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The South Beach outpost of L.A.’s Umami Burger closed over the weekend. A restaurant spokeswoman cited that dusty Alton Road construction made it impossible to continue operating.
“We are thankful for our Umami fans in Miami, and we look forward to announcing a new location soon,” Umami’s Veronica Rathbourn wrote in an email.
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The closure marks the second high-end burger joint — the first being 8oz Burger — to shut down at the once-prime Alton Road location.
Months of road construction — which has squeezed what was once one of the Beach’s main thoroughfares into a bumpy, one-way street — has caused concern among business owners and is slated to continue for at least another year and a half.
See also: Bernie’s L.A. Cafe Has Closed: Is Alton Road Construction to Blame?
The City of Miami Beach has launched a free Alton Road shuttle and erected blue signs alerting drivers to the businesses standing beyond the chopped-up concrete barrier. Yet Bernie’s L.A. Café on 15th Street and Alton shuttered last summer, while a handful of others try to slog through the dust and ripped-up sidewalks.
On Tuesday, the sidewalk outside what was Umami Burger was nothing more than a patch of sand and gravel. Twelfth Street, where motorists often turn to begin the always-desperate search for parking, was closed to traffic.
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