Original Uncle Tom’s Barbecue photo
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It looks like Uncle Tom’s Barbecue, Miami’s oldest barbecue pit, is closed for good. Miami-Dade County posted an “Unsafe Building” notice on the front door in September 2025. The restaurant has been dark ever since. Yet, nobody from the restaurant has said anything.
By early April 2026, people driving Calle Ocho and on social media were piecing it together: a dark sign, a “renovating” banner in the window, and the Notice to Vacate on the front door.
What happened to this 80-year-old Miami institution for delicious barbecue? We now have the answers.
Photos by Raoul Duke via Facebook Group “Foodies Who Review South Florida”
The Violations
According to the Miami-Dade County Unsafe Structures notice posted on the building and shared on Facebook, the violations include hazardous electrical or mechanical installations, unsanitary conditions due to malfunctioning sanitary facilities, work done without a permit or with expired permits, and fire and windstorm hazards.
The notice also recommends that the main CBS structure be repaired or demolished. It also advises demolishing the metal-and-wood frame structure (the patio).
A CBS, or concrete block structure, is the most common building type in South Florida. When the county recommends that one be repaired or demolished as part of a full patio demolition, it is not a minor code citation.
Original Uncle Tom’s Barbecue photo
Miami’s Oldest BBQ Pit
Thomas Constantine Fantis, a New York native who came to Miami after World War II, opened Uncle Tom’s Barbecue on the Trail in 1948. The log cabin-style building on Calle Ocho never updated itself, which was part of the charm. Christmas lights hung across the patio year-round, while paper towel rolls stood on the picnic tables. Black-and-white photos of Rita Hayworth, Mae West, and Liberace hung about the room. The signature house sauce was vinegar-based with hints of cinnamon, a recipe that traced back to the Fantis family.
The menu ran to baby back ribs, spare ribs, brisket, sliced pork, and chicken. The restaurant was open daily until midnight, with its large neon sign on the Trail serving as a familiar landmark to locals. Plenty of regulars had been going since childhood, and the following was eventually large enough to support multiple locations across South Florida, which all eventually shuttered as well.
Miami-Dade issued a nearly identical Notice to Vacate in 2013, citing the same categories of violations and recommending demolition of the patio structure. The restaurant eventually came back. The building caught fire in December 2020, but the space eventually reopened.
Original Uncle Tom’s Barbecue. 3988 SW Eighth St., Coral Gables; originaluncletomsbbq.com. Now closed.
