“The day that Lou Bono’s Bar-B-Que opened up on 4907 Beach Blvd. I remember what Lou said that day, “I paid too much for that land, it was $75.00 a front foot, I guess I’ve lost all my money.” Today that property is worth $2,000 a front foot. O yes, that was 750 feet deep, what a buy. 1954.” LS
The shadows peaking into the bottom of the frame would be Loyd’s head and view camera and perhaps on the right is Lou Bono watching the shoot progress. Can you imagine the tonnage of meat that has gone through that smoker since this photo was taken? An earlier photo of Lou Bono can be found here.
Tags: Beach Blvd., Bono's Bar-B-Que, building, business, cars, historic photograph, Lou Bono, parking lot, vintage photography
I have eaten there many times (late 50’s and into the 60’s). My dad would drive across the river to eat BBQ at Bono’s. I remember parking in the back and eating in the car.
Lou Bono’s is now a J’ville institution. One can’t return home from anywhere in the country without a trip to Lou Bono’s BBQ.
Didn’t Bobo start our with a little walk-up behind the buildings on the south side of the old Times Square intersection?
Yes he did n ’48/49 according my deceased dad Harry Davis. Lou was a customer at my dad’s Texaco on Hendrick’s, across the street from Southern Bell, next to the American National Bank and later The Spur- a split from Gate, in Mandarin on SR 13, and my dad was Lou’s customer since he opened in Times Square and moved to where it is now. They were friends prior to that. I grew up with “Ole Man Tom” and that young kid “Harvey”. Drove my dad(too drunk to drive in those days)in his ’52 Mercury from Mandarin since age of 12, on Saturday nites when he closed his garage- where the 595 interchange is now, to eat Bar-b-Q at Lou’s out back on the oyster shell parking lot. Beach Blvd. It burned down twice and doubled in size each time Lou rebuilt. Daddy said it was lightning and it hit Patti’s a couple of times in the 50’s/60’s, also. We lived in a house my dad built in 1950 on Scott Mill Rd (Plummers Cove) at the end of Oak Bluff next to Mitchell’s Orange Groves and Lou lived on Bishop Estates Rd. next door to the Clampitt’s. I’ve pumped a lot of gas, mounted lots of tires and did many lube jobs on their cars.
This is NOT the original Bono’s. It was on Atlantic Blvd in San Marco near the park where the rocket was for decades. I worked for Bono’s in the building in the back doing ticket counts with Mr. Peele, after BJ Strickland bought it. I learned to cook from Havey the pitmaster, too bad the kids don’t know how to cook BBQ anymore.
Mr. Vaughn, I won’t give you any argument on this one. Just curious, was the original restaurant also called Bono’s or did it have a different name? Thanks, Bob Self/Vintage Jacksonville
Loved to eat at Bono’s in the 60’s. Best BBQ I’ve ever eaten and I’m 75 years old!