Joe’s Restaurant on Miami Beach, 1920 - 1931
The story of Joe's Stone Crab restaurant's first decade in business. Joe Weiss opened his namesake restaurant on December 4, 1920, an establishment that has been a landmark for more than a century.
When the Weiss family opened Joe’s Restaurant in 1920, they likely had no idea that they started an institution that would still be thriving more than a century later. According to the family’s son, Jesse, Joe Weiss arrived in South Florida as early as 1913 upon his doctor’s request to help remedy a bad asthmatic condition. Joe spent one night in Miami and still had trouble breathing, so he traveled by ferry across the bay to explore the new City of Miami Beach and realized he could breathe without much difficulty. As he settled on the beach, Joe sent for his wife, Jennie, and son to join him in South Florida.
By the late 1910s, Joe got the opportunity to run a restaurant when a dining hall opened at Smith’s Casino, which was a beach and bathing establishment near the southern point of Miami Beach on Biscayne Avenue, today’s Southpoint Drive. Although Joe did not remain with this establishment long, he was there long enough to build a reputation for preparing quality fish dinners for the patrons who regularly dined at the restaurant. This is the story of the first decade of what would become Joe’s Stone Crab on Miami Beach.
Sunshine Inn at Smith’s Casino
On January 28, 1919, Fred Baessler sold his lease to operate a restaurant at Smith’s Casino, located at the eastern end of Biscayne Street on Miami Beach, to George A. Gloor, an established restauranteur from Detroit, Michigan. Fred sold Baessler Restaurant to Gloor in order to return to his hometown of New York to attend to personal business. This transaction turned out to be a rather fortunate event for Joe and Jennie Weiss.
By June 11, 1919, the Miami Herald published an article about the opening of the Sunshine Inn at Smith’s Casino. The paper had to be specific that this new establishment was part of the bathing casino because there was another established restaurant in Coconut Grove with the same name.
In an article published in the Miami Herald entitled “Beach Has a Dining Hall”, with a sub-headline of “Smith’s Casino Addition Excels Anything Else at Beach – Will Open in Season,” the writer announced the Sunshine Inn as follows:
“Miami Beach has an up-to-date and beautiful dining hall at Smith’s casino, owned by G.R. Gloor of Detroit, Michigan, and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Weiss, caterers who have had experience in big hotels and eating places of the east.”
The new establishment consisted of a smaller dining room which was open year-round and a large dining hall which opened during the winter season to accommodate the influx of tourists and seasonal residents. Joe cooked and ran the kitchen, and Jennie managed the dining rooms and the operation of the dining hall. It took less than a year for Joe Weiss to establish a reputation as the best cook on the island. There were not many dining options at the time, but the restaurant’s diverse menu and Joe’s attention to quality had many regulars returning to the Sunshine Inn.
On November 2, 1920, George Gloor sold the lease for the Sunshine Inn to Rogelio Duran, a Cuban restauranteur from Havana, who took ownership of the establishment immediately. Although the press release wrote that the Weiss family would continue to manage the restaurant, the change of ownership did not sit well with Joe. Shortly after the announcement, Joe resigned from the Sunshine Inn to ponder his next move.
Joe Opens Restaurant in 1920
Loyal regulars of the dining hall asked about the whereabouts of their favorite cook after his disappearance from the establishment, but it became clear that Joe used the change of ownership of Sunshine Inn to make a change of his own. On November 19, 1920, the Miami Metropolis announced that Joe Weiss would open his own restaurant at 213 Biscayne Street, which was located across the street, and down the road, from Smith’s Casino.
On the day of the opening of Joe’s Restaurant on December 4, 1920, the Metropolis shared the back story on Joe’s inspiration for opening his own establishment:
“One day Joe disappeared after having been chef at Sunshine Inn for two years. Men who went there for fish dinners clamored for their favorite cook. They sought him out and induced Joe, who was taking a rest to consider his options. The demands of Joe’s friends have resulted in the latest eating place at the beach. There are private and public dining rooms, big kitchens and all kinds of equipment for specializing in shore dinners. Outside is a blazing electric sign, Joe’s, which tells the story to lots of men who have been sitting at Joe’s tables for years. Fred Holliday will be head waiter.”
The Weiss family residence at 213 Biscayne Street became the restaurant. The home was re-modeled to add a 9-by-24 porch dining room, enclosed in glass, and a new kitchen and other conveniences to operate a restaurant.
The Sunshine Inn regulars were always more loyal to Joe than the dining hall, and many of them filed across the street to fill Joe’s restaurant on a nightly basis. In addition to providing the best meal on the beach, Joe and Jennie ran a very clean operation. In May of 1921, the city’s hotel inspector evaluated all dining establishments on Miami Beach, and awarded Joe’s Restaurant the gold seal certificate for cleanliness. The rating was 96 percent which inspired Joe to prominently post the gold seal in the dining room.
