John Kunkel

Alberto Cabrera (Of the Local) to Open Frita Shop in the Gables

After two years of delays, Alberto Cabrera has found a space for his long-discussed Frita Shop at the corner of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Salamanca Avenue. Opening sometime this summer, the shop will be the first of several spots, he said. "It's going to be terribly simple," he said. We're thinki ... More >>

Miami's Top Ten Chefs

Chefs love talking about one another. They discuss talent. They obsess over who cooks better, who lacks integrity, who sold out, who travels looking for recipes to replicate. They talk about hype. They chat about expectations. They know what their colleagues are cooking. They have opinions about eve ... More >>

Khong River House: Boat Noodles, Cool Digs, and Hot Hooch in SoBe

View the slide show: Closer Look: Khong River House in South Beach

Miami's Best Fried Chicken: A Top Ten List

Eating fried chicken is no tidy affair. Golden brittle breading bursts after a gentle nibble. Bits of crust cascade beneath your chin. Juices flow. Fingers glisten. Lips gleam. (Call this gloss pollo frito; it sure as hell beats Chanel.) In Miami, a city brimming with restaurants of diverse ethnici ... More >>

Khong River House Review: Boat Noodles, Cool Digs, and Hot Hooch in SoBe

Khong River House is buzzing on a chilly Friday night. Waiters add to the clamor, adeptly pronouncing Thai ingredients such as khaep mu (crisp pork rinds) and nam prik num (green chili pepper salsa). Across the dining room, hipsters, bloggers, and socialites cram tightly packed tables. They tweet, I ... More >>

Swine Southern Table & Bar: John Kunkel Gives Us a Tour (Photos)

Swine Southern Table & Bar is set to open Saturday, March 9. It will be the first time the restaurant team that created 50 Eggs will move its brand of dining onto the mainland (not counting fast-casual concept Lime Fresh Mexican). Swine Southern Table & Bar, like Yardbird Southern Table & ... More >>

Brad and Soraya Kilgore Leave Exit 1 and Route 9

Well, that was quick. Two months after joining Jeremy and Paola Goldberg as partners in the eateries Exit 1 and Route 9, Brad and Soraya Kilgore have announced that they are no longer associated with either of the restaurants. See also: - Exit 1: Too Many Blunders Overshadow a Rising Chef's True ... More >>

Khong River House: Northern Thai Food and True Confessions

Khong River House may have opened just days ago, but on a Thursday evening, the place was already as lively as its sister establishment Yardbird Southern Table & Bar. Like Yardbird, Khong's colors are warm. Repurposed Thai shipping crates serve as wood wall decor. Edison bulbs cast a warm copper ... More >>

Por Fin to Reopen as Tapas Bar Bulla

For the past several months Por Fin, the pricey, white linen Spanish restaurant located just off Miracle Mile, has been undergoing a facelift and is to open early 2013 as a tapas bar, Bulla (pronounced Boo-ya). Owner Carlos Centurion said he's looking to attract a younger crowd with a more casual s ... More >>

November 2012 Restaurant Openings and Closings

November in Miami saw many anticipated restaurants opening, and a few closings that had most people surprised, indeed.  Some welcome additions to our local food scene include Dena Marino's MC Kitchen, Myron Mixon's Pride and Joy, and David Bracha's Oak Tavern.Read also:- Florida Cookery: Every ... More >>

October 2012 Restaurant Openings and Closings

Open your windows, turn off your air conditioner and enjoy this glorious weather! It's fall in Miami and as the temperature cools off, the restaurant scene heats up!Already we're seeing restaurants come onto the scene in anticipation of the arrival of snowbirds flying south for the winter, tourists ... More >>

Jeff McInnis Melds Farming, Cooking, and Southern Cuisine, Part One

Jeff McInnis was raised in Niceville, a small town in the Florida Panhandle. He spent his childhood on fishing boats and, in the summertime, on his family's working farms. "Southern food was introduced to me at a young age at my grandparents' farm in Tunnel Springs, Alabama," he explains. His gastr ... More >>

