At the start, Blue Bamboo owner Dennis Chan didn’t think transforming a law office into an Asian restaurant would be too difficult.
After initially hoping to open this summer, Chan estimates his second Blue Bamboo will launch by December, nearly a year and nine months after he began planning to build the restaurant at 10110 San Jose Blvd.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports Chan bought the Mandarin property for $899,000 in November.
“Well, had I known that it was going to be as difficult as it was, I would have had them draw me a building from the ground up,” he said.
The initial build-out cost estimate was about $2.2 million. Chan said that number now is estimated at $2.3 million after making a few adjustments to “treat our guests to.”
Chan said to build what he calls his “dream restaurant” in Mandarin, he needed to make some sacrifices.
That means closing the original Blue Bamboo location at 3820 Southside Blvd. and consolidating operations in the new space. His 20 staffers will transfer to the Mandarin location and he will hire 20 more.
An expanded version of this story that includes more of the Daily Record’s interview with Chan is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