While the restaurant was highly regarded by their patrons, life on the beach offered its share of challenges during the restaurant’s first few years. As shared in Howard Kleinberg’s book “Eat at Joe’s”, Jesse Weiss shared some of the hazards of operating an eating establishment on the beach during their early years:
“We used to have a smudge pot at the front door and the back door. Worse than the mosquitoes were sand flies. They were tiny and they would go right through the screen. You had to accept it, the heat, the flies, the mosquitoes, or move. Don’t forget, the restaurant was open 12 months a year during those days, and it was hot as hell. The old building had a big porch and windows. They were all screened, but people used to have to come eat in the summer with smudge pots in the dining room.”
Air conditioning would be introduced in South Florida many years later, remedying some of the problems of the pioneer Miami Beach days, but life running a restaurant in the 1920s was rugged.
Within a year of opening, writers for the Miami Herald and Metropolis were already describing Joe’s restaurant as a landmark on Miami Beach. As one Metropolis writer wrote in an article published on July 20, 1921, entitled ‘Joe Weiss Planning Larger Restaurant’:
“A year ago, Joe Weiss established a restaurant on Biscayne avenue. He began in a small way and as the restaurant grew he added to his dining room and equipment. Miamians found him out and sent their friends. Winter residents thronged to his place for fish dinners. Joe’s restaurant has become an institution at South Beach. He would be the official caterer of the Chamber of Commerce had he room to feed the membership.”
Beginning a couple months after the article was published, the Chamber of Commerce board of governors met at Joe’s restaurant weekly through the 1930s. According to the article, Joe’s plan for the next offseason, in the summer of 1922, was to expand their existing building to include a big addition to the kitchen, an open-air dining room on the second floor of the existing cottage, and “all the awnings and trappings of a sub-tropical restaurant.”
While Joe’s restaurant was thriving, Rogelio Duran did not have the same level of success after purchasing the Sunshine Inn. By the winter of 1921, Duran and the owners of Smith’s Casino were at odds with expansion plans for the restaurant. The disagreement led to a lawsuit which Duran lost. Smith & Company, headed by Avery Smith, purchased the lease from Duran unceremoniously ending Rogelio’s operation of the Sunshine Inn only one year after purchasing the lease from George A. Gloor.
While Joe’s restaurant was known best for serving fresh fish suppers, the Weiss’ had a pretty diverse menu which included steak, chops, and other items still found on the restaurant’s menu today. However, it was a meeting in the summer of 1921 with a Harvard professor who introduced him to a delicacy that Joe’s would be known for the next hundred plus years.
Harvard Professor and Stone Crabs
When James Allison opened the Aquarium on Miami Beach in January of 1921, he intended it to be as much of a research institution as a top tourist attraction. The Aquarium was located just north of Fifth street and West Avenue along Biscayne Bay. Allison was partnered with Carl Fisher at the Prest-O-Light company, which was sold to Union Carbide in 1917, a transaction that provided the two founders enough of a fortune to fund their investments on Miami Beach. One of Allison’s first big projects was to construct the Aquarium.
In the summer of 1921, it was announced that a noted Harvard professor and world-renowned zoologist, George Howard Parker, would work at the aquarium laboratory to study the habits of the Portuguese man of war. The professor arrived at Miami Beach on June 1st, and began to not only study his intended subject, but also made note of the Menippe mercenaria, also known as the stone crab, and how prevalent they were in Biscayne Bay.
When Parker discovered Joe’s restaurant, he became friendly with the proprietor and began to ask about the stone crab. Joe Weiss informed him that he had tried to find a way to prepare them, but nobody would eat them. When the two men discussed ways to cook the crab, the professor suggested that he boil them in hot water. Joe and Parker went behind the restaurant, where the big dining room is today, where a hole was dug to burn wood, a big wash basin was filled with water, and the first stone crab claws were boiled for the first time. The claws would be chilled after removal from the boiling water, cracked and served for consumption. This approach not only made the crab meat edible, but provided Joe with a new menu item that would become synonymous with the restaurant from that point forward.
When the crab claws became a regular menu item, Joe served them with hash brown potatoes. Joe’s restaurant charged 75 cents for four or five crabs, 25 cents for potatoes, and 25 cents for an order of Cole slaw. The restaurant would later concoct and offer a special sauce to dip the crab meat making the delicacy uniquely associated with the Miami Beach establishment.
Although Parker’s assignment at the Aquarium ended in mid-July, his month and a half visit impacted on the fortunes and reputation of Joe’s restaurant to this day. Parker later became the head of the Department of Zoology at Harvard, and is remembered as one of the leading authorities in Zoology in America during his day.
New Restaurant Building in 1929
By the end of the 1920s, Joe’s restaurant had expanded as much as it could around the cottage that served as the establishment’s kitchen, dining room, and family’s residence for almost a decade. On April 23, 1929, plans were released for a new building to host Joe’s. The new building was constructed just west of the original cottage, and cost $25,000 to construct. What was described as an L-shape building was erected on the corner of Biscayne Street and Washington Avenue. The edifice was designed by architect A. Fraser Rose and was constructed by a close friend of Joe Weiss, contractor Harry Leavitt.
The structure was designed as a two-story building, with the restaurant occupying the ground floor, and living quarters for the family on the second story. The dining room was 60 by 90 feet and could accommodate up to 300 people. The edifice was of Spanish design, with Spanish tile floors and gumwood wainscoting with pecky cypress beams and ceiling. The site for the new building was purchased by the Weiss family for $10,000.
The building took the summer and most of the fall to be constructed, but was ready to open by November 1929. The new restaurant edifice was connected to the original cottage by a covered promenade leading to an attractive open court between the new and the old structures. The main entrance faced Biscayne Street, but years later, after additional expansions north, the front entrance was relocated to face Washington Avenue.
The formal opening of the new building took place on Monday, November 11, 1929, from 6 to 9pm in the large dining room. The new kitchen was centered between the two buildings to serve both dining halls. It was equipped with the most modern of appliances including Kelvinator electric refrigeration and new gas ranges from the mains of what was the new Miami Beach Gas Company at the time.
The biggest benefit to Joe’s regulars was the reduction in the wait time to get a table. After the new building began seating customers, the capacity went from a total of 100 people to a combined capacity of 400 at one time.
A writer for the Miami Herald described the new building as follows:
“The new Joe’s restaurant dining room is finished in white stucco, and is lighted by a series of tall windows on three sides, bring ample daylight. A number of large-sized tapestry and oil paintings enhance the atmosphere. At night the dining room will be brilliantly lighted by an electric system of lighting fixtures in wrought iron, consisting of pillar brackets and chandeliers with colored globes giving a subdued light, spread equally over the entire space. The exterior of the building is finished in a cream-colored stucco, the windows being painted in blue.”
The writer went onto describe a novel feature of the new building:
“An added attraction at Joe’s restaurant is a large court, landscaped in an artistic square and set with shrubbery. In the center is a tall fountain of varicolored tiles. The entire frontage now occupied is approximately a half a block.”
Loss of Restaurant Namesake in 1931
By the time the new restaurant building opened in 1929, Jesse Weiss had been actively involved with Joe’s restaurant. While he did not have the aptitude and interest of his father to run the kitchen, and he didn’t have the same temperament and skill of his mother to run the dining operation, Jesse’s congeniality and personality brought a lot of cache to the business.
His relationship-building skills built a loyal following from not only locals, but also many celebrity visitors that went out of their way to dine at Miami Beach’s most prominent restaurant. Two men who Jesse developed a close friendship, writers Watler Winchell and Damon Runyon, helped with a lot of free publicity for Joe’s restaurant in their publications. Readers of both writers would make it a point to visit Joe’s when they visited South Beach.
Jesse’s ascension at the restaurant became particularly important when Joe Weiss fell ill in late January of 1931. After a week of bed rest, Joe passed away on Tuesday, February 3rd, at the age of 64. The loss of the family’s patriarch and restaurant’s namesake were a shock to those who knew the man well after years of dining at the restaurant.
After Joe’s passing, Jennie Weiss continued to run the restaurant with the same vigor and tenacity she always had until her passing on Wednesday, June 15, 1938. It was later in the same year of his mother’s passing that Jesse took the advice of Miami Beach publicist Steve Hannigan to rename the establishment to highlight the restaurant’s signature dish. From that point forward, Joe’s restaurant became internationally known as Joe’s Stone Crab.
Resources:
Book: “Eat at Joes”, by Howard Kleinberg (2007)
Miami Metropolis: “More Business Changes Reported at the Beach”, January 28, 1919.
Miami Herald: “Beach Has a Dining Hall”, June 11, 1919.
Miami Daily News: “Joe Weiss Opened Own Public Dining Hall”, December 4, 1920.
Miami Herald: “Court Restrains Duran Building Beach Stand”, April 22, 1921.
Miami Daily News: “Noted Zoologist will Study at the Aquarium”, June 1, 1921.
Miami Daily News: “Joe Weiss Planning Larger Restaurant”, July 20, 1921.
Miami Daily News: “Sunshine Inn Leased to Smith Company Inc”, November 19, 1921.
Miami Herald: “Joe’s Restaurant Will Be Replaced”, April 23, 1929.
Miami Daily News: “Joe’s Will Build $15,000 Addition”, April 24, 1929.
Miami Daily News: “Joe’s Restaurant Opens Addition”, November 10, 1929.
Miami Herald: “Joe’s Restaurant Will Open Tonight”, November 11, 1929.
Miami Herald: “Joe Weiss is Dead After Week’s Illness”, February 4, 1931.
Miami Daily News: “50 Golden Years”, by Bill Waters on September 30, 1962.