Vice City Pizza photo
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After less than a year, South Miami’s supply of Detroit-style squares has been cut off. Vice City Pizza officially closed its doors at 5829 SW 73rd St. on Sunday, February 1. Owner Jorgie Ramos announced the departure on Instagram this past Friday. He says he sold the lease to a Belgian hospitality group.
The restaurant only turned its temporary summer residency into a permanent brick-and-mortar location in August 2025. While the pizzeria saw a steady stream of customers, Ramos opted to sell the lease during a high-stress period. For those unaware, he had to close his other property, Cebada Rooftop, for four months late last year due to a major technical difficulty.
Vice City Pizza photo
The Detroit-Style Departure
The South Miami kitchen became a neighborhood fixture for its 8×10-inch Detroit-style pies, built on a two-day fermented dough. Popular orders included the “Roni & Hot Honey” and the “Brie & Fig,” which featured mozzarella, brie, gorgonzola dolce, pistachio, and fig jam. Beyond the square-cut pies, the menu offered “Timba” (guava and cream cheese) bread pudding and short rib tartare with salsa verde.
The move to sell came after Ramos said he spent weeks without sleep dealing with a malfunctioning elevator at Cebada. That Gables property was forced to close from September 2025 until January 2026 due to safety concerns, when the elevator began making “crash landing” sounds that Ramos compared to a scene from the film Final Destination.
Ramos admitted to the Miami Herald that the Belgian group made an offer he “couldn’t refuse” while the future of his other businesses remained uncertain. He mentioned that the decision was among the hardest of his life, but necessary to make sure the business had enough cash on hand.
Back to Kendall and the Gables
By no means are Ramos and Chef Carlos Estarita leaving the industry – they are just focusing on their existing restaurants. They will now concentrate on the original West Kendall location and the recently reopened Cebada Rooftop, which resumed service last month and is also expanding to a second location in Doral this year.
Though the South Miami doors are closed, Ramos told the Herald he remains a fan of the neighborhood and would consider returning.
Vice City Pizza. 12203 SW 132nd Ct., West Kendall; vicecitypizza.com.
