Joe's Stone Crab

I was just in Miami to attend the South Beach Wine & Food Festival as a guest of Certified Angus Beef, which supplies meat to some of the city’s top restaurants—including Joe’s Stone Crab (11 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139). Joe’s is one of south Florida’s most iconic and historic restaurants and during my stay, I not only got to dine there but was also given a behind-the-scenes tour by the man himself: Executive Chef André Bienvenu.

 

Joe's Stone Crab

Chef Bienvenu grew up in my home state of Connecticut, so right off the bat I knew he was a cool guy. After graduating from Johnson & Wales University with Culinary Arts and Occupational Science degrees, he spent years at honing his craft at numerous Hyatt properties. Then he took over the kitchen at Joe’s Stone Crab, even then one of the busiest independent single restaurants in America.

Here’s what I learned about Joe’s Stone Crab from my tour:

Joe's Stone Crab

Joe’s Stone Crab has been around for 102 years and now takes up a whole city block! There are 400 employees in the high season, which runs from mid-October to mid-May. During that time period, the restaurant usually does 700 lunches and between 1,200 and 1,600 dinners. Insane, right? They have 48 boats that deliver stone crabs in season. In the summer, part of the restaurant shuts down and they open Wednesday-Sunday only, serving between 400 and 800 dinners. In August, September and part of October, they close the whole place down to do repairs since the building is so old.

Joe's Stone Crab

Joe’s is run by a mother-and-son team made up of supposedly the nicest people in the business. They treat their employees so well that most have worked there for double-digit years. The mother is 84, and you can usually find her bussing tables. Joe’s also includes an amazing shipping business (they only ship domestically) so you can always find a UPS truck parked out back.

Joe's Stone Crab

When Chef André Bienvenu started working at Joe’s Stone Crab, just 3% of sales came from meat. Then he started using Certified Angus Beef and brought in a own smoke master, and now meat sales are 18% of the business.

Although Bienvenu has appeared on several major television shows, he prefers not to be in front of the camera.

Joe's Stone Crab

The coolest thing I learned from the tour is that Joe’s Stone Crab offers a private chef’s table that’s unadvertised. To experience it, André said all people have to do is call him up (305-673-0365) and make a reservation. It’s only big enough for two people and costs $300 per couple. He said they should dress casual and recognize that it’s a crazy atmosphere where waiters will probably be bumping into them while they move around to cook their food. That’s right: Guests can even cook their food!

Joe’s doesn’t take reservations for the main restaurant and the who’s who of Miami is usually in there. While I was there for lunch, I saw Andrew Zimmern, Emeril Lagasse, and Bobby Flay, and I heard Rachel Ray was there, too—and they were all at different tables.

Joe's Stone Crab in Miami 2015-011

Dishes range from Joe’s famous fried chicken (above) for $6.95 to 3 jumbo stone crab legs for $89.95.

Have you been? What did you think of Joe’s Stone Crabs?

Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Waiter at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Waiter at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
They sell the waiter's crab pins at Joe's Stone Crab
They sell the waiter's crab pins at Joe's Stone Crab
Key Lime Martini at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Key Lime Martini at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Bread basket at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Bread basket at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Menu at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Seafood platter at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Seafood platter at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Stone Crabs from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Stone Crabs from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Fried chicken from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Fried chicken from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Cheeseburger from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Cheeseburger from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Key Lime pie from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Key Lime pie from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Chef Andre Bienvenu and his son
Chef Andre Bienvenu and his son
Chef Andre Bienvenu and our group at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Chef Andre Bienvenu and our group at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Kitchen of Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Kitchen of Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Certified Angus Beef from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Certified Angus Beef from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Lobster Mac and Cheese from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Lobster Mac and Cheese from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's kitchen
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's shipping department
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's shipping department
Chef Andre Bienvenu sitting at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's Chef's Table
Chef Andre Bienvenu sitting at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami's Chef's Table
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami

2 Comments On "Behind-the-Scenes at Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami"
  1. Barbara Beaman|

    Joe’s Stone Crab is the best… have had an opportunity to eat there several times over the years and still dream about those stone crabs and wonderful mustard sauce..solo good!

  2. Jeff|

    I used to live down the street from it. They also have takeout which is great when you don’t want to wait.

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