- December 13, 2025
Java Joint hosts Ty Pennington
Java Joint is a restaurant with regulars, but sometimes, it also hosts the occasional celebrity traveling through Flagler County.
Ty Pennington, host of ABC’s "Extreme Home Makeover" ate his omelet with spinach and tomatoes at Java Joint Sept. 27, leaving staff members to describe him as “very sweet.”
This isn’t the only exciting news for the restaurant: Over the weekend, owners Kathleen Stark and Danita Mundy are drafting a new menu with the hopes of taking it to the printer Monday. The new menu won’t be shedding any items, but will be adding about 10 new ones.
“A lot of people like to create something new here,” Mundy said. “We’ll pretty much build whatever you want as long as you have the ingredients.”
If what customers create is good enough, it just might become the inspiration for a new dish on the menu, just as the soon-to-be debuted smoked salmon benedict sandwich did.
“One of our favorite customers — he’s a Budweiser delivery guy and he stops in here on his route — asked if we could make it for him,” said Jenny Watkins, a server at the restaurant. “It’s really good, so we’re putting it on the menu.”
Mundy said it’s important that her restaurant maintain the neighborhood feel that’s true to Flagler County and the laid-back feel that’s true to the beach. Because of that, she gets to know her customers well, and spends her mornings chatting with them while working.
She and Stark bought Java Joint about 2.5 years ago when they moved to the area. Stark has owned restaurants in the past, but Mundy’s a retired firefighter. After 23 years at her job, she wanted to try something different.
The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. until about 2 p.m. on weekdays and until about 3 p.m. on weekends. It’s located at 2201 N. Oceanshore Blvd., Flagler Beach.
“It’s like a big family here,” Mundy said. “If we didn’t own this place, we probably wouldn’t have any friends.”
Kiss From Kase raises money for Powell family
The second-annual Kiss From Kase fundraising event, hosted by Sonny’s BBQ Restaurant in Palm Coast, successfully raised money to donate to Kase Powell, a toddler who was diagnosed last year with a brain tumor.
Sonny’s donated 10% of its proceeds from Wednesday’s sales to the Powell family. The restaurant also sold T-shirts and raffle tickets to raise additional funds, and many people donated cash as well, said Will Dumont, the restaurant’s general manager.
At press time, the exact amount of money raised was yet to be determined, but the count sat near $3,000.
“It was important to the servers that we do this again,” Dumont said. “They all know Kase and his family by name, and they wanted to help out.”
Sonny’s is at 25 Cypress Edge Drive in Palm Coast.
JT’s in full football swing
As the season progresses, one thing’s certain: Football is just important to the crowd at JT’s Seafood Shack this year as it was last year.
Every Sunday, locals — many of them regulars — flock to the restaurant and bar to watch NFL football. And every Sunday, each attendee is given a raffle ticket.
At the end of the season, JT’s hosts a Super Bowl party, at which raffle tickets from the entire season are pooled and drawn for prizes ranging from event tickets and TVs to bottles of wine and appetizers.
The catch is, you have to be at the Super Bowl party to win. The more diehard the football fan you are, the better your chances are of winning.
JT’s is at 5224 N. Oceanshore Blvd., Palm Coast.
