The Taste of the 406

THE TASTE OF

By Hayli Zuccola Holly Frazier Photography

Located on Duval Street in the heart of downtown Live Oak, The 406 restaurant was originally built as the home of Thomas Dowling in 1896, and while it’s changed hands in ownership and purpose throughout the last century, this grand, two-story structure has become an icon of the city—one that new owners Gary and Dana Sandlin aimed to maintain and improve upon after buying the property in the fall of 2021.

“When people found out we were going to reopen The 406 or heard something about The 406, the town went wild, so now we just felt an obligation to bring it back to Live Oak but better,” Gary Sandlin said.

Before taking over The 406 namesake, the Sandlins had zero prior experience in the culinary industry; in fact, they both had careers as nurses and were planning on starting travel nursing once their youngest son left the nest. Those aspirations soon changed when a friend mentioned the restaurant they frequented until its pandemic-driven closure was up for sale. Despite their initial hesitation, the Sandlins took a leap of faith and purchased the business in September 2021. With plenty of community support; encouragement from the last property owner; a crash course on ne dining from the previous restaurateur and having secured the former chef and manager, things seamlessly fell into place and the Sandlins reopened The 406 to the public on New Year’s Eve that same year.

“It was sort of like the stars were just in alignment, I guess, for lack of a better word; it was like fate,” Gary said.

Lack of familiarity in the restaurant business aside, the crux of The 406 had always been the food itself, and from the beginning, the Sandlins have operated with a focus on quality over pro t. Using produce from local farms whenever possible; incorporating seasonal ingredients; combining madefrom-scratch juices, purees and sours for handcrafted cocktails; cooking up homemade pasta and fresh seafood delivered daily and serving vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options as well as pet-friendly dishes, The 406 strives to o er patrons gourmet food that memories are made around.

“We have people that travel the world and they say that our restaurant is within the top ve of the best food they have ever eaten in their life,” Dana Sandlin said.

Apart from wanting to provide customers with unforgettable avors, when taking over The 406, the Sandlins wanted to give their guests more than a place to eat, but a big-city experience without the drive.

“Us being nurses, we were so busy all the time, really our only out was we went out to eat to the nice places and we wanted to bring that kind of gourmet feel but with a hometown setting to Live Oak because it’s great going out to, you know, Jacksonville and Tallahassee and Orlando, Tampa to these nice places, but then you got to drive back,” Gary said.

“WE CONSTANTLY—SINCE WE BOUGHT IT—[HAVE] BEEN TRYING TO IMPROVE IT. WE JUST KEEP ADDING NEW STUFF, TRYING NOT TO BE COMPLACENT, JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT MORE FABULOUS.” —DANA SANDLIN

In addition to remodeling the back deck—with plans to expand it further to allow for live music—o ering casual and ne dining opportunities with both indoor and outdoor seating and sprucing up the ner details throughout with new coats of paint, plumbing and electrical work, the most notable project the Sandlins undertook was renovating the second oor of the building and transforming it into a quaint, speakeasystyle bourbon bar, which opened in November 2022.

Mirrored after the breweries and distilleries they enjoyed visiting, the bourbon bar area, which can only be accessed through a secret bookshelf as an homage to the previous owner’s father who was a librarian, was designed to be a relaxed atmosphere and lay the groundwork to be a future space ideal for hosting more intimate events like openmic nights and musical performances. Though specialty drinks are o ered on the rst oor, this new setting features more high-end liquors and bourbons not commonly found locally.

“Because the house was built in 1896, we’re going to really try to focus on bringing back some of the old-school drinks with our own little twist on them like last words and Sazeracs and oldfashioneds and things like that,” said The 406 Manager Casey Hull.

“We’re just going to try to take advantage of every chance we get just to bring something new to this area, you know, to our friends and our community because we’re fortunate to be able to do that and we’re in a position we can do that and it’s a lot of fun,” Gary added. “Suwannee County is beautiful, of course; we’ve got the glorious Suwannee River and we’ve got all the springs around here and all the outdoor things that happen year-round. There are a lot of things to do here, so we just want to add on to that.”

From mouthwatering cuisine and upscale drinks to witnessing memories of proposals, birthdays and baby showers; giving back to the community in the form of an annual Christmas Eve fundraiser bene ting the culinary students at RIVEROAK Technical College; blending elements of the past like using wooden coins inspired by those once used by Thomas Dowling, mixing prohibition-era drinks and preserving garden camellias originally planted in the early 1900s with a future of endless potential whether it be hosting indoor comedy sets and jazz concerts or enhancing the koi pond-centered gardens to create an outdoor wedding space, the Sandlins have honored tradition with each advancement and built upon the restaurant’s legacy to make The 406 bigger and better than ever.

“The biggest thing for us, I think, is that we never took this project on to make money because we have our own jobs still; we still are working at the hospital, so we have taken this project on as a love and a need in our community and we are not over here trying to make a million dollars. We’re just trying to make a great place for people to come and have in this area to enjoy memories and have a great place; I mean, that’s really what I feel like has made us successful because we’re looking at it from our hearts and not from our minds,” Dana said.

“Our lifestyle raising our children, we always ate dinner together at the table. We always had some of our best memories around the table.”

That familial sentiment is built into every aspect of The 406 to accomplish the Sandlins’ vision of developing more than just a local eatery.

“Our ‘slogan’ is it’s not just about the food, it’s about the feeling, and I think that sums up our restaurant perfectly,” Dana

said. ■