Ann Pinner – Community Builder. Restaurateur. Believer in Doing Good Work.

Sometimes the most meaningful paths begin in the most ordinary places.

For Ann Pinner, that place was a restaurant.

At 26 years old, Ann was managing the front of the house at Ragtime Tavern in Atlantic Beach. The work was fast-paced and demanding, but it also placed her at the center of something she loved—people, community, and connection.

And it was there, in the middle of everyday restaurant life, that something deeper began to grow.

Ann had always felt compassion for people who were struggling. She often found herself thinking about the people she saw in the margins of everyday life—those facing hunger, homelessness, or hardship—and wondering how she might help.

“I was fortunate to never know what it was like to be hungry,” she says. “So I always felt compassion for people who were.”

Working in hospitality gave her a unique vantage point. Every day she saw the flow of the community—people enjoying meals, gathering with friends, celebrating life.

It sparked an idea.

If restaurants could bring people together for food and celebration, could they also help address food insecurity in the community?

Ann began reaching out to local restaurants, asking them to donate food once a week to a nearby food pantry. The effort rotated among participating restaurants and continued for several years. It was simple, grassroots work—but it made a difference.

Then she discovered Share Our Strength, a national organization focused on ending childhood hunger.

Through that connection, Ann and Ragtime owner Tom Morton launched what would become a Jacksonville tradition: The Jacksonville Food Fight.

The event brought together dozens of local restaurants for a food tasting and fundraising event benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank. What began as a small local effort grew into a major annual event that raised both awareness and funding for hunger relief in the community.

For nearly two decades, Ann helped lead the event.

Each year involved coordinating restaurants, selling tickets, organizing volunteers, and bringing the community together around a shared mission. The work was demanding, but Ann loved it.

“People want to help,” she says. “If you're passionate about something, they’ll show up.”

Her husband Bill, whom she met while working at Ragtime, became an essential partner in the effort. Ann handled the front-of-house relationships and logistics while Bill worked behind the scenes in the kitchen.

Together, they combined their skills, relationships, and energy to build something that served thousands of people.

But their story didn’t stop there.

After more than twenty years in the restaurant industry, Ann and Bill eventually decided it was time to take a leap of faith and open their own restaurant.

In 2007, they opened The Fish Company in Atlantic Beach.

It was a bold move—especially because the national financial crisis hit just one year later.

The housing market collapsed. The economy slowed. Restaurants everywhere struggled.

For Ann and Bill, the pressure was enormous.

Their home was collateral for the business loan. They had children to support and a team of employees depending on them.

But they kept going.

“Running a restaurant is hard,” Ann says. “But we had a responsibility—to our family, to our team, and to the people who believed in us.”

That sense of responsibility had guided her since childhood.

Growing up in a generation that valued independence and resilience, Ann learned early that she could rely on herself—and that commitment shaped the way she approached both business and life.

Today, Ann considers one of her greatest accomplishments not just the success of the restaurant, but the life she and Bill built together along the way.

They’ve worked side by side for more than forty years and have been married for thirty-six.

“That’s not always easy in the restaurant industry,” she admits.

But through economic downturns, long nights, raising children, and running a demanding business together, they remained a team.

“We’ve always done better when we’re together,” she says.

Looking back, Ann doesn’t see her life as a series of dramatic reinventions.

Instead, she sees it as a progression—one step leading naturally to the next.

• A job in hospitality led to community service.

• Community service led to national partnerships.

• A restaurant career led to entrepreneurship.

And along the way, she built a life filled with family, purpose, and connection.

Today, her focus has shifted again toward family and community. With grandchildren growing and her mother now in her late 80s, Ann is embracing the chance to spend more time supporting the people she loves.

But her philosophy remains the same.

“It feels good to do good work.”

And Ann Pinner has spent a lifetime doing exactly that—quietly building community, lifting others up, and proving that sometimes the most powerful impact begins with simply caring enough to start.

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