dunsmoor's history with the brand runs deep. He first became a Woody's franchisee in 2013 and grew into multi-unit ownership by 2017, having operated locations in Macclenny and along Powers Avenue in Jacksonville before acquiring the entire franchise system, according to PRLog. He's also no stranger to redeveloping Jacksonville real estate for the brand — back in June 2018, Dunsmoor invested roughly $300,000 to convert a former Sticky Fingers Ribhouse site at 8129 Point Meadows Way in Baymeadows into a free-standing Woody's location with upscale touches like marble bar tops, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported at the time.
A Brand Built on Family Recipes Finds New Momentum
Woody's core menu traces back to family recipes created by Grace Mills, Woody Mills's mother, who brought her experience cooking in prominent Jacksonville country club kitchens to help launch the brand in 1980, per the company's own account on Woody's Bar-B-Q's website. That homegrown DNA has carried the chain from a single Jacksonville storefront to a footprint that once stretched past 48 locations across the U.S. and Canada, per company records cited by PRLog.
After roughly a decade without opening a new restaurant, Woody's has begun adding locations again, per the same WhatNow report — including its first North Carolina outpost, which Hoodline covered when Woody's fired up in Durham earlier this year. The chain currently operates two Jacksonville restaurants, additional locations throughout Florida, and its Durham location, WhatNow notes, with sales improving across most of its roughly 10 restaurants, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Overnight-Smoked Beef Ribs Are Selling Out by Lunch
Menu innovation has been part of the push too. Woody's beef ribs now get an overnight smoke before serving and are offered as a weekly special, and according to the report, they've been selling out at several locations by lunchtime. The broader menu still centers on smoked meats, ribs, sandwiches and sides, with many locations featuring drive-thru service alongside dine-in seating.
The company has also leaned into digital ordering as a growth lever, emphasizing online ordering, pickup and catering alongside traditional dine-in service, per WhatNow's reporting. Woody's website separately offers online ordering and catering options for customers across its markets.
Leadership Continuity Behind the Changes
Much of the operational stability during the ownership transfer has come down to Vice President of Operations Jay Vail, a former Cracker Barrel executive who joined Woody's corporate leadership in 2016 and has stayed on to oversee operational standards and franchisee training, according to Gorilla Dash. The current ownership era also builds on earlier restructuring: in April 2017, Mills-Mawman became company president while Mills moved into the chairman role, a shift the Jacksonville Daily Record tied to franchise development ahead of the pair's eventual 2025 retirement. Three years later, in October 2020, the company hired 30-year franchise sales veteran Roger Flynn as Director of Franchise Development to push store growth across the American South, according to Fast Casual.
Woody's expansion is playing out against a competitive and increasingly high-profile Jacksonville dining scene. In August, the Michelin Guide recognized Jacksonville restaurants for the first time, adding three local eateries to its guide and drawing new national attention to Northeast Florida's culinary landscape, according to The Florida Times-Union. Commercial real estate tracking from late 2025 also showed that more than half of new restaurant openings in the Jacksonville metro area were landing in suburban master-planned developments and retail centers in growth hubs like the Southside, according to Sleiman Enterprises — a pattern that lines up with Woody's own Southside relocation plan.
For anyone eyeing a Woody's franchise of their own, the barrier to entry isn't small. Opening a full-service barbecue restaurant franchise in 2026 requires an initial investment between $255,750 and $496,250, plus a minimum of $100,000 in liquid capital, according to Franchise Solutions. Whether Greater Purpose Restaurant Group intends to push the brand's roughly 10-location footprint back toward its historical peak of nearly 50 units remains to be seen, but the Southside opening and the University Boulevard relocation suggest the new ownership is betting on steady, hometown-rooted growth rather than a rapid national push.
