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 – 7^th 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 – 73^rd and Collins

Pickin’ Chicken – 22^nd and Co

Blackamor Room – 20^th 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 – 160^th and Biscayne, Miami
Embers

Gallagher’s – 126^th and Biscayne, Miami

Kenilworth Hotel – Emerald Room, Miami Beach

Tony’s Fish Market – 79^th Street Causeway

Chinarama – 163^rd Street

Seville Hotel - Downstairs Room, 29^th and Collins
Nick & Arthur's

Luau Polynesian Restaurant – 79^th Street
Raimondo's - Miami Beach

Rascal House - 173rd Street

Roney Plaza – Café Jardin Suisse – 23^rd and Collins

Remo’s - 173^rd Street

Famous – 671 Washington Avenue

Fu Manchu – 71^st Street

Bahama Steak House – NW 36, near Jai Lai
Playboy Club - Miami (see lables for more history on this)

Mike Gordon’s Seafood – 79^th Street Causeway

Castaways Motel – Wreck Bar

Capra's - 69th Street

Franklin’s – 71^st 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