A new delicatessen is planned for the Players Grille Mandarin space, with a menu built around fresh bagels, smoked lox and brined pastrami. Bell and Layton's Delicatessen and Provisions will occupy a 5,094-square-foot shop as it works to fill a gap in Jacksonville's dining scene that has lingered for more than a decade and a half.
According to The Business Journals, Bell and Layton's Delicatessen and Provisions is planned for the Players Grille Mandarin space, a 5,094-square-foot site. The outlet reports the menu will center on fresh bagels, smoked lox and brined pastrami, with plans to eventually expand into kosher and non-kosher groceries as the business settles into its new home.
A Deli Tradition Interrupted Since 2009
The project traces back to a yearslong search for the right location. Per a separate report from bizjournals.com, two business partners spent months looking for a site to revive what the outlet described as a beloved Jacksonville dining tradition, one tied to the memory of Worman's Bakery and Deli, which closed in 2009. That same report confirmed that the Players Grille Mandarin property was sold specifically to become Bell & Layton's Deli, closing the chapter on the sports bar that previously occupied the space.
Worman's Bakery and Deli closed in 2009, ending a beloved Jacksonville dining tradition. Bell and Layton's arrival positions the new shop as an effort to carry that tradition forward.
Groceries and Kosher Offerings on the Horizon
Beyond the deli counter, the founders have signaled bigger ambitions. The Business Journals notes that Bell and Layton's Delicatessen and Provisions plans to add both kosher and non-kosher groceries down the line, a move that would expand its role from a sandwich-and-bagel shop into something closer to a full provisions market.
Jacksonville Jewish's kosher food guide describes Gili's Kitchen downtown as the city's only dine-in kosher meat restaurant.
Part of a Broader Wave of New Openings
Bell and Layton's isn't the only bagel-focused newcomer to hit the area this year. Jacksonville.com's roundup of new restaurants opening in Jacksonville and St. Johns County in 2026 listed H&H Bagels at 10025 San Jose Blvd. among the additions, part of a wider uptick in new food businesses setting up shop across the region.
Mandarin itself has seen its share of new dining arrivals in recent years. The Jax Daily Record reported that Mandola's Italian Kitchen intended to open its first Jacksonville-area restaurant in the neighborhood's Claire Lane Center back in 2022, part of a pattern of outside concepts and local entrepreneurs alike betting on Mandarin as a destination worth investing in.
Bell and Layton's joins that list of bets, aiming to turn a shuttered sports bar into a spot where Jacksonville diners can once again find a proper bagel-and-lox breakfast or a pastrami sandwich without leaving town.
