Piola

This Italian restaurant opened its seventh South Florida eatery at 4961 Sheridan St. in Hollywood in November. Its eighth location is set to debut within the Hampton Inn Miami Beach, at 4000 Collins Ave., in April. The upcoming eatery will occupy 1,700 square feet and seat 96 people.

Cafe Americano

Originally from Las Vegas, this 24-hour diner opened its first restaurant in the tri-county region in Miami Beach’s Hotel Victor, 1144 Ocean Drive, in late December. The brand plans to open another diner at the Redbury Miami Beach, 1776 Collins Ave., this month. They are Cafe Americano’s first restaurants in Florida.

Just Salad

This fast-growing, fast-casual chain opened its second Boca Raton location at the Uptown Boca mixed-use development at 9674 Glades Road. The salad restaurant has other South Florida outposts in Aventura, Fort Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines.

Sufrãt

Replacing the Halal Guys restaurant at Pines City Center in Pembroke Pines, this fast-casual shawarma eatery opened Dec. 17. It’s the latest concept from the Altillawi family, which also owns the King of Pita restaurant in Hollywood. They hope to open additional Sufrãt locations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Momosan Ramen & Sake

Celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto’s Momosan Ramen & Sake made its Wynwood debut at 415 N.W. 26th St. on Dec. 18. The 4,300-square-foot eatery was slated to open last summer, but the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the date back considerably. Metro 1 Commercial Real Estate facilitated the lease to bring Momosan to South Florida.

The Big Number: 100

Employees across the U.S. that Miramar-based Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) furloughed in October. That’s in stark contrast to the 2,000 local employees the discount airline anticipated it would have to furlough earlier in 2020. Spirit has brought back many of its South Florida flights in recent months as air travel numbers inch their way toward pre-pandemic levels.

Mango’s owners seek redevelopment proposals
Mango’s Tropical Cafe COO Joshua Wallack, son of founder David Wallack, said the duo has put out a request for proposals through CBRE for interested developers to provide master plans for what they would do with four Miami Beach properties the company owns if sold.

The Mango’s team is not only listing the site of the nightclub at 900 Ocean Drive, but three adjacent properties behind the club at 909, 919 and 929 Collins Ave. as part of the potential deal.

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Las Vegas sandwich shop Capriotti’s to expand in South Florida
A piece of Las Vegas will soon come to South Florida.

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop announced that a recent franchise agreement will bring 12 of its restaurants to the tri-county region over the next decade. The Nevada-based sandwich restaurant chain currently has 112 locations across the U.S., but none in Florida. Site selection is already underway for the brand’s first restaurants in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Marco and M.J. Roca of Reveille Hospitality, a Miami-based consulting and hospitality development firm, signed the franchising agreement with Capriotti’s. The agreement includes the opening of brick-and-mortar locations, as well as ghost kitchens, which are delivery-only locations consumers can order through third-party delivery apps like Uber Eats.

While the company’s franchise deal is for a dozen locations, Reveille Hospitality said the company aims to open 30 Capriotti’s Sandwich Shops locally before 2030.

“We’re starting with Miami because the area is already incredibly receptive to gourmet hospitality culture,” Marco Roca said in a statement. “Miami is quickly growing into a global gateway, and we believe it’s the perfect match for Capriotti’s sophisticated, yet affordable, sandwiches and menu.”

This franchise deal is part of Capriotti’s larger expansion effort. The company said it has an additional 180 restaurants in various stages of development in the U.S.

Founded in 1976, the concept is best known for slow-roasting its turkeys in-house daily for sandwich cuts. The average initial investment for a franchised restaurant is about $376,000, according to a statement from the company.