Coconut Grove Lunch Staple to Close After 50 Years

After exactly 50 years of fueling Coconut Grove with fresh-pressed juices, veggie-packed pita sandwiches, and low-key hippie energy, healthy lunch staple the Last Carrot will officially close its doors, marking the end of an era for Grove regulars and residents. According to the beloved juice bar and healthy lunch shop, Saturday, February 7, 2026, will be its last day in business at its current location.

Tucked inside a humble strip mall along Grand Avenue, the Last Carrot has long been Coconut Grove’s unofficial temple of clean eating. Long before wellness was trendy, this place was serving whole wheat pita sandwiches stuffed with crunchy vegetables, hummus, avocado salad, chicken salad, falafel, and tuna, plus homemade soups, spinach pies, chewy oatmeal cookies, and juices and smoothies that locals swear can cure anything from a post-yoga fog to a full-blown hangover.

Founded in 1975 by bodybuilder, health enthusiast, and University of Miami alumnus Michael Compton, the family-run spot quickly became a neighborhood staple. After Compton’s passing in 2001, his daughters, Meadow and Erin Compton, took over, keeping the menu consistent, the prices fair, and the vibes refreshingly unpretentious. In a city that reinvents itself every few years, the Last Carrot stayed exactly what it was supposed to be.

(Somehow, 50 years after opening, this low-key juice bar was still winning awards right up until the end, earning New Times’ Best Juice Bar 2025, a wild and fitting final badge of honor.)

An Upcoming Demolition

The closure isn’t due to lack of love or business. The tiny strip mall at 3133 Grand Ave. is slated for demolition in the summer of 2026 as part of Ziggurat, a massive mixed-use development by Coral Gables-based Allen Morris Company. The five-story project will span Grand Avenue from Matilda Street to the U.S. Post Office parking lot, bringing offices, ultra-luxury residences priced between $2.5 million and $8 million, nearly 45,000 square feet of retail, and even a rooftop Michelin-chef restaurant overlooking Biscayne Bay.

The development includes the reimagining of Fuller Street and portions of Kirk Munroe Park, backed by a combined $5 million public-private investment, though the project has sparked heated debate among Grove residents who fear the area’s soul is being traded for square footage.

Thankfully, many local businesses affected by the demolition, including longtime Italian restaurant Sapore di Mare and even the UPS Store, have secured new locations nearby. Unfortunately, it looks like the Last Carrot was unable to do so.

New Times reached out to the shop on Monday, January 26. According to an employee, they are hoping to secure a location elsewhere. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.