On Tuesday, June 6th, 2023, Highjackers held their soft opening and ribbon cutting. The soft opening is an invitation only event that precedes their grand opening event on Thursday June 15th, 2023.
Among the guests that were in attendance at the soft opening this Tuesday evening were County Commissioners Greg Hansen, Andy Dance, Leanne Pennington, and former Commissioner David Sullivan. Palm Coast City Council members Ed Danko, Cathy Heighter, Teresa Pontieri, and Mayor David Alfin also were in attendance for the big day. Sheriff Rick Staly and Lacy Martin were also among those invited to the soft open and the Ribbon Cutting.
Employees of the restaurant were in high spirits as they talked to guests and relayed the future plans for the restaurant. One of the employees told us that they are thrilled to be open for June and July, and while Highjackers will be closed for the entire month of August, staff cannot wait. During this month long closing the entire restaurant will be gutted and redone. The whole building will be receiving a face lift, even the menu, and the name. The new name will be The Landing Strip, which will kick off the new renovations, the new menu and the new ownership. The staff is also excited as the new owners plan on having live music at the restaurant on a regular basis to bring more excitement and more fun to a Flagler County staple.
We asked Lacy Martin, who has been handling a lot of their social media during this transition her thoughts on the new restaurant and the upcoming changes. “I am super excited about the opening, I know a lot of people here in town love coming here for lunch and they don’t want to miss out on their favorite locations. So we cannot wait to get the doors open on Thursday,” said Lacy.
We also asked co-owner Joe Wright how he felt about the opening and the upcoming plans for the restaurant. He had this to say, “Yeah, we are really excited about the opening. Thursday is going to be a real chaotic fun event, but I live in that, it’s my space, so it should be really exciting. And what is coming is going to be really huge, things are going to change around here for the better.”