September 2012 Restaurant Openings and Closings

September is a transitional month for Miami. It's the time when tropical storms and hurricanes tend to be their most active (though we had one scare it luckily turned out to be a non-event), snow birds are still up north, and many folks (especially those in the biz) take a break or a quickie vacatio ... More >>

August 2012 Restaurant Openings and Closings

Though generally slow-moving, August in Miami saw a surprising amount of new growth in the restaurant biz.Many restaurants opened including Michelle Bernstein's Crumb at the Webster and the reemergence of pop-up favorite Eating House.Speaking of pop-ups, Dining Room closed its doors on Washington Av ... More >>

Best of Miami 2012 - Best Restaurateur: John Kunkel

​Want access to our Best Of picks from your smartphone? Download our free Best Of app for the iPhone or Android phone from the App Store or Google Play. Don't forget to check out the full Best of Miami® 2012 issue June 12 online and June 14 in newsstands.Best RestaurateurJohn Kunkel

John Kunkel of 50 Eggs Restaurant Group on Swine, Lime, and New Concept

When John Kunkel started a small burrito joint in South Beach in 2004, he didn't think it would turn into a $24 million buyout by Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday, Inc. or that he would strike gold in a southern restaurant concept in South Beach. But Kunkel and his 50 Eggs Restaurant Group have a knack ... More >>

Miami's Ten Best Burritos: Hot Dogs, Skinny Ones, Tofu Ones, Even Tongue

​Want access to our Best Of picks from your smartphone? Download our free Best Of app for the iPhone or Android phone from the App Store or Google Play. Although the burrito was invented in Mexico as a portable street food, it is really only popular in the northern part of the country -- which may ... More >>

Ruby Tuesday's To Buy Lime Fresh Mexican Grill UPDATED

Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday Inc. announced Wednesday that it will be acquiring Miami's Lime Fresh Mexican Grill for $24 million.The deal includes Lime's intellectual property rights as well as the assets of seven company-owned restaurants, and will offer Ruby Tuesday an opportunity for growth, part ... More >>

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar flies high with Southern fare and blues-soaked ambiance

View a slide show of Yardbird.

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Prices Are Reasonable: A Convo With Co-Owner John Kunkel

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Chicken for two, anyone?​I've been tracking Yardbird Southern Table & Bar since I first heard buzz that Jeff McInnis was opening a Southern-concept restaurant.I stalked the offices of 50 Eggs on Biscayne Boulevard, because there was a rumor that McInnis ... More >>

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Opening Delayed; Commercial Spot Released

Jeff McInnis scares poultry in his teaser video.​Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, the Southern-inspired restaurant to be helmed by Top Chef and Gigi alum Jeff McInnis, is now geared for fall 2011. That is a few months later than was originally announced.The bistro, a partnership of McInnis, rest ... More >>

Exclusive: Jeff McInnis to Open a Restaurant On the Beach

​It didn't take long for chef Jeff McInnis to find a new post-Gigi gig: He has hooked up with John Kunkel, CEO/creator of Lime Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants, and will be co-owner of his own place on Miami Beach."Kunkel started a restaurant group a couple of years ago called 50 Eggs," Mcinnis exp ... More >>

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill Joins Meatless Monday Movement

No meat here on Mondays.​From New York to Los Angeles and Cape Town to Tel Aviv, restaurants have been joining the Meatless Monday movement in encouraging numbers -- Meatless Monday being a modest proposition for carnivores to forgo their carnivorous habits for that one day, and for restaurants t ... More >>

Lime Fresh Interview with CEO John Kunkel RE: Aggressive Expansion

Courtesy of LimeJohn Kunkel, CEO​Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is a homegrown success story built on burritos, beer, and an "upscale interior," that has delivered double-digit rising profits every year since opening their South Beach flagship five years ago.Recently they hired a former Starbucks execut ... More >>

Lime Fresh Midtown Grand Opening

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is officially open for business in Midtown (on the corner of Buena Vista Avenue and NE 34th Street, in Miami, just south of the Target and one block east of North Miami Avenue). Last Thursday's grand-opening festivities included a free taco bar, complimentary hors d'oeu ... More >>

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