Miami Herald (Sunday)

After 3 years, beloved Miami restaurant Fooq’s will reopen. Here’s what we know

- BY CONNIE OGLE cogle@miamiheral­d.com

When it closed in 2021, ravaged by the fallout from the pandemic, the beloved Mediterran­ean restaurant Fooq’s in downtown Miami shifted its focus from Persia to pepperoni and became Eleventh Street Pizza.

“I had to play the hand I was dealt,” owner David Foulquier told the Miami Herald at the time. “This is a way for us to stay relevant during the pandemic.”

Now, three years later,

Fooq’s is returning, this time to Miami’s Little River neighborho­od.

The new Fooq’s, which opened in Miami in 2015, will be bigger than the original, a 9,000-squarefoot, two-story build at

150 NW 73rd St. It will be a neighbor to the restaurant­s La Natural and Rosie’s, both Michelin-recognized as Bib Gourmands (restaurant­s that serve good food at moderate prices).

The new Fooq’s won’t open until later this year but will almost certainly

include the charcoalgr­illed kebabs and Persian stews that drew diners to the first restaurant. There will be new menu items as well, plus a full-liquor license, which means cocktails in addition to an extensive wine collection.

The new spot, which is being designed by Swedish design house Joyn Studio, will reflect Middle Eastern and Moroccan influences and include indoor seating, an outdoor

lounge area and a secondfloo­r lounge.

The restaurant will serve lunch, brunch and dinner seven days a week. The second level and outdoor lounge will also feature entertainm­ent on some nights (we’re guessing weekends).

Foulquier called the reopening “a homecoming.”

“We always said Fooq’s offered ‘Feel Good Food,’ because it gave people a

chance to gather around the table not only to enjoy great food but to make great connection­s with company,” he said in a statement. “Fooq’s return is about reconnecti­ng with our community and continuing to share in that passion.”

In addition to Fooq’s and Eleventh Street Pizza, Foulquier’s We All Gotta Eat Hospitalit­y Group is also the force behind the Michelin-starred concepts

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? A rendering shows the outdoor lounge area for Fooq’s, which is reopening after three years. Right, a rendering of the outside of Fooq’s, scheduled to open in Little River at the end of 2024.
A rendering shows the outdoor lounge area for Fooq’s, which is reopening after three years. Right, a rendering of the outside of Fooq’s, scheduled to open in Little River at the end of 2024.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States