Castaways is coming down in South MS. This Mexican restaurant is taking its place
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Demolition of the Castaways building at 2114 Bienville Blvd. will be completed this week.
- The local owners of Qdoba plan to open in early December.
- Ocean Springs Qdoba will feature indoor and outdoor dining, a pickup lane and delivery.
Ocean Springs is bidding a final farewell to Castaways restaurant as word comes on Cinco de Mayo that a new Qdoba Mexican Eats soon will be built in its place.
The purchase of the property at 2114 Bienville Blvd. is finalized and demolition of the building that was Castaways for 16 years will be completed this week.
The new restaurant will be similar in size to the one in Gulfport, which opened on Cowan Road in 2022, with an outdoor dining patio on the front like at Castaways.
“It is a very big lot, and it’s got that great access directly to Bechtel (Boulevard) on the southeast side of the back parking lot,” said Ben Kaufman. In addition to the restaurant, “We are building a development with future tenants to be announced,” he said.
He and his wife, Kat Kaufman, are managing partners for the restaurant ownership group. “We’re a franchise, and we are locally owned and operated,” he said.
The plan is to open the Ocean Springs restaurant in early December — and they already are hiring.
Business is hot
Qdoba has grown to more than 850 locations across the United States and internationally and is shooting for 1,000 by the end of 2027.
The company complies a monthly report card for all the stores based on a variety of metrics, Kaufman said, and halfway through the fiscal year, Gulfport shines.
“Our store’s currently No. 7,” he said. “We’re in the top 10 out of all the stores,” which he said shows the importance of a family owned and operated franchise.
There’s no need to wait months for a job fair, he said, when applicants can go to the company website and possibly start working now.
“We are so busy in Gulfport, we’re constantly building our team,” Kaufman said, both at the restaurant and for their “substantial” catering business for companies, schools, the Biloxi Shuckers and visiting teams, along with many Cinco de Mayo celebrations and end of school banquets this month.
They also do their own training and will hire team leaders and management from within for the Ocean Springs store, he said.
Why Ocean Springs?
Qdobe is known as a “clean label brand.,” he said, with 90% of the menu gluten-free. “It’s healthy. It’s made fresh.,” he said. “We have exciting, new things that come out every four months as a limited time offer.”
A citrus lime shrimp bowl is one of the current specials, and coming in June is a spicy tequila lime steak, he said. The steak, seafood and chicken are flame-grilled in front of customers. The regular menu features a variety of customizable bowls, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads and nachos, with no extra charges for topping an entrée with scoops of their signature three-cheese queso and hand-crafted guacamole.
The Mexican fast casual restaurant already is popular across South Mississippi, he said, with people willing to pay for delivery from the Gulfport store to Pascagoula, Moss Point, Bay St. Louis and Waveland. The expansion will make the food even more accessible, Kaufman said.
“Now it’s going to drop us in a location in the center of Jackson County,’ he said, “which is better for everyone, because it makes the delivery fees less expensive for driving from Gulfport.”
The new restaurant will have a pickup lane for online orders and offer DoorDash and other third-party delivery services, as well as the through the Qdova website.
