Do You Remember Any of These Miami Burger Joints?

In my constant search to uncover South Florida burger & restaurant history, these locations are barely ever mentioned fondly. These five forgotten Miami burger joints have disappeared without a trace. I’ll hear about Royal Castle during its golden age, or Burger King in its early days but never about any of these spots.

I need to thank my friend and fellow food historian Phillip Pessar for his help in tracking down addresses and years for some of these. When I would reach a dead-end in my investigation, Phillip jumped in with a helping hand.

Broadway Joe’s

Broadway Joes pic by Lynn Pelham of Life Magazine
pic by Lynn Pelham of Life Magazine

Broadway Joe’s is the namesake restaurant for football hero Joe Namath. The restaurant featured hamburgers, and roast beef sandwiches, as you can see in the picture below. Broadway Joe’s opened in January of 1969 at 2415 Ponce de Leon Blvd. in Coral Gables.

By May of 1970, there were 11 locations in Florida, New York, and Texas. Three of them were franchises. December 1970 saw Joe Namath leave the company, and not long after that, Broadway Joe’s was gone.

Broadway Joes pic by Lynn Pelham of Life Magazine
pic by Lynn Pelham of Life Magazine
Article from The Evening Independent - May 21st, 1970
Article from The Evening Independent – May 21st, 1970
Miami News - Sept. 30, 1970
Miami News – Sept. 30, 1970

ChampBurger

Champburger
ChampBurger picture courtesy of KrinklGlas

Muhammad Ali had a Burger joint? Yup.

ChampBurger was a chain of black-owned-and-operated “Champburger Palaces” in black neighborhoods. The two ChampBurger locations were 3268 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove and 6155 NW 17th Avenue.

Muhammad Ali's Champburger
ChampBurger picture courtesy of KrinklGlas


Travel Culinary had done a great job of explaining what happened:

To support his family, he, among other activities, signed a restaurant franchise deal that netted him $900,000 from the Champburger Company for the use of his name and image and a 1% royalties on the company’s annual profits.
 
In 1968, Champburger stock sold for $5 a share. The licensing contract he signed with Champburger stipulated that all franchise menus sell Muslim friendly food without pork or shellfish.
 
Thus, in addition to the all-beef Champburger, franchises would sell all beef “hot dogs, fried chicken, fried fish, boiled fish, other food products and soft drinks including his own endorsed Mr. Champ soda.
 
The franchise never made out of Miami as the company never gained enough investors and got bogged down in a lengthy and expensive court case with stockholders.

Hot Shoppes

Hot Shoppes Ad
Hot Shoppes Ad

Most folks nowadays know the name Marriott for their chain of hotels, but in 1927, J. Willard Marriott opened a nine-stool root beer stand that became the Hot Shoppes Restaurant chain. There were three Miami locations that I could track down: 950 N Miami Beach Blvd, 7900 SW 104th Street, and 3500 S. Dixie Highway.

Hot Shoppes had arrived in Miami a year and a half before the April 1973 Miami News article below. While I’m unsure how long they lasted, on December 2nd, 1999, Marriott closed down the last of the Hot Shoppes restaurants.

If you’re still longing for the days of Hot Shoppes and their popular dishes like the Mighty Mo Burger & Sauce, you might want to pick up the Marriott Hot Shoppes Cookbook. The book is selling at a reasonable price on Amazon or eBay, considering it was released in 1987.

Hot Shoppes from The Miami News - April 7th, 1963
from The Miami News – April 7th, 1963
Hot Shoppes South Florida Ad
Hot Shoppes South Florida Ad
Part 1 from The Free Lance-Star - December 2nd, 1999
Part 1 from The Free Lance-Star – December 2nd, 1999
Part 2 from The Free Lance-Star - December 2nd, 1999
Part 2 from The Free Lance-Star – December 2nd, 1999

Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant

Jahn's Old Menu
The Menu from Jahn’s

Jahn’s was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor chain that began in New York. The huge Kitchen Sink Sundae was their signature dessert. Jahn’s had two South Florida locations249 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and 17262 Collins Avenue in North Miami Beach.

At least there is still one Jahn’s operating today in Jackson Heights, Queens if you still need that fix. A few years back, when I was in New York, I stumbled across the last Jahn’s restaurant and enjoyed a cheeseburger there.

Jahn's Cheeseburger Platter
Jahn’s cheeseburger that I ate

I’m not sure exactly as to the dates of operation in South Florida, but the first location opened in the Bronx, in 1897.  By the 1950’s they had spread to other parts of New York, New Jersey, and the two South Florida locations.

TropiBurger

TropiBurger picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez
picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez

I don’t know much about TropiBurger, which had one drive-in location in Little Havana at 1340 Sw 8th Street. My best guess is they were around only about 6 months from August 1965 to January 1966.

TropiBurger Ad in the Miami Herald 8-8-65
TropiBurger Ad in the Miami Herald 8-8-65

I do know it didn’t work out for them in Miami. So they opened in Venezuela, where they had a great run with multiple locations.

In February 1997, all of the 32 TropiBurger locations in Venezuela became Wendy’s restaurants. Then, they were gone.

picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez
picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez
Coupon picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez
Coupon picture courtesy of Pete Rodriguez

So there you have it old school Miami burger fans, do you remember any of these?

Will you help keep their memories alive?

(Please note this article contains affiliate links. Your purchase will support Burger Beast by providing us with a small commission, but will not affect your pricing or user experience. Thank you.)

10 thoughts on “Do You Remember Any of These Miami Burger Joints?”

  1. Hello from Sweden here.

    I am also a big fan of old long gone burger chains and burger places.

    Here in Sweden one such was Clock burgers. They co-existed with McDonalds. But Clock disappeared sometime around 1990s. I googled and there is one single burger place in Sweden named Clock, that opened some years ago. It’s far away from my location, but I will sure try them if I ever go there 🙂

    Anyway cool and interesting facts about five of US hamburger joints history.

    Reply
  2. My grandfather, Joaquin Rodriguez, was business partners with John French who owned the chain Tropiburger. They had the original restaurant in Habana, Cuba before the revolution. My father used to work at the one in Habana as a kid. My grandfather and his business partner who owned the chain used to also drink at the bar frequented by Hemingway. How quickly time flies.

    Reply
  3. There was one Champ Burger in Ft Lauderdale on Sistrunk Blvd. The building still exists but it’s currently vacant.

    Reply

Leave a Comment