Reporter Briana Brownlee <\/a>and Photojournalist Jesse Hanson to ask residents what they think.<\/p>\nFor some, that initial excitement is overshadowed by sticker shock. When San Marco resident KC Norton first saw the menu, he questioned whether the cost lined up with the quantity.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot really\u2026I can cook my own a lot cheaper, and put whatever sauce I want,\u201d Norton said. \u201cThat\u2019s a little outrageous \u2014 $20 for 8 pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
But just a few blocks away, resident Telli Trongon has a different take. He says price alone doesn\u2019t tell the full story \u2014 especially when a small business is preparing everything by hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends \u2014 they might be cooked really well,\u201d Trongon said. \u201cThey probably season them and have a special batter, maybe marinate them. It\u2019s hard to tell. Maybe you should go in there and try them.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Norton focuses on cost, Trongon focuses on context \u2014 believing that quality, preparation, and taste should factor into the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, they are kind of expensive looking,\u201d he added, \u201cbut you can\u2019t really tell by judging a book by its cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fresh Ingredients and Labor-Intensive Preparation<\/p>\n
Rhonda Lunsford says every bite at Bold City Wings has a purpose \u2014 from hand-cut wings to homemade sauces made in-house each day. She acknowledges the online chatter about pricing but insists the cost reflects real expenses behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the chatter online is that the wings are high, but it is based on something; it\u2019s not just for no rhyme or reason,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is the economy, transportation, labor, and the fact that we\u2019re using higher-end ingredients. And again, we are making things from scratch \u2014 lemonade made from scratch; tea made from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her son and co-owner, EJ Lunsford, points to another frequent question: why customers can\u2019t call ahead to place orders. He says their small operation and fresh-food model make that policy necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we make all of our food fresh, and we make it to order,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to take a call-in order, make your food, and then you can\u2019t come in and get it. Then we have a plate sitting around. We don\u2019t want to waste any food.\u201d<\/p>\n
More Than a Restaurant: Family and Community<\/p>\n
For the Lunsford family, Bold City Wings wasn\u2019t just a business decision \u2014 it was a mission rooted in family, legacy, and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n
Rhonda says she returned to Jacksonville and saw firsthand how many people were struggling to find work. Her goal was to build something that offered both food and stability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to create \u2014 it was almost like it was meant to be \u2014 a place where my son isn\u2019t begging for a job,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to create jobs for him, for people in the area who need jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The restaurant\u2019s name and d\u00e9cor are purposeful, too. The walls are lined with photos of Jacksonville landmarks and the Jacksonville Red Caps \u2014 a nod to Rhonda\u2019s grandfather, who played for the team and passed away just a week before the restaurant opened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to always hear, \u2018Bold New City of the South,\u2019 so I wanted to tie that in together \u2014 Bold City Wings,\u201d she said. \u201cMy grandfather passed away a week ago. He used to play for the Jacksonville Red Caps. I wanted to do a salute to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
From family recipes to their focus on hiring locally, the Lunsfords say Bold City Wings aims to feel like home \u2014 a place where their family history meets community connection, all while navigating the realities of running a small business.<\/p>\n
From the start, the Lunsfords said, San Marco residents welcomed them warmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the people, everyone is so nice, everyone is welcoming. Our neighbors and everyone from the surrounding areas have come to welcome us\u2026 They are walking their dogs. We had cookie fix; bring us cookies on three or four occasions,\u201d Rhonda said.<\/p>\n
She added that the neighborhood support shows how a local restaurant can become a hub for connection, conversation, and even pride in a city\u2019s history. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 When Rhonda Lunsford returned to Jacksonville, it wasn\u2019t just to open a restaurant \u2014 it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,575,116,118,117,5436,56665],"class_list":{"0":"post-220598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-duval-county","9":"tag-food","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-morning-show","14":"tag-san-marco"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}