This Miami milkshake bar designed to look like an ’80s kitchen went viral. Now it’s closing
Vicky’s House is being foreclosed.
The Coconut Grove milkshake bar that Lokal/Kush founder Matt Kuscher designed to look like his mother Vicky’s 1980s kitchen will close Oct. 2. But it’s Kuscher himself pulling the plug.
Kuscher is holding on to the space and turning it into Victoria’s Vinos y Vermouth, a cocktail bar waiting room for his next-door burger and craft beer restaurant, Lokal, that will focus on Spanish wines and ciders.
“Every few years, I like to rebrand them. It’s just out of boredom to bring more energy,” Kuscher said. “It’s still a Vicky-inspired place.
Kuscher, who themes his restaurants down to framed portraits on the wall, originally designed Vicky’s House Milkshake Bar as a sort of speakeasy to Lokal. You enter through a replica of the “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” phone booth to signal a journey back through time.
You step through to encounter orange and yellow wallpaper, brown Formica cabinets, a mustard-colored bar and a pass through to a wood-paneled den, where you could play Super Mario Bros. on a Nintendo Entertainment System.
The bar, named for his mom, became a viral hit when it opened in 2017, even if Coconut Grove took long to catch on to the speakeasy concept. (The front was originally papered over with a for-rent sign posted.)
Kuscher eventually relented and gave Vicky’s a separate entrance. It became more of a curiosity, with $7-$14 over-the-top milkshakes named for 1980’s TV shows, such as the “Golden Girls,” with Golden Graham cereal sprinkled over the top, with a Twinkie.
The new Victoria’s will retain just a couple of touches from Vicky’s, with a framed portion of the retro wallpaper. But the bar will otherwise be reimagined, highlighting sipping vermouths, ciders and Spanish wines — all recent interests of Kuscher’s.
The made-over Victoria’s is expected to open at the latest Dec. 1.
“I don’t need the room to be a home run,” Kuscher said. “It just needs to be another reason to bring Lokal some attention.”
Victoria’s Vinos y Vermouth
Address: 3190 Commodore Plaza, Coconut Grove
More info: Kushhospitality.com
Opening Dec. 2022
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 3:01 PM.
