In my fixed search to uncover South Florida burger and restaurant historical past, I discovered that these places are barely talked about. These forgotten Miami burger joints have disappeared with out a hint. I’ll hear about Royal Citadel throughout its golden age or Burger King in its early days, however virtually by no means about Broadway Joe’s, ChampBurger, GABE’s Burgers, Rudy’s Sirloin SteakBurgers, Wuv’s Hamburgers, and the remainder of these spots.
This web page later turned the inspiration for my cowl story on forgotten Miami burger joints for the Miami New Instances, so it’s solely becoming that it now serves because the archive for these misplaced eating places. I have to thank my pal and fellow meals historian Phillip Pessar for his assist in monitoring down addresses and years for a few of these. Once I would attain a dead-end in my investigation, Phillip jumped in with a serving to hand.
Initially revealed on August 25, 2015. Up to date January 5, 2026.
Forgotten Miami Burger Joints
The joints under are listed in alphabetical order.
Broadway Joe’s
Broadway Joe’s opened in January of 1969 at 2415 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables. By Could 1970, there have been 11 places in Florida, New York, and Texas, with three of them being franchises.
Broadway Joe’s is the namesake restaurant for soccer hero Joe Namath. The restaurant featured hamburger and roast beef sandwiches, as you possibly can see within the image under.
Joe Namath left the corporate in December 1970, and never lengthy after that, Broadway Joe’s was gone.
Burger Citadel
Burger Citadel was launched by Charles Krebs, the primary South Florida Burger King franchisee, after he was denied the prospect to open a second BK. As an alternative of folding, he created his personal rival chain. The primary Burger Citadel opened in Hialeah on July 10, 1964.
The identify was a nod to Miami’s two heavyweights of the period, Burger King and Royal Citadel. The eating places seemed loads like early Burger Kings, proper right down to the massive signal that includes a king mascot holding a burger and shake. Their signature sandwich, the Taste-Broiled Big Burger, was a transparent swing on the Whopper.
The chain modified possession in 1968, expanded the menu to incorporate fried hen and roast beef sandwiches, and unfold throughout Florida and several other different states. At its peak, about 20 places operated in South Florida, with headquarters in North Miami.
Authorized stress from Burger King finally compelled Burger Citadel to drop its king mascot and swap to a knight brand. By the mid Seventies, the chain light away.
ChampBurger
Muhammad Ali had a burger joint? You higher imagine it.
ChampBurger was a sequence of black-owned-and-operated Champburger Palaces in black neighborhoods. The 2 ChampBurger places had been at 3268 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove and 6155 NW seventeenth Avenue.
Journey Culinary had executed a fantastic job of explaining what occurred:
To assist his household, he, amongst different actions, signed a restaurant franchise deal that netted him $900,000 from the Champburger Firm for the usage of his identify and picture and a 1% royalties on the corporate’s annual income.In 1968, Champburger inventory bought for $5 a share. The licensing contract he signed with Champburger stipulated that each one franchise menus promote Muslim pleasant meals with out pork or shellfish.
Thus, along with the all-beef Champburger, franchises would promote all beef sizzling canines, fried hen, fried fish, boiled fish, different meals merchandise and gentle drinks together with his personal endorsed Mr. Champ soda.
The franchise by no means made out of Miami as the corporate by no means gained sufficient traders and received slowed down in a prolonged and costly court docket case with stockholders.
GABE’s Burgers
GABE’s Burgers was my favourite Miami burger joint rising up. The identify stood for Nice American Burger Emporium, however most of us solely knew it as GABE’s. The setup was a double drive-thru with outside tables and umbrellas, the form of place you hit along with your dad and mom on weeknights.
The burgers had been char-grilled and the fresh-cut fries got here dusted with seasoned salt. Areas popped up round South Florida, together with Flagami, Westchester, Miramar, and Hialeah Gardens. By the early Nineties they had been gone, and GABE’s slipped into Miami burger folklore.
Scorching Shoppes
Most folk these days know Marriott for its lodge chain, however in 1927, J. Willard Marriott opened a nine-stool root beer stand that turned the Scorching Shoppes restaurant chain. I tracked down the addresses for these three Miami places by way of an advert: 950 N Miami Seashore Boulevard, 7900 SW 104th Avenue, and 3500 S. Dixie Freeway.
Scorching Shoppes had arrived in Miami a 12 months and a half earlier than the April 1973 Miami Information article above. Whereas I’m not sure how lengthy they lasted, on December 2nd, Marriott closed down the final of the Scorching Shoppes eating places.
In case you’re nonetheless eager for the times of Scorching Shoppes and their in style dishes just like the Mighty Mo Burger and Sauce, you may wish to choose up the Marriott Scorching Shoppes Cookbook. The e-book is promoting at an affordable value on Amazon or eBay, contemplating it was launched in 1987.
Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant
Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlour was an old school ice cream parlor chain that started in New York. Their signature dessert was the large Kitchen Sink Sundae. Jahn’s had two South Florida places: 249 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and 17262 Collins Avenue in North Miami Seashore.
No less than one Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlour nonetheless operates in New York at Jackson Heights, Queens, if you happen to nonetheless want that repair. A number of years again, once I was in New York, I stumbled throughout the final Jahn’s restaurant and loved a cheeseburger there.
I’m unsure precisely when the primary Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlour location opened in South Florida, however it was within the Bronx in 1897. By the Nineteen Fifties, it had unfold to different components of New York, New Jersey, and the 2 South Florida places.
Rudy’s Sirloin SteakBurgers
Rudy’s Sirloin SteakBurgers ran via South Florida from the mid-Nineteen Eighties into the early Nineties. Douglas Rudolph, the person who introduced Wendy’s to Miami-Dade, bought his Wendy’s shops and launched Rudy’s as a hybrid between quick meals and a extra upscale burger spot like Fuddruckers.
The hook was within the identify: char-broiled sirloin steakburgers, with a appear and feel that felt a step up from the standard chains. Rudy’s went public in 1986 and slowly light out a number of years later.
TropiBurger
I don’t know a lot about TropiBurger, which had one drive-in location in Little Havana at 1340 SW eighth Avenue. My greatest guess is that they had been round solely about six months, from August 1965 to January 1966.
I do realize it didn’t work out for them in Miami. So that they opened in Venezuela, the place they’d a fantastic run with a number of places.
In February 1997, the entire 32 TropiBurger places in Venezuela turned Wendy’s eating places. Then, like Keyser Söze, they had been gone.
Or are they? TropiBurger.
Wuv’s Hamburgers
Wuv’s Hamburgers was a Florida-born chain that attempted to take a “contemporary thought in quick meals” nationwide within the late Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties. In South Florida, youngsters keep in mind the purple and white or wood-paneled buildings, the contemporary by no means frozen burgers, the toppings bar, the fries, biscuits, and the home Wuv Juice.
Wuv’s grew quick, then flamed out and filed for Chapter 11 in 1981. The model disappeared, however the reminiscences haven’t.
Closing Ideas
Not each nice burger joint will get remembered. These didn’t survive, however they left a mark on the individuals who ate there. If one in all these spots meant one thing to you, share it, as a result of as soon as the tales are gone, the historical past goes with them.