Jack in the Box coming back to Florida with Orlando restaurant

Jack in the Box is coming back to Florida for the first time in 30 years with an Orlando franchisee in the fold.

“Through my travels to the West Coast, I fell in love with the Jack in the Box brand,” Orlando franchisee Jonathan Peralta said in a news release. “After returning home, I read that Jack in the Box was looking to expand in the Florida market, and I knew that was our sign.”

The San Diego-based hamburger chain did not reveal where restaurants would be or when they would open. A recent news release said the chain had signed 14 new “restaurant commitments” for Florida and Arkansas.

Jack in the Box has more than 2,180 restaurants in 21 states. It also owns Del Taco, with about 600 restaurants, including some in Central Florida.

The menu for a San Diego location of Jack in the Box includes burgers such as the Classic Buttery Jack with garlic herb butter, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mayonnaise on a brioche bun. The medium combo, with fries and a drink, is listed for $11.78.

Other menu items include tacos, shakes and popcorn chicken.

Jack in the Box is not the only national burger chain making a Florida return. Ohiobased White Castle came back to the state in 2021 after not being here since the 1960s. The restaurant near Walt Disney World rewrote the company’s record books by selling more than 5 million sliders in its first year.

White Castle is now looking for more Florida locations. Another popular California burger chain called In-N-Out revealed earlier this year it was expanding east to Tennessee, leading San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon to believe that chain could also eventually come to Central Florida.

Other burger restaurants in Orlando have been thinned from the herd in recent years.

Habit Burger Grill closed all three of its Orlando area restaurants in 2019, Wahlburgers left Orlando in 2020, and Fuddruckers called it quits in Orlando last year.