Trader Jon's Building
| Trader Jon's building (colloquial) | |
 | |
| Building Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | 511 South Palafox Street (just south of Main Street) |
| Completion Date | 1896 |
| <googlemap lat="30.407395" lon="-87.214215" zoom="17" width="288" height="288" overview="no">
30.407224, -87.214183, The Trader Jon's building at 511 South Palafox. </googlemap> | |
The Trader Jon's building is the name most commonly used to describe the two-story brick building at 511 South Palafox Street, so-named for its most famous tenant, the Trader Jon's nightclub.
Erected in 1896, it was the home to a shoe repair shop owned by Samuel Charles, a prominent African-American businessmen of the early 1900s, and to Birgar Testman's ship chandlery in the 1920s.
It was occupied by the eponymous Trader Jon's, a favorite haunt of local Navy personnel and home to a renowned collection of military memorabilia, from the 1950s until 2003. When Hurricane Ivan destroyed the Phenix Building in 2004, the owners of displaced retail store Sarah's considered moving into the adjacent Trader Jon's building, but ultimately decided instead to close shop forever.
In 2006, the first floor became a second home to the Big Sexy Food catering business to host private dinners and other events. They opened a lunchtime restaurant called the Nooner Café in the space in June 2008.
