Night Owl Cookies Set to Open Massive New Shop in Southwest Miami-Dade

Less than a mile from Night Owl Cookies on Coral Way, owner Andrew Gonzalez is gearing up to soft-open a much larger shop this Thursday, June 21.

Located on SW Eighth Street, about five minutes from Florida International University's Modesto A. Maidique Campus, the 2,000-square-foot store and production facility will be the nation's largest cookie shop, according to Gonzalez.

"I reached out to Guinness World Records a few months ago," he says. "All I need now is the certificate, which should be sent to me in the next few months."

Gonzalez, who began baking doughnut-size cookies in 2013 in his mother's kitchen, opened Night Owl's flagship on Coral Way in 2016. Last year, he baked more than 750,000 cookies, including the Dirty Diana, stuffed with Nutella, and the Ave Maria, topped with Maria Cookie crumbles, guava paste pieces, and cream cheese frosting. He also made Forbes' esteemed "30 Under 30" list. With his company baking more than 2,000 cookies per day, earning $1.5 million in annual sales, and garnering nationwide recognition, Gonzalez decided it was time to expand.

"When I opened the first store, I didn't have a lot of money," he says. "It's only 700 square feet. With the new location, I'll have a much larger kitchen to produce at least double the amount of cookies."

Weighing in around four and a half ounces, each cookie is priced at $2. Offering more than 50 rotating flavors, he expects to bake upward of 30,000 a week inside the new store.

Painted in cotton-candy colors and splashed with Miami-inspired murals including pink flamingos and a hot-pink skyline with an orange sunset, Night Owl's new location will offer about 1,000 square feet of seating and 1,000 square feet of production space. Similar to the flagship, the store will be open until the wee hours of the morning for pickup and delivery.

With the opening of the SW Eighth Street store, Gonzalez will soon close his flagship on Coral Way and transform the space into a new dessert concept. Details are limited on what the new shop will produce, but Gonzalez estimates it will open sometime this summer. He also plans to open a third Night Owl, in Wynwood, before 2019.

Night Owl Cookies. 10534 SW Eighth St., Miami; nightowlcookieco.com. Opening Thursday, June 28, at 7 p.m.