Monday, June 17, 2013

Adazzle: Miami area restaurants and hotels of the 1940s, 50s and 60s

Miami Beach 1955
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory/Barron

By Jane Feehan


Newspaper ads of past decades reveal a host of restaurants and hotel dining and entertainment venues  that placed Miami and Miami Beach on the map during the 1940s, 50s and 60s.  An ordinance was in effect during the 1940s that prohibited hotel entertainment in order to pump up night club business. That changed when Sam Cohen, president of the company that owned the Sherry Frontenac Hotel (opened in 1948), booked an entertainer at its Pompadour Room. Cohen was fined $100 but the law was changed in 1950. Hotels then became the draw for big name entertainment and many nightclubs faded away.

Here’s a list by decade of some of the most popular spots (Joe's Stone Crab spans most of Miami Beach's history, remains open):

1940s
Copa Cobanna – Dade Boulevard, Miami Beach
Latin Quarter (Lou Walters) – Palm Island
Lou Walters’ Terrace
Paddock – 7th and Washington, Miami Beach
Beachcomber Hotel – Dade Boulevard, east of Venetian Causeway
Robin Hood Restaurant
Old Forge Patio Restaurant-Miami Beach
Hickory House - Miami Beach
Versailles – Collins and 34th, Miami Beach
Dubrow’s Lincoln Cafeteria - Miami Beach
Ciro’s – Dade Boulevard, Miami Beach
Colonial Inn – Hallandale (See more on this, search labels)
Joe’s Stone Crab - still there on South Beach
Wolfie’s (1943) – Collins and 21st Miami Beach
Embers – Miami Beach (40s. 50s, 60s)
Parham’s – 73rd and Collins
Pickin’ Chicken – 22nd and Co
Blackamor Room – 20th and Collins
  
1950s
Hotel President Madison – Plantation Room
Joe’s Broadway Delicatessen – Washington Avenue, Miami Beach
Fountainebleau and Eden Roc
Seven Seas Restaurant
Wolfie’s – Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Pumpernik’s
Chandler’s - Miami Beach
Park Avenue – Miami Beach
Rocky Graziano's
Gray’s Inn – Dade Boulevard, Miami Beach
Americana Hotel – Carioca Lounge, Gaucho Steak House, Bal Masque Room
Carillon Hotel – Café Le Can Can
Eden Roc Hotel – Harry’s American Bar, Mona Lisa Room
Fontainebleau Hotel – La Ronde Room
Raimondos
Red Coach Grill
Riccio's - mob hangout
Wolfie's at Lincoln Road

1960s
Diplomat – Tack Room
South Pacific (near Hollywood Dog Track), also there in the 60s
Cap’t Nicks – 160th and Biscayne, Miami
Embers
Gallagher’s – 126th and Biscayne, Miami
Kenilworth Hotel – Emerald Room, Miami Beach
Tony’s Fish Market – 79th Street Causeway
Chinarama – 163rd Street
Seville Hotel - Downstairs Room, 29th and Collins
Nick & Arthur's
Luau Polynesian Restaurant – 79th Street
Raimondo's - Miami Beach
Rascal House - 173rd Street
Roney Plaza – Café Jardin Suisse – 23rd and Collins
Remo’s - 173rd Street
Famous – 671 Washington Avenue
Fu Manchu – 71st Street
Bahama Steak House – NW 36, near Jai Lai
Playboy Club - Miami (see lables for more history on this)
Mike Gordon’s Seafood – 79th Street Causeway
Castaways Motel – Wreck Bar
Capra's - 69th Street
Franklin’s – 71st Street

Any favs not mentioned?  Post a comment!


TAGS: Famous hotels and restaurants in Miami Beach, Miami Beach restaurants in the 1960s, Miami history, Jane Feehan