Miami’s Blue Collar restaurant moved and has a sleek new look. Here’s your sneak peek

Blue Collar, the beloved comfort-food destination in Miami’s MiMo neighborhood, is just about ready to make its big move — and its sleek new look is light years from the original’s simple design.

The restaurant, which opened in 2012 at 6730 Biscayne Blvd., has moved into the former space of Balan’s across the street and is on track to open later this month. The original restaurant will close shortly before the new one opens.

Owner Danny Serfer can’t wait.

“We’re so close, the anticipation is killing me,” he said. “I originally opened in MiMo for two reasons: Twelve years ago the rent was still sane there, and I am in love with mid-century design and architecture. The new Blue gave me the opportunity to design the restaurant in a way I couldn’t back then.”

Serfer, who also owns Miami’s seafood-forward Mignonette restaurant, designed the new restaurant himself, with an assist from Samantha McKenna of Chelsea Design and Joey Halpern of Joseph Halpern Woodworking. He scoured thrift shops for much of the new spot’s mid-century decor.

“My goal was to make it look like a million bucks without spending a million bucks,” he said.

The new restaurant boasts 4,000 square feet of space (as opposed to the original space’s 800) and features indoor and outdoor seating for 140 diners. There’s also a full bar, something the original restaurant didn’t have, and a larger kitchen.

Serfer has also added four special outdoor tables he calls “bluetooth booths” for people who want to step outside the restaurant to take a call while they wait for a seat.

“I’m not a fan of taking calls in restaurants,” he said. Consider yourself warned.

Blue Collar fans will recognize some of the touches, like the vintage lunchboxes that used to be mounted on the walls of the original restaurant. Now they’re tiny herb gardens for the new restaurant’s bar, which plans to serve classic cocktails.

Serfer plans to weld plaques on the front of the lunchboxes to honor regulars, family and friends. Among those to be honored will be Serfer’s late parents and the former blog Miami Restaurant Power Rankings, run by Serfer’s Mignonette business partner Ryan Roman).

As for the menu, favorites will still be available at the new restaurant, while new offerings include an egg roll trio (cheeseburger, Cuban sandwich and pepperoni pizza); mushroom and goat cheese croquettes with fig jam; Swedish meatballs and matzo ball soup, which will be available daily.

The popular daily specials that made Blue Collar famous — braise, chop and pasta — will remain as well. We hate to think of the carnage if they didn’t.

New entrees include shawarma, swordfish, griot (crispy pork shoulder) with pikliz and chicken cordon bleu. There will also be new desserts, like sticky toffee pudding and homemade chocolate chip cookies, the ultimate comfort dessert.

Despite the hot new design, the move isn’t about making Blue Collar upscale, Serfer said. Becoming one of Miami’s upscale restaurants has never been the goal.

“It’s about expansion, evolution and preparing for our next 12 years,” he said. “Variety and value were and will remain central to Blue Collar.”

Blue Collar

New address: 6789 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

Opening: June 2024

More information: www.bluecollarmiami; 305-756-0366

This story was originally published June 6, 2024 at 4:30 AM.