In 1913, Hungarian-born Joe Weiss arrived in Miami Beach from New York hoping to relieve his asthma. Five years later, he opened up the original Joe's Restaurant in the front room of the bungalow he shared with his wife Jennie on Biscayne Street. In 1921, an icthyologist noticed the large number of stone crabs in the area and brought them to Joe to find out if they were edible. And as Patricia Schultz says, "And so an institution was born."
Joe's Stone Crab is often visited by politicians, actors, and athletes.
Famous guests have included Al Capone, Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones and Howard Cosell.
And now, Jin Loves to Eat! HA!!! :P
Reservations are not accepted and the restaurant is packed when we arrive for dinner at 9pm.
There is a cozy bar area where you can enjoy a cocktail or two while you wait.
Or you can opt to wait under the stars. It took almost an hour for a table to free up.
The main dining room. Finally!
Breads
Seafood Bisque - seafood to the second power!
Chopped Salad with honey-roasted peanuts, black olives, feta cheese, diced vegetables,
chopped egg tossed in Joe's vinaigrette
Fried Oysters - just okay
And the main event… Stone Crabs!
The claws are served chilled and cracked so there is little labor or mess involved. Hooray for me.
The light and super fresh-tasting crabmeat goes so well with the sweetish mustard sauce.
Simple yet very satisfying.
Jin loves Joe's. Ready, set, go!
No better way to end the meal than with a whole slice of Joe's Original Homemade Key Lime Pie.
Or two.
During the one hour wait, I went next door to check out Joe's Take Away.
People who do not want to wait hours can come here for stone crabs to go
They also have salads
Small bites
Cakes and desserts
And fresh flowers, too!
Bought a Lobster Roll for my breakfast the next day...
… and Feta Stuffed Peppers and Apple Juice. Yum.
Joe's Stone Crab: 11 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139, USA. Tel: +1 (305) 673-0365
