ORANGE PARK | After more than half a century, a landmark Jacksonville-area restaurant known for its hefty portions of American comfort food as well as a popular gathering place for classic car enthusiasts and as a live music venue showcasing local bands has shut its doors.
Tom & Betty’s Restaurant abruptly closed at 2134 Park Ave. in Orange Park, where it relocated after shuttering its longtime location at Roosevelt Square in 2017.
Dating back to 1971, the iconic restaurant featured overstuffed sandwiches named for vintage cars and a unique collection of automobile memorabilia that grew over the years.
Leading its menu of signature sandwiches was the El Dorado, also described as the “Cadillac of sandwiches,” with more than a 1/2-pound of ham, turkey, and bacon, layered between rye bread with lettuce, tomato, and topped with 1000 Island dressing and chopped egg.
Other customer favorites included the Mark IV, a classic Reuben; Toronado, a French dip; Mustang, a fried chicken filet tossed in Cajun wing sauce; and TR7, a grilled Philly-style chicken or steak sandwich.
Entrees deemed “High End Market” included the Monte Carlo, which was “a double portion of country fried steak with homemade white pepper gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans.”
In addition to the food, guests came to Tom & Betty’s for its classic car cruise-ins as well as bingo and trivia nights, and live music.
Owners — listed as Valerie and Duane Atkinson on state corporation records — couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.
Decades-old dining destination closes quietly
Tom & Betty’s closed quietly.
There was no official or public announcement. Word of the closure spread via social media posts from longtime customers, car buffs, local musicians and even a former Orange Park elected official.
Information was unavailable about whether the landmark Northeast Florida dining destination might reopen. Also unknown was what would happen to the automobile memorabilia.
No one answered the restaurant’s telephone during the weekend. Its website wasn’t functioning as of June 6. And the most recent post on Tom & Betty’s Facebook page was May 29.
The restaurant’s license was listed as “delinquent, active,” with an expiration date identified as June 1, 2025, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation online records showed.
A blue sign stating “Closed Come Again” hung askew on the restaurant’s front door on June 7.
Seen through the front windows, time-battered chairs were stacked upside down on top of tables near a full mop bucket and other cleaning supplies throughout the dining room with its teal green walls.
More chairs were stacked up outside on the sidewalk along one side of the 3,050-square-foot restaurant, which spans four spaces in the Gates of Park Avenue retail center near Orange Park Town Hall.
Northeast Florida restaurant legacy built on a first-name basis
Tom & Betty’s was one of the longest-operating restaurants in Northeast Florida, previous Times-Union reporting shows.
Tom and Betty Fritsch opened the first Tom and Betty’s Restaurant and Lounge at Park Street and Cassat Avenue on Jacksonville’s Westside in 1971. The couple had previously opened the Swinging Door on Beaver Street in the 1960s and the Happy Hour on Normandy Boulevard.
Fire destroyed the original Tom and Betty’s in 1988. The Fritsches relocated the restaurant to 4409 Roosevelt Blvd. in the former Roosevelt Square Mall — now known as Ortega Park — where it remained until closing on May 27, 2017.
Tom and Betty’s subsequently opened in its Orange Park location.
Closure puts the brakes on classic car cruise-ins, live music and trivia nights
Tom & Betty’s Restaurant was a regular pit stop for the Clay County Cruzers, a nonprofit organization whose members are classic car owners and enthusiasts. The community-oriented club provides scholarships to Clay County students and supports local charities.
“Tom & Betty’s was our go-to place on the second Saturday each month,” Mike Hourihane, club president, told the Times-Union on June 7.
Hourihane said the club, which has more than 300 members, had cruise-ins at Tom & Betty’s for almost 10 years. He was surprised and saddened to learn of the closing when a friend called and told him while he was at another car show on May 31.
He first started going to the restaurant back when it was at Park and Cassat.
All the automobile memorabilia made it “a cool place to go to,” and the food, along with the hospitality, also made it a great place for club members, said Hourihane, who has a 1956 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery.
“It’s sad when you hear of places that have 50 years all of a sudden closing down,” Hourihane said. “It’s just sad.”
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville dining landmark Tom & Betty’s Restaurant closes after 54-year run
Reporting by Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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