Swensen’s is closed, but its spirit lives on at this new Coral Gables restaurant
The first time Dimitris Harvalis walked into the shuttered Swensen’s Grill & Ice Cream Bar in Coral Gables and saw the Tiffany-style lamps. wooden booths and ice cream bar, he decided he wouldn’t change anything.
The food, he would tinker with. The kitchen, he could update. But the throwback ambiance of a South Florida favorite of nearly 50 years, he promised to polish to luster. Perhaps the only thing locals will have to adapt to is a new name: The One on Sunset, the new Swensen’s tribute restaurant Harvalis debuted earlier this month.
“The whole idea was not to change the look,” he said. “It has that old nostalgia feeling that’s hard to find in restaurants today.”
Swensen’s had been open on U.S. 1 between Coral Gables and South Miami for 44 years, before it closed in April of 2021, after a tax bill dispute between the restaurant owner and the landlords. It was one of only three Swensen’s restaurants left in North America.
Harvalis had been looking to buy out Swensen’s lease since 2019 to open his second restaurant, after his Elia Café inside the Pinecrest Community Center. The landlords weighed two options: Harvalis, a Greek-born local for the last 32 years, whose experience came with Taverna Opa and Miami Beach nightclubs. Or a Starbucks.
“We didn’t need another Starbucks,” Harvalis said.
Instead, Harvalis won the lease and spent six months renovating the restaurant, from an outdated kitchen to refurbishing the booths and setting up an iPad ordering system at each table.
He aimed to preserve Swensen’s comfort-food soul: burgers and shakes with decadent ice cream sundaes.
That means favorites like the Nicaraguan fried-cheese burger and onion ring tower stayed to complement a vast something-for-everyone menu that ranges from tuna melts to ahi tuna bowls.
As the chef, he mixes in some of his Greek influences, including souvlaki wraps and falafel dishes, a lamb burger, feta-topped fries and housemade tzatziki and hummus.
The showstopper, however, remains the expansive wooden bar dedicated to ice cream decadence.
He partnered with a local ice cream maker to create 23 flavors, including Latin flavors like coquito and guava. There are even vegan, lactose free, sugar free and almond milk and oat milk options.
Plus the restaurant serves a range of craft beer and wine with happy hour starting at 4 p.m. There are also weekly open-mic and comedy shows.
“There were a lot of good memories created here,” Harvalis said. “It was a place that needed to stay here.”
The One on Sunset
Address: 1586 S Dixie Hwy., Coral Gables
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday. Until 10 p.m. Saturday. Until 8 p.m. Sunday.
More info: 786-332-2417, Theoneonsunset.lightspeedordering.com
