Owner of landmark Key Biscayne eatery Rusty Pelican to open restaurant along the Miami River
Miami Herald (Rebecca San Juan) 2/11/2022
The Miami River is slated for a new dining experience that eventually will bolster food options along the up-and-coming riverfront.
The owner of the landmark Key Biscayne restaurant Rusty Pelican intends to open a different establishment there, the Miami Herald has learned.
This story is a subscriber exclusive TOP VIDEOS × Specialty Restaurants Corporation signed a lease in late 2021 for Miami waterfront space, which allows for enough room for indoor and outdoor dining plus a bar. The project’s interior design and lighting firm is being done by ICRAVE and its founder and CEO Lionel Ohayon confirmed the restaurant plans to the Herald.
Rusty Pelican and sister eatery Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill will remain on Key Biscayne. The name, menu and opening date of the new Miami riverfront restaurant operated by their parent company are being finalized, Ohayon said.
Specialty Restaurants’ officials declined to comment about their plans for the new restaurant.
The Rusty Pelican has been a popular dining location since its opening in the 1970s. The restaurant underwent a $7 million renovation in 2018. Its menu featuring seafood and American cuisine also received an upgrade and the waterfront views remain.
The view from the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne can’t be beat. The restaurant was No. 53 on the top 100 list of successful restaurants, according to Restaurant Business in 2020.
Meanwhile, the five-and-half-mile Miami riverfront gained popularity starting around 2015 with a constant stream of millennials searching for attainable housing and developers eager to build on the water. More living options are in the pipeline, years after Miami River pioneers and developers Camilo Miguel Jr. and Lissette Calderon started catering to demand.
Commercial and hospitality developers are banking on the growing popularity of the Miami River, including Miami-based MV Real Estate Holdings and Driftwood Capital who are doing the $185 million planned expansion of the Riverside Wharf. The development will include the 165-room Dream Hotel, the first one along the Miami River, restaurants, a nightclub and a private marina with space for yachts.
“The possibility of what the river will become is amazing for Miami,” Ohayon said. “When you imagine this (restaurant) on the river and people pulling up on their boats, it is a rich tapestry of opportunity.”
The planned restaurant by Rusty Pelican’s owner will join 25 eateries sitting along the banks of the Miami River, said Horacio Stuart Aguirre, chairman of the nonprofit Miami River Commission.
The newest addition, Aguirre said by email, would present more job opportunities and an “exciting restaurant” to the Miami River District. He said, “This will be another special destination which will attract more visitors to the public riverwalk.”