Ragga Surf Cafe returns to the Marineland Dolphin Adventure after being gone for over a year

The soft opening brought emotions for both the Ragga team and the customers who were waiting for them to return.

  • The Hammock
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Ragga Surf Cafe owners are happy to be back at home at the Marineland Dolphin Adventure after being gone for over a year and half. The scratch food truck in their signature big blue bus had a soft opening Saturday, Aug. 1.

“The community here is just amazing,” co-owner James Powell said. “Especially [Saturday] on the soft opening, It was just like, ‘Welcome home.’”

The oceanside brunch spot offers made-from-scratch breakfast and lunch favorites including everything from their artisan pop tarts, avocado toast, tacos, and breakfast croissants to handcrafted teas, lattes, espressos, smoothies, and acai bowls.

The restaurant operated on a segment of land in the parking lot of the River-to Sea Preserve very close to where they are now. Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection required Flagler County to end the agreement that they had with Ragga Surf Cafe to be in that area.

“Last year was devastating,” said co-owner Jim Powell. “It was confusing for me to have it taken away.”

When they were forced to leave, the Ragga team went to work on what to do. They found a place in St. Augustine and started up within a month of being shut down. The location at 134 Riberia St. in St. Augustine kept the curfew and owners working and has continued to grow.

“We had a lot of people follow us from this location to St. Augustine,” Jim Powell said.

Now, they have two locations and more business.

“We wouldn’t have pushed so hard to get a second location unless it happened that way,” James Powell said. “We were forced to do it. So, in retrospect, I’m grateful now to go through the turmoil of that season. I couldn’t have imagined that it would be this quick. That we would be back only a year and half later with a bigger bus.”

The soft opening brought emotions for both the Ragga team and the customers who were waiting for them to return.

“Every single person I served in the first couple of days back had a story about how they wanted us back and fought to have us back,” Jim Powell said. “We had some people in tears. It was an unreal response. It brought tears to my eyes. It’s genuine. It’s not something that can be scripted. It’s just a real true community.”

At Ragga Surf Cafe, treating customers like friends is a part of their culture.

“We use whatever tool we have just to make a friend,” James Powell said. “We try to give our friends the best food possible, the best coffee possible, but also an ear if they need to talk. We try to spend time with people to make them feel known. To make them feel like a friend.”

Ragga Surf Cafe started from a dream Jim Powell had to build and sell surf boards.

“We’re surfers at heart,” Kate Powell said. “Our whole family surfs. One of the reasons we started this was for people to have a hub to come hangout and enjoy the ocean.”

Jim Powell said from there, the cafe “took off and grew a life of its own.”

Jim Powell’s surf dream is not dead. He hopes to have the surf boards he designed ready to sell sometime in 2027 at their shop at the cafe once they are released.

The only thing that the Powells love more than surfing and food is serving others. Their non-profit, Inter United, has over 600 soccer players participating in Palm Coast. Inter United also built and runs a school in Kenya.

Ten percent of Ragga Surf Cafe profits goes to support the nonprofit.

Ragga Surf Cafe hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more, visit www.raggasurfcafe.com.

 

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