Miami’s legendary cupcake maker just moved into this iconic Coral Gables location

For 44 years, Swensen’s Grill & Ice Cream Parlor on Dixie Highway in Coral Gables served neighbors, University of Miami students and anybody else in the market for ice cream sundaes and other cold, sweet treats.

Now, a local business dedicated to a different sort of dessert has taken over the iconic space.

Founded by Miami native Misha Kuryla, Misha’s Cupcakes has set up a flagship shop in the former Swensen’s spot at 1586 S. Dixie Highway, just a few doors down from Misha’s Cupcakes first brick-and-mortar store, which opened in 2008 at 1548 S. Dixie Highway but closed when the building was redeveloped.

Swensen’s, which was founded in San Francisco in 1948, closed its Gables restaurant in 2021; in 2022 the restaurant The One on Sunset took over the lease but eventually closed, too.

Kuryla is thrilled to have the chance to move into the space, which includes a large central area where bakers and decorators work.

“I feel like it’s going back to the original store, and it feels good,” she said. “And it smells good! All the bakers are here. Everybody’s still doing what they do, but now people can see them, and so people can see what their order is looking like, how people are processing the cupcakes and cakes and decorating them.”

The space is bigger than the original Misha’s, with room for the business and those who work there to spread out. Kuryla has moved her entire commissary kitchen into the new location.

There are a few tables, too, if you want to order the tiny, perfect cupcakes or other baked goods and eat them there (believe it or not, vanilla is still the most popular flavor). Although if you’re picking up a whole cake, you may want to wait till you get home.

In a nod to the location’s history, Kuryla, a graduate of Coral Gables High, has even preserved one of the old Swensen’s booths and a Tiffany-style lamp as well as the famous piano, which was even tuned recently. She just couldn’t bear to entirely gut the property, going so far as to keep the same tables.

“I have memories of coming here with my mom and dad, having ice cream and fighting with my brothers,” she said. “We went after homecoming. We went after high school graduation. Everybody has a memory from this place. You can’t just throw that out.”

Kuryla, who started her business in her home in 2005, opened her first Misha’s at a kiosk in Dadeland Mall in 2007. She’d go on to open nine Misha’s around Miami-Dade and Broward but eventually realized that the number of locations had grown unwieldy.

“I think what happened was like when you’re in the middle of your life and let’s say you’re having kids, and then you get a dog, and then you buy a house, and then you’re like, ‘Let me decorate.’ You just add more stuff to the pile,” she said. “And you realize: am I doing it better? Am I really able to do what I thought I was going to do? I couldn’t continue to open stores. I needed help. I needed money, and I was afraid of losing control of the quality and of not knowing the people that worked for me.”

There are now four locations — the new shop, Kendall, Miami Lakes and Pembroke Pines — plus one in the Centennial Village Dining Hall at UM. This number feels more manageable to Kuryla, especially in light of a huge development for her brand in 2025: Misha’s cupcakes will be sold in Walmart stores along with the popular cake jars (a single serving of cake to go).

The plan is to start by providing baked goods to Florida stores starting next summer and grow throughout the country from there. There are 342 Walmarts in the state, so supplying them with flash-frozen cupcakes will be quite a lot of work. Kuryla plans to start small (relatively) and ramp up as the demand increases.

“Realistically, we don’t have the capacity to supply the whole country,” Kuryla said. “So I asked, if possible, could we start with Florida? I don’t want to ruin my business by focusing on Walmart, and then I screw that up. You’ve got to keep the business going here for the local people.”

Misha’s Cupcakes

Where: 1586 S Dixie Highway, Coral Gables

Grand opening: 10 a.m.-noon Dec. 21; free full-size cupcake per person for the first 200 guests

More information: www.mishascupcakes.com