Miller’s Ale House Preps Opening Aug. 5 Ahead of BJ’s Warehouse, With Luring Appetizer for First Guests

To clear it up for good: Miller’s Ale House has nothing to do with the Miller Brewing Company, Miller Industries, Miller wines or even Miller’s Pub on Chicago’s Wabash Avenue, and almost everything to do with Jack Miller and the Jupiter Ale House he opened in Jupiter, some 220 miles south of Palm Coast, before it started multiplying and became Miller’s Ale House.

The privately-held company–acquired by Roark Capital Group, the equity firm, in 2013, shortly after which Jack Miller stepped down as CEO–has since opened 112 restaurants in 10 states east of the Mississippi, and is opening its 113th in Palm Coast in two weeks, on Aug. 5, in one of the five satellite businesses in front of BJ’s Wholesale Club.




BJ’s opening date is expected later next month, with no firm date yet, Flagler County Planning Director Adam Mengel said today. The site as a whole on State Road 100 west of Seminole Woods Boulevard is going through its punch-list, with a LongHorn Steakhouse opening later this year along with a Chase Bank branch, which just submitted its site plan to the county. Two “outparcel” buildings remain without a tenant. (See: “BJ’s Wholesale Club Readies to Open as County Raises Traffic Concerns and Palm Coast Annexes.”)

Miller’s Ale is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its grand opening from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. that Monday. It’ll be a bit more than a ribbon-cutting: the first 100 people in line for lunch that day will win a free “offer book” from the restaurant, giving them a free item a month off the appetizer and dessert menu for a year.

Kimberly Morales, the company’s senior director of brand marketing, said today that local officials have been invited to the ribbon-cutting, with confirmations awaited. Miller’s Ale Houses generally seat upward of 200 people on floor space of between 6,300 and 7,200 square feet, and employ 115 people in full and part-time positions.

All 115 have already been hired for the Palm Coast location. “We were able o hire very quickly at our hiring event,” Morales said. “Obviously there’s a lot of good candidates in the area.” Anyone interested in applying and getting on a waiting lost can do so here.




Orlando-based Miller’s Ale House is entirely corporate-owned: there are no franchised locations. Palm Coast’s will be managed by Sean Lovaas, who has been a general manager of a Miller’s in Jacksonville and has 12 years with the company. Though its specialty and revolving beer choices may not be able to compete with the Brown Dog’s at St. Joe’s Plaza–who can, really?–it still has almost three dozen beers on tap, including Miller’s, and a variety of drink specials, including its signature “Margarita Madness.” Its Zingers and Wings aside, the fare is recognizably American sports bar and grill with a mixture of seafood, steaks, burgers, sandwiches and salads.

The restaurant will be making a $1,000 donation to the Flagler Education Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Flagler County school district, and will host preview nights that may generate additional contributions.

Roark’s portfolio includes brands such as Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Carvel Ice Cream, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky’s, Massage Envy, Batteries Plus, Primrose Schools, FASTSIGNS, and Pet Valu, perhaps hinting at what may eventually appear in one of the remaining outparcels. The Miller’s Ale House in Palm Coast follows an opening in Mount Dora in January and a precedes another opening in Viera, in Brevard County, in late August.