Just months after it opened, this Miami Beach restaurant is closed for good
.jpeg "Winker’s Diner in South Beach is permanently closed.")
Less than six months after it opened on Miami Beach, Winker’s Diner is closed.
The upscale deli-and-diner-style concept from Groot Hospitality, owned by nightclub-and-restaurant entrepreneur David Grutman, closed suddenly during the holidays before 2022 even began.
The restaurant opened in September 2021 as part of the renovated historic Firestone Garage on Alton Road in Miami Beach. The space was once a working garage and tire center that closed in 2015.
The restaurant sat 240 guests and served all-day breakfast and giant sandwiches as well as soup and salad.
“I love to eat diner food, but I like to reimagine it and add our vision,” Grutman told the Miami Herald early in 2021. “We’re not exactly going to be the early-bird dinner kind of place.”
The two other concepts at the Garage, Toothfairy bakery and Sushi Fly Chicken, which serves pan-Asian fare, will remain open, according to a spokeswoman for Groot Hospitality. She offered no reason for the abrupt closing but confirmed that a new Groot concept was expected to open in the Winker’s space in the next 60 days.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 1:59 PM.