Local Businesses
Where The Locals Go
In Palatka, you can tell a lot about a person by where residents choose to spend their money. Here are some of Palatka's newest, oldest and everything in-between, local businesses.
Angel's; The Oldest Diner in Florida
"It's not family-owned, but everyone here is like our family," Jana Graham, an employee at Angel's said.
Angel's was founded in 1932 and was named after the original owner, Porter Angel, who sold all of his belongings and saved up to buy the train cart. Angel has since passed, so John Browning and his wife Diane now own the diner.
Graham, who has worked at Angel's for a year and grew up going to Angel's, is accustomed to seeing "the regulars." She can have their orders ready for them as soon as they walk in the door.
"The [customers] do have a lot of old tales about when they'd come here after school when they were kids and squirt ketchup and mustard into each others cars and everything like that," she said.
In terms of food, some of their biggest hits are their homemade onion rings which come out piping hot with several options for condiments, and their burgers.
"Most definitely [my favorite] is the onion rings," Graham said. "I've been here for a year and I never get tired of the food."
Toni's Soulfood Bistro; A Place of New Beginnings
Foster grew up in Palatka. Most of her time was spent with her mother and aunts. She made memories with them in the kitchen of a restaurant her family owned in the 90s. Although the restaurant burned down, Foster took the lessons learned from her family's matriarchs out in the real world. She founded her own catering company to serve the locals who have known about her family for generations.
"Growing up in a small town, you kind of know everybody, so everybody sticks together...versus being in a big city," Foster said. "Once you're in a small town and once you get well known for what you do, it kind of helps and it promotes your business."
Foster said that although her restaurant has only been open for a month, she only recently started putting out her advertisements. But with the way regular customers already come in and seat themselves, you would've thought otherwise.
On the grand opening of Toni's Soulfood Bistro, a couple from Miami stopped by for dinner, Foster said. They told Foster that they saw a Facebook post about the opening and had to drive up to try her food.
"It brought tears to my eyes to know that people are watching," Foster said.
Foster said she hopes people continue to stick together to bring business and growth to Palatka.
"I know a lot of people who would love to go out of town to eat or go out of town to shop, but if we could bring the businesses here, it would be great. We need a major boost in Putnam county."
Bingo Palace; A Generational Continuation
“Palatka was a boom town in ’67,” Bingo Palace owner Betty Haney said.
On a desolate St. Johns Avenue, the palace sits just a few jaunts up the hill from the St. Johns River. Despite the folding of mom-and-pop shops downtown and the death of a J.C. Penney and a K. Mart a few miles away, the bingo hall continues to see success.
“Most Grandmas play bingo on the weekends,” Haney chuckles.
Since opening Bingo Palace in 2003, Haney has seen steady business streams and loyal customers with whom she has become acquainted. Now, the grandmas who started playing there nearly 15 years ago bring their grandchildren with them to play the game, she said.
While Palatka is not a retirement community, Haney said she sees about 65-70 players flocking the hall each night on average. Most of the players come from surrounding areas, like St. Augustine or Palm Coast.
Though her business continues to experience success, she understands that it will take significant community action to revive Palatka to its former glory. When she moved to Palatka from Tampa in the late ‘60s, mom-and-pop shops thrived and “you had everything, right here in Palatka,” she said.
The feeling of nostalgia for a bustling city rings true for Haney.
“I’m an old woman, I wish the [mom-and-pop shops] would come back,” Haney said, “but they’re not coming back. They’re going away everywhere.”
Lifted Spirits; Souls Stuck in Palatka
Dan Kelly, 24, feels trapped in Palatka’s wilting economy.
Kelly works at Lifted Spirits Vape Shop on St. Johns Avenue. The store has been open for three years. But the Palatka native juggles three jobs outside of the town to keep a living. For one of his jobs, he has to drive over an hour to St. Augustine.
“At my stage in life, Palatka doesn’t feel right for me,” he said, “I don’t think I can get up enough funds to move out.”
An Interlachen High School graduate, Kelly has seen Putnam County decline economically over the years he has lived there.
“When businesses get together, we have seen a lot more business,” Kelly says.
Yet for true revitalization, Kelly said more fervent community activism is needed. Giving high school students more opportunities to learn vocational skills and injecting more growth into the business landscape is how Kelly said there can be a better future in his small town. A need for strong leadership and vision for the city would also help, he said.
