- April 18, 2024
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High Jackers Restaurant, at the Flagler County Airport, is celebrating 10 years, Aug. 17 through Aug. 20, with specials and fundraisers.
Other than routine menu changes, a playground and some new seating outside, High Jackers Restaurant at the Flagler County Airport hasn’t changed much in the 10 years since its opening — and according to Lisa Setien, general manager, that’s exactly how she likes it.
Setien, along with owners Gail Holt and Ted Bancroft — the respective co-owner and general manager of High Tides at Snack Jack, in Flagler Beach — have tried to stay consistent and create a place where patrons feel at home.
High Jackers will celebrate its 10th year of business in Flagler County Aug. 17 through Aug. 20.
“We provide a safe place for locals to come,” Setien said. “They’ve been part of our family for 10 years.”
On the Saturday prior to the party, a couple will throw a baby shower there, their second at the restaurant, for their second child. Couples have gotten engaged there, Setien said. She estimates 70% of its customers are regulars, who visit at least once a week.
Pilots from all over Florida also frequent, she said, giving Flagler a reputation as a stopping point for passing aviators.
“High Jackers has brought a lot of business into Flagler,” Setien said.
Opened for business in August 2001, the eatery will serve happy-hour specials every day during its celebration, live music every night, free dinner and lunch giveaways and a Hogs for Hunger poker run.
But fundraising is nothing new for High Jackers.
Management tries to incorporate charity work into all of its major events, Setien said. In the past, it raised $11,000 for the Red Cross, through a golf tournament; it collected $7,000 for a hospice center; it financed a $4,000 surgery for an ex-employee’s daughter and bought another employee a car after hers was totaled in an accident.
In a flier for the birthday bash, customers are asked to bring in food donations for hungry local families.
In the past decade, Setien estimates that, through sports events and auctions, High Jackers has raised a combined $50,000 for different causes.
“(It’s) one of the things we do pride ourselves on,” Setien said, “helping the community.”
The Flagler County Airport served as a base for U.S. Navy planes during World War II. Today, painted warbird models hang from wire by the rafters of High Jackers, while patrons eat next to the airport’s runway, watching planes wave goodbye in flashes of light in the altitude.
“This is an awesome place,” one customer wrote, on a recent comment card. “Even if it were in hell, I would still come. Even if they tortured me.”
High Jackers is located at 202 Airport Road. For more, visit www.highjackers.com, or call 586-6078.
COME FOR THE BURGERS, STAY FOR THE BEATS
High Jackers will host local bands, ranging from southern rock to folk and reggae, every night of its birthday celebration. The following acts will perform on the High Jackers stage:
Wednesday: Two Thirds
Thursday: Grandpa’s Cough Medicine
Friday: lvibes
Saturday: South Bound / Old Haw Creek
